No Pills

35. Sexy

Warning: This chapter contains a scene that... touches on pedophilia. Please if you don't want to read, comment it here, so I can summarise any valuable information for the next chapters.

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*Charlie's P.O.V*

I shake my head.

"Don't tell me you don't drink?" Mr. Yeltsin pours a glass of whiskey. I shrug, and he chimes in, "So you guys take what at the club? Water?"

Again, I don't know what to say. I tap my fingers on his desk as he guzzles the whiskey. His brown eyes daze and a sigh escapes.

I stop tapping. He frowns. "What?"

"Are you sad?"

"Excuse me?"

"Losing your wife must be hard, right?"

He sits up. "Hmmm. I warned her that she couldn't play with both sides of the field. And even if that wretched hitman wasn't going to kill us, your bosses would."

Nodding with false understanding, I ask why.

"Because -" A notification ring cuts him off. The man glances at his phone and then types something before reverting to me. "As I was saying." His sharp shoulders shudder a nanosecond. "The hitman... Albert, about a year ago, he came here to kill, you know who. But obviously, I am not her, so he should have let us be, right? "

"Uh-huh. But he didn't?"

"Yes. He said he doesn't let his witnesses go, so my wife had to beg him for our lives. She told him she'd do anything, so he made her -" Mr. Yelstin hesitates. I give him an encouraging smile briefly.

"His informant," he sighs, "Now I know what you're thinking -"

I'm not thinking.

"But, like I said, I warned her. I knew we should have sacrificed ourselves, whereas she thought we could figure a way through the system's cracks. Don't blame her, though; she was so frightened she forgot your bosses are mightier than that flimsy cartel that hired Albert."

I take this information with the best act I can muster, twirling my hair to seem bored now.

"You don't care?" He finishes by pouring himself another glass.

I shrug, although inwardly, the mention of a cartel sends a shiver up my neck. Also, how mightier are my 'bosses'? Are they also a cartel? How large? What is this -

"Well, now you know, I guess your job is finished." He stands abruptly. I follow suit. I'm taller than him, but his clenched fists can pummel me in a heartbeat.

Yes, Charlie, go now!

"Wait." He holds up a callused finger. I watch him rummage through his files on the desk. When his eyes revisit mine, he's handing me a red envelope.

"Old school style," he scoffs, "Give it to Andrés tonight."

Who? Hopefully, its content will give me some clues. I nod.

"Alright now," he dismisses me with a nonchalant hand gesture. I walk out as calmly as possible, although my palms are wetting the envelope. Autumn reappears in the corridor, but I don't quench her curiosity. I just follow her until we arrive at the gates of her uncle's mansion.

Unlocking it, she says, "I do love Harry, though."

"Stay away from him forever," is my response.

She chokes back what sounds like tears. I don't care. I march on. I board a train home, during which the envelope bears the total concentration of my eyes.