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He looks over at the nightstand, seeing it's a little after eight in the morning. "We should probably start moving for the day." I force myself not to frown. Just that quick, it's already back to business with him. It's probably unrealistic of me to thinkwe can stay like this in his bed forever, but we still have to face everything outside of his house. I still need to check on my dad, and we also need to figure out what our next steps are. The quicker we resolve this issue, the sooner I can return to my life.
Once we get cleaned up, we grab breakfast from a nearby drive-through, opting to eat in the car. After the attack yesterday, Trent thinks it's best to avoid being seen too much in public now until we know who to look out for. I pick at my breakfast sandwich, needling anxiety robbing me of my appetite.
"I've been thinking about how different our lives are." I break the silence around us. "I mean, I'm just a college student who does social media while you're a literal assassin who's over ten years older than me." I keep my eyes on the greasy sandwich, unsure how my next words will change things. "It kind of makes me wonder how the real you can fit into my life after all of this is over when we're on two drastically different paths."
He only shrugs, which sends a pang of disappointment through me. "Technically, we were never meant to cross paths the way we have," he answers. "Pretty soon, you'll be back to your regular life as if I never existed." He looks over at me. "It'll all seem as if it was just a bad dream when things are back to normal. You'll go back to your social media stuff and finish your degree, and I'll be on to my next assignment."
Though I nod, his words don't make me feel better. It only upsets me a little. How in the world does he think I'll be able to easily forget him? It's almost like a slap in the face to have him insinuate that he'll quickly forget about me when he moves on to his next job. It's as if him taking my virginity doesn't matter. It's as if the time we've spent together and the connection we have means nothing. I shouldn't be surprised about his approach since he made it clear last night that all of this was a job to him,but if I'm being honest, it hurts to have him refer to me and what we've been doing together as just being a part of the job.
I swallow my discomfort and try to focus on something. "So when will I be able to go back home?" I ask to change the subject. I can't help but think of the grisly crime scene we'd left at my house the night before. I wonder if the spilled blood will leave a permanent stain on the marble floor or if the bodies are still where they'd been left.
He takes a bite of his sandwich. "The cleanup crew took care of everything last night, so everything is back to normal at your house."
"Really?" I look over at him. "Everything? Like, the bodies and the blood will just be...gone?"
"Yep, that's their job." He finishes his sandwich and restarts the car, putting it in reverse. "I'll show you."
Trent wasn't exaggerating.When we walk into my house, there is no sign of the traumatic event that happened last night. Aside from the strong scent of bleach and something else, my house looks the same as if nothing was ever wrong. The carpet is clean, there isn't a single drop of blood on the marble floors, and the chairs my father and I were once tied to are back in their respective places.
"Wow. It's like nothing happened," I murmur as I slowly turn around to look at Trent. "Your crew did a good job."
He puts his hands in his pockets as he nods. "It's what they're supposed to do."
The front door opens again, and my body immediately tenses until I see my dad walk inside. His face is bruised andstill a bit swollen. He limps farther into the house, and his eyes widen like mine as he takes in the cleaned-up space.
"Are you okay?" I ask as I rush over to him. He waves me off.
"I'm fine." His eyes move around the downstairs before falling on Trent. "Did you clean all of this up?"
Trent shakes his head. "I didn't clean it myself, but I had a cleanup crew come here and take care of everything," he explains.
"I see. Well, we appreciate it," my dad says. "Please let me know what I owe you."
"You can actually give me the contact information of the person you're doing these 'advertising' deals with," Trent says, his tone firm.
"I don't understand what you mean?—"
"Don't play dumb with me," Trent interrupts. "I can't protect you if you're withholding information."
"Just give it to him, Dad," I murmur. My dad bounces his gaze between Trent and me before he sighs and retrieves his phone from his pocket. After scrolling in his contacts, he doesn't say a word as he holds his phone out for Trent to see. Trent pulls out his own phone and jots down the number on my dad's screen before handing it back to him.
"Thanks," Trent says as he puts his phone away. "You two stay here until you hear from me. I have a couple of guys posted outside of your house so that you have protection in the meantime." He heads for the door but pauses just shy of crossing over the threshold. "My team has also installed a new security system while cleaning everything up. Instructions on how to activate it was left on a table in a living room. It's best to set the alarm after I leave."
With that, he leaves without another glance at me, leaving me feeling a bit empty. I move over to the window and watch, and he walks down the concrete path to the driveway to his car.A roller coaster of emotions crashes around inside me as I watch him back out of the driveway and drive off before sighing softly and walking off to find my dad.
Now it's just going to be another agonizing waiting game while both waiting for Trent to return as well as knowing the true identity of the person trying to get rid of me.
15
TRENT
With the information I need in hand, I make my way to the Hotel in the middle of the city. The building presents itself to the public as a luxurious hotel that hides in plain sight to everyone who isn't involved in our line of work. I park in the side parking lot and quickly make my way toward the entrance, weaving through passing pedestrians along the crowded sidewalk. The bustling city sounds cease to exist as soon as I step into the lobby, everything becoming silent once the glass doors shut behind me.
Everything inside the Hotel is a sleek black and gray. While modern and high-end, the dark colors give off the impression that nothing about this place screams "vacation" or a high-end place to want to lodge. It always reminds me of those large corporate buildings with muted neutral colors that always give a "nothing but business beyond this point" vibe, and considering what we do here, it makes sense.
I cross the lobby to the elevators and press the up button, waiting until the steel doors slide open before I step on. Once the doors close, I punch in a security code in the panel and watch as number eleven lights up. The security of this place is top-notch. Even if a random person walks into the building andattempts to go beyond the lobby, without a security code, the elevators won't work, and the doors leading to the stairwell also won't open without a code.
The doors open onto the floor holding the interrogation cells, and I step off, walking down the hallway in search of the man I'd had them bring here last night. Anticipation vibrates in my blood as I pass cell after cell, finally finding the man tied up in a chair in the last cell on the hall. I glance up at the room number and punch the number in the keypad beside the door, pulling it open when the door pops.
