by P. W. Davies
Keeping it to drinks would help, he told himself. While walking to the elevator, he imagined a series of scenarios in which the two of them met up for these little trysts, Christian teaching him the ways of the homosexual Kama Sutra, and Victor going on with his life otherwise. “Might even have the prospect of continuing past the job,” he mused out loud while waiting for the elevator. “Just because a co-worker goes missing doesn’t mean I was behind it.”
A chime preceded the doors parting.
Right, he thought. He had a job he should be doing.
Stepping into the car, he leaned against the railing and took out his phone again, looking this time for any messages he might have missed. While flipping screens, he noticed the brief exchange from the previous day, instructing him to stop in Roland’s bar for the next portion of his instructions. “Well, that settles that,” he said, pocketing his phone. Still, the day lacked a sense of urgency. Whistling, he pocketed the phone and made the determination to head Northeast eventually. “A bite to eat first, if nothing else.”
Reaching the lobby, Christian stepped from the elevator, walking for the exit. He followed the rumbling in his stomach to a nearby café, where he purchased brunch and drank his first cup of coffee. The first cigarette of the day followed, bringing euphoria in its wake, with the warmth of the day conspiring to put him in a good mood. An idea spun in his head, giving his lips a devious curl and adding an additional item to his to-do list. Once he’d finished with Roland, he’d check into the flat, he told himself.
“The sooner I get this out of the way, then,” he said, walking to the subway entrance. Once he’d settled into a seat, he relaxed and prepared himself to ride the train deeper into the heart of Northeast Philly. The usual stop passed. When he reached the one closest to the bar, Christian made his way street-side again, a spring in his step the entire walk from the platform to the modest-sized piece of real estate on the border of Fishtown and Kensington.
Only a sparse collection of people made up the bar’s current inhabitants and of those, only two or three were probably candidates for Alcoholics Anonymous. The others sat on the far side of the room, near the pool tables, with a deck of cards out and a game of poker underway. Roland stood near them, leaning against the wall with a coffee mug in hand. “I swear, Greg, you keep letting Vincent here run you up the river,” he said. “Gotta learn when the man’s bluffing.”
A low murmur served as Greg’s response, cards collected, and money gathered by the winner. Christian paused several feet shy of them, close enough to garner a glance by the players, but far away enough for them to direct their attention back to the game. Roland, however, met Christian’s gaze and nodded. “I hear any gunshots while I’m not out here, I’ll send the rest of you home in body bags,” he said. Pushing off from the wall, he strode in Christian’s direction, but turned shy of him. “Let’s talk in my office.”
With a salute, Christian followed Roland into the back of the establishment and down the stairs, into the cellar. While approaching Roland’s desk, Christian reached for his cigarettes again, and after lighting one, draped his coat across the back of his chair. The weight of Roland’s stare settled on him, acknowledged only when Christian finally sat.
“You look a little dressed up for day-drinking,” Roland said.
Christian laughed. “I don’t intend to patron the bar, though thank you for the compliment,” he said. Tapping the end on the ashtray, he relaxed into the chair and settled into business. “As much as I acknowledge the system of burner phones and code phrases, I have to say I prefer doing this.”
“You just realize you’re more difficult to ignore when that smart-ass mouth of yours is lipping off in person. Speaking of which –” Roland reached into his desk, producing a tiny plastic case. “Change out your SIM card. I don’t want to get into it, but we’re going to be doing this weekly from now on.”
“Fair enough” Christian pocketed the case and raised an eyebrow at Roland. “Was that why you wanted me to come in?”
“One of the reasons. First, did anything happen since we spoke last?”
In a manner of speaking. “Nothing else. I did have a rendezvous with an informant. It’ll make breaking into the office later easier, if that becomes necessary.”
“The informant willing to let you in?”
“More to the point, they’re on the inside and that’s all I need.”
Roland nodded, much to Christian’s relief. “Sounds good. Ashcroft is talking about tightening the noose around the mark’s neck, so we might see something interesting in the next few days. Get really familiar with his shadow, because we want to see what he does with some pressure applied.”
“Do you think it’ll throw a spanner in the works?”
“I’m going to pretend I know what that means and say sure.” Roland held up a hand, stopping Christian when he looked poised to retort. “No, I don’t want to know. Just follow him and let us know if anything interesting comes of it.”
Christian nodded, drawing from his cigarette while entertaining a fledgling thought. In the silence that followed, he felt Roland’s gaze settle on him with more intent, and as it did, Christian looked at him, brow furrowed, prompting the older man to sigh. “You sure you want to play this game again?” he asked. Roland tapped his fingers on his desktop, head tilting while he sized up Christian. “You got out, kid. Yes, you’ve been collecting information and catching odd-jobs, but the minute you plunge a knife into another person, you’re going back into the old line of work.”
“That was the plan when I first contacted you,” Christian said.
“Plan or not, you’ve had some time since then to reconsider. And plenty of money made in the middle of all of that. Going back to the status quo means going back to all the hell it brings. Personally, I like being on this side of the fence.”
“I don’t. It makes me too restless.” At the same time, Christian felt himself glance away again, his mind shifting back to Victor for the first time since waking up. Last night had been wonderful; the first time since London that Christian had felt something blissful stir inside him. And had he not been a hitman, beholden to a firm, he might still be with Paolo living the beautiful lie they’d enjoyed. Granted, his poor decisions were what forced him to run away, but even he knew that he’d only sped along the inevitable. One day, his job would catch up to him, regardless of who he shared the lie with.
“Best to remain unattached,” he said, realizing he had said that out loud and looking back at Roland. “This job suits me, and I will gladly accept any subsequent jobs our client has for us, but the true lesson I learned from London was to remain freelance.”
Roland shrugged. “Your decision, not mine. I just provide the jobs and take the finder’s fees.” He nodded at the pocket where Christian had slipped the plastic case. “Change out the SIM card. Trail the mark. And report back when he does something interesting. Just be careful about the insider. If they discover anything that Ashcroft doesn’t like, he’ll cut out whatever loose ends he doesn’t like.”
“Understood.” Taking a deep draw from the cigarette, Christian flicked ash from the end once he had finished. “I should have something for you within a few days.”
“Sounds good.” Roland stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure Greg isn’t cheating again. I don’t need blood on the floor this early in the day.”
He walked for the stairs, leaving Christian alone in the office. Christian took his time finishing the cigarette, extinguishing it once he was done and leaving out the bar the way he’d come in. Trying to keep his mind clear throughout the walk back to his flat, he whistled again and spun his key ring around on his finger. The meeting had added a weight to his disposition, which took until he reached the front door for him to finally shake loose again.
Once he had, however, he produced his mobile phone and plopped onto the couch. No messages. Whatever meeting Victor had, it’d kept him from commentating on the night they’d enjoyed, which
caused a mischievous smirk to cross Christian’s lips. “Oh, I hope I’m interrupting you in the middle of something important, love,” he said while typing out his opening message.
Notes on a pillow. Only a lawyer would have handwriting that bloody pretty, it read. Once it had sent, he opened his laptop and loaded Netflix onto the screen. Much to his surprise, his phone chimed within a few minutes of watching the romantic comedy he’d settled on.
Not the compliment I might have expected to receive about last night, Victor’s reply read.
Christian laughed, not bothering to pause the movie. I think I complimented you well enough during the festivities, though if your ego needs further stroking, that can be arranged.
I wondered when we might arrange that.
Do you have anything planned tomorrow night? All work and no play makes Victor a dull boy, after all.
It took a moment for Victor to respond. Christian imagined Victor flipping through his calendar and wondered if Victor’s skin had begun to buzz at the thought of round two, the same as Christian’s had. Sadly, I’m busy, Victor finally said. I might be available Tuesday night, though.
“Good, that means I can follow your mate tomorrow,” Christian said. What a pity, he typed, work has you tied up and not in any pretty way. Tuesday night it is. After hitting send, Christian considered his next thought, the one that had danced across his mind while he ate brush at the café. For the record, I did get home and think about last night, he added. If my eagerness to set another time hasn’t demonstrated how much I enjoyed myself, perhaps a picture will suffice.
Before Victor could respond, Christian set his phone aside and took off the vest. Removing his t-shirt as well, he also undid the button of his fly and pulled the zipper down enough to shimmy his jeans past his hips. Everything leading downward showed, except for his cock itself.
Framing himself in the screen, lying back and looking ready to for a second round, Christian snapped the picture and sent it along to Victor. It didn’t take long for a response to follow.
If only I was in a better position to appreciate that.
Christian smirked. A kiss to build a dream on, love, his reply said. For now, I have a toy in my bedroom and the thought of you fucking me to hold me over until Tuesday night. Once he’d sent the message, Christian tossed his mobile aside and laid out on the couch. The movie continued to play, but a smile danced across his lips as his thoughts returned to a happier place. Yes, he’d have to go back to work tomorrow.
But for the rest of the day, he’d relish the beautiful lie again.
Ten
Evie had asked to sit down with Victor on Monday morning. He’d responded to her email by the end of Sunday letting her know that he’d stop by her office around 9:30 am.
It was 9:28 when he knocked on the wall next to her door.
She immediately stood up and pushed away from her desk. “Be a dear and tip the delivery driver.”
Victor raised an eyebrow in question as he watched her gather her purse and withdraw a few bills from her wallet. Evie had no doubt he was watching her and wasn’t deterred. “Samuel and Nathan are both out of the office until lunch,” she said. “And when they get back I need to know what I’m telling them about Jacob Jefferies. So, we’re discussing it over the breakfast I ordered for us.”
The mention of Jeffries caught his attention. “You had a chat with him,” he said.
She glanced at him before walking out the door. Victor stepped aside to make room and followed at her elbow as she headed toward the reception area. “He was amicable though I had to be creative about why I contact him. Due diligence. Curiosity. Feeling as though we should get input from someone else who has been putting energy into Bechtel Systems.”
Victor heard more than a touch of concern in her tone. “I spent part of Sunday with Nathan.” Her glance seemed to be asking if he was changing topics, so he shook his head as they paused a short distance from Caroline’s desk. “He wants me to shadow Samuel’s work more closely for the remainder of this case. I didn’t bother telling him I almost always do.”
Evie smiled. “I don’t think he’s unaware of that. Which means he was asking for a reason.”
“That was my understanding. Something about this case has Nathan suspicious of Samuel, and that seems to be the difference. He didn’t ask to be told what was going on. I have the feeling he knows already, or at least suspects but doesn’t entirely trust his observations.”
Evie appeared to think that over. Victor wasn’t surprised when the elevator pinged and caused a pause in the conversation. The scent that accompanied the delivery was aromatic of butter, breakfast meat, and what he was certain was coffee. He remembered Evie’s directive about tipping in time to offer it to the delivery person.
Caroline used the moment to ask Evie a few questions while Victor tucked his wallet away. Their chat seemed to focus on setting up meetings for later in the day and Victor let his mind drift as he waited, preferring to return to Evie’s office with her rather than ahead of her.
Almost immediately he thought of a certain pair of blue eyes, as though he hadn’t done so a dozen times since Saturday night. Reverie lent itself to recall the finer details as he let the memory of the evening play out. How warm Christian’s skin had been. The feel of his strength as their bodies moved together. His voice, when it called out Victor’s name.
Victor was lost in a daze by the time Caroline had her directions. Evie had to nudge him to break his daydream.
“That wasn’t about work,” she observed once they were walking again.
He had the sense to look chagrinned. “No. No it wasn’t.”
Her silence and lack of movement prompted him for a more detailed explanation. Victor’s expression became sly. “Drinks might have gone well the other night. But I’ll say no more until we finish discussing work.”
Evie gave him an exasperated look, and he had no trouble imagining what she was thinking. ’You drop a savory topic like that into my lap and aren’t even kind enough to follow through.’
They settled themselves in Evie’s office with travel coffee cups and paper plates holding an assortment of the items Evie had chosen to order. It was a little bit of everything, including fresh fruit, which put Victor’s rushed breakfast earlier today to shame.
He might have lingered in the shower after his run.
Sitting in the two chairs facing Evie’s desk, Victor thanked her before starting on the meal. “We should do this more often.”
“You have until I finish my coffee to tell me about drinks,” Evie said, her eyes alternating between studying his face and the plate of food in front of her as she began to eat.
Victor raised an eyebrow. He decided against observing that she could deliberately take her time just to give him a longer chance to talk. Which, of course, was the point.
Suddenly self-conscious, Victor took a moment to settle on what he wanted to tell her. Evie spared him a glance but otherwise was content to play out her plan. “I slept with him.”
Both her eyes flicked upward and settled on his. Questions raced by over her expression, but finally her eyebrows both rose upward in realization he wasn’t bluffing. “Oh, Victor. I’m sorry, I didn’t... The teasing. You...” She stopped talking for a moment to gather herself.
It gave him time to get in a few more words. “It’s alright. I did intend to tell you,” he said in reassurance.
“Yes, but perhaps not with me poking you along the way. I should have listened when you said after work.” Her eyes were gentle, but also curious. Victor admired the fact that she couldn’t help herself about the second part.
“I told him, before we were alone together,” he said. A quick glance around confirmed that there was no one out in the hallway who could chance to overhear them. “And he was understanding. Kind, even. He asked me why I’d want to share that with a stranger.”
Evie smiled softly. “I suppose you convinced him it was what you wanted.”
Victor ch
uckled. “I did. Rather soundly. But all in all...” He waited until Evie was leaning ever-so-slightly forward in her chair. “I want to see him again.”
She looked surprised. Victor was left to wonder for a longer moment than he would have liked until she explained, “Him?”
He blinked, then caught on to what she had noticed he’d said. A flush crept across his cheeks. “Him. And yes, to do what we did again.”
Evie kept her face impassive. “Not dating?” Her voice was careful.
“Ah.” Victor considered the question. “Is it dating if we just meet for drinks and to enjoy each other’s company?”
“There are some people who would define that as a date, Victor, so yes.” She looked faintly amused, but mostly neutral. “Have you reconsidered wanting something serious?”
He shook his head. “No.” His voice was certain. “I caught myself thinking about Beverly after that first night of drinks with him, when nothing else happened. And after our night together, I was called away to work.”
“By Nathan.” Evie let her amusement show more. “My, if he only knew what you’d been doing in the hours before you went to see him.”
“I don’t think it would have made much of an impact,” Victor said. “Nathan was very concerned about the case, and Samuel. He didn’t notice that I might have been –” Victor caught himself, considering what he was about to admit aloud. “– I might have been comparing him to Christian, wondering what the differences would be.”
Evie bit her lip lightly. To keep from laughing, Victor was certain.
“Yes, I know.” Victor smirked. “I couldn’t help it. It had happened less than twelve hours beforehand and was all I could think about. Nathan is lucky I have a gift for focusing even when distracted. Otherwise I might not remember what he said about Samuel.”