Angel's Intrigue

Chapter 3

           Despite the rather large limo seats I was squished between the two men who had previously been waiting by the limo. I shuffled again, trying to gain more space between the two men. With a huff I give up and focus my attention on the man who was currently sitting beside a silent Nixon.

     Leaning forward I stick out my hand, "Who are you?"

     His brow lifts up, for the fist time since entering the car he takes his eyes off the laptop and looks at me. "Jasper." Is his short answer as he looks back at the screen on his lap. I take the time to look him over, he's handsome. Blond hair cut in a military buzz cut, giving his face a rugged look. But the classes he supported gave him the innocence of college look. Why are these men so good looking?

     "Well I am Vega." Not wanting to sit in silence and listen to the sound of typing any longer I turn to the men who currently have made me immobile. "Considering you two have me pinned to the seat, I believe I should at least have the curtesy of your names."

      They look at me, as if for the fist time realising they were pinning me between them. Both moved to the side to give me more room, "Dontae." He had black hair and a tattoo running down his hand. "Xavier," This one's hair was fire red, almost orange.

      I purse my lips trying to think of something to say but when I blurt the first thing that comes to my mind, I blush crimson. "Are you watching porn?" The men beside me who were trying to remain quiet and professional have to turn towards the tainted windows to hide their chuckles. Jasper and Nixon just stare at me while my face burns.

     The only reply is laughter from the men beside me.

      I don't speak for the rest of the ride.

****

     If the address I gave them didn't surprise them then pulling up to the run down, mould filled apartments in one of the 'bad' neighborhoods certainly did. Stepping out of the limo I told them they should probably stay in the car and watch their valuables. I ignored their curses and shuffling to get out as fast as I had. By the time I was on the second floor I heard the distinctive thud of the front door falling off it's top hinge again. Pausing to listen while curse words filled the front entrance of my building I tried not to laugh when one of my older neighbors opened the door to and proceeded to yell at the men to be quiet.

     Having not known which apartment was mine in the three-story building I listened as Xavier described me to the screaming women, her response was an inaudible gasp and the slam of a door. As I begin to walk towards my apartment I heard knocking come from below me, I hesitate, curious as to which neighbor he would be interrupting this time. The voice is unmistakable and has me gripping the flimsy railing for support as silent laughter bubbles up my throat,

     "My oh my, what do we have here?"

     A throat clears, "We are looking for a woman. She's-" Dontae pauses, no doubt the cougar has taken a step closer and is touching him in some way.

     "Well then why don't you come in. I'm all the women you will need." Walking backwards until I am in a position where I am concealed but still have a view of the show in front of me. I see that Dontae is holding the woman's wrist at an odd angle.

     "The woman I'm looking is Vega, she-" again he's cut off, his grip no doubt tightening at her next words. There's a significant pause in the conversation,

      "...Vega? No, no, you must be mistaken. People don't go looking for that devil, she finds them. If I were you, I'd stay away from her. Far away." A smile tugs on my face as I turn to leave. But not before hearing, her mutter "Second floor last door to the right." A door slams.

****

      Not may things shocked me at this point in my life, there wasn't much I didn't know. I was taught to expect to the unexpected, but I can say with certainty that when I opened my apartment door my skin scrawled. I was not expecting this.

     Standing in the archway of my apartment my body was tense to the point of pain.

     Roses.

     Pink roses. Everywhere.

    I had been found me.

     My breath was coming in and out at an alarming rate. Sucking in a deep breath as I walked through the hundreds of roses scattered throughout my apartment. No place was left untouched by the flowers. My mind in a fog of confusion, how had he found me? Had he alerted the French mafia? Quickly discarding my last thought, he was no longer in any mafia.

     Walking through my tiny apartment to the bathroom, as if on habit I reach for the bottle of pills sitting on the stained sink. Tossing the last few in my hand I reach under the cabinet sink and grab my bag. Without checking the bag, I already know it has everything I will need. It was always pack, anything I took out was immediately replaced after its use.

     Reaching into the side of the bag I pull out a single throwing knife and slip it into small the waist band of my jeans. By the time I had gotten the knife placed in a way that it wasn't going to stab me I turned and walked back through my apartment to my fridge, kicking some roses out of the way in the process. Ripping the door open I downed a shot of vodka with the pills I was still holding in my hand. Hoping to take off the edge. Turning I kicked a few more roses out of my way, unaware of the prying eyes watching me with cation from the doorway.

****

     I walk back to the limo in a daze, only realizing the car was gone when I was standing in front of the now empty parking space. Confused I turn to the men who had been shadowing me, with a raise of my eyebrow I silently question them. "They had to leave, another car is coming." I silently nod my head.

     I spent the next ten minutes leaning on the dirty wall listening to the two men talking about random nothingness. By the time the car pulled up I had been contemplating just running for it but I was never a fan of running. Two men stepped out of the Toyota, the one who exited the passenger side made Dontae and Xavier look like twigs. An accomplishment I imagine is hard to do. While the driver greeted Dontae, 'muscle' as I had decided to call him, opened the back door and gave me a pointed look.

     I don't move.

     Still standing by the back-door he glares at me. When I tilt my head and smirk at him, still give no indication that I'm going to do as he wants, he fumes. Storming towards me I stand up straight, curious as to what he plans on doing. There's no way I can use one of my poisons or the knives in my bag without giving away the fact I am not just an innocent care-giver that Mason had grown attached to. But nonetheless when he reaches for me, I still sidestep him. Just because I can't kill him doesn't mean I'm going to let him touch me.

     "Are you on steroids?" My question only seems to anger him even more. His growl of annoyance alerts the others. Again, I sidestep his attempts to grab me. This time I unintentionally trap myself between him and the driver when I move away from him. A hand grabs me my arm from behind. I have to fight every instinct in my body that screams for me to kill these men. Instead I yank myself from the driver's grip, stepping to the side once again and this time straight into 'muscles' fists.

     Pain.

     My blurred hands fly to my nose.

     Every nerve in my body rages with an anger that can only be settled with blood. I have to remind myself that if I defend myself in the ways that I was taught, then I'd be sentencing myself to weeks in an interrogation cell.

     I can feel myself stumble backwards but it doesn't stop the next hit from connecting with the bone under my eye.

      There's yelling but I can't make out what they're saying. It sounds like I'm underwater. Through a blurred vision I can see Xavier and the driver haling the man who punched me away.

      My legs give out, the black dots that had been clouding my vision takes over but not before I feel a pair of arms wrap around me.

      My day just keeps getting better and better.