[1] Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 31

VAL
༻❁༺

     I decided to withdraw from the next mission. Nobody said anything about it when I mentioned it earlier at the meeting because I had Kate and Price's approval, except Soap, who opened his mouth to complain about why he wasn't getting the same treatment and–"Ow, why would you punch me, Valentina!"

"You're a fucking idiot, Jabón."

"Just because you can't pronounce Soap correctly doesn't mean you have to call me that shit."

"It's the same fucking meaning just different languages!" My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Yeah, it was hard for me to pronounce that word correctly and sometimes I'd mix it up with soup, whatever.

"It's not!"

"It is!"

"It's not!"

"It so is!"

"Could you two please shut the fuck up?" Graves snapped, annoyed. "You look like two children fighting over a color pencil, for fuck's sake, it's getting on my damn nerves."

Soap and I turned our bodies in his direction, and it felt as if we were connected when we both opened our mouths at the same time and yelled, "I don't fucking care what you think—"

"Alright, that's enough." Alejandro got up from his seat. The proud smile on his face told me he was enjoying this moment a little too much.

*ೃ༄

Valeria, our brand new visitor (wouldn't call her a prisoner) told us where to find the stolen missiles. About 400 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in a no-longer active rig, used by the cartel as a smuggling dead drop.

I wanted to talk to Valeria and find information through her, even though I knew it was going to be a difficult task. I just wanted to make sure what I was looking for, if she already knew Philip Graves before we took her hostage, and if he had anything to do with the leaked info. There was a chance she would not open her mouth, but if she did not want to give me anything, I would just resume my original work and try to get into Graves's quarters for some evidence.

Valeria's lip turned upward when I stepped through the door, molding into a mix of a sexy and teasing smirk. Her mask was perfectly in place, though I caught the way her eyes widened ever so slightly. "Güerita! Quién lo diría, ¿eh?" Who'd say, eh?

I didn't bother to respond. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't think of any words. The place they were keeping her in was literally a storage container. I'd noticed from the outside, but I thought Alejandro was decent enough to at least put a mattress inside, knowing her stay here would be for a little longer than we thought. Yet there was nothing. Nothing but a damn wooden chair in the middle of the room.

"You spent the night here?" I couldn't help but blurt out. If she said yes, I was sure my fist would be meeting Alejandro's jaw in a few hours.

Valeria frowned, tilting her head to the side, that smug grin still plastered on her mouth. "I already gave your pathetic friends what they wanted. I am not wasting my breath any longer."

"I'm not here for that, Valeria."

The smile fell from her lips as soon as she heard the way her name came out of my mouth, which was not exactly with an American accent. When the realization hit her, she threw her head back and laughed, dragging it out into a scoff. "Que hija de puta." What a motherfucker. A pause, her eyes trailing down my body. "Should've known better with that little name you got—should we speak Spanish now?"