Billie Bossa Nova

31.

They spent an hour and a half at that store before they finally found something for both Kai and Billie. Kai showed absolutely no interest, as usual, while Billie rambled on with Mbali on how her make-up would look and how she should style her hair and nails. Kai and Rusty walked behind them again as they finally exited the store with bags in hand. Billie searched again for the stalker from earlier.

For a moment, she didn't find him. But then, he appeared again. His outfit had changed, that was why she couldn't see him. His hair did as well, going from black to blonde. Surely a wig. He no longer wore the nerd glasses and was now casually walking with a full cart as if having been grocery shopping. She gave it to him for the props and outfit change. As a spy, it was essential to stay as invisible as possible. Change of clothes and looks in general made him assimilate into the public and be completely unnoticeable. Nothing stuck out more than seeing the same face in a public area more than once. Little did the guy know, he was spying on a spy. Not that it made Billie any less uncomfortable, but at least she could keep track on the guy.

"Are you hungry?" Kai appeared next to her. Her expression tightened and she shook her head. She was starving, but he didn't have to know that. "You haven't eaten since morning. You like pizza?"

"I hate pizza." Billie adored pizza.

"There's a nice restaurant where you choose your own toppings that I couldn't try out last time. It should be straight ahead."

She huffed. She was starving, and the idea was too tempting to reject, no matter how mad at him she was. Moreover, she wouldn't punish herself for him. He wasn't worth it. "I'll be buying my own meal."

He chuckled. "Oh, sorry, you can't. You left your purse in the car."

Billie's head snapped to him. "I didn't..." She took in his expression. The slither of a smirk trying to appear from his lips made his eyes shimmer with menace. She turned to the cart of their clothes that Rusty had been driving behind them, finding both Rusty and the cart gone. "I sent the tour guide home. Rusty went to put our things back at the hotel. He should be back in about an hour."

"Then I'll wait for him."

"Like I said, it's straight ahead." He continued walking and she did to, only to keep up with his strides. "I'll take it you're lying again about not liking pizza. Otherwise we could try out something more local."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Is this your way of trying to get me to forgive you? Buying me a meal?"

"Forgive me? I was never sorry."

Her eyes narrowed. "In that case, then, no I'm not hungry at all. Take me home."

"You'd starve yourself on my account? Flattering."

"Not everything is about you."

He shrugged. "Granted. So eat something."

With a sigh, she tried to subtly look for her stalker again. She could only search in front of her, because looking back would raise suspicion. The last thing she wanted was him knowing that she knew that he was spying on her.

"What's on your mind, Billie?"

She glanced over at Kai. He was watching her again. "That my boss should stop watching me before I cross the line of unprofessionalism and whack him in the head."

"Good God." His face scrunched. "For a woman, you're awfully violent."

"I consider that a compliment."

"What's really on your mind? You seem bothered."

He was gifted when it came to milking someone off their thoughts, she'd noticed. Convincing. It probably came with the job, having to negotiate and persuade people into getting what he wants. To the core, she was tempted to tell him everything. That she was being stalked, that his father was a human trafficker, that his entire company, the one that he had worked all his life to inherit and own, was built over the lives of the millions of young women Adan had taken and exploited.