Chapter 35 Thirty Five
OWEN WINTERS
The smell of alcohol and weed dictated the atmosphere. I sat at a corner watching the bodies of women sway as they played with the pole. I could feel my breathing — hard and suffocating. Someone should remind me what I'm doing here again? I sighed downing the spirit as I let the liquid intoxicate me.
This should be a fun night.
“Remember the plan, Winters,” someone said through the pods stuck in my ear. “For Pete's sake, I'm not a child and I know exactly what I'm doing here,” I retorted, already irritated that the after effects of the alcohol left my mind.
I focused on the women swinging their hips on the drug dealers who casually did business… the cards being played, the plans being made… and in just a few minutes from now, they would all go into flames. The thought angered me, but gave me a sense of peace. The Xavier's would love the news.
The Xavier's.
My mind instantly went to Dylan Xavier's daughter, the last time I saw her, she was ten and naive. I wondered how she was doing. “I'm too fucked up to face her again,” I muttered under my breath cursing the man that I have become — the man I turned out to be.
“What?” The man on the other line said into my ear, making me wince. “Shut up!” I cursed checking the time.
Some minutes from now… .
“Hi, handsome, care for a drink?” Someone asked with the sweetest and most innocent voice I had heard since eleven years ago. Looking up, my eyes scanned the blonde that stood before me, a tattoo graced her neck and she had the right curves in the right place.
“I'll pass, love,” I said, switching from totally aggressive to the greenest flag one could ever find only in fantasy books. “I saw you from over there-” she pointed towards the bar where she formerly stood. “- You looked worried, so I came to poke my nose in your business.” I laughed at her beautiful accent, remembering the last time my lips curled into a genuine smile was a vague memory.
My lucky day.
“Well, this young man has a lot going on,” I replied as calmly as possible.
“Exactly why this is an illegal casino, drink your way to happiness, Mr…”
“Winters. Owen Winters,” I said and regretted it instantly. She stared at me, her Prussian eyes wide from fear, she stepped back and I stood.
“A minute more bitch, get out of there!” The voice on the other line said.
“Get the fuck out of…” I cut the line looking up at the woman. “Whatever your name is, this place will soon be ashes, so let's get…” I tried holding her hand, but she pushed me.
“Don't touch me!”
I checked the time, 10 seconds left. There was no time and I had no choice. Dragging her by the hand, I sprinted towards the door, and of the goddamned building — far from it.
At the instance, there was a loud bang, the building was in flames… everyone who worked for the enemy was in flames.
I turned to face the young girl, she held herself, her body quivered in fear and disbelief, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “Th… thank you,” she muttered and I nodded. “I know you just lost your only source of income, so have this. I'm sorry for ruining your life,” I said, bringing out my card and handing it to her. She took it.
“You're nice, unlike what the news says.” Grinning, I locked my eyes with hers. “I guess I do have a heart, sweetheart,” I said and quietly disappeared into the darkness.
This was my last mission before I could finally move back to Paris. Dialling the unknown man's number, I informed him of the completed mission.
“Home, sweet home”
Paris, here I come.
AMELIA XAVIER
I stared at the stars, the cool air from the garden washed through my face assuring me that everything would be fine — or maybe not.
The mission wasn't too much, I just needed to move to Paris, have an audience with daddy's step sister, Kayla Xavier, create alliances and come back home. But I had this feeling that this would be easier said than done.
“First flight to Paris,” I muttered to myself, my tone syncing with the flow of the cool air.
Growing up here taught me a lot of things and how life worked, how people changed, and how new love was formed. Maybe the reason I wanted to go to Paris wasn't for the mission, but to reunite with old love, but that I couldn't tell. Questions swimmed through my mind blocking any answers from coming in.
What if he had found someone else? What if he changed so much, that recognizing who I was would be war? What if… .
“You'll be fine,” a voice said from beside me and without being alert, I knew who it was.
“Mother. What are you doing here?” I asked figuring out why she was here. Annie probably wanted to dissuade me, but I had made up my mind.
“You'll be going to Paris first thing in the morning, so…” she let her voice trail as she came beside me and sat, her hand grazing the flowers. “If you're here to dissuade me, just know it's not going to work,” I said sharply.
Annie sat in dead silence for a while, her mind was supposedly going through so much, or so I guess. We watched the sky in silence until it became uncomfortable.
“I…”
“It's fine. I'm not here to dissuade you,” she said surprisingly. She turned to face me, a smile plastered on her face. “You're not?” I asked and she laughed.
“Of course, if Dylan wants you to go then it's safe. Owen is in Paris too, you could meet him and maybe even get to know each other from the start.”
Who was this woman?
Annie knew everything, from my outer expression to what I felt within me. She observed every small detail and that was one of the reasons daddy loved her. Suddenly, I laughed, shutting my eyes to keep the tears from coming. “Would Owen see me as I am?” I asked, wanting so badly to know.
“You never know what Paris holds for you, angel,” she replied and her response was all I needed.
“You know I love you, Annie?”
She let out a small laugh.
“Of course baby, I'm Dylan's woman”
Ahh… .