Chapter 9

𝕆𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘...

Eve's POV (ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕒𝕪)

Oh, Lucas was lucky. That was if lucky could rightly describe what had almost hit him.

I strode to the bar with his glass in my hands and my vengeful brain on a roll. He didn't need to die so early anymore. According to what I had deduced from Damien, he was already dead meat without me being in the picture. And my curious mind couldn't help but wonder exactly what kind of mess he was in.

I poured the poisoned wine into the bar sink and turned towards him, my eyes clashing with his for a moment. Mine with icy hatred and his with curiosity. I couldn't believe this bastard couldn't recognise me. After everything we shared, everything I went through, things he had put me through.

You changed your freaking face.

Even if! He was supposed to recognize me like he said he'd always do.

I began a slow walk towards his relaxed form, and he just sat there transfixed, as if I had bewitched him. Maybe I had. The way his eyes took cognisance of my every step, every reaction like he wanted to consume me, own me, brand me. I shivered at the intensity of it all and loathed the fact that after all these years he still had this effect on me.

Hell! It didn't matter anyway, I was going to obliterate him, chemistry or not. I just needed to know how badly he needed to be fixed. Fuck whatever my body said, I was going to greatly enjoy this.

I got to him and leaned into the arm of the couch he was sitting on.

"Eve Red. I'm still amazed." He mumbled. Gaze fixed on me.

"What amazes you, Lucas? The fact that am Eve, or the fact that I'm beautiful?"

"The fact that you are so nice. The Eve I've heard about is supposed to be a cold-hearted monster. But you are something else." A look of fascination was etched into his face. I cracked up a laugh.

"Not everything is ever as it seems Lucas, never believe what you read on the tabloids," I explained, taking a sip of the red wine in my glass. "So, you wanna tell me what got you to the hospital less than an hour after you left my office?"

He sighed in riposte, his face metamorphosing into a shadow of pain. "An electro-bomb exploded at my house and Damien was the causality. It was meant to send me a message."

I knew it. Trouble existed wherever Lucas went.

"And who was trying to send that message?" This was getting intriguing. Maybe Karma wasn't a bitch after all. I rested my arms on the head of the couch, his shoulders serving as a support for my weight. If he had felt the weight of my arm, he didn't show it.

"Last year, I got a call from an old client, a client which I had tried to kill." I raised my eyebrows in response and he continued, "She gave me a job to do, but I screwed her over.

"Why did you do that?" I questioned in a whisper, right above the curve of his ears. He looked over his shoulder at me.

"I fell in love." He whispered, his eyes boring into mine. My heart clenched beneath my chest. I didn't want to feel this, I didn't want to feel anything other than vengeance. I broke eye contact and stood up from the armchair.

"You okay?" He asked and stood up to move towards me. I stepped away from him. Whatever he was trying to do wasn't needed right now. What I needed now was space to think.

"Who is she?" I asked and turned away from him. I could hear his low breathing as the silence stretched between us. I turned to him.

"Who?"

"I can't tell you that." He muttered, eyes boring into mine with emotions I couldn't explain.

"Then I can't help you." I declared and made for the stairs.

"Wait." I heard him call. I paused from my strides.

"She's dead. Laura murdered her. That was why I went after her in return. I wanted revenge for what she took from me." I froze, shocked at the intensity of his confession. So he was capable of love? A love so great he could kill for it. How I wished she was still alive, so I could kill her myself. Pain sliced through my heart. I had been such a fool.

Taking a deep breath, I sauntered to the bar and poured us new glasses of drinks. Beer for him and red wine for me. Then turned to him.

"I'll need every info you have on this Laura." He nodded and accepted the glass I offered. "Of course, I'll just need to get it from the flash drive in my car- oh shit. My car!"

My brow raised. "Your car?"

"Yes! My car!" He exclaimed with his hands moving up and around as if it was supposed to reveal a hidden meaning or something.

I sighed. "Can you just calm down and explain to me why your car is being mentioned like it's some kind of martyr right now." I was beginning to regret collecting that glass from him. He was infuriating.

He sank onto the sofa and gulped beer. "I left my car in front of my house after the explosion. The flash that has every bit of info about Laura is in the glove compartment of the car. We need to get to it." He said with a determined look on his face.

"I'll just research her myself," I said and began making my way upstairs when I heard him sigh.

"You don't understand. I had to pay through my teeth to get the info I did. That bitch is practically invincible."

I smirked. "Not to me, she's not." I continued up the stairs and into my bedroom. If there was anyone who could find her, it was me - or more accurately, Elite.

My eyes roved around the room for a second. It was bare, with an untouched bed, a peach couch and a dresser. It looked like the room of a stranger - which wouldn't be far from the truth.

My blue laptop was sitting wide open on the bed. I probably forgot to close it this morning. I bent over to shut it down but then caught a glimpse of its background picture and the room suddenly became stuffy.

A girl was laughing hysterically, her arms wrapped around a man and a woman at opposite sides of her. They were looking at her like she was the only girl in the world. My lungs began to contract painfully like the air was practically being sucked out of me. It was as if I was looking at a memory. A memory I never wanted to recall.

I sat down on the bed beside the laptop and stared at the picture before me. I stared at the innocent-looking girl until my eyes began to blur. That was when I noticed droplets of liquid dripping onto the keyboard. I wiped my palm across my cheeks and it came off damp.

Why was I even crying? They were gone and there wasn't a thing I could do about that.

I0l had been so engrossed in my pain that I hadn't immediately noticed a shadow appear at the doorway. When I did, the hairs on the back of my neck became strained and my body stiffened.

"What are you doing up here?" I asked, not bothering to turn.

"You were taking too long. I had to come to check up on you. You okay?" I heard the concern in his voice but I didn't believe it was sincere.

"I'm good." He strode into the room and came to sit beside me.

"So, what did you find?"

I snorted. "Don't expect magic considering the fact that all you gave me was a name."

"Less attitude maybe?" He groaned and I ignored it. Picking up the laptop, I placed it on my lap and went for the search button on my database. Elite could hack into any database in the world and I couldn't help but be proud as fuck.

I typed in Laura. "What does she look like?" I said and Lucas sneered.

"Dark, round-headed, short, annoying."

I chuckled at the last part and typed in the description. I could feel his breath behind the shell of my ears as he peered into the screen from behind me. As we waited in tense silence for the result to pop up, I couldn't help but admit to the fact that there was still something between us. Whether it was Lust or strive, it was still as irritating as hell and I was infuriated at myself for still wanting him. Vexed at the animosity of it all.

Our long-awaited result popped up on the screen, blissfully relieving me from my thoughts. I stared into the screen with both annoyance and shock. There was nothing on Laura.

Shit!

"We'll need to go get that flash." I conceded, not wanting to think about the fact that he was right. "The details we have on her is too vague for ELITE to pick and it will take more time than we have to fish out information about her. If she wants you dead, we'll have to find her before she finds you." I closed the laptop and stood up.

Lucas stood up too. "Are you sure you can handle her?" He asked, concern carved on his face.

"I can take anyone. They don't call me fixer for frivolity. But first, we need to go get your car." And hopefully, find the information I needed to destroy him.

As I moved to get my keys, I couldn't help but smirk a little. Just a little for I knew that getting that flash was only just the beginning.