Chapter 28 Alex
Vincent
Marco's call came in later that day after I found out about the breach. I wasn't even surprised that he had heard about the situation already. He was just as connected to our associates as I was and was more respected generally as an elder within the organization.
I picked up his call even though I wasn't exactly in the mood to talk to anyone right now. I connected my phone to the car speaker. "Marco..."
There was concern in his voice as he said. "Where are you?"
"On my way home. Why?"
"I received a call from Kleo." Right. Of course he did.
"I'm guessing about an order error."
He hummed. "What is going on?"
"You're at the family house, right?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I'm on my way then."
"Wait, what---" I cut the call before he could go any further. Talking on the phone wasn't safe, as we must have already learnt from what was currently going on so I was willing to go back to that house on my own, without any coercion to talk things out with him.
On getting to the family house, I didn't waste any time finding Marco in his study. He was there most of the time when he wasn't eating, going for his random walks during the day or sleeping.
"Vincent," he acknowledged my presence when I walked in. "Marco." I said as I locked the door and went to collapse on the couch in the room. He stood up from behind his desk and came to the couch opposite where I was to sit.
"Okay, I'm all ears. What happened?"
By the time I finished telling him exactly what had happened, which was just about a minute later, he was more livid than I was. Trust me, I was livid too but I've always prided myself on being able to control my emotions, being able to channel them properly to make more efficient decisions; hence, my calm demeanour most of the time. The only time I lost it was seven years ago, when I found out... What my father did.
"So all this was because of the assistant supervisor, Liam? Watching porn during work hours? How did that go on for as long as six months?" All questions I'd asked when I got to the factory hours earlier.
Diego had taken most of the blame, of course, as he should since it was part of his job to oversee the supervisors but we also knew who the actual culprit was.
"Where is he now?"
"In the underground warehouse." Tied up and naked.
He leaned back on the couch. "And what do you plan to do with him?"
"Oh, I don't know yet. I mean, I have a few ideas in mind but eh... when things settle down. We'll get back to him. Now, I'm more concerned about our supply that's coming in tomorrow. Whoever is behind the spyware has access to the shipment routes so I have a feeling they might take advantage of it."
"Advantage of it? Like what? Ambushing it?"
"Worse, tipping the cops."
"Fuck." Yeah. Fuck.
"I've called John, though, in case any anonymous tip comes in."
"Oh good, and we could redirect the route."
“Unlikely considering how chatty Theo can get.” Theo is our main supplier but also a friendly enemy. It wasn't a secret; he doesn't exactly fuck with us. He's indebted to us; that's why we work together. “Word will spread fast and so will panic.”
“Right.”
All I needed now was just a name, a group, whoever was behind this. Jules was on it already but according to her, there were multiple layers the culprit had put in place to prevent us from finding him, as he or she would of course.
But that wasn't a problem; I think I already have an idea on who might be behind this.
Derek.
The moment I stepped into my apartment, I knew something was wrong. Call it my intuition, call it years of training, call it paranoia but it felt like someone was watching me in the pitch-black darkness that was my living room.
I whipped my head to the side just in time to avoid the black, shiny dagger that came flying at my throat at that moment. Fuck. I stumbled back into the wall, definitely not prepared for the dark shadowy figure that came flying at me next.
Seriously.
I barely got my hands up before the first punch came. Followed immediately by a left hook that had my breath knocked out of me in one sharp, humiliating gasp.
I blocked the right hook that came next just in time with my arm, though, and drove my knee upward to her stomach on instinct.
She stumbled back with a groan, giving me the leverage I needed and I didn't waste time. I lunged forward, grabbed the arm she plunged out in an attempt to defend my attack and I used it to slam her against the wall. Before she could get her bearings once again, I backed her up into the wall, kicked her hard in the knee and raised the dagger she had thrown at me first against her neck.
She froze. Then sighed in defeat. "Fuck you."
"Fuck me?!" I pressed the knife even more against her neck until she hissed. "You're the one who threw a dagger at me."
"Yeah, about that, I was just trying to see if you're still as good as you claim you are... You're not. I could have killed you."
"You think?"
She smirked and then did something I should have been expecting honestly. She raised her knees to my groin and gave me the most painful low blow I've received in a while.
"Fuck!" I stumbled back as she laughed, my eyes closing for a brief moment as she turned on the lights. She moved to my couch after that and collapsed there with a sigh, her shoes leaving a trail behind her.
Jeez. "Take off your shoes!"
I was in my study an hour later, going through the reports from the Grand Meridian opening plan when Alex walked in again. She had on a shirt this time that I immediately recognized as mine and a messy bun going on on her head.
"Do you even eat? Your fridge is empty."
I furrowed my brows. "Why are you wearing my shirt?"
"Because I have nothing else to wear. Would you rather I walk around naked?"
She made to take off the shirt with a smirk as I stared and she stopped when my response to that was a roll of my eyes. She moved to the chair opposite mine at the desk and collapsed there.
"Well, are you going to tell me why you asked for me or not?"
I flipped to the last page of the report and didn't respond till I had scanned through the contents of the page. "You must have heard of the order error already, no?"
"I'm pretty sure my cat knows too." I shot her a glare. "What happened?"
"It's a long story but as we both know, rebels will arise from this so I need you to be around to take care of them when that happens."
She sighed. "Normal or dramatic deaths?"
"It could be just a warning too, depending on the gravity of their rebellion."
"Well, I hope someone fucks up soon. I'm craving some action."
I smiled and picked up my phone that dinged at that moment. She was always craving action, ever since the days we trained together as kids. It's why she's the best assassin our organization has produced to date.
I tapped open the message from Dr Frank. "She's awake.”