Five
Aja
What the hell? Where the fuck am I? I began to panic because I really couldn’t remember what was happening to me. I knew I shouldn’t have met that strange man in that café. Now look at me. Kidnapped and possibly be shipped overseas to become the seventh wife of some rich asshole.
Calm down Aja. You’re not tied up and your cooter doesn’t hurt. That means you haven’t been assaulted. Get ahold of yourself and think. Deep breath. Count to ten. Open your eyes.
My attempt to combat my anxiety worked. After taking about twenty deep breaths, I opened my eyes and was shocked at what I saw. I was sitting in this weird contraption that looked like it was created by one of the FX guys from my movie set. I wasn’t strapped down, but there were arm restraints attached to the chair.
The entire room was white and flooded with a soft light. It was eerily silent. I mean not even the buzz of the lights. The whole thing felt apocalyptic. I looked to my left and noticed a tray with a file folder on it. Curiosity got the best of me, so I picked up the folder to see the contents.
Now, who is this?
It was a dossier of a man. A very sexy man. The first thing that stood out was the hair. It was a light brown hue with blonde highlights. His hair was cut short on the sides and back, but the main attraction was the thick tuff of mane on the top. It was medium length and pulled back away from his face. It was styled to perfection with some sort of product that looked like it lasted all day. It was giving very much hipster.
However, the man himself was dressed impeccably in a custom-tailored tuxedo that accentuated his very fit body. I swear, if the jacket had been undone, I could have counted his abs through his fitted white shirt. His slightly tanned skin had a glow to it that made me want to find the tan lines. Now that was a man. The steely squint of his gray eyes gave dangerous vibes. I wondered what they would look like when they were filled with lust. Lawdamercy!
As I read over the enclosed documents, I saw the man, whose name I discovered was Cruise Steele, stood an impressive 6’6” tall. He was well educated with a bachelor’s from Harvard and a master’s from Wharton. Well damn. He was fine, smart and rich as fuck. No man with those credentials could ever be broke.
The more I read, the more intrigued I became. Apparently, Mr. Steele was a genius billionaire who craved power. If I believed what was in this file, he was planning to rule the world, literally. This document detailed the underhanded schemes he had successfully pulled off over the last five years. Destroying the Olympics was his coup de grace. It would make him the king of the world. He planned to usher in this new world order all the conspiracy theorists have been buzzing about for years. It was my job to stop him.
Okay. I get it now. This was all a part of the Book Boyfriend Experience. I was living out my fantasy. Cool. I thought I would have a boring ass date with a nerdy guy who didn’t know his penis from a jack hammer. Thank goodness I was wrong. I could get with this. Everything except passing out and waking up in a new location. I was going to give somebody at that agency a piece of my mind when this was over.
After studying the information on my nemesis, I moved to the back of the room where there was a wall of weapons. The black steel stood out in the pure white room. There was every kind of weapon my racing mind could think of. For a woman who didn’t even own a gun, I felt unusually comfortable handling them. It was almost like second nature.
Somehow, my hands knew how to open the chambers and check for ammunition. I knew which gun was for what kind of activity and there was no doubt in my mind that I could use them to perfection. I even knew how to operate one of those IED contraptions. Who the fuck am I?
After locating the bag, I filled it with weapons. I also strapped a few on my body with the provided holsters. I snagged a few knives and tucked them in to places you would never think to look on my body. It was second nature. As if I had done this several times before.
I snagged the keys that were on the tray next to the chair and made my way out of the door. When I stepped onto the street, I realized I wasn’t in “Kansas” anymore. Your girl was standing smack dab in the middle of Paris. The fucking Eiffel Tower was only steps away from this building. That agency did not play with my time!
The first thing on the agenda was to find my mark and make initial contact. According to the instructions sent to the burner phone that was also on that tray in the room, I would find him at a café down the street in ten minutes. For such a dangerous man, he had one weakness. Mr. Steele had a bit of OCD, which caused him to follow the same schedule daily. This would be his downfall.
There were police and people everywhere. Everyone was donning the colors of their home country and in the spirit to celebrate the amazing athletes who represented them. People were running around carefree. All of them were oblivious of the danger that lurked just around the corner. I wondered how often a threat like this took place throughout the world, with the regular citizens unaware. That thought made me more determined to complete my mission.