Chapter 40 Meetup at midnight.
JAXON'S POV
The walk back to my room felt longer than it should have.
My mind kept bringing up Nancy, her face, her touch, and the way she had firmly informed me that she would show up in my room at midnight.
It was a dangerous risk, and I knew I should have said something.
I should have refused, but I didn't, and now I found myself anxious, which was rare.
It, however, made sense that I was anxious; Diana was just a couple of feet away while I was planning and creating a traitorous relationship with her best friend.
How ironic that was for someone like me who could tolerate anything but betrayal.
I sighed as I reached my door, then grabbed the handle and pushed the door inward before stepping in and making a beeline for my bed.
When I reached out, I sank heavily onto its edge and exhaled loudly again, running my fingers through my hair.
"What the hell have I done?" I muttered into the silence.
In the kitchen earlier, while talking to Nancy, if thrown logic out the window and acted solely based on my primal senses.
Now, I couldn't say I regretted it, but I also wasn't proud of myself.
To think that I had gone to the kitchen, knowing she was there just to try to mend whatever had broken between us.
I thought I could get her to stop avoiding me and maybe even find a way for both of us to coexist in this house without tension, but ultimately, I had done the opposite of what I intended.
Instead of clearing things up, I had made it even more complicated.
For a long while, I sat there, letting my thoughts fill my head until the jarring ring of my phone filled the air. A long while later, the screen lit up too, making it easy for me to locate it.
Exhaling once more, I stood up and walked over to the other side of my bed, where the bedside table was, and snatched it up.
My eyes narrowed as they fell on the screen.
"Speak," I said the moment I picked up.
There was no greeting on the other end; it was just as direct as I'd spoken.
"Boss, there's a problem."
"What problem?"
"There has been a leak."
My eyes narrowed even more. "What leak? Explain."
"We have been watching the shipments," The voice said.
I didn't interrupt and waited for him to continue.
"Based on what we have now, it's certain that someone's been leaking information, and it has been confirmed to be the reason our routes are being intercepted."
"Have you verified this?"
"Yes, boss, I took care of it myself, and this has been going on for far too long for it to be a coincidence. We believe the rat amongst us is responsible for this."
"We should fish him out then," I muttered, teeth clenching slightly.
"Do we have a name yet?" I asked afterwards.
"Not yet, Boss, but we are narrowing it down. Since it's internal, we should figure it out soon. So far, our suspicion points to three possibilities...We just need to confirm them."
A knock sounded at the door then, and my gaze snapped to it.
"Boss," The voice called again, waiting for my directive while the knock sounded again.
"Keep watching," I mumbled into the receiver, then hung up and walked over to the door.
I didn't think she would actually act on her words from earlier, but here she was.
She looked up at me with a calm and composed expression etched on her face. "Can I come in?"
My body responded before my brain received the instruction, and I stepped to the side, making way for her to head in.
She took one glance at my face, then walked in.
"You came."
Okay, that sounded stupid, but it was just because I was surprised.
I'd always known that Nancy held fire inside of her. It was a trait she seemed to be keeping at bay most times, but I really didn't think she would have enough courage to see her words through.
But here she was.
I stood by the door, watching as her eyes darted from right to left, scanning my room.
At least this was surprising; it was expected.
This was her first time in my room after all.
She threw a look over her shoulder, then muttered, "You have nice taste."
"Thank you...?"
Her lips curled, and she turned her gaze forward, still measuring.
While she looked over my room, I studied her too, closely this time, and certainly not in the way I had done before.
Rather than seeing her as a woman I found attractive, I chose to see her in another way that didn't contain desire, just assessing.
I noticed it then.
Although she looked calm and in control, her shoulders were too stiff.
My eyes flickered.
Was she...nervous?
To test my theory, I walked over to her, closing the distance between us quickly.
She turned around just as fast, with wide eyes, then took a step back to put space between us.
I was right.
"What are you doing?" She asked, looking me over suspiciously.
I took a step forward, closing the space she had created, and her eyes enlarged even more.
It was a funny sight, watching her putting on a brave front even though her body had gone rigid.
My gaze trailed her face, which was clean and free of blemishes with insanely attractive features down to her exposed neckline.
She had on a low-cut tank top, and the top mound of her breast was slightly exposed, enough to tease a man but also leave much to the imagination.
Her eyes followed my gaze, and when I took another step forward, she hastily crossed her arms over her chest, a measure to bar me from what she assumed I was about to do.
I scoffed and then stepped past her to the bedside table with my lips curling in amusement.
When I bent over to drop my phone on the table, I heard her heave a small sigh in relief.
It was barely audible, and I wouldn't have heard it if it hadn't been so silent.
My lips tugged back even more, and I waited a couple of seconds for my smile to subside before straightening.
Slowly, I turned around to face her, only to see that she had put on her mask of bravery again.
Silence settled between us for a long while after that. We just stood there, holding each other's gaze until she cleared her throat awkwardly.
"You should know, Diana's asleep already.
I nodded my head once, then watched as she scrambled for what to say to further fill the silence.
My guess was that she didn't find one because she bit down on her bottom lip and lowered her head to hide from my gaze.
My lips curled again, and a few seconds later, I decided to stop making her an object for my amusement.
At the same time, I decided that, she asked suddenly, "How many?"