Assassination 101

Lesson 11: First Dates

Lesson 11: First Dates

How to keep a fuckboy interested? That was the million pound question. I knew flirting techniques, how to appear desirable and how to make a guy want you in the short term. But I had a feeling this would need to be more long term — a few months most likely.

Celine had agreed that Jacob was definitely worth keeping an eye on, so much so that she had already enrolled me at university which I would start in September if we hadn't gotten to the bottom of this organisation by then.

Kole had also found some leads at the university he'd scoped out and he had been told to follow those further so I hadn't seen the guy in a week. A beautiful and peaceful week.

I had been tasked with finding out more about Jacob and getting closer to him. Until September this was essentially a trial solo mission and I refused to screw it up. I had to show Celine I could be trusted — even if I was spilling all her agency's secrets to the Italian mafia but that was beside the point — to do this. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand being forced to work in teams all the time. Other people were exhausting.

I'd done a bit of my own social media stalking on Zack but it was Henry who had hit the jackpot thanks to his otherworldly computer skills. I'd only given the guy a first name and brief description of his appearance and Henry had come back to me a few hours later with a biography on barista boy's entire life.

His name was Zackary King, son of Alastair King, founder and owner of a multimillion-dollar company, and Camilla King, world-renown retired supermodel turned luxury fashion brand owner. He was twenty-one (turning twenty-two in September) and was the second of ten children. He'd gone through school performing averagely and now worked at his father's company and had been the mastermind behind the rebranding they'd done a year ago which had almost doubled their yearly turnover.

He came from a very privileged background, to say the least, one which made me certain he was used to having everything his way all of the time. His social media made that idea even more apparent. He was constantly posing with celebrities, going on ridiculously expensive nights out and was seen with new girls all of the time. Keeping his attention was going to be difficult, especially considering the more I found out about this guy the less I liked him.

He was clearly a stuck up rich boy with no care for anyone but himself.

It was odd though, when I spoke to him, he didn't come across like a prick. Yes, he seemed a little cocky but in an almost charming way. But everything I'd found out about him painted him to be the biggest asshole in the land. The supposed duality of his character made no sense. It was like I was talking about two different people.

I shook off the thought. None of that mattered anyway. All I needed to be concerned with was keeping Zack interested in me long enough to find out more about Jacob. There was a chance he might accidentally let something slip, though I doubted he would've known anything about the people Jacob was involved with, he seemed far too unobservant and shallow for that.

With a reluctant sigh, I picked up my phone, knowing what I had to do.

It took close to half a minute before he answered and I almost thought that I'd typed the number in wrong. "Hello?"

"Hi, Zack. It's me."

"Cassie?" he asked and I could tell he was smirking. "I was beginning to think you'd never call."

"The thought might've crossed my mind..." I teased and he laughed heartily. "But I was bored and was thinking of going out to explore tonight."

"Explore?"