The Billionaire's Mistake (Anya and Daniel)

Chapter 72: Tension

A knot of dread solidified in Jimmy’s stomach; he was finished.

Escaping was one thing. What happens afterwards?

“I can’t exactly walk away without paying up the list, Jon.” Jimmy’s voice took on a grim edge as he unconsciously glanced around his surroundings. “You know what they do to guys who take a job and leave, right?”

Jon’s disgusted snort crackled over the line.

“I’d say your odds are better paying the list than sticking around for the end you will definitely experience once the Shaw family finds your ass. At least with them, you’ve still got your damned life to run with.”

They both knew the penalty for violating the list’s rules regarding targets and clientele contracts, but that was the Shaw family.

The list could be bargained with for the right price, and if one had the right power, but offending the Shaw family had but one end.

Somehow, Jimmy couldn’t decide which fate was the more palatable one to meet.

“Look,” Jon sighed. “You still got a chance to get out of this mess if you leave now. Shaw…his family is bad news on a scale you cannot comprehend, man. The kind of bad news with deep. pockets and an army at their disposal.”

The line went abruptly dead, plunging Jimmy into silence so loudly that he could only hear his heart drumming wildly.

Chapt 2. Tension

Scrubbing both hands over his scarred face, he peeped through the cracked blinds out the window with red eyes.

Just a few hours earlier, he’d dreamed of the payout awaiting him once Anya was delivered to the anonymous client.

Now, the thought of that same payday seemed terribly stupid in the presence of the Shaw, whom he had foolishly provoked.

At this moment, Jimmy could almost smell the wood sipping from his future coffin. He had to escape!

Jimmy began to mechanically stuff his belongings into the battered duffel.

He barely walked out the door when he came face to face with an army of guns.

“Going somewhere?” A voice said.

A gun went off.

He barely registered the blur of motion before the blade punched home with surgical precision, burying at least six inches of honed steel into his torso.

Unable to support his own weight any longer, Jimmy fell to the ground.

“Did you actually think you could make a move on the Shaw family and survive, Jimmy?”

These words… Jimmy understood their literal meaning. He was done for. There was no escaping this.

Chapter 12 Tension

And then…a gun went off and everything went black.

In another city, Jon heard from his men that Jimmy never arrived at the docks, and cursed out loud. He needed no one to tell him that Jimmy was dead.

He took a deep breath to calm himself before picking up the phone and making a call.

“Update the list; Jimmy failed to grab the girl,” he said.

“Did he manage to poison her?” the person on the other end asked, and Jon paused with a slight frown.

What he was doing was just standard procedure when a mission failed to have the list updated. What he called was the service line. Why are they asking this?

He did this as a favor to Jimmy. If the failure was not reported in, his family would be held till things were cleared up. Families died while being held.

Was there more to the mission than grabbing her?

“If he managed to grab her, then yes. Jimmy is quite good at covertly administering poison, why?” Jon asked.

“Good,” the person on the other end said, and the line went dead.

Daniel sat behind his desk

engrossed in the endless stream of emails and reports that seemed

to define his days lately. He stole a glance at Anya, sprawled across the couch in his office, her soft breathing a stark contrast to the whirlwind of activity around him.

Chapter 12 Tarium

He couldn’t help but marvel at her ability to find peace amidst the chaos. Even in sleep, she exuded an aura of calm that he found both captivating and comforting.

Deciding it was time for a break, Daniel punched a few buttons on his phone, ordering lunch to be brought up to his office. With a gentle shake of Anya’s shoulder, he woke her from her slumber.

“Baby, wake up and eat,” he said gently.

To this, she shuffled and refused to get up. “I am sleeping,” she answered.

ass

“Lunch is here, baby,” he announced, a smile playing on his lips as she stirred.

Anya blinked up at him, her eyes momentarily clouded with sleep before clearing as she sat up, stretching her arms above her head, “Mmm, what did you order?”

Daniel’s smile widened as he brandished the containers of Thai takeout. “Your favorite.”

“How did you know it was my favorite?” she asked suspiciously. She did not recall every telling him.

“I know everything,” he joked.

A small grin tugged at the corners of Anya’s lips as she threw him a stubborn side glance with pouted lips. He took a seat next to her and prepared to eat.

As they dug into their meal, Anya’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. She glanced at the screen, a flicker of surprise crossing her features before she answered. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was not familiar, but it filled with an energy that oddly grated on Anya’s nerves. “Anya! Oh my gosh, it’s been forever! It’s Jane, from high school!”

Chuuk 22 Tension

Anya’s grip tightened on her phone as she listened to Jane’s piercing voice.

“I see, how may I help you?” she asked coldly, causing Daniel to pay attention.

“How have you been? It’s been really long. What, fifteen years?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Anya answered stoically.

As though sensing that she did not wish to talk, Jane moved on. “The whole class is meeting up in two days at the Louvre in New York City. You should stop by too. It is by 4pm.” Jane informed her.

When she heard her words, Anya felt the urge to scoff. They planned a reunion and only invited her two days before time? It is obvious she was an afterthought. It was fine. She did not know much about them as much as they did not know much about her.

She could practically hear the excitement bubbling in Jane’s voice as she prattled on about catching up with old friends and reliving their glory days. But Anya felt nothing but indifference.

“I’ll see if I can make it,” Anya replied blandly, her voice betraying none of her inner thoughts. “Thanks for letting me know, Jane.”

After ending the call, Anya set her phone down on the coffee table, her appetite waning. Daniel noticed the change in her demeanor and frowned concern etching lines into his brow.

“Who was it? They have messed with the food,” he asked, reaching out to touch her hand.

Anya smiled lightly, shaking her head. “Just some classmate inviting me to the reunion they are having.”

Chapter 12 Tension Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“You don’t seem to like them,” Daniel commented.

“I don’t,” she answered simply.

Daniel’s gaze softened, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand. “Then ignore them. Class reunions are only useful if you like each other, or else it is like wasting time dining with the enemy.”

She didn’t seem to notice his actions, as her mind seemed far away.

Anya’s smile widened at his words, dining with the enemy; he was right. They couldn’t be considered enemies; they most definitely were not friends. “It really is a waste of time,” she answered with a slight chuckle.

Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to Anya’s reaction than she was letting on. He had known her long enough to recognize when something was bothering her, even if she tried to hide it behind a façade of indifference.