Open Your Heart

Chapter 9

Walking out to the car, he watched as Chardenay recounted the money before putting it in his purse. It had been very clear to him that he hadn't been expecting to get paid nearly that much. Especially not from Henroin himself, and not Mal. Glancing up at the limo, he found Orco already waiting for them with a few new stains on his sleeves. The man smiled as they approached and opened the door for them. Henroin held out his hand and helped Char in before turning to the man and looking down at his sleeves. "Come on, you know better. Don't tell me you're getting reckless." Orco scoffed.

"Oh, this isn't his. I ran into some cocky little shits on my way back and... well, I couldn't resist havin' some fun with them." The man shrugged and Henroin nodded.

"Just as long as you didn't mess anything up. Not that I think you would. After all, you haven't yet." He looked inside the car to where Chardenay had slid in and made himself comfortable, watching him and waiting. "Somewhere for a private dinner. No cameras, no prying eyes, no chatty staff or patrons. Got it?" Orco nodded and pursed his lips.

"In that case, wouldn't it be best to go to a hotel? Or just go home? That way you can ensure you two are alone for as long as you want." For a moment, Henroin was pressed to deny that he wanted to be alone with Char, but his mind flashed back to moments ago. The feel of the deathstalker's body pressed against him, the heat that he'd seen flash through those mercury eyes for only a second. Tamping down the electricity that rushed through his every nerve, he nodded to the man.

"Fine, in that case let's go home. Call ahead and tell them what's going on. That way we can have them make the food when we get there." Orco nodded and Henroin climbed into the car, sliding into the seat beside Char. The door closed behind him and he heard Orco slip into the passenger side in front.

"So, home huh?" He looked beside him and the blond gave him a cheeky smile. "You weren't talking as low as you thought." Henroin shook his head but couldn't stop the grin from showing.

"Home is a bit more private, don't you think?" Relaxing in the seat, he watched as Char shrugged.

"I suppose. Unless you have a ton of staff who haven't been vetted properly and are going to spread all sorts of rumors about you around Hell." Chardenay said the words, but he also was the first to laugh afterward. "No, I don't believe that for a second. Otherwise you'd already have a bunch of rumors floating around about you." Shaking his head, Henroin sighed.

"I knew just about all of them in life too. I know when they died and how, their families... hell, I was at a few of their weddings, that's how far back we go." Chardenay's brows lifted at that, but he knew it would. It was hard enough to find anyone in Hell you might have known, much less multiple people, but he had his ways. It helped that he was an Overlord, so he had successfully made connections that regular sinners couldn't dare to. Like his connection with Lucifer himself. Looking down at his hands, he let his mind grow curious. "Have you found anyone here that you used to know?" Char winced before scrunching his nose in distaste.

"The only one I've found that I met in life was Ruskov and that's only because he found me." Something about the way Char sneered when he said the man's name revealed how much he didn't like the fact at all.

"You didn't like him in life?" He chuckled, but Char didn't smile. In fact, he looked down right livid. "You really didn't like him in life." The deathstalker thought for a moment, chewing on his lip as he clearly debated talking about it at all. When the silence stretched on, he figured the man had made his decision. "What would you do if you met any of your friends from then?" Char thought for a moment before finally giving him the smallest of smiles. It barely lifted the corners of his lips, but it eased the tension that had been building in his stomach.