The Detective's Damsel

xx.

"HEY THERE, SOLDIER," The man sneered. Corinna could not remember his name, but she recognized his cold blue eyes, such a contrast to Ryan and Adel's warm ones.

"Why. Are. You. Here?" Knight's fists were clenched at his sides so tightly his knuckles turned a pale white. Corinna watched in stunned silence and Ivan shifted from foot-to-foot between the two rivals, looking guiltier and guiltier as the seconds passed.

"Apparently, our trio is turning into a quartet," Ivan muttered, eyes focused on the ground.

"What?" Knight said with a huff. "Ivan, what does that mean?"

"For a detective, you're rather dull," said the man. "I'm here to make sure you don't get distracted again. According to the directors, she," he nodded a head in Corinna's direction, "is causing some unnecessary mischief."

Corinna was taken aback but held her tongue. That could only mean one thing: the directors knew she had tried to upend their experiment. This man knew. Ryan knew. Ivan knew. Knight looked just as shocked, incredulity etched plainly across his face. She did not blame him. AIMA thought Ivan and Knight could not keep track of her by themselves? Knight had stayed on purpose, not to mention she would probably be suffering through a lot worse, alone, if he had not. Besides, an extra bodyguard would certainly not have stopped her from repeating it all over again.

"We don't need help, Ace. Not from you." Knight was obviously attempting to maintain control of his emotions, but either Corinna was growing used to his fluctuating temper or he was barely holding on by a thread.

"I tried that already," Ivan said. "Whoever invented the phrase 'the more the merrier' obviously lied."

The man—Ace—laughed, but it was not a warm sound. It was the sound of someone who had all the cards and was clearly proud of himself for it. Corinna should know; Niklos was the same way, and so was Stephan. If anything, that same dangerous ambition could have been what caused her brother to spend the rest of his life alone. "You two are under the impression that I care what you think of me," Ace said. "But unlike you, I don't allow my personal feelings to get in the way of my job."

The last word came out like a jab, and Corinna only had time to blink before Ace reached over and gripped her arm in one large, meaty hand. Corinna tried to pull away with a startled yelp, but Ace's fingers only tightened, digging into the soft, bruised skin.

"Let go of her, Ace!" Corinna heard Ivan say.

"Why?" Ace said. "So you can let her get away again?"

Corinna watched, dumbstruck, as Knight reared back and slammed a fist directly into Ace's face. His fingers loosened on her arm and she yanked it away, stumbling back into Ivan. Corinna rubbed at the raw, irritated skin around her wrist. She was growing awfully tired of men grabbing her, then immediately wondered why she could suddenly say such an odd sentence and mean it literally.

In front of her, Ace had recovered from the shock of the blow, though a thin stream of blood trickled from his nose. That was all it took for his calm callousness to shift to anger, and he wasted no time throwing a punch at Knight. He ducked, but the blow caught his shoulder. Corinna took a step forward, but Ivan reached out a hand to stop her.

"Better to let them get their anger out now, Squirt. This was going to happen one way or another." How could he be so unaffected?

"You do not understand," Corinna stammered. "We are both badly injured. He cannot—"

A grunt cut her off. Ace had Knight pinned to the ground. The cut on his forehead had ripped open, blood spilling freely down the side of his face. Ivan met Corinna's eyes and nodded, calling out just as Ace lifted his fist. "Stop!" Surprisingly, Ace paused and looked up, though he did not look happy to be doing so. "As much as I would love to watch you both claw each other's eyeballs out, we kinda have a mission to get back to. And no offense, Mr. No-Personal-Feelings, but Ryan will kill you if you hurt him. What a sucky way to be fired on the first day of the job." Ivan smiled sweetly. "So get your asses up, both of you, stop acting like eight-year-old boys in a schoolyard, and let's go home. Please?"