𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 (on hold)

| 𝟐𝟑 |

Matthias barely looked at me before he held a hand out to Oldie,
"Mr Kora, how nice to see you again. I'm sure you remember me."

Mr Kora hesitated for only a second before nodding and shaking Matthias' hand,
"Of course."

Matthias nodded firmly, and finally looked to me. He laughed,
"What did she do?"

Mr Kora smiled at him,
"Tried to steal a computer. You never can trust pretty girls."

Matthias looked at me, feigning confusion, and then pointed,
"Wait a second. What's your name?"

I pushed a scared stutter into my voice,
"Valerie, sir."

He grinned,
"I knew it. She's one of my girls. We swapped a few batches, remember, Mr Kora?"

Mr Kora once again pretended to know what Matthias was talking about. Men's pride would be their downfall. Matthias held out a hand to Bodyguard, and my ponytail was finally transferred.

Matthias looked down at me, tutting,
"God. I really thought I had my girls better trained like this. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I swear, sir. I didn't—"

He yanked my hair back and raised a hand. I quickly cried out, knowing that he wouldn't slap me,
"I did it, sir. I'm sorry."

He grinned, looking to Mr Kora,
"I knew it."

He pulled my hair upwards, and I stood beside him, keeping my eyes on the ground. Mr Kora laughed,
"I'm sure you'll take care of her."

"I sure will. She can apologise first, though."

I glanced up at him, and he was staring at me, raising his eyebrows. I stuttered out an apology to bodyguard,
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied."

Matthias laughed. He dropped his grip on my hair and the next thing I knew, my knees were on the floor again.

I felt the slight pain in the back of my knees a few seconds later, and realised that he had kicked me. I knew it was a part of the act, and yet I was still annoyed.

"You can do better than that."

Even though it was Matthias, and I knew he was not like this, his tone made me want to shatter his nose on the edge of a table. I forced my way through it, and looked up at Bodyguard in front of me.

He was grinning down at me, like some disgusting weirdo. I was almost surprised that he hadn't made some comment about me on my knees yet. I hoped that Matthias would kill him if he did.

I batted my eyelashes,
"I'm so very sorry, sir. I really shouldn't have lied. I hope you can forgive me."

He chuckled,
"I'll forgive you once you get what's coming to you."

Matthias nodded to him,
"Trust me, she will."

My hair was pulled, once again, and I found myself on my feet. Matthias wrapped a hand around my arm, and released my hair. This was much more comfortable, and I almost thanked him, until I remembered the situation that we were in.

Mr Kora's scratchy voice once again made an appearance,
"You need to train your girls better."

"They'll be trained, don't you worry."

If I didn't already know Matthias, and I thought he was being genuine, he would be terrifying. His cold voice, the laughs, his implications. It made me shiver now, and I knew it was an act.

Matthias reached out a hand to Bodyguard,
"Thank you for bringing her in. Please apologise to Mr Hart from me."

Bodyguard shook his hand and nodded,
"I'm just glad it's being dealt with."