"Anaya?"
"Roman?"
I shake my head to ensure I'm not imagining things.
With thoughts running a thousand miles per second, I try to pinpoint how the heck I managed to find myself in this ordeal.
"W-what are. . ." I fail to finish my sentence; feeling scrutinized under his brown eyes.
I clear my throat to get ahold of myself, "What are you doing here?"
The rigidness in my tone causes him to knit his brows slightly.
"I work here now," Roman discloses smoothly, his expression unreadable.
He fails to avert his probing eyes away from me, causing me to fidget.
Never did I expect to encounter Roman here of all places but here we are.
And it just had to be today of all days.
"What's going on here?"
Ludovic's commanding voice is enough to jolt me to reality.
I attempt to speak but words fail to form at the tip of my tongue.
Ludovic's jaw tightens as his dark gaze travels from Roman to me with unnerving thoroughness.
"We were business colleagues in university," Roman asserts as his amber eyes search mine.
My brows furrow.
Nonetheless, I go along as I utter lamely, "We were,"
An awkward and painful silence ensues.
"I guess I'll see you around then," Roman alerts followed by a brief hand wave.
I nod curtly, "See you,"
Once he takes his retreat, I pivot.
But his firm clutch on my arm prevents me from moving.
"Who is that guy?"
My blank expression heavily contrasts his bellicose expression.
With a scrunched forehead, Ludovic tightens his jaw; his ocean eyes exuding nothing but chaos.
"He already told you," I sigh, "We were once paired in the same team for a school business project."
The thing about Ludovic is he's one of the fewest people; if not the only person who can see right through me.
It's like his probing stare has the power to pierce right through me, unraveling parts of me I've desperately sought to shield from the world.
And the way he grabs a hold of me can all but consume me.
"Is there anything I need to know about him?" Ludovic persists in a dark tone; his gaze unrelenting, "anything that can interfere with his job at my company?"
Wrenching my arm away from his clutch, I refuse to meet his gaze.
"How should I know what he's like if I haven't seen the guy in years?" I dismiss; feeling like my head's about to explode.
The following silence ceases to drown my racing thoughts.
With his hawkish gaze fixated on me, Ludovic doesn't seem to be convinced.
"Then why are you avoiding my gaze?"
This is exactly what I meant.
I can never seem to outsmart his sharp observing tactics no matter how hard I try.
So I do the one thing I can think of.
"We should be on our way," I affirm as an attempt to change the subject, "I have a meeting in less than two hours."
Ludovic doesn't say a word for what seems like centuries.
"Fine, we'll do things your stubborn way for now,"
His words cause me to scrunch my brows.
That's the last thing he says to me before we march towards the revolving doors.
If he thinks I'll disclose any additional information other than what I just told him, he has another thing coming.
༄ ༄ ༄
We arrive at our destination half an hour later.
Once we approach the building's security department, a few security guards heave into view.
Some are positioned behind their station while others engaged in a conversation are in a standing position.
The same security guard who we encountered days ago is first to notice us.
"How can I help you guys again?" he questions in a condescending tone before he averts his gaze back to the desktop screen.
Ludovic clenches his fists as his eyes ablaze with disdain.
Before he can unleash his fury, I intercede, "You didn't call to inform us when your colleague will be on duty."
He clears his throat before saying, "Well, he hasn't returned since we last spoke."
Confusion dawns on my face.
"Care to elaborate?" Ludovic snarls.
"He resigned," a disembodied voice resonates in the background.
In a sudden, security guards straighten their posture upon acknowledging the source.
Ludovic and I rotate to encounter the figure of an elderly man who's garbed in a dark suit.
As he's stood under the door frame, his expression is rigid and cold.
"I'm the general manager here," he begins in an orotund voice as he folds his hands, "so unless you both don't have any urgent requests, you can walk yourselves out."
By now, Ludovic and I share the same expression of derision.
What the heck is going on?
"Look," I begin before sulking in a deep breath, "we just came here to talk to one of your security guards. So is there any way we can have his coordinates to contact him?"
The smug look that transforms the general manager's face causes my brows to knit.
Why is such an expression plastered on his face, almost as if he knows something we don't?
"Mam, I don't keep the coordinates of my past employees," the security manager trails off in patronization, "now if that's it, my guards and I have work to do—"
Everything happens so fast as Ludovic flounces to the security manager's direction.
Before I can register what's to occur, Ludovic grabs fists of the elderly man's collar.
Ludovic's eyes blaze fire as indignation seems to have possessed his entire form.
The security manager remains aloof as the smugness on his face ceases to dissipate.
"How much are they paying you to lie through your fucking teeth?" Ludovic roars as he tightens his grip on him.
The security manager fails to speak which seems to rile up Ludovic all the more.
Some of the security guards prepare to disrupt the altercation but the security manager raises his palm as a way to signal them to stay put.
"You think you can just push us around, uh?" Ludovic snarls; his outrage unlike anything I've witnessed before, "do you think we're damn stupid?"
"Ludovic, let's just go," I plead as I tag at his broad arm, "It's not worth it."
Ludovic refuses to abide as his eyes continue to shoot daggers at the security guard.
"Please. . .Ludovic just let him go,"
The general manager chuckles sardonically; his expression nonchalant, "Why don't you listen to your girlfriend before things get messy?"
Silence reigns as I forget to breathe upon witnessing the scene.
In what seems like an eternity, Ludovic releases him not long before jolting him forward.
Ludovic storms out of the room before I can process what just happened.
Even if I increase the speed of my steps to catch up to him, it's of no use.
His pace is way too fast and considering I'm wearing heels, I'll just have to let him vent for however long he needs.
By the time we arrive at the main parking lot, Ludovic plonks down on the driver seat of his vehicle.
I rush to his vehicle before opening the door of the passenger seat.
Once indoors, I notice Ludovic's strong clutch on the steering wheel to the point where his knuckles turn white.
His brows are crumpled as a vein pops out on the side of his forehead.
He takes ragged breaths as he seems a thousand miles away.
"Don't let them get to you," I begin calmly.
He shifts his piercing gaze to me, "How can you be so calm when it's obvious those security guards were bribed?"
Determination crosses my features, "Because I have you to help me."
My response somewhat helps to loosen the tension in Ludovic's forehead.
So I persist, "Besides, the hacker is helping us trace Detective Landford's whereabouts so we're one step closer to putting an end to all this."
His expression is unreadable as he doesn't unglue his piercing gaze from me in what seems like ages.
Before I can register what's to come next, he delicately places his palm against my cheek.
His touch is enough to tantalize every single cell in my veins.
And it's then I forget to breathe.
A sensation I've fought so hard to oppress never manages to wither away as it's always there; waiting to remind me of my predicament.
He will always have a maddening effect on you.
Ludovic gently begins to caress my cheek with his thumb while his ocean eyes hold me hostage,
"I swear to God I'll find him," he whispers, "come what may,"
The conviction in his voice is enough to eradicate my anxious thoughts.
I nod slowly before he retracts his fingers to start the car.
One thing I'm certain of is that I have no choice but to believe him.
༄ ༄ ༄
Thank you so much for the continuous support. I know it took me a long time to update but I think upcoming chapters will make up for the long wait.
I also wanted to make a small statement to those concerned. First, my characters aren't meant to be flawless and I have mentioned on multiple occasions that they will make many mistakes throughout the book. Hence, I won't tolerate any denigrating or foul comments about their character. These comments simply piss me off and they will be deleted.
Nobody is forcing you to read the book.