Chapter 89: Codename: Aconite Chapter Thirty-Nine

I squeeze Silas’ arm as he notably relaxes. As we make our way to our corner booth, I spot several faces I recognise and exchange a warm smile or hello as we pass. Marios leads us to one of the more private alcoves with a very cozy booth by a window with a beautiful view of the ocean.

“Best seats in the house for one of my favourite ladies. Can I get you any drinks to start?” Marios asks as Silas and I slide into our cushioned booth.

“I’ll have a vodka rocks and he’ll have a black Russian.”

“Coming right up, along with your menus,” says Marios, “Also, before I forget, your uncle has mentioned in passing that Athena has been asking for you.”

I internally flog myself. I promised to be there for Athena, but with everything going on and the threats on my life, it completely slipped my mind. I should have done better.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll be sure to make a phone call tomorrow and see how she’s doing,” I say with a grateful smile.

“I’m sure she’d love that. I’ll just go put in the order for your drinks and have your menus brought to you,” he says warmly, dismissing himself.

“Someone once told me it’s rude to order for someone else,” says Silas with a playful smirk once Marios is gone.

“I couldn’t resist returning the favour,” I grin at him, placing my purse on the table.

“You even remembered that I like Black Russians,” he says with admiration.

“I remember a lot of things.”

“I take it this restaurant is a front for the Drakos family,” he surmises.

I smile at him. “Your powers of induction are impressive. You would be correct, and before you ask, no, I did not choose this place because I feared you’d try something.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because this way we can have a real conversation and no one will bat an eye or alert the authorities if you suddenly decide to tell me what your favourite kill was,” I say light-heartedly.

With a smile on his face, Silas extends his hand across the table, and without missing a beat, I place my hand in his. I don’t know why, but my hand feels right at home in his.

“I’m glad that beautiful mind of yours chose this place, and front or not, it looks exquisite,” he comments, glancing around and admiring the décor.

In no time at all, a waiter comes over with our drinks and two menus. Silas lifts his glass, holding it in the air. “A toast.”

I raise my glass. “And what are we toasting?”

“To working together and to a real first date. May neither of us die when it’s over,” he says with a Chesire grin.

I chuckle, clinking my glass with his, and then we both take a sip. I place my glass down and lift my menu. “Do you think about that night?”

“All the time,” he admits, opening his menu.

“Do you think we were holding back?” I ask him.

He glances up at me, silence stretching out between us as he appears deep in thought. I know I just asked him a loaded question, but I’m not afraid of his answer. If he says no, and that he did everything he could to try and end my life, it changes nothing.

“I honestly don’t. You didn’t hesitate to stab and poison me, and it was only pure luck that saved my life. I shot you and the only thing that prevented me from nailing a perfect shot was the pain I was in. You didn’t know I was Scythe and I didn’t know you were Aconite, but we knew enough in that moment to realise that we couldn’t afford to hold back. A twist of fate is why we’re here right now, but I don’t regret what we did or where we’ve ended up. Do you?” he asks, eyeing me carefully.

I shake my head with a smile. “No regrets. Given our careers and backgrounds, I think us meeting any other way would have been out of character,” I chuckle.

He chuckles with me, “You’re probably right. If you don’t mind me asking, who is Athena?”

“Athena is a friend; one I made a promise to. I’ve regretfully not kept my promise on account of everything going on and need to do better to fix that. She’s going through a very difficult time, and I swore I’d be there to get her through it. To say I dropped the ball would be an understatement,” I sigh shamefully.

“You nearly died several times in the last few weeks with marks all over your body to prove it.”

“You caused many of those marks, for the record,” I casually point out.

“You gave as good as you got. My point is, I’m sure she’ll understand once you explain to her it wasn’t intentional.”

“She understands this life, so I’m sure she’ll be sympathetic. But I still owe her an apology. She’s struggling a great deal, and I was the first person she opened up to. I don’t want my distractions to be the cause of her setback,” I explain.

Silas stares at me, lost in thoughts I can’t even begin to guess when our waiter returns to take our orders. We both present our choices for starter, main and dessert with us both picking the same dish for starter. Once done, the waiter is off to place our orders and we’re left on our own again to continue our conversation. I take a sip from my drink as Silas leans back, stretching his arm out along the back of the booth, commanding my eyes to follow the action.

“I’m dying to know. What was Aconite’s first kill? And how old were you?” he asks, raising his drink to his lips, and taking a slow sip.

I smile as the memory quickly returns to me. “I was seventeen and I helped my mother on one of her jobs,” I say proudly.

“That raises so many questions, so you may as well just tell me the whole story,” he says enthusiastically.

I let out a light chuckle and lean against the table. “My mother was hired to take out a Greek politician. Turned out he had a penchant for young girls, and one of those young girls was his niece. His brother found out and wanted the bastard gone.”

“Wait, the man’s daughter was abused by his own brother? If anyone, blood or not, were to lay a hand on my child, I’m killing them with my own two hands. What kind of man doesn’t even fight for his daughter?” Silas spits, his voice dripping with disgust.

I smile to see how deeply protective Silas is of his hypothetical child and I can’t help swooning a little inside. A man who would kill for you is one thing. A man who would kill for his child? Now that’s someone I could see a future with. Not saying I do see a future with him, of course.

“A valid and admirable stance. His brother was also a politician and as much as he wanted his brother dead, he didn’t want to end up in jail and leave his daughter without a father.”

Silas huffs, “I suppose that’s fair, but it’s really not that hard to get away with murder.”

“I know, right? Like, I don’t think people realise how many unsolved cases there are in the world.”

“Especially ones we caused,” he says with a devilish smirk.

I chuckle darkly, “Touche. Anyway, the brother hired my mother, and she eagerly took the job. I watched her working on it for days, planning how she’d take him out, but this guy had an insane amount of security, and she had no idea how she was going to get past them to get to him. I walked in one day while she was slaving away, going over parameters and suggested maybe in this case, an indirect kill was better suited. She likes to do things up close and personal, but it just wasn’t feasible.”

“So, what did you suggest?” he inquires, leaning forward with growing interest.

“I was always studying various poisons, both plant-based, and non-plant-based, and at the time I’d been studying a lot about thallium. I’d been reading about how during the early 1950s in Australia there was this sudden phenomenon they dubbed Australia’s ‘Thallium Craze’. There was just this insane amount of murders and attempted murders occurring with thallium being used as the murder weapon. Thallium can be inhaled, ingested, or even absorbed through the skin. So, together my mother and I concocted a plan. We waited until he was on a business trip and staying at one of his favourite hotels. My mother posed as a maid service and during the room’s turndowns, she switched out all the existing hotel shampoos, conditioners, soaps, body washes, and toothpaste, for ones that I had laced with thallium. For days that man was bathing in and washing his teeth with thallium. He died a slow and painful death, and it couldn’t be more deserving,” I say haughtily.

Silas lets out a low whistle, “Methodical and sadistic. You guys gave him the tools and let him do himself in. It’s brilliant. How long did it take for him to die?”

“About a week,” I say, taking another sip of my drink.

“I’m sure his victims rejoiced the day they learned he was dead,” he smiles at me.

“We may have stopped him from hurting others, but it didn’t reverse the damage he’d already done.”

“Of course not, but had you and your mother not done what you did, there would have been a lot more victims. Despite what society thinks, I think what you did was noble,” he says, reaching out, taking my hand in his, and brushing his thumb against the back of my hand.

I smile down at his hand and then up at him. “Now you’ve heard about my first kill, you have to tell me about yours. Who gave Scythe his taste for blood?” I say flirtatiously.

He smiles in amusement as his thumb continuously draws circles on the back of my hand. “I’m afraid my first time was not as noble as yours.”

I shrug, “First times usually suck.”

“I told my dad I wanted in on the family business. I’d been training my whole life and wanted to put it to use. He found me a job where a Romanian mob boss wanted to get rid of the competition. I studied their movement for weeks, found the perfect vantage point, and when the time finally came, I took out every single one of them in just a few minutes,” he says confidently.

“How many men?” I ask with burning curiosity.

“Twelve,” he says, leaning in closer.

“All headshots?”

“Nine out of the twelve.”

“I’m sure your mother was proud. I bet you didn’t even break a sweat,” I say, eyeing him lustfully as my teeth graze my bottom lip.

“It takes more strenuous activities to make me sweat,” he says with a smirk, lifting my hand to his lips, and kissing it slowly as his emerald eyes darken.

I gulp down the saliva building in my mouth as I feel an intense throb pulsate through my vagina like a shockwave.

“Oh, I’ve noticed,” I say, trying to keep the desire out of my voice.

Thankfully, our starters arrive before I lose control and crawl across this table to ride this man like a fireman’s pole. If you think a restaurant full of patrons would deter me, you would be very mistaken and grossly underestimating my desire for him. The only thing truly keeping me in this seat is the fact I wouldn’t want my performance getting back to my father. I don’t mind him knowing who I kill, but I draw the line at him knowing who I fuck.

Our meals are full of banter and stories that in any other establishment would have nearby patrons turning white in fear and disgust while calling the authorities. It’s strange having a partner in crime, but it’s nice having someone who isn’t family that I can confide in regarding all the gory details of my life, one who won’t be repulsed or demand I be committed.