I heard the familiar sound of my ringtone.
My phone?
I forced my eyes open and sat up in the king-sized bed, my eyes scanning the majestic room before I veered them to the nightstand.
Did Athena return my phone last night? I think she did.
I was pretty drunk after numerous expensive wines down my throat. I just kept drinking and drinking... God, I thought I was way past that, but nope, it seems not.
I rubbed my temple, because it felt like it was gonna split open. I drank the glass of water nearby, but groaned when my damn phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
I stretched for it sluggishly and pressed the phone to my ear.
"What?! Did you know what time it is?"
"Took you long enough to answer."
My half-opened eyes widened. The headache shrank, and the next thing I had to worry about was my veins not bursting from how hard they pulsed.
It’s Noah.
"Act natural," he said the next second. "Where are you right now? Don’t lie to me."
I gulped. "A hotel..."
"Doing what?"
This fucker.
"That’s none of your business..."
"Mrs. King..." he drawled. "We’re partners now, you have to start acting like it, or else we’re gonna have a big problem. Say you understand."
I shuddered, but I didn’t linger on it, doing my best not to show him any fear.
"I understand," I replied sternly.
"Now, I’m gonna need you to go to the bathroom for me, and leave the water running. Say something random along the way like you’re talking to a girlfriend or something."
"Yes, I get what you mean. Of course, that would be great... but I’m busy right now and all..." I rambled on something non-existent as I walked to the bathroom, into the shower, and turned the water on, but I didn’t get under.
"Now tell me what are you doing at a hotel?"
"Girl’s weekend... You didn’t want anyone to suspect anything, right? I figured doing that and acting like the mall never happened was the right choice."
There was silence at his end, and I pondered if I had said something wrong.
"Good..." he acknowledged. "I’ve been monitoring you ever since."
My fears spiked.
"So far, so good, you haven’t told anyone about me."
He sounded almost disappointed.
I was right, then he wanted me to slip, which means he could have known if I tried to signal or tell anyone about him. The nano-transmitter was almost perfect, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t flaws.
I think I found one now. He programmed it so that I wouldn’t breathe anything about him, but it doesn’t stop indirect actions that go against him.
"I heard your threat loud and clear..." I said sternly. "I won’t do anything stupid."
"Good, because Ares King is out of the city. It’s time for your first mission."
I clenched my teeth.
"You said you’re at a hotel, right?"
"Yes..."
"Which one?"
I hesitated.
"Answer the question."
"The Sovereign."
"Enjoying husbands’ money. I used to have those too, but in my case my father’s money but your husband bled me dry of every dime, and now I’m gonna take everything back and more."
I heard typing.
"Hmm..." he murmured. "This can work. As long as everything goes well, I can lead you out."
"L-Lead me out? Why?"
"No questions. Listen. How long are you staying there?"
I gulped. "We booked the entire weekend."
"I’ll need you out by midnight. Make it look like a harmless sneaky out. Don’t worry about the cameras, I’ll handle it."
How the heck is he gonna handle cameras in a multi‑million‑dollar luxury hotel?
I never read of him as a tech genius or anything. I mean he’s clever but not that.
Does he by chance have men here?
"Can I ask my question now?"
"You’re wondering why I’m going through the trouble of taking you out of your fancy hotel," he said amused.
"Yes..."
"The details will be told after you get out successfully."
"You expect me to sneak out of a highly secured hotel, blindly? That sounds like a plan."
Don’t fucking taunt him, Catherine!
"It’s not like you have a choice. Tick-tock, Mrs. King. I can tell your friend is sleeping soundly, even Athena King. I bet they have such angelic faces, too. One order from me, my men will storm in and ruin those pretty faces. And before you ask... yes. I’ll fucking risk it because I need you."
A bit too desperate now.
I understood how much value I was. I may be picking at bones, but that was as clear as day.
"Am I clear, Mrs. King?"
"Yes."
The call ended and I took my phone off my ear, trembling slightly.
~☆~
Breakfast was chatty, but at least not from my side; it was more from Athena talking about her shoot in LA. The amount of times she had mentioned shooting someone was past the cucumbers on this table.
I kept looking around the dining area but I didn’t find any possibility of Noah’s men.
I eyed my phone. I gave it to Athena. Does that mean she didn’t poke around as expected?
I grabbed my phone, but it wasn’t about the pending tension of awaiting that shithead’s order. I opened my chat with Ares, glaring at the text, feeling heat taking over my face.
"Oh, no!" Athena snatched my phone from me. "I can’t have you glaring at your phone like that."
"Which is why I gave it to you so I wouldn’t be stuck doing that. Why did you even give me back?"
Athena grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Because I already had it."
I-Is that a message?
"Staring at your phone all day isn’t gonna help. You must be going down with something."
"W-What do you mean?"
"Hello? Like waiting for Ares’ text or something. You think he’s gonna text back, but he won’t. Do you want my advice?"
I eyed her finger tapping against the table, slower than usual, and she did it three times.