The Heartbreaking Agreement

Chapter XXIII

Nathan lead me towards a different elevator, after we left the room and everyone in there behind us. This one was smaller, but because it was just two of us it wasn't a big problem.

I was more worried about Nathan himself. The way he stared at me the entire time, when we stood there in silence. I tried not to look in his direction.

Just ignore him.

Suddenly, the elevator stopped and I almost jumped.

No, poker face. Focus, Angel. POKER FACE!

When the doors opened Nathan with a simple gesture welcomed me to go first. I did, curious where we were. I hold my breath when I saw a spaceful room. It was so bright with its white walls and the furniture of the same color I needed few seconds to get use to a new lightning.

Nathan passed by me, walking towards big glass doors and opened them. Only then I realized those doors lead to a balcony with a beautiful view.

He turned towards me with a smirk on his face.

"Come closer, my beautiful Phoenix. I want you to see this."

Carefully, I walked in his direction, until we were standing side by side. He grabbed my hand and I felt my muscles tense, but I tried to not show any emotion on my face.

He lifted my hand closer to his face and after a second I felt his lips, but I didn't even look at him. Instead, I stared at the view in front of me.

Just like Kile said, Nathan had a second garden on the back. There was a swimming pool, a bar and a little outdoor fireplace. There were couple of people walking around, cleaning broken glass, plastic cups and other trash. He probably had a party here last night.

Last night.

When a Tiger died. When Quinn killed him. When police got him.

Where they celebrating the death of their friend? Or maybe the fact that they got a Phoenix into their hands?

"My lady, please relax. I know it's the first time when we are alone, but believe me, I won't hurt you."

Easy to say. I have no idea, what he wanted from me. To be honest, I'm not even sure if I can trust him. How can I know that he will let Quinn go? Maybe right now my friends are fighting for their lives and I'm standing here with this... freak.

I can't trust him. I don't know him. I didn't even hear about him before this morning. I need to somehow survive this one day and go back home.

Back to Quinn and my old apartment.

"Am I not handsome enough for you?" his question confused me and without thinking at first I looked at him. He was smiling, satisfied. "You're ignoring me."

"I'm trying to survive" I took my hand away from his and he didn't stop me. He put his hands into pockets of his black pants and just stared at me.

Why is he so weird?

"Like all of us, my little Phoenix"

"Stop calling me that"

He raised his eyebrow.

"What? Little Phoenix?"

"And this whole my lady thing"

He cracked a smile which turned into a joyful laugh. I didn't expect that. I looked at him, pretty sure now he was crazy. A psycho. A maniac.

"Oh, they didn't tell you" he started moving back inside with a mysterious look in his eyes.

"Tell me what?" he caught my attention. I followed him and watched him as he poured red wine for both of us. He gave me the glass and then he sat on a white sofa, which had hundreds of pillows. I sat next to him, careful not to spill the wine.

Sometimes I don't understand why am I so polite.

He sat confidently, sending me a warm smile, seeing I wasn't as comfortable in this situation as he was.

"Well, I'll try to keep it short and simple so please, try to enjoy the wine and don't interrupt me. Unless, you want to play with my nerves."

And of course, I didn't want to. So far, Nathan was anything but rude, although his comments could be inappropriate. And yet, I knew there was something about him that I should be afraid of. I knew if he wanted to, he could hurt me.

I nodded, agreeing to listen quietly.

"Splendid. Let me start from the beginning then." his eyes moved towards the painting on the other side of the room. "I hope you know that Old Man is a part of OCA."

Origin Creation Association.

I nodded.

"Good. Then he probably also mentioned that he's not the only member. There were several, but after many years only few stayed alive. Some died happily with their families and some were tortured to death or ended their lives behind bars." he said it so casually, like it wasn't a big deal to him.

Probably wasn't.

"One of them is Thomas Newman and, surprise! He's Jerome's grandaddy."

Thomas Newman is Jerome's grandfather? What does it mean? Besides the fact, that apparently being a criminal is in Jerome's veins.

"And another one was Jacob Sullivan"

My heart stopped beating for a half of second. Jacob Sullivan, it couldn't be. He can't be speaking of my grandfather, right? My grandfather was a quiet man, who loved working in his garage. He died few years ago, but I could remember his laugh. His joyful and warm laugh.

He couldn't be a criminal. He was a good man. A gentleman. A husband and father.

"He wasn't-"

"Don't interrupt me, my lady. Let me continue. I'm not done."

He gave several more seconds to process this information. My grandfather. A criminal. A fucking bloody criminal.

"Sullivan was the founder of Tigers and Newman is responsible for Phoenix. Old Man likes to say they were good friends, but if you talk to Newman, he won't say one good thing about your granddaddy. It could be because he's mentally ill and antisocial, but I personally think they never liked each other."

"What are you trying to say?"

Nathan sighed, annoyed that I spoke up again, but didn't say anything about it.

"You're suppose to be a Tiger, my lady, and yet, you have a Phoenix fire on your skin."

A Tiger. Is this some sort of bad joke?

"Usually, we can't switch... sides, but because of your blood I think our fellow brothers and sisters wouldn't mind bending that one rule for you." he smiled, his eyes on me again. He reached for a piece of my hair and put it behind my ear.

"I can't-"

"I'll give you one day to think about this. Ask me questions, if you have any. I wish to be here to support you and help you decide. I want to be your friend."

He moved a little bit closer, his lips lightly touching my ear.

"Unlike some people, I'll always be here for you, my lady."  

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