THE ESCORT

FIFTEEN | MECURIAL, WALKING CONTRADICTION

A/N:

Updates, I've worked out, would be once in a week. And if I'm unable to make it, then it'd be a double update the next week.

Happy Reading!

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"Here you go."

A glass filled with water appeared in her line of vision.

The hand holding the glass looked familiar, so did the voice.

In fact, Angelo was the last person she expected, but the man was a mercurial, walking contradiction, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to her.

Elodie accepted the glass without a glance, then set about rinsing the vile taste lingering in the back of her throat.

"Today is the last of our agreement."

"It is," she replied, keeping her gaze on the open water, even as her fingers clenched around the glass to keep her tremble from becoming obvious.

Angelo was like a shark with a blood sensor; the minute he smelled her fear, she was sure to be drawn into one of his sick, twisted fantasy.

"I know you're thinking something along the lines of me not letting you go," he said, leaning both of his elbow on the rail beside her.

She studied his fingers.

There were dark inks on four of his left fingers—the ring, index, fore, and middle finger—and while she couldn't see what it was clearly, Elodie was able to to make out the shapes of numbers.

On the back of his hand was an elaborately done rose in a shade so dark that it glinted in the mild sunshine. Falling around the petals of the rose was droplets of what could only be blood, but the sleeve of his shirt stopped her from studying it further.

After a while, Elodie came to realize that he was waiting for her to say something.

She chose to keep quiet.

With what little time she's spent in his company, Elodie had been able to gather a bit about Angelo.

He liked it when his audience for him to ask a direct question before speaking. Anything aside from that could trigger him.

Besides, there was no telling if he was still smarting from Fabian's betrayal from earlier—still in a volatile head space—and until she figured out if he was back to being Angelo, Italian mobster extraordinaire, she was keeping her mouth shut.

"I'll have one of my men drop you off at the Agency in the morning," he continued, sensing that she wasn't ready to budge. "Your phone would also be returned to you when you're set to leave."

Elodie turned to look at him, clocking her head slightly to the right. "You're letting me go?"

He met her gaze, a dark brow raised. "Do you want me to keep you here?"

Was that a trap question?

It was definitely a trap question.

If she said no, he might be offended that she wanted to leave his company so quickly, and if she replied in the positive, then he'd be tempted to keep her longer.

There was no winning, was there?

"Why did you kill Fabian?" When in doubt, deflection was the best option.

The slight upward tick of his lips told her that he knew what she just did.

Angelo broke their stare-off, looking back out to the shimmering waters. "I don't take betrayals lightly. He killed a whole family just for their possessions."