The Bounty

Four

I spent three days torturing people. No one had answers.
I racked my brain to make a list of the people who knew my identity but it was a very small list.
I screamed out all of the swear words in my vocabulary as I went over the list again. I have memorized the names in the exact order they were written in. Shaw, Greyson, Miller, Terry and Cole.
They were all people working for the company and they were all allies to me. I had to figure out if one of them knew anything.
When I confronted Cole he told me that no one would dare to betray me, Blackwell. He said that he will keep his ears open around the office.
Both Greyson and Terry were too scared of me to betray me. They couldn’t even talk to me in normal circumstances.
So now the list left me with Shaw and Miller. Shaw was the VP of the company and Miller was the CEO. They were both powerful men who could easily hurt my mother, but I don’t know why one of them would do it. Both Shaw and Miller knew me since I became an assassin. Miller was the one who gave me my first target and afterwards he introduced me to Shaw. If Shaw wanted to hurt me he would have done so already.
I was lost in thought. My head was pounding from all the strain and I wanted to sleep more than anything.
Lately three hours of sleep a day felt like ten hours.
“What happened to the hot chocolate?” Alex stood in front of me. He also had a coffee in his hands.
When I didn’t answer he pulled out a chair. “Mind if I sit?”
I stared out the window, completely ignoring him. Well, trying too. It was hard to ignore a man who looked like an angel who stepped out of a Renaissance painting.
“Oh, come on. The weather is cold enough outside, you do not need to be an ice queen.” I picked up a trace of irritation in his voice.
“Then don’t talk to me.” I got up to leave but then I felt his warm hand wrapping around my wrist.
“Please, don’t go. I just want to get to know you. Am I that annoying?” He asked still holding my wrist. There was a hurt look on his face.
I felt really guilty. On top of the million other thoughts and feelings in my head, I did not have time to worry about some guy who seemed to like me. I spun around and pulled my wrist free. “I’m sorry, but I have somewhere to be.”
There was a hurt look in his sapphire eyes which made me feel even more guilt. He didn’t say anything else as I walked out of the coffee shop.
The snow felt too cold today. I wasn’t bothered by the cold most of the time but I shivered as the flakes fell around me. This must be what my heart looked like. I guess when you kill people for a living, you can’t really expect to feel anything warm and nice.
My head pounded harder and I pressed my cold hand against my forehead.
I was on my way to my apartment, but I froze midway.
I wasn’t ready to face the fact that I am all alone in the world now. I’ve been too busy for the truth to hit me. Even though Lucifer was just a cat, he was the only thing I had left in this world.
With my head pounding and my thoughts in a million places at once, I didn’t notice the car when I crossed the street.
The only thing I heard was the tires screeching and someone calling to me. It wasn’t my name they were calling.
“Café-girl!”
I thought I was dead. I should have been, but instead I was in the middle of the road with an angel hovering over me.
I looked into his eyes as he crouched over me. There was a lot of emotion in the sapphire of his eyes and I couldn’t quite place the feelings I saw there.
Alex picked me up and carried me to a bench on the sidewalk. He had scrapes on his arms and he seemed to be limping a little.
“Are you alright? You could have been killed.” His voice was soft and caring. He scanned over my body for injuries and sighed in relief when he didn’t find any.
“You could have been killed!” I shouted at him but my voice broke and it came out a soft cry. “What were you thinking?”
“That I was saving a girl who looked quite troubled since she didn’t even look for traffic when she crossed the street. Are you crazy?”
“So what if I am?” I sat up straight and got a look at his injuries. Some are more severe than they seemed. He must have been hit by the car, because he had a lot of blood on the back of his leg. “You have to get to a doctor.”
He started to protest, but I got up from the bench and pulled him up too. “Put your arm around my shoulder.” I commanded.
“Wait, don’t you hate me?” He asked but did it anyway.
He leaned heavily on me and if it wasn’t for my unearthly strength I would have passed out by the time we got a cab. I got in with Alex and instructed the driver to get us to the hospital quickly.
Even though Alex tried his best to hide it, I could see that he was in pain. I went with him when the doctor examined his injuries and gave him some stitches.
After some pain medication he was cleared to go home.
“So I literally just saved your life. Could you tell me your name now?” He asked with a hopeful expression on his face. His eyes lit up making them a few shades lighter. I didn’t like how that made my heart beat faster.
I laughed softly and nodded. “It’s Lydia.”
“Lydia, I like it.” He gave me a crooked smile.
After a silent cab ride back to the café he asked, “So will you have coffee with me now?”
I frowned and against my better judgement, I nodded.
He led me to the table where we first met and went to the counter to order. I looked at him as he limped to the counter. I felt really bad.
When he came back he handed me a huge hot chocolate which made the corners of my mouth pull up against my will. He noticed my smile and he grinned in return.
“So could this be labelled as a date?” He asked jokingly and took a sip of his hot chocolate.
“No.” I answered to quickly. I really would have liked this to be a date. I’ve only ever been on a few dates before but that was back when I was in high school.
He chuckled. “I should have known I could not win you over like this. Well, I’ll just have to try harder.”
I’ve never really experienced the whole butterflies-in-you-stomach feeling but the feeling I got from those words could be describe as little creatures flying around in my empty stomach. I forced myself to keep a straight face. “Good luck with that.”
“I don’t believe in luck. I only have to rely on my natural charms.” He flashed a bright smile.
I had to get away from him before I get myself in trouble. As much as I tried I couldn’t bring myself to leave. He seemed to captivate me. I stared into his eyes, then his lips which were full and looked so soft.
“Are you alright?” He asked. There was amusement in his voice.
“Yeah, why?” I asked and I felt my face heating up. I felt like a stupid teenager again.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Sorry. What was the question?” I asked and felt really stupid. This wasn’t like me. I wouldn’t fall for a guy just because he saved my life, but there was something about Alex that attracted me like a magnet.
He was amused. I could see it all over his face. “I asked about your job. What do you do for a living?”
My body went cold. You kill people! My mind accused. “I uh… I am an intern at Redfield’s.”
“An intern, wow.” He rubbed his jaw.
“Yeah. So what about you?” I asked, embarrassed about my lie.
“Am I an intern? No.” He smiled slightly.
His smile kept pulling my under! I have to stop this before it’s too late.
“No, what do you do?”
“I’m a soldier. Marine. I was temporarily discharged because of an injury I got in Iraq.” He did look like a soldier. Even with his body covered with thick winter clothing I could see that he was well built.
“So, when are you going back, Soldier?” I asked and even though I tried, I could not pull myself out of the pit I fell in the moment he saved my life.
“That depends, I guess.” There was a strange tone in his voice.
Before I could ask on what it depended he got up. He held his hand out to me. “Do you want to go somewhere with me?”
“Where?” I asked and before I could stop myself I placed my small hand in his. Our hands fitted like two puzzle pieces. It made me feel strangely… giddy.
“We could go anywhere.” He opened the door for me.
“I think I have a place.” I said and without thinking I led him to my apartment building.
We took sixteen flights of stairs and walked out to the roof of the building. Nobody really came up here other than me.
“I love this place.” I admitted. Alex was the first person I brought up here with me.
“It’s so peaceful.” He agreed and took a step closer to me.
I tried to step back but my back was already against the wall.
He gave another step closer to me. My heart was beating uncontrollably as he came closer.
We were just inches apart and I forced myself to stay against the wall so that I do not close the distance between us.
He took another step. Our noses touched and I could feel his warm breathing on my nose and mouth.
I was just about to move closer and kiss him but then he collapsed. It was only then that I noticed his flushed face and the perspiration on his forehead and neck. I crouched beside him and placed my hand against his forehead. It was almost scalding hot. He had a fever.
“Alex?”