THE ESCORT

NINETEEN | HIS OBSESSION

True to Boss world, a car was waiting for Elodie by the curb in front of her building, when she stepped out at six pm.

It was a dark SUV with tinted windows, and a large door that slid open as soon as the driver saw her exit.

"Good evening, ma'am," The older man greeted, dark eyes trying their best to stay above her neck.

His smooth hands tried to reach for the rolling suitcase in her grasp, but she brushed him off by side-stepping him smoothly.

Elodie gifted him with a smile. "Good evening, sir."

She basked in his shocked expression as she climbed into the car, lifting her suitcase with her, despite the protest from the driver, and set it by her foot.

Resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to let him do the work, the older man nodded and said, "We'll be heading to the airport right away, ma'am."

"Thank you, sir."

Again, he tossed her a startled look, then shut the door and rounded the car to the driver's side, opened the door and got behind the wheel.

"You almost gave the man an apoplexy by thanking him," came a familiar voice from somewhere behind her.

Elodie had been so caught up in the driver's reaction to her paying respects to him that she hadn't noticed the shift in the air; which was so visible now that that she wasn't caught up in herself.

She leaned a elbow on the armrest of her chair, and peeked into the back.

Hana was seated on the second single chair to Elodie's right, typing on her iPad, lips paused into displeasure.

Dressed in a knee-length three-colored (white, peach and navy blue) tiered tight gown, and dark sensible pumps, Hana looked like a business woman.

Elodie's gaze fell to her own outfit, and she smiled ruefully. "Hello to you too, Hana."

Hana shook her head. "Please refrain from thanking the helps in the future. It'll just make things awkward."

Elodie had alot she could tell the other woman what she thought of her archaic views on how things should be between a worker and their employers, but knew her vitriol would be wasted on the wrong person.

Hana was only acting the way she'd been trained to do.

But, Elodie didn't like it.

Not that there were many things she liked about anyone associated with the Don himself. Speaking of the man himself...

"Are we picking up Angelo on the way?"

"We're meeting him at the airport."

"Okay," Elodie said, toying with the hangnail of her index finger. "Do you know where we're going?"

Hana looked up long enough to cast a furtive smile her way before returning to whatever held her attention on the screen. "I'm not supposed to say."

"You can't give me a hint too?"

Hana shook her head.

Elodie sighed. "Why are you here then?" Seeing Hana's questioning brows, she added, "why are you accompanying me? I thought you were only hired on a temporary basis."

"Mr. Casieri has a lot of business to conduct in London, and...shit."

That wide-eyed deer-caught-in-a- headlights look Hana was wearing was comical.

Elodie took pity on her, though, refraining from setting her on edge the more. "Don't worry, I'll feign total surprise when Angelo tells me where we're going."