Devil in Your Smile

Chapter 13, Clouding Up My Mind

Without checking to see what he thinks, I make my way to the corner of the room and grab a chair, moving it in front of the big office desk before walking around it and sitting in a chair of my own. Once I'm comfortable, I turn to face Louis, who I find is already staring at me in return. I quirk my brow, and Louis takes this time as a chance to ask me what he wants to know.

3RD PERSON POV

The first thing that comes from Louis' mouth is "Why did you let me come in here?" It makes Harry chuckle, not because of the question itself, but because of the look on Louis' face, that's telling Harry that wasn't what Louis had planned on saying. Harry calms down, and answers. "Because I figured you deserved to find what you were looking for. He hopes Louis doesn't hear the hint of pity in his voice, the parts of him that feel bad for Louis slipping through his tone. Louis accepts that answer, and moves on with "Why do you have a torture chamber?" Harry openly laughs at that, and Louis laughs a bit too, realizing how weird it sounded to be calling it that. He corrects himself, saying "why does your basement have a chair cemented into the floor and why is there an entire section of potential torture devices sitting on a table?" Harry responds in a fake semi-bored tone "because those are all necessities for a torture chamber." he manages to keep his voice as monotone as possible, but a few seconds after he finishes, he hears a huff come from Louis, and a "you're not funny." in return. Louis moves on to his next question, maybe the biggest one of all. "So. Who are you? I know you're not just some nightclub owner who popped up out of nowhere five years ago, if you were, you'd have no reason to have a dungeon like that. Don't bullshit me."

HARRY POV

I look back up from where my eyes had fixed themselves on my desk, looking into Louis' eyes. Telling him everything is risky, but if i don't tell him, he will go looking for answers elsewhere and end up in trouble or someone will kill him. Knowing that he won't tell anyone, I let loose. "My last name, in the U.S, is Harry Styles. I'm originally from the U.K, where I was born as Harry Twist." I hear Louis gasp, and look up to see him opening and closing his mouth, probably trying to gather something to say. Before he can come up with anything, I put my hand up, telling him to wait, and continue. " I'm the son of Desmond Twist, the head of one of the most known crime syndicates. Although he didn't know I was his son until I was 18, I was still raised around the mob, and knew the ins and outs of everything. After he found out he had an heir, he decided he wanted to expand to the United States. He asked if I wanted to run things here, or run things back home. I chose to start new." When I finish talking, Louis is openly gaping. What I don't expect is how quickly he recovers. After only sitting in silence for about fifteen seconds, Louis says "So what the fuck is the club for?"

The way he says it, his accent thickening with his hysterics, brings out yet another loud laugh from me. I explain, telling him that it's a front for laundering money, and I watch as he nods in understanding, but still looks clueless. When he looks like he finally understands what I'm saying, I use this opportunity to ask questions of my own. The first thing that comes to mind, is "What the fuck happened last night? I mean...'' I stop myself from rambling, trying to save myself from embarrassment. Louis' brows furrow for a second, before his eyes light up in recognition. He easily responds "Oh, that. Well... i'd say it was murder, right? You witnessed a murder? Yeah. That sounds about right." I roll my eyes, and say "No shit, really? I already know that. I want to know WHY I saw you stabbing a guy in his van. I mean obviously i know he roofied you, but you could've gone to the cops. Also, that's another thing, how the fuck did you survive that? The way you were staggering around in that bar tells me that he gave you enough to nearly kill you!" When i finish my speech, i don't look up from where I had distractedly been looking at Louis' hands. But when I do, I see Louis, now tensed up and his eyes are darting around the room. I go to take it back, to tell him to forget I asked, but before I can do that, Louis jumps out of his chair and tries to run for the door. I jump up after him, and i thank myself for locking the door when we entered, because it gives me a few extra seconds to stall him from leaving. When the door opens, I'm right behind him putting my hand against the cold hard wood to stop him from making his exit. He turns around, a defensive and furious look across his face, breathing heavy from his anger and struggle. I breathe deep, and tell him to do the same. "I'm sorry. Really. I didn't know it wasn't an approachable subject for you. I won't ever force you to say anything that you don't want to, or do anything outside of your comfort zone." As I finish my sentence, Louis seems to calm down quite a bit, and he nods. He slowly lifts his head up from where it was focused, and my breathing halts. Blue. Blue and flecks of gold, and I could study them all day. The dim lighting in alleyways,dark streets and in the club give no justice to the color of your eyes. I realize that I might be creeping you out, being this close to you and not saying anything, so I let my eyes scan your face once more, before taking a step back. Louis seems to snap out of his own thoughts at my movement, and just to break the silence, I say "sorry." again. He nods, and turns to reach for the door handle once again. I put my hand over his, not thinking about it, just trying to stop him from turning it.

LOUIS POV

My heart is beating erratically in my chest from being this close to Harry, but being this close to him gives me time to study his finer details. None of the online articles can tell me how he's got curly hair, or how his eyes are deep emerald green. There's no pages that warn me that he has a perfect smile or how when he stands six inches from you, you can imagine yourself tracing his jaw. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for this. He's standing in front of me, probably trying to keep me from running to the police, and here I am, thinking about how well he would look as a painting. Fuck. He backs up from where he's had me cornered, and apologizes again. My first instinct is to nod along with whatever he's saying. My second instinct? Run. I go to turn the door knob, ready to forget about everything and forget that Harry Styles exists, but his warm hand covers mine. I turn my head, to see what he wants, but when I turn, his lips are only a few inches from mine. His shoulders move from his heavy breathing, and when I look into his eyes, his gaze is focused on my lips. Surprised at that, i lick them, and he follows the movement. A second later, his eyes snap up to mine, immediately removing his hand from on top of mine and stepping back a good two feet. I try to control my breathing, and I give him a small smile to let him know I'm okay. He clears his throat, the noise making me wince at the stark contrast between the silent room and the sound. He looks sheepish as he says "Look, um... tomorrow, i can pick you up and bring you to where we're based. I have a place outside of the city where my crew lives with me, and I can explain things better. Can we do that?" I nod, but then realize something. "Why? Why would you show me something so private if you don't know me and if you don't want anything from me?" Harry lets out a breath, and replies " I saw the way you handled that guy last night, and how prepared you were in the situation. Not everyone can do that, and I think you'd be useful on my team." what? "Wait, what? You want me to work for you? All because you saw me stab someone?" Harrys' brows furrow in response, and he says "look, if you don't want to see me again, then leave right now and I can promise you'll never come in contact with me again." As he talks, he goes to his desk and pulls out a notebook and a pen. "But, if you want to think about my offer, and decide to come check it out, call me, or text me. This is my personal number, so I'll answer fairly quickly, and I'll put off everything I have scheduled for tomorrow until 1 P.M. if i don't hear from you by then, i'll take a hint." he slips the piece of paper into my hand, and reaches for the door knob. When we walk down the hall, everything is quiet. Stepping out from behind the curtain, I see why. Everyone has either gone home or are making their way outside. Harry steps out behind me, and says "I'll walk you to your car, but we should probably stop and get your stuff from behind the bar. Joseph will know where it's at.

We walk to the bar in silence, and just as we reach it, the barkeep comes out from the door behind it. "Hey Boss, whatcha need?" he gives me a knowing smirk, and i roll my eyes at him, but my face betrays me and i smile a bit as i do so. Harry speaks up from where he's standing to my right, saying "Mitch told me he dropped some stuff off here earlier, a phone,wallet, and a pink knife?" He's reading it off of his phone, and turns to me to confirm. I nod, and Harry looks to Jo #2 and does the same. Jo smiles and reaches under the bar, grabbing a bin with the items in it. I speak up, thanking him before turning towards the door. Harry follows, walking me outside and to my car. When we reach it, I unlock it with my keypad and turn to him. He looks at me for a moment, before snapping out of his thoughts and smiling. "Goodnight, Louis." "Goodnight, Harry." I say in return. I open my car door, and climb in, closing it behind me. I turn it on, and he backs away. With one last look towards him, i start my drive home.

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