Mission Impossible

Chapter 56 ~ Loss

HARRY'S POV

"Relax, Harry," she said, making my heart pound at the use of my real name. "Zayn sent me." Unsurprisingly, this did nothing to calm me down.

"What kind of game is he playing?" I said, our feet never stopping their dance and our smiles never fading. We were keeping up appearances.

"He's not playing any games," Corinna told me. "I know you two don't get along, but he's reaching out as a friend."

"We're not friends," I told her curtly. She sighed.

"Perhaps not," she said. "But you guys are going through similar things right now."

"And what would that be?"

"The loss of Clara," she explained, and hearing her name cut me like a knife. So much for not thinking about her again tonight.

"Clara's not-," I began to say, repeating what I had been telling myself for the past couple of weeks.

"Dead," Corinna interrupted softly. "She wasn't," she told me, confirming I had been right. "Not at first." My chest started to tighten as I began to process where her story was heading. I didn't want to hear it, but at the same time, I did. I needed to.

"What are you saying?" I asked her after she didn't continue. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment, the song ended, and everyone under us started clapping.

"Meet me here tonight. Midnight," she said as we separated, transferring a piece of paper into my hand as she went towards Thomas, and I went towards Katie. I didn't look at the paper, but instead casually slipped it into my breast pocket as I pretended to adjust my suit.

I plastered an even faker smile on my face as Katie and I meet on the dance floor. She had a big smile on her face as well, but hers looked to be real. She put her arms out, and I allowed her to wrap her arms around me as I placed mine on her hips. She looked up at me, and I looked down, opening my mouth to ask her if she was ready to leave, a.k.a., she had the data copied.

Before I could do anything, she was leaning up to my lips, her own lips puckered. Still being in our covers, I kissed her back, giving her a light peck before looking up and meeting eyes with Thomas, who was making his way over to us. Corinna was on his arm, giving me a kind smile.

"I thank you two for the company tonight, and the honor of dancing with the second most beautiful woman in the gala," he said, taking Katie's hand and kissing it. "Corinna is feeling a bit tired, so we will be heading out, but tonight has been fun. I hope to see you two around," he said, giving me a firm hand shake before him and Corinna walked away, leaving the gala for good.

"Wait, did you...?" I turned and asked Katie. With everything Corinna had said, I had almost forgot to bring it back up again. She gave me a cocky grin.

"I did," she said. "We did." I was able to return a smile at her kind words.

"Ready to get out of here, Katherine?" I promoted, using her cover name to remind her that we weren't in the clear yet.

"Yes, my feet could use a rest," she answered, and we linked arms and made our way out of the gala, waiting outside for the valet to bring our car around. In no time at all, I was ushering Katie into the passenger seat, and climbing into my own. As I started the car and drove off, Katie couldn't contain her smile. "That was-," she started to say, before I put my finger over my mouth, silencing her. It was good practice to stay in cover until you were 100% in the clear, but I mostly was doing this because I didn't trust Zayn. Who knows what he could have instructed Corinna to do. Katie nodded next to me, understanding.