Chapter Thirty-Four #2
“Is that a threat?” he asked, looking back at the road.
“I have a job to do, Mr. Valerio. Find the gold, find your fucking flash drives, and then get the fuck out of Marino’s compound. I despise compromise; that’s why I’m giving you a subtle reminder that if you try to compromise my mission, I will not hesitate to retaliate.”
“That sounds like a threat.” There was a warning in his voice.
“Take it however you want to. If you have no intention of finding common ground as I have done with Marino, then I am happy to make you my enemy.”
“The feeling is very mutual. I won’t fall for your bullshit like everyone has, Zahra. I’m on to you, and when I find proof, I’ll put you down myself.”
I ground my teeth together as I looked ahead, biting my tongue to stop myself from saying anything more, but I was certain about one thing.
He might be a problem.
Angelo collected me the moment Casmiro dropped me off at the airport. Unlike Casmiro, Angelo had greeted me; even though it wasn’t warm, it was something.
“Nice dress,” he said, leading us to the private-plane area, three guards behind us as we walked into an elevator.
“Thanks. Do you think I’m overdressed? Or underdressed. I’m not really used to fancy gatherings without being someone else,” I said, adjusting the dress as the elevator moved down.
Angelo glanced my way, giving me a subtle sweep. “Yeah, you’re perfectly dressed. It’s a business dinner that includes pompous men and their wives, girlfriends, or mistresses.”
“Oh … makes me wonder why your boss wanted me there.”
“Does it?” Angelo said, looking ahead. “I thought you shared an intimate relationship with him. The rooftop—”
“What did he say?” I rushed to ask.
“He didn’t have to say anything,” Angelo said, voice straight as he looked down at me. “But I’m watching you, Zahra. One wrong move against him, and you’re out.”
“Why the fuck does everyone seem to think I have some grand ulterior motive? Cassie almost chewed my head off in that car. Now you?”
“I have nothing against you, Zahra. All I care about is Marino. He doesn’t do things like this, so it only means whatever you both have is serious to him.
The other day I caught you leaving his house.
I’d like to think whatever you both are doing isn’t one-sided from his end.
I will haunt you if you hurt him. That is not a threat but a fact. ”
I swallowed. “I have no intention of hurting him … unless it is completely necessary and I have to protect myself. Then yeah.”
“You’re in no position to make comments like that; it makes it hard to trust you.”
“The last thing anybody should do is trust me, Angie. Besides, it wasn’t a comment. Just a fact.”
The elevator doors opened, and I walked out, spotting the plane right ahead, soldiers everywhere.
My heels clicked and echoed on the ground as I walked, and I could also hear Angelo’s footsteps behind me.
Eyes were on me when I approached the private plane. Apparently, Elio Marino never took dates to events like these, and I was an exception because he loved my company.
Bullshit.
He was up to something.
Or maybe he does like my company?
I hate compromises, and that was one of the main reasons I was putting up with his weird idea of foreplay. I needed to get him out of my system. The fact that this wasn’t me was the most daunting part.
I’d never outright wanted anyone’s touch like I wanted Elio’s. Devil was convenient, Manuel was necessary, and the selected few others were mainly by choice.
But Elio … God, he evoked what I could only name as pure desire, and yes, the feeling scared me.
A soldier led me inside the plane, which was minimal, very clean and private, like an en-suite lounge area with golden lights and white leather seats.
It smelled divine and had a warm, cozy feel to it.
I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming around the space as the man led me down a small compartment until he pushed open a door, and I was in an even more private room.
It was the same design as the other area we had just come through, but the smell was different, familiar.
And I soon registered why after seeing Elio’s figure in the corner, an unlit cigar between his lips, book in hand, wearing a black men’s turtleneck and black pants.
He didn’t look up, even as the soldier announced my presence and left me alone with him.
I took the liberty of settling in the chair opposite him, appreciating the comfort of the leather and how appetizing the man sitting atop it was.
My God. He was handsome; it was so unfair. He had an engrossing aura, which was doing funny things to my stomach and the back of my spine.
“Zahra,” he said in greeting, his eyes going over the page.
“Marino,” I responded, and he looked up finally.
“Don’t call…” He trailed off, eyes taking me in slowly before he completed his statement: “… me that.”
“Okay, Dad.”
His stare hardened, and he looked back at his book. “Stop,” he muttered.
I smiled at him … genuinely. “Any reason your cigar isn’t lit?”
“Still figuring out if I should light it.”
“Right.” My gaze dropped to a black device on the table. “I thought you said you didn’t have a phone?”
“It’s new,” he said, discarding the cigar.
“Oh, what made you get one?” I made conversation because, yes, sue me, he might be infuriating and might end up at the end of my barrel when push came to shove, but I liked talking to him too.
Despite what Casmiro felt about me getting close to Elio, I knew something was there. If we did away with the inconvenient physical attraction, we could be friends … cordial, at least.
His gaze flickered to me and then to the phone.
I raised a brow at the conflict in his eyes, and then he closed the book, placing it beside the phone as he said, “Because almost everyone I know has one.”
“Cool … want my number?” I asked.
His eyes took me in again, and he seemed confused. “What for?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, we could be text buddies since we’re like—trying to be friends—”
What’s wrong with my voice?
“Thank you, but I have no use for your number.”
It was like someone had punched my chest in. “Ouch.”
“I meant that politely. If I ever need it, I’ll ask for it.”
Forcing on a smile, I shifted uncomfortably. “Right,” I said, looking out the side window, seeing everyone gearing up for the flight to take off.
His response had rattled me. I didn’t know why it stung, but it did.
This was a sign. Maybe we were spending too much time together. Maybe I was in over my head thinking he actually did want me here because he liked my company, and wanted more than just the physical.
I mean I’m “just Zahra,” and he’s way above “just Zahra.” He’s more into Grace from the exhibit, not “just Zahra” from … the streets. I’m pretty sure he’d have use for her number.
God …
My eyes remained fixed on the window, watching the men going this way and that, making sure everything was intact because they were carrying someone important.
Elio. Not me.
Why did I agree to come to this again? And why am I suddenly missing my friends?
Maybe I should have come with a disguise, maybe I would have felt more confident with one … but I knew he had asked me to accompany him, not someone else. I was also maybe … eager to spend time with him.
Foolish Zahra.
But God … I was not supposed to like him or be fond of him. I should have noticed it whenever I had the powerful urge to defend Elio from Devil’s trash-talking.
Elio was growing on me, and this was not because I really wanted to fuck him. No. This was something else.
“I feel like I’ve said something wrong.” He voiced his concern, making me look back at him.
“What?”
“Your guard is up again. Is this because I don’t want your phone number?”
I was transparent to this man, and it was dangerous.
“I’m a big girl; I’ll get over it,” I said with a tight smile I’d wanted to be carefree, but my mood wasn’t shifting or lifting.
He sighed, picked up the phone from the table, and got to his feet.
For some unknown reason, my heart skipped a beat.
I often knew how to predict people, but I raised my guard for this man because he was the most unpredictable person I’d ever encountered.
He crossed the space between us and sat beside me, clouding my senses with his cologne. I couldn’t think straight for a good minute.
“Here.” He outstretched his phone to me. “Put in your number.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“Your number,” he repeated.
“I thought you didn’t want it?”
“I don’t,” he stated. “But apparently, that upset you, so if putting your number in would make you feel better, then here. We can be—” He clenched his jaw like he didn’t want to say it but cleared his throat and completed, “Text buddies.”
My eyes searched his and then dropped to the phone.
The normal Zahra would brush it off, raise her chin up, and never ever give him her number, but this Zahra, whoever the fuck she was, was collecting his phone and saving her number.
When I was done, I gave him the phone back, and his fingers tapped on the screen for a short moment. I briefly wondered what he was doing until my phone vibrated inside my purse.
I glanced at him, and he gestured with his chin towards the purse in my lap. I took my phone out swiftly and smiled when I saw a message from an unknown number. It was a simple “Hello.” With a freaking full stop at the end of it.
“Happy?” he asked, making me look back at him, the color of his eyes causing me to hold my breath for a few seconds.
“You are weird,” I told him.
“I know,” he said, gaze flickering to my hair before his hand moved, and he grazed the ends softly with his fingers, feeling the texture but not overdoing it, as if he didn’t want to scare me away. “I love what you did with your hair.”
I couldn’t look away from him, which made it hard to hide the evidence of the heat that rushed to my cheeks. “I—just brushed it.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“What’s your angle?” I asked.
His gaze seemed like he was drinking my face in.
“Elio.”
“Hm?”