Red Princess

59. Pretend Couple

Kaidon

My body moved with a will of its own. I grabbed her wrist and backed her against the elevator wall. Pulling her arm around my neck, my free hand circled around her tiny waist. The smooth satin of her dress that loosely hung around her body felt soft to the touch, teasingly slipping from my grasp. The sound of the ding of the elevator died out in my ears as my eyes focussed on hers. Her rosy lips parted as she stared at me with a curious questioning glance while I leaned in closer.

How in the world did I end up in this situation?!

Twenty-four hours ago...

"You are saying this man worked for Rihanna's Dad until a few years ago?" Ariel asked as she stared at the picture of the man we were supposed to tail.

I picked up a bunch of documents from my table and checked for the details. Tossing it on the centre table in her direction, I recited, "Sylvestor Iredov. He joined The Order as a trainee about twenty-eight years ago but within a few months followed after Eldon Cross when he left the organisation. They went on to establish their own research lab primarily focused on developing Artificial Intelligence and its use cases for security. He separated from the lab when Eldon died and decided to monetise the research."

"Bellpoint series still remains one of their most successful AI security systems," my team's technical head Helen added. "White Bunny was one of the few people who were actually able to crack it and leave the site undetected."

Her comment made me recall that day, my first mission with Alice. I had highly underestimated her cognitive abilities. Had I trusted her more, could it have been...?

"White Bunny?"

"Alice Reed! Daughter of the Red Phoenix." Answered Damon in an excited tone. I had honestly never liked the sight of him ever since that Halloween night when he tried to hit on my girl and won the treasure hunt together with her. If I had known that I wouldn't get another chance to pair up with her again, I'd have asked...

asked...

asked... who? Who was the organiser that night?

"And what the hell are you doing here anyway, Damon? This ain't your team." Alex retorted as he attempted to shoo him away from the room.

Nevermind...

"That would be sir Damon for you, kid. I am a veteran in this field. Give me some respect!"

I rolled my eyes, and apparently, Alex shared my disgust as he scoffed and answered, "I will when... no... rather if you deserve it."

"You brat!" Damon lunged in his direction, but Alex stepped aside. Damon barely managed to maintain his balance but then turned on his heel and caught him into a headlock. Damon may not have been blessed with a filtered mouth, but he did have some of the best reflexes.

I facepalmed as their bickering unfolded before me, turning my already messy cabin into a chaos.

"Stop that, idiots!" Ariel, Helen and the junior programmers dragged them both away from each other while I slumped down on my chair.

"It's really a wonder of nature..." Damon muttered, his eyes fixated on her face. "You really do look so similar to her."

Ariel didn't look the slightest bit amused by that statement. In the few days I spent with her, I had learned that what she despised the most was getting compared to her look alike. Perhaps she suffered from an inferiority complex, or she was just scared that Sey's feelings for her were solely motivated by her similarity to his first love.