The Hustle

Chapter 7- Looks can be Decieving

After sorting through some paperwork and officially signing on for my baby sitting job, I walked myself out of the conference room. Waving a good bye to my dear Enzo, and flicking a middle finger up at Hunter for good measure. I begin the memorized trek back to my nicely furnished jail cell.

As I walk I can hear Hunter's stupidly loud footfalls not even three paces behind me, and as I turn the corner I can glimpse his form in my peripheral vision. However instead of acknowledging him, I continue walking back to my room.

As I round the corner to my hall, I hear his footsteps pick up pace, and as I hear his step closer to me I spin out of his grasp and knock him backwards over my outstretched leg.

"You may have caught me in an elevator, but do not ever assume you can lay a hand on me without repercussion again. I will maim you until you no longer recognize your own face if you try to fuck me over, capische?" I all but snarl into his shocked face, as he's lying on the floor with my hand bunched in his shirt and my boney elbow digging into his windpipe.  I'm not naive enough to think I can pin this man to the ground using my brute strength so I stand up and brush myself off. Flicking him the middle finger and he begins to scowl at me.

"You may not realize it princess, but you're not in your own castle right now. You do not tell me what to do. Here I am King, you should be kissing my feet that I kept you alive after the stunts you've pulled," Oh boy is he pissed, someone's man ego is a bit bruised I guess. Take a fucking chill pill Hunty dear.

"Everywhere is my castle, and you're an idiot to think you can exert any type of control over me. Just because I haven't killed you doesn't mean I can't." I pause a bit mostly for dramatic effect and to check out the broken nail that got caught on his shirt as I pulled my hands away.
"I think you're embarrassed darling, and it's okay I get it. Most men act like fools when they're in my presence, don't worry I won't hold it against you," so that was a bit of a lie on my part but honestly, he gets so riled up so easily I can't help but tease him. I know he's not embarrassed he's too dumb to have any humility. He's all bark. Time and time again.

"Embarrassed? Because I thought you were weak? Not at all. I didn't keep you alive because of your looks. You're the means to an end. Nothing more. There's plenty of pretty faces out there. Don't overestimate your place in this compound, you may have been the queen outside of these walls, but in here? You're wherever I want you to be, when I want you to be, capische?" 

Well ouch. That was mean so unnecessarily. Nothing more than means to an end? Insinuating I'm not attractive? Absolutely rude. And a lie.

"Looks like I pinched the wrong nerve yeah? I didn't realize insinuating I was too pretty for you would get you so riled up dear," I pick an imaginary piece of dust of the shoulder of his shirt. Fuck him for this, I'm going to make him want me like he's never wanted someone before. And then I think I'll sleep with his cousin Enzo. Maybe in the hall where he'll stumble upon it. That'll feel good.

Hunter scowls and grabs my wrist, pushing me against the wall next to my bedroom door, for him being the king right now he sure is angry.
"I'm not kidding principessa, you are no longer Hustle. You're my bitch, and if I have to work that through your mind myself we are going to have serious fucking problems,"
Trapped between this overly large man and the wall I'm starting to feel quite claustrophobic, and the serious non-angry look on his face is a tad frightening. I didn't realize how cold he could get.

I'm usually the cold one, I have an airy personality of detached indifference. Just as I was trained to. It seems he was also trained to turn that on and off.

Interesting.

"I'm no ones bitch Hunter, and if you wanted to call me dirty names all you had to do was ask nicely. You're totally barbaric," feigning my comfort, I wrench my wrist out of his grasp and slink into my doorway. With a last glance over my shoulder I send him a flirty wink and shut and lock the door behind me.

I stand waiting for his footsteps to leave, as I'm sure I'll hear them, and I hear him swearing under his breath in Italian. Hopefully all good things about how he thinks I'm hot.

He's not bad looking himself, but I simply can't get past his whole douchebag thing. Also pinning me to the wall? Lame. And a majorly dick move, my wrist hurts. If this bruises I'm going to be pissed.

As I continue to roll over the discussion we just had, I pick up on all the other times he's had that same detached look. How didn't I recognize it before? The way he switched so easily from concerned police, to understanding kidnapper, to terrifying mob man was all part of his mask. The same type of mask I wear.

I wonder if he was raised into this role. He certainly seems as though he was groomed to be this way. Much like I was.

My childhood lessons consisted of self defense and pick pocketing. Manipulation and deceit were my core subjects, and as I'm now uncovering, they were also Hunters. As I got older I was trained to use my looks and my stature to come off as demure, attractive but dumb, innocent to the world of violence.

Too bad looks can be deceiving, and they're easy to change.

Like Hunter and his masks, when one no longer suits the situation, you switch it as easily as you would a hat. Angry egotistical mob boss wasn't working? Switched right to cold and serious killer. No hesitation, no tell. That's not natural, that's a skill. Instead of being taught the grace and poise a femme fatale, he was taught a world of respect and muscles and brawn. Physical force is his fail safe. Too bad that's quite the short term solution.

Clearly they didn't teach him anything about being stealthy as I can hear his big clunky footsteps returning near my door. They must've wasted all their time training him to be a stoic bastard.

As his foot steps pace in front of my door and then turn away I consider all that I've figured out from just some negotiations. Has he been figuring me out?

Hopefully not, he'd just discover I'm actually just as big of a bitch as I show off to be.

That'll definitely make future negotiations interesting.