𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡 | ✓

10 - Splinters

VALENTINA'S POV

Francis and I are walking down the hallway and I'm slowly walking behind him.

I keep quiet as I take in all of the halls we walk down. This was most likely one of his hideouts, it was furnished well and there were suited men and skirted women walking up and down the corridors but bowed once Francis came into their presence.
Passing by various rooms, there were floor-to-roof windows that showcased the outside which was covered in green trees and tall grass. I couldn't see past the trees, but we were somewhere remote.

I lag behind Francis because of my injured leg, but he notices eventually and walks slower for me.

I focus my attention before me and see Francis has stopped and past him, there are two strongly armed bodyguards standing at a grand door. But as soon as they see Francis they seem to cower back.

Without hesitation, they let him and Francis burst through the door with a strict look on his face. He looked back at me, the madness in his eyes disappearing when we make eye contact and his eyes brighten, making me look away

He keeps staring at me though, making my whole face heat up but my heart drops to my stomach. I know it's wrong.

The anxiety is getting to me. I haven't taken my pills.

I peek past Francis's tall structure to see that we had entered a meeting room, a long table with three seats, one on each side and one at the top of the table. There were people in the seats across from each other, both of their faces were turned to us seriously, their gazes covering me.
My stance stiffens and I shift closer to Francis, trying to make it unnoticeable but I see the sides of his mouth tilt upwards.

Looking at one of them, she had deep brown eyes and was dressed in a dress shirt and a tight leather skirt. She looks serious and looked at me as if looks could kill and across her, there was a familiar man. He was dressed in all black- black shirt, black pants, and emerald eyes?

My eyes widened and my eyebrows furrowed as I stared longer, I realised that it was the spy. The one that stabbed Alex!
I pursed my lips as I stare at him and the longer I did, he realised and looked at me back with a dark smile.

As I snapped back into reality, I could feel Francis's arm snake around my waist and instead of being behind him, I was now by his side being showcased to the pair in front of us. They both seemed to be studying my face and structure which made me want the floor to swallow me whole.

Francis leaned over to my side and I could feel his hot breath pushing onto my face as he whispered to me. "The girl with the red hair's name is Quinn," she looked up at the mention of her name and smiled at me, a gesture I didn't return "She's the one who helped me escape, same with Xavier over there, but I'm sure that you already knew that," he snickered at the last part and I felt as if I could slap him, though it would do no good.

That's when there was a loud buzzing around the room. Francis sighed, so I turned to him and saw that he now had a phone in his hand. Francis started talking on the phone and let go of my waist, making my body go tense again. Being in his arms made me feel some sort of protection in this unusual place, but now the two people in the room were standing up and heading toward me.

They snatched me from Francis's side making him grunt and his face turns sour but didn't say anything hence the call. The pair smiled and laughed at each other as they pushed me by the shoulders to keep moving until we were out of the room. They defiantly were the opposites of Francis. Both of them looked at each other with wide grins, leaving me confused as I stood in the hallway.

The red-haired one, 'Quinn' saw my confused expression and came up to me putting one of her hands on my shoulder.

"So, how do you like the place?" she said with a genuine smile. "Pretty, isn't it?"