"Do you normally make-out with the people you're hired to kill? It doesn't strike me as very professional."
"Put the gun down," Gabriel panted, not answering her.
"Why on earth would I do that?"
"Because you're not going to shoot me," Gabriel rep...
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That sexy, cunning bitch.
Alexander stalked down the hallway back to the party. She was right of course – he couldn't just kill her. Not here at least. But there was no way in hell he was letting her escape him again.
"Carlo," he said to one of his guards, pulling him aside. "There's a very attractive girl about to leave this party with a doughy boy. Follow them like your life depends on it. Because it very well might."
"Understood sir," Carlo replied, leaving the house immediately to grab his car and stake out the entrance.
As Alexander watched the hallway to watch Elle leave, he struggled to figure out how she seemed so certain he wouldn't kill her. It wasn't like she suspected he wouldn't want detectives connecting him to Huxley. She knew he wouldn't want that. Which meant she had to know the relationship between them. But how could she know?
Unless...
The realization hit him hard, like a punch in the stomach. She was Phoenix. That dainty, weak, fearful little girl was the big bad hacker that had been driving them all insane.
Alexander couldn't figure out whether to laugh or scream. He had figured it out. Not Huxley, and not the asshole who claimed he was "in charge" of this operation. He had found Phoenix. And he had done it by breaking the rules. The irony of it all was beautiful.
But now he had to watch her walk away. They couldn't risk trying to apprehend her here with all these people around. They had to isolate her first. He started to feel anxious about the possibility of Carlo losing her. Screw it. He didn't need a bodyguard here.
"Claude," he said to his other guard.
"Yes, sir?"
"You follow her as well. She can't get away."
"We only brought two cars sir," Claude replied.
"Go," Alexander instructed. "I can wait here until you bring her back."
Claude nodded and departed the party as well. Alexander sipped his champagne as he watched Elle scurry towards the door without even glancing at him, escorted by Sterling. He would see her again soon, he assured himself. But on the off chance she somehow escaped yet again, he snapped a quick picture on his phone.
He thought about telling the others that he had found Phoenix...no doubt they would send in a massive group of highly trained operatives to get rid of her as quickly and quietly as possible.
But Alexander didn't want her to go quickly and quietly. Choking her had brought him a thrill he hadn't experienced in years. And that was before he had even realized who she was...what would it be like to carve his name into her, over and over again, watching the blood stain her soft skin? What did her screams sound like? How much could she take before she broke?
Or better yet, what if he could convince her to become his mistress like he had originally planned? She had rejected him, but that was because he clearly hadn't been offering her the right things. He had offered her money, jewels, expensive things...but as Phoenix, she could easily get those things for herself.
