Chapter 33: The Queen

~Tricia

Tsk, I had no idea he was such a smart-ass bastard.

I traced his phone number after that call and discovered it at the dumpsite. That bastard is extremely difficult to locate, and why does he become enraged when I refer to him as a bastard?

Was this such a big deal? Tsk, whatever.

So now I'm back in my pad, sitting on the couch with a shirtless jerk in front of me, Kiro, sipping a cup of hot coffee.

Ask as to why he isn't wearing a shirt. Well, this moron over there knows he has no clothes left. He just clumsily let a hot cup of coffee spill on him. Then he was half naked again, and he appeared to be content with his situation.

"Uhmm, where does Night Owl go?" He wondered aloud out of the blue.

"Home I guess." The truth is that I'm not sure.

"How did you come to know each other?"

"Business."

"Who was it who called you a while ago?"

"I don't know what his name is."

"Why?" He pestered again, this man is really getting on my nerves.

What the fuck are those questions? What exactly is this? A 21-question game?

"It seems you enjoy annoying the fuck out of me." I said this without looking at him, but with a slight annoyance in my voice. I picked up the remote control and turned on the television to keep him from pondering more questions.

*BREAKING NEWS: The daughter of a businessman was discovered dead in an abandoned barn this morning, along with six unidentified men's corpses. Because a high-caliber gun was recovered, the victim was allegedly abducted by a kidnap-for-ransom group. The authorities do not yet know what happened in the incident because no witnesses were present...*

I quickly turn it off because I don't want to hear the rest of it.

It appears that news travels at a breakneck pace. I'm wondering if it was Seth who tipped off the cops, but even if he's mad at me, I'm sure he won't blow my cover, right?

I sigh, hoping.

"Why you turned it off?" Kiro asked yet again. Seriously? Is he still not done with that nonsense?

"Nothing, because it isn't that important. We're leaving, by the way." I said as I stood up.

"We? Where are we going?" He was staring at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Mall." His brow furrowed in response to what I said.

"Mall? But I don't have a shirt on, and I don't have an extra." He protested.

"Yes, exactly. That is why we are going to the mall." I said this in a bored tone.

"Me like this?" I look at him from head to toe as he stands up and points to himself. He only wears my baggy gray sweatpants and my lavender bunny slippers.

"Got a problem with that?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"You're kidding me, right?" He frowned.

"Do I look like one?" I said it seriously, and he shook his head.

"Good. Let's go." I was about to turn around when he stopped me.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Are you going out with that as well?" He inquired, referring to my face.

Crap! I completely forgot! My wig and contacts aren't on.

Is this how I looked earlier? When I was tracking that dickhead's phone? Fuck! I'm such a slacker. I completely forgot that I hadn't changed my clothes since I arrived.

"Wait me here." I dashed to my room to change into my usual Tricia attire.

White long sleeves, pink skirt, white knee sack, pumps, and, of course, my wig and mask. Even though my penthouse serves as my monitoring station, I make certain that I have supplies on hand in case of an emergency like this.

"You have an odd sense of style when it comes to clothes, don't you?" Kiro said as soon as I walked out of my room.

"Shut up." I spit at him and led the way to the elevator, and all he did was shrug and follow me.

When we arrived at the mall, Kiro immediately drew the attention of the crowd.

"Look, there’s a handsome guy over there." A giddy girl nearby giggled.

"Yeah, he looks like a real anime." The second girl agreed.

"Gosh, he's so hot, shirtless, and bunny slippers are perfect for him."

These girls are annoying.

"Who is that girl that’s following him?"

"That could be his maid."

That cause a deep frown to form on my face. Like what the hell? Do I look like nanny?

Tsk, these shrimps are helpless, can’t they just leave us alone?

This jerk with me, on the other hand, feels like he's walking down the red carpet in the mall.

"You don't have to walk that way. We’re not on cat walk." I scowled at him.

“Sorera no kawaii onnanoko ha watasi no ue ni tare sagaxtu te i masu.”

[Those pretty girls over there are sure drooling over me.]

He replied in Japanese while grinning, actually I didn’t expect Shadow to have a bubbly attitude. I assumed he was a cold and silent type of guy, but boy, was I wrong.

This jerk is too full of himself and acts childishly. I believe he will get along with Raynel too well in time.

"Cocky much are we?" I scoff at him and stop my tracks.

"Here, take this." I said, handing him my personal credit card.

"Go shopping for yourself. I'll just wait for you there." I went on, pointing my thumb at the nearby ice cream shop. He nodded and proceeded to the men's clothing section.

I waited for almost five hours, wondering what kind of clothing he needed to take him so fucking long.

The service crew kept asking me if I wanted to order more and I've already consumed five cones of ice cream, and that jerk has yet to return.

I thought girls were worse when it came to shopping, but I guess this one is even worse.

After another thirty minutes, I noticed him approaching me. He's no longer wearing my sweatpants. Instead, he's wearing black and white checkered polo sleeves that tuck neatly into his caramel colored trousers and Timberland shoes.

He was looking better now.

"I'm sorry for taking so long." He panted and threw down his approximately twenty-five shopping bags.

It looks that I will be a beggar for a year.

"Did I buy too much?" He obviously asked, so I gave him a death stare.

"You think?" I retorted, my eyes rolling. The moment I stood up, I felt a wave of relief wash over my numb butt cheeks.

"Where are we going next?"

"Back to my pad." I stated flatly.

"As in right now?" My brows raise up to his question, what else does he need? It looks like he doesn't want to go home yet.

"Yeah, you've got everything you need, so I guess there's nothing else for us to do here." I cast a glance at the items he purchased before turning my back on him and beginning to walk away. I could hear his footsteps behind me and the shuffling of his bags.

“I kind of like this kind of punishment. Maybe you should send me more often to a mission that you would most likely want to cancel afterwards.”

I didn’t bother to retort back to his comments.

Yeah, and I kind of regret that kind of punishment now.

My thoughts turn to Seth as we make our way back to my apartment. I was wondering if he was going to turn off the arrange marriage thing, now that he knows who I really am.

Not that I care, but every time his words rewind around my head that he doesn't care about me, my chest twitches. Why do I have such strong feelings for him? I've only known him for how long? Several months, if not more.

Why does he always find a soft spot in my heart? I honestly felt something strange when I tricked him with a kiss, but I just shook it off knowing it was nothing, and now every time he's near me, that strange feeling returns over and over again. That incident happened this morning, and he uncovers who I really am, and I feel like I want to apologize to him and tell him everything.

I’m not even sure if I’m ready to do that.

Is it possible that I'm falling for him? I quickly mentally shook my head.

No! I am not. This could be something else. Perhaps it's nothing and I'm just overthinking it. Maybe if I ignore it again, it will go away.

If Kiro could only read my mind right now, I'm sure he'd be laughing his head off.

We arrive at my hotel and I rush to the elevator without bothering to assist Kiro with his belongings. I quickly head to my room and change into fitted black leather pants, a tight black crop-top exposing my flat belly, and black knee-high seven-inch boots with two daggers tucked-in

I removed my wig, contacts, and mask before letting my wavy violet hair fall to my waist and putting on some black gloves. When I came out of my room, I ran into Kiro, who was arranging the items he had purchased. He immediately looked in my direction, his mouth hangs a bit and closes it again and I can also see his throat bobs. Star struck, are we?

"Where are you off too?" He asked while his gaze brushing from my head to toe.

"Underground City. Done checking me out?" I tease, chuckling.

"Yeah — No! I mean no, of course. No." He denied, I can see that his cheeks turn into rosy pink.

Oh, what a cutie.

"Where is that place?"

"Still in planet Earth." He only frowned to my response.

"Can I come?" His eyes lit up, hoping I would say yes.

"No" His face automatically fell.

"Why?" He whined.

"You're watching over Henna." I said, ending the conversation and headed towards the elevator.

I overheard him muttering something, but I ignored him. I unlocked my brand-new red Dodge Viper sports car, stepped inside, and started the engine, letting it roar to life.

Later that ten minutes when I reach at underground bar, ask why?

To drink, of course. Reasons? Nothing, I just want to drink.

It's been a while since I've gotten drunk, and after all I've been through in the last few months, don't you think I deserve to let myself loose a little?

Asked why of all the bars I chose here at the underground? The answer is simple: if I ever went crazy and killed someone, there will be no casualties. Period.

Though I hope this night will be a bloodless night.

When I walk in, all eyes are on me. Some are afraid to interact with me, while others have a cocky grin on their faces. They're shooting glances on me as if I'm a hot meat, While I on the other hand is not minding all the stares. I approached the bar and ordered three shots of Johnny Walker Black Scotch. I felt someone approaching my side as I finished my second shot.

"Fancy meeting you here Violet. The Queen."