Secret Service

chapter three

chapter three

• kieran •

With a smile still fixed on my face and Alice wrapped in my arm, I said goodbye to Mr. Dayton and his wife once more before walking away.

When we were out of ear-shot with them, I dipped my head to whisper harshly in Alice's ear. "Do you not feel any shame at all for flirting with him right in front of his wife?"

I knew she was acting, but then again, "flirtatious" seemed to describe her pretty well in one word, so I wasn't exactly sure, either. I also had a thing against cheaters and the people who cheated with said cheaters. It hurt me just thinking about it.

Alice wriggled against my side and I realized I was gripping her too hard. I quickly slackened my hold on her and she slid a nonchalant gaze at me. "Hey, I got the job done, didn't I?"

I glanced up and found the bathroom sign and steered us in that direction.

"And it's not like she even noticed." Alice continued, shoulder her small purse when the strap started sliding down her bare shoulder. "What's her deal, anyway?"

I glance around us to see if anyone important was nearby, and finding it safe enough to talk, I gave explained, "Apparently the serum has side effects, and the original crew who were affected by caelestia three years ago are just starting to show symptoms. How can you not know this?" I hadn't meant for my tone to be condescending, and I accepted the heated glare she burned me with.

Alice shot back, "How do you know all this? There's nothing that talks about side effects in the archives and database."

I blinked. Then how...?

Alice looked at me expectantly, a single eyebrow raised delicately, and I huffed, "Who's asking too many questions now?"

She stared at me for a beat longer before rolling her eyes. "Fine, love, if you want to play this way." I expected her to drop it, but she said instead, "Quid pro quo? Question for question?"

And I wished I had just simply answered the damn question. It wasn't so hard. I just didn't like getting told what to do, and that had always been my flaw. I held her gaze, but she didn't even twitch.

"And we must be honest. After all, we are partners, and we have to trust each other. This'll be a more efficient way to reach that level of trust." she said, flashing me a perfect smile, and I finally sighed, giving in.

"Fine."

"Promise?"

I gritted my teeth by nodded sharply. "Promise."

Her gaze immediately softened and she shot me a bright smile, waving at me to answer. "My assistant told me." I said begrudgingly.

It was an easy answer to an easy question, but I knew if she really was going to be adamant about this quid pro quo thing, and being honest, then I better be ready for a mental enema. To say I was a man of my word was an understatement.

We entered a dimly lit hallway where only a few people were loitering at, and I spotted the one-stalled handicapped bathroom in the car corner. I dragged us over there as Alice let out a rather unladylike snort.

"Your assistant told you? And does she happen to have super powers or something? Maybe a know-it-all ability? How does she know and the rest of us not?" Alice asked, her words dripping with sarcasm.

She was going to make this whole quid pro quo arrangement pretty difficult if she continued to be a sarcastic little prick, but then again, maybe if I was a tiny bit less cold towards her... no. It was okay for me to be cold. The cold kept things solid and stable. It kept our relationship strictly professional, and not platonic or, worse, romantic.