A Dangerous Alliance (on hold)

3. Coffee and Criminals

Song:  Pull A U - The Kills

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Adelaide

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I hesitated in saving his contact.

I didn't even know his real name, only the nickname I had given him.

With a shake of the head and admitting to myself that I was acting stupid, I saved his contact as Silver and grabbed my jacket, slipping my boots on and slipping out of the flat.

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The jitters that flooded my body didn't halt when I arrived at the cosy cafe, in fact, they seemed to double.

Even 30 minutes later, when I had ordered my meal and was halfway through eating it, the butterflies remained constant.

Was this a mistake?

I didn't need to check my watch to know that I had at least 30 minutes until he would show up. At exactly 13.00 I would leave, it didn't matter if he was even one minute late, I never waited that long for someone, not even someone as enchanting as Silver.

I looked around the room again, trying to place any suspicious behaviour that could count as Silver or one of Romano's 'employees.' I was always careful but the nagging at the gut told me that this meeting would rupture my domestic life with Malcolm and Zahid.

I continued to chew on a chip while I ruminated on my position.

I was capable of taking care of myself but exposing myself in such a public area never worked well at the end of the day.

A cheeky stab in the gut was, unfortunately, out of the question.

Just as I was about to leave, in he walked.

Immediately I knew it was him.

He wore a deep red button-up shirt, black dress pants as well as a pair of sunglasses which he didn't take off, even when he stepped inside the cafe and scanned the room.

He paused for a moment when he noticed me sitting tucked away before he recovered and sauntered over to me.

"Is this seat free?" He asked, the surprise of his voice taking me back to our dance at the masquerade ball.

Not trusting my voice, I merely nodded causing him to pull out the chair and sit across from me.

In this small cafe, he seemed all too big. Though his frame was smaller and more toned than Romano's, he still filled up the tiny chair and his legs still reached so far under the table that he looked more like he was in a dollhouse than a cafe.

I took a sip from my coffee, carefully observing him from the other side of the table.

"Are you going to take your glasses off?"

I watched as his eyebrows furrowed, but his stoic face didn't give away any more clues of his motives. He didn't answer my question, instead, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the small wooden table.

"I have several things you want." He stated, staring at me from behind his sunglasses.

I masked the shock I felt inside, not wanting him to see me go off my guard.

"Cutting to the chase, are we? Not really your style." I said, hugging my coffee close towards my chest and leaning as far back as I could in the chair.

He tilted his head slightly but still didn't crack a smile, was this really Silver?

Had he changed or had I really just not known anything about him?