Over and Out

Chapter Fifteen

Defiantly tipping her chin up, Lisa squarely looked him in the eye, relishing the cool metal held to her face.

"Assuming you want your necklace back, I don't think you would risk shooting your best chance of doing so." She could hear a quiet warning hiss behind her, of someone clearly shocked at her audacity in the face of clear danger—but couldn't seem to care. Something about this man scared her, made her question the very foundations of her life, but god, he was fucking annoying too. And although she didn't take the gun pressed up to her lightly, she refused to back down submissively, not in front of an audience.

"Oh I would take that risk, believe me." Mr J drew the gun away, replacing it with his hand, gripping her chin, bringing his face ever closer to hers. "You're correct, that you are the closest body that I can get into there, but I also don't think a bullet through the arm or knee would be enough to hinder your task, and so help me L, I will not hesitate to take out both if I don't think you're taking this seriously." His words were delivered with ice-cold calmness, the voice of a man aware of what weight his threats held. A wave of hot resentment swept through Lisa, as she reached up to wrench his hand away, dropping it contemptuously away from her.

"Is it some sort of childhood thing?" She spat out. "Did you get bullied or something, and now you're on some sick power trip?"

"You will never understand my means or methods; I don't advise you try to either, it'll hurt your little brain." He countered dismissively, stepping back, the tense bubble surrounding them breaking.

"Oh, I don't think your problems are as complex as you like to think." Lisa smiled, a cruel grin that she knew was disarming. "Most people think their pathetic motivations are uniquely tragic, when the reality is that their sob stories are a dime a dozen. So, what was it? You get mugged on a cold rainy night? Some girl break your heart? Oh, don't tell me! Mommy issues?" She mocked, not noticing the dangerous flicker in his eyes, before she found herself slammed into the closed door, the breathe knocked out of her as the gun once again nestled into the base of her neck. "Bingo." She managed to wheeze triumphantly, noting that some sort of emotion had finally surfaced within the man who looked to be ten seconds away from pumping a bullet into her.

"Enough. I've indulged in this too long. Do you or do you not have what I want?" His voice remained dangerously calm, though his eyes were now black pools of rage. Lisa flicked her eyes down at the gun, then gestured at him to let her go. He did so roughly—she stumbled slightly, before leaning back against the door.

"Do I get a guarantee that if I give you what you want, this is over?" She thrust a hand between them, gesturing vaguely. She wasn't sure why exactly she was stalling for time- for days, and sleepless nights she had been waiting to be rid of the whole affair, to wipe her hands off it all.

"This began because you took what wasn't yours. You have my word that if you hand it over, the whole business if finished. You can go back to bending over backwards and risking your life for people who see you as expendable, and I can carry on with things that don't involve pesky minor agents with sticky fingers." His mouth curled cruelly upwards as she flinched slightly at his appraisal.

"Your word isn't the most reliable Mr J. How do I know that you don't shoot me in the back the second I turn it?"

"Well, L," impatience started to mar his handsome features. "I do believe that you are capable enough of procuring the necklace, and I also believe that you wouldn't dare come looking for me if you didn't have it on your person." He raised an eyebrow; she nodded tightly. "And so I think considering the fact that I have not yet shot you, and simply searched your corpse for my possession, seems to suggest I might be in a benevolent mood today." A violent tremble shook through her body—there was no concealing the effect the cold truth had on her. "You might find that if you carry on delaying the inevitable, my hospitality might soon run out."