SPITEFUL CHARADES - BOOK V

- Chapter 3 -

"Iuliana..."

That single word of paramount meaning slipped out of Gunay's lips before he could stop it. For the life of him, he could not figure out whether he said it out of fear, dismay, or... relief. He only knew two things. One, he was grateful that he possessed the ability to read minds and Iuliana did not. And two, whatever he felt at the moment had to remain a secret. Especially to the woman standing before him.

And, oh! Did the sight of her pack a punch. She stood there, in a midnight blue dress with a split thigh cut revealing long legs. With moonlight glowing off her bare shoulders. With her dark shoulder-length hair dancing playfully in the gentle breeze. Gunay swallowed hard, unable to move - neither away or forward.

She wasn't a dream. Nor was she an apparition. Nor a figure of his imagination. He was not a daydreamer, and wishful thinking was never his thing - particularly when he swore to himself he never wanted to see his former lover again.

He cleared his mind at once, as he often did in a moment of utter chaos, and listened to the silence filling the space between them. Then he narrowed his eyes on her, smirking as he figured out the only possible reason for her standing before him. He was about to speak when Roberto's voice rang sharp in his ear.

"You've got to forget about her! She's probably the reason You're going to get caught!"

"Shut up," Gunay replied stoically. Too stoically for Roberto not to find it suspicious.

"Why are You mad at me? She's the one who messed everything up tonight."

"You're absolutely right," Gunay continued to smirk, his eyes locked with Iuliana's.

"I am?" Roberto chuckled, doubting his luck.

"Am I?" Iuliana raised her eyebrow, standing half in moonlight, half in the helicopter's shadow. "What exactly am I right about?"

"SHE'S THERE!?!" Roberto exclaimed so loud it pinched a nerve in Gunay's ears. So much so that he winced, tipping his head to the side.

"Please don't tell me You still drag Roberto along?" Iuliana grinned with amusement.

"She remembers me?" Roberto asked, excited, forgetting about the rest of the world and about the failed mission for a split second.

"Apparently." Gunay grit his teeth, somehow mad at Iuliana for recalling - and remembering - the past. "What are You doing here?"

"I decided to take a stroll in the moonlight." She crossed her arms at her chest. He hated when she did that. Whenever she did so, it ran a slither of desire down the small of his neck. And, much to his frustration, she remembered that, too. Worse yet, she always knew when to use the move for maximum effect.

"Bullshit," Gunay disagreed, pointing to the way from which he came from. "This place is far from Giancarlo's grounds. You either followed me here or..."

"Or she needs Your help to escape," Roberto announced triumphantly.

"Exactly," Gunay agreed with him.

"You left me no choice but to follow You," Iuliana walked up to him in defiance, regretting it. She never forgot the way she always felt looking up at him because of their height difference. She may have considered herself of adequate height, always supported by her favorite designer heels, but she was no match to Gunay towering over her.

"I left You no choice?" Gunay leaned toward her. "I never wanted to see You again."

"Yet, here we are, twice in one evening," she flashed him a quick smile.

"That's on You," Gunay straightened up, circling her to the side, and walked toward the pilot's door of the helicopter.

"And Your big mouth is on You," she turned around but did not move closer to the helicopter.

"I have no idea what You're talking about," Gunay replied without looking back at her as he opened the pilot's door.

"You just had to gloat about Your lavish yacht in the Marina, didn't You?" She tipped her head.

"What?" He looked back at her now.

"That little dumpling You flirted with ratted You out."

"I have no idea what You mean," he shook his head, and raised himself to get into the helicopter.

"You can only imagine the chaos that erupted after the guards found Giancarlo," Iuliana examined her nails in a sign of amused disapproval. "Your little dumpling wasted no time racing toward the guards to make them aware of a suspicious halfwit with poor manners who must have taken their boss out."

"I am not a halfwit with poor manners," Gunay stepped back down on the ground.

"Her words, not mine." Iuliana tipped her head to the other side.

"Whatever." Gunay narrowed his eyes on her. "You still did not answer as to why You're here."

"My boat was at the Marina, which by now is swarming with Giancarlo's guards and Police."

"And?" Gunay demanded more information.

"And my getaway boat is inaccessible."

"Your getaway boat?" Gunay and Roberto repeated her words in unisom.

"I said what I said." She offered no further explanation.

"You took out Giancarlo?" Gunay opened his eyes, swearing to himself on the inside - not because of what she did, but because he revealed too much by what he just said and what showed on his face.

"Yes," she said bluntly. Then she chuckled. "Don't tell me that's why You were here tonight?"

"I didn't say I was," he clenched his fist.

"You did not have to," she shook her head. "You haven't changed at all."

"How would You know?" The words slipped out before he could stop himself. There was so much anger in them. So much resentment. So much angst.

"I guess You are right." She lowered her tone. An argument was the last thing they needed at the moment. "Let the past rest, Gunay. I do need Your help."

"Why?" Even though he pretended he did not care, he did. He could not help it. Regardless of what laid in the past.

"We all make mistakes."

"I don't apologize for others' mistakes," he all but growled.

"There will be a place and time where I will explain why I left. This is not that time," she walked up to him. "You must hate me, but not enough to leave me behind."

"You left me behind," he whispered, stone cold.

"Not because I hated You."

"Will You stop acting like brats and leave already? The guards will be there any moment. I seriously doubt a helicopter in the dead of night won't spark their curiosity," Roberto scolded his best friend through the earpiece.

"This one's on You," Gunay replied to Roberto, but received a response from Iuliana who assumed he spoke to her.

He received a response, though not one he could have anticipated. Even for a mind reader. After all, how could he have foreseen a kiss that came out of nowhere? A kiss so urgent, so breathless, so full of years of yearning that it left his head spinning long after they climbed into the helicopter and flew away...