Fly Away

24 - echoes and bursts

Song: Chase Atlantic - Into it (slowed and reverb)

Rocco

I only smoke when I'm stressed.

And right now, I've never been more on edge.

After Ren showed up at my office with that stupidly smug face of his, he told me about an urgent call I needed to take.

Apparently someone fucking blew up one of our most important safe houses which just happened to be next to our second largest depot.

This is all turning to fucking shit way too fast, and I need to up my game if I want to figure this shit out.

It doesn't help that now I'm having doubts about Mia being the mole.

I mean, I've never had a meeting in front of her before, and unless she knows the password to my computer, she's not seen a single thing.

Or maybe I'm just thinking about her hands on me.

Ever since I left that goddamn office, I've not been able to think about anything else except from her. It's been distracting, and it's distracting me now as I'm sitting here in this stupid pointless meeting, smoking.

I don't care that these men see me smoke because they all do it themselves, except for Ren. That's one of the reasons why I respect him, and frankly, tolerate him.

"We need men out there scouting. Find traces of human life around the area. There's a forest nearby and anybody could be hiding out there, so send a team and get it done today." My voice is robotic when I speak, and my mind is somewhere else. It seems to be happening a lot lately.

Alberto, a middle aged man, like the rest of them, speaks up and breaks the tense silence.

"Should we not talk to Boss about what we should do next?" I flicker my eyes towards him, let out a slow breath of smoke, and reply.

"Why are we having this meeting now, and why is Boss not here?" My voice is cold and impatient, exactly how I feel.

Alberto opens his mouth to speak again, but I've had enough of this shit. I put my hand up and get up out of my chair to leave.

"Get this shit sorted or you know what will happen." The threat lingers heavily in the air as I walk towards the door, Ren following behind me.

But I stop when another voice speaks out." When are you going to get that wife of yours to speak. Maybe then this will all be sorted out without more of our product exploding."

My jaw clenches, and I feel a spark of anger ignite within me. This guy is testing me today, and he's just hit the wrong nerve at the wrong time.

I turn around, pull out my gun from behind my blazer, and shoot.

Mia

Rocco sent me home with Leonardo three hours ago, and I've been doing nothing but eating cherries and reading my book.

I've been stuck on the same page for an hour now, because every two seconds, I lie back on the sofa and rewind that kiss, touching my fingers to my lips like it never happened, the tingly feeling still lingering.