[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐸 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍
"𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑒𝑔𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒."
—𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝐾𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖, 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠

𝐈
— 𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑜 —

𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎'𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 open, only to see that he was no longer in the field.

He was still wearing the same clothes—the black muscle shirt, his jeans, the jacket that he had wrapped around his waist—but he was in a completely different environment.

He was now sitting in a chair, with the cool air conditioning relieving him of the heat he had previously endured, and only a second later did he realize that Lila was sitting next to him.

Where the hell did she bring him?

"Diego Hargreeves . . ." Lila spoke, drawing his attention to her as she gestured towards the front, "meet my mother."

Diego turned to see a woman sitting behind the desk he was in front of, who had platinum blonde hair that was pulled back and was wearing a purple jacket. He gave no greeting, instead just staring at her with a look of stupor.

"Mother," Lila continued, now gesturing to him, "this is Diego . . . my boyfriend."

Diego turned back towards her, his eyes wide and his eyebrows furrowed as he uttered, "What?"

He couldn't believe the audacity of her. Even after all this time, all his insisting, she simply could not see that he was into someone else.

Annoyed, he glanced around him; he was in some sort of office, with high bookshelves and gold antiquities that lined the shelves and tables. The room was quite spacious, and its walls were white and accented with gold, though nothing struck as familiar to him. So, in conclusion, he had no clue where he was.

Lila's mother leaned forward, pressing her gold-gloved hands on the desk as she scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

"You said I could hire my own team," rebutted Lila, a smirk on her face.

Diego put his head in his hands, ignoring them as he tried to think.

What the fuck was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to escape if he didn't even know where he was? He could be in Portugal, for all he knew!

"Yes, but I didn't mean him, for God's sake," her mother answered, her eyes flicking over to Diego for a moment. "If you don't see the problem with hiring you-know-who's brother, then you're not ready for that badge."

"Look, I'm sorry to interrupt," interjected Diego as he lifted his head, "but I really need to get going."

"Shut up!" both women demanded, causing Diego to lean back.

Lila turned back to her mother, folding her hands on her lap as she continued, "I can't do this job if you don't trust my instincts."

"Sweetheart," Lila's mother sat back in her chair, letting out a sigh, "he's not worth it."

Diego stared at her. If he had no reason to dislike her before, he most definitely did now.

"Mum," Lila exhaled. She raised her eyebrows as she tentatively said, "This may shock you, but not everyone here likes you."

Her mother, who had clasped her hands together, shrugged as she replied, "Sounds ridiculous, but go on."

"You need fresh blood loyal to us and not the old regime," reasoned Lila, causing Diego to give her a look of incredulity.