The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 24 - Underwater

Aldrich:

I couldn't seem to sit still. Allegra's expression was seared into my mind, that broken hearted pain clear on her face as she turned to look at me one last time before running inside. After seeing her so physically broken at the hospital, and now this... my perception of the cold assassin had changed greatly. Now as I stared at the papers scattered across the desk below me, for some reason she was all I could think about.

"Damn," I hissed, throwing my pen down in frustration. I wasn't usually distracted this easily, and I didn't have the foggiest idea of how to handle it. Running laps might help, or maybe sparring with one of the men, but usually paperwork did the trick well enough. To be distracted still meant that it wasn't going to leave my mind unless I faced the issue head on.

Allegra proved to be much more distracting than I ever anticipated. Not only was she unpredictable but I found myself spending far too much time trying to figure out her motivations or guess her next move. I told myself not to get invested in her, that it would only lead to trouble, but how could I not? She was fascinating, a puzzle that begged to be understood, a piece of art meant to be admired. It was true that she was undeniably beautiful. I found myself staring at her constantly, eyes pulled towards the way she walked and moved. It was like watching a bird of prey fly over a field - at any moment, I was prepared for her to drop out of the air and attack before turning her shrewd focus to another victim entirely.

I couldn't let myself delve too far into those thoughts. Inevitably, I would start thinking about that powerful gaze.... the eyes that made you feel laid bare beneath them, the hips that swayed with every predatory step, the glossy hair that the constantly ran her hands through-

The same hair you want to grip while you toss her into your bed.

I slammed my laptop closed and stood up. In another desperate attempt for a distraction, I stalked toward the bar to the side of my room and poured myself a glass of whiskey. The taste was bitter yet sweet as it ran down my throat.

Think of how sweet she would taste.

Nothing seemed to shake her from my mind. My thoughts of her only grew stronger every time I pushed them away.

My gaze flew up to the ceiling as a loud thud rang through the room. Whatever had fallen must have been heavy enough to shake the hanging lights above me, and I assumed for a moment that one of my men must have knocked something over trying to navigate the dark at this late hour. I was about to brush off any concern when I remembered that I was in my office, not my bedroom... meaning the person in the room above me was Allegra.

I had no doubt that whatever the world threw at her, Allegra could handle, but with the events of the last 48 hours and the subsequent paranoia, an instinct was telling me to ensure that nothing else bad had happened. I set my glass down and made my way out of my office, through the hallway, and up the nearest side staircase that would open up right in front of the guest rooms.

There were no further noises or cause for concern, but something in my gut encouraged me to hurry my steps as I approached Allegra's door. A knock was answered with silence, until I was rapping on the wood much harder than I should have needed to. Something wasn't sitting right and I was surprised that none of the other doors beside Allegra's had been thrown open in concern upon hearing my hammering. Any louder and I would surely wake them up, and I didn't feel particularly inclined to disturb a bunch of deadly assassins in the middle of the night when they were clearly exhausted.

I swore quietly under my breath and turned the handle, hoping that if I did manage to startle the ever alert assassin, she wouldn't be able to kill me as quickly all the way from her bed. When I stepped into the room, however, she wasn't in her bed. A quick glance of the room told me that she wasn't there, and therefore wasn't particularly likely to attack me. The only way I could discern her absence was the sliver of light coming from the cracked bathroom door.