E r o s
When I woke up, I had expected to be alone since I was pretty sure Cole probably would have gotten up by now but to my delight he was still nestled in my arms, snoozing away.
Looking at the clock on the night stand, the reason why he was still asleep became quickly evident. It was five in the morning, almost six which was usually when he woke up.
The sun had already began to rise and I just took my time admiring Cole's features since they were up close. His lashes were pretty long and like his hair, they curled up a bit.
Despite all the changes to him, I could still see his old self right in front of me. Just like back when we first met, I had been able to tell that he wasn't his brother. For starters, Cole was clearly well built compared to Noel who resembled a tree branch. I only met Noel a few times but I remember always thinking about how he lacked a presence. Cole also had a sharper facial structure, and something that immediately made me catch on were his eyes. They were a darker shade of green and at the time, they pretty much lacked that light of life that should have been there.
But now, it was slowly coming back to him and anytime he smiled, I could surely see it.
When the alarm on the nightstand started ringing, I shut it off and though I intended to let him sleep for five more minutes, Cole's eyes were already opening.
"Mornin'..." a sleepy smile adorned his features and even though I knew it had to be because he was still half asleep, his cuteness was shining heavily and it made my heart throb.
"Morning" I whispered back, reaching up and taking some of his dyed hair in my fingers and twirling it. It was a little something to get used to but I think it suited him, the dark blonde being better than a bright one.
My phone ringing made me want to make it become one with the wall. Who the hell was calling at six in the morning?
Begrudgingly, I picked up the phone.
"Eros?" Mikhail's voice flooded in from the other side.
"The one and only" I said sarcastically.
"Oh good, I thought I had that wrong number" he quipped back.
"I assume whatever you're about to say to me is something of great importance if it requires my attention at the crack ass of dawn" I said and Mikhail laughed, though I was completely serious.
Cole was just quietly listening as the two of us conversed so I moved closer so he could at least hear Mikhail.
"Good news and bad news" Mikhail started.
"Spill it" I said.
"Good news is we found Adler. Found him hiding out in some old building, we have him at the warehouse" Mikhail said.
Fuck yes. I need to give this man a raise or maybe a vacation.
"That's great. And the bad news?" I continued.
"It's about that Elzheim guy. Caleb and I were looking into his name to see if we could find some info on him. Turns out he was a private investigator that mysteriously disappeared around the same time Preston was murdered, which is surely Gabriel Limosa's doing. Preston was probably going to hand those drugs to him as evidence to solidify the case" Mikhail explained.
"Well that's unfortunate" I mumbled.
"Yeah, it was his way of giving it to the proper authorities without actually having to get involved with them" he said.
"Well, we can always deliver evidence anonymously" I said.
"Yeah but who knows how long it would take them to process that stuff" Mikhail said.
"Let's talk about it later at the warehouse" I said and Mikhail agreed before hanging up.
Looking down at Cole, he seemed to be in thought but there was a frown on his lips.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I might know someone that we can give it to" he said, a sigh falling from his lips after.
I was confused but I didn't say anything and just waited for him to explain.
"There was a UC that made me yesterday, almost immediately honestly. We had only made eye contact once and he was able to tell that I wasn't a regular worker at the hospital. He kept following me around trying to ask me questions about what I knew about the problem at the hospital" He explained.
I was a bit bothered by that, what if this guy wanted to use it as leverage? Cops are always willing to do whatever it takes to get the information they need, no matter what. It was never a good thing when the cops get involved and this isn't just me as a mafia boss speaking.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure if he's actually someone to be trusted, or if he even is a cop, but he gave me this to call him if I ever decided I wanted to talk" Cole dug in his pocket and handed me a small card.
'Floyd Nixon, xxx-xxx-xxxx'
I didn't think much of it when Cole handed me the car but after replaying his words in my head, I paused.
Wait one fucking minute.
"He...followed you around?" I asked slowly.
"Mhm" Cole nodded.
I could feel an oncoming twitch in my eyebrow. Cole may have not found anything wrong with it since nothing happened but a ton of flags were going off in my mind. Maybe that was just me being protective but at the same time, isn't that just a bit too persistent? I couldn't give a shit if it was in the name of the law, it was fucking weird.
"I want to meet him" I said and Cole raised a brow.
"What? Why?" He asked.
"...to talk" I vaguely answered but Cole didn't seem to buy it.
"I get the feeling you don't just want to talk" he said. I gave a faux look of surprise before answering.
"What? Of course I do. What else do you think I'm going to do? Shoot him?" I asked and even though I came across it jokingly, if I really did feel like this Floyd was a bad guy, I may just have to threaten him.
And shooting someone is totally considered as a threat.
"I wouldn't put it past you" Cole grumbled.
"Mm, you know me so well" I said, hugging Cole closer.
"I wonder how those guys will react when they find out about this" I said randomly.
"Shouldn't we have told them already?" Cole asked and I frowned.
"Why should we tell them? It's not as if they have to know. Besides, everyone needs a good surprise every once in a while" I said with a grin.
Cole gave a small hum before sitting up. I frowned at the loss of warmth but said nothing since I was already on thin ice from yesterday. Turns out even if this job was fake, Cole still disliked being late and he was pretty serious about it.
It was very cute but I held my tongue on the matter for once in my life.
"I'll ask Nixon if he has time to talk" Cole said as he got out of bed.
"I know I probably don't have to say this but just for my sake, be careful around that guy" I said as I watched Cole walk around the room, getting his things ready.
"I will" he replied, stopping to give me a smile before disappearing into the bathroom.
Deciding that I should also get out of bed, I headed back to my room and got some clothes ready. The plan for today was to finally get rid of that Adler fucker, and to give Mikhail the raise he deserved.
By the time I was finished getting ready, Cole was already gone. So much for a goodbye kiss, but then again, who knows if Cole was aware of that custom.
Mikhail had texted me when he was going back to the warehouse and when it was time for me to head over, I expected to feel some kind of anticipation but really, I felt calm. The man I've been itching to kill that has managed to evade me for so long was finally in my grasp and I felt like it didn't even really matter.
Maybe there was something wrong with me, who knows.
Johnny had accompanied me there since Cole wasn't able to. He was more of a understudy bodyguard now, he didn't really mind. Johnny was more of a go with the flow kind of guy anyways which is why when I fired him, he didn't really care.
Once we got there, I went inside while Johnny waited in the car.
"You're finally here" Mikhail said and I nodded. A muffled voice caught my attention as we walked further in and the muffled voice was coming from none other than Adler himself.
"He was getting quite annoying" Mikhail said as he pointed to the duct tape on Adler's mouth.
"Should have just cut his tongue out" I grumbled.
"But how would we get the information we need? Surely you have some questions for him before you off him" Mikhail said and I sighed.
I hated when he was right.
Walking up to Adler, I pulled out my gun before ripping off the tape. Aiming the gun at his head and clicking off the safety, I bent down to his face.
"I don't like whiny bitches that won't stop crying and my first instinct is usually to silence them with my friend here" I said as I tapped the barrel of my gun on his head twice. Just from the gun making contact with him, I could feel Adler shaking.
"Luckily for you I have some questions that need answering, so if you cooperate nicely, I might let you live. But a fair note of warning; you should definitely take that 'might' with a grain of salt" I said and when I finished, I pulled away from him and stepped back.
"What do you know about Gabriel Limosa?" I started.
"Not much..." Adler answered quietly.
"I didn't ask how much, I said what do you know" I said, glaring down at Adler who stiffened immediately under it.
"H-He came to me a few weeks ago asking if I could do him a favor! He knew that we were short on pretty much everything so he said he would help us out if we could do something for him" Adler response was shaky and I just brushed it off.
"And that something was to retrieve his son, no?" I asked.
"Yes...he said that Cole Limosa had crossed him and that he wanted us to find him. He said it was extremely important, hence his offer to help us out" Adler said.
"And yet you decided it would be a good idea to cross Gabriel when learning of Cole's involvement with my group. You're a dumbass staring death in the face no matter where you go" I said with a sigh.
I looked to Mikhail and he just shrugged. It's clear that neither of us could understand the logic of a desperate, almost destitute man.
"Did he say anything about his future plans?" I asked and Adler shook his head.
"No, he wasn't the type of man that stayed around for a chat" he answered.
Thinking back to how this all started, something that was bothering me for a while resurfaced to my mind.
"That child...is his family actually struggling or was it just a ploy?" I asked. Adler didn't seem to expect that question as he looked at me in confusion.
"What? Why do you-" I cut him off immediately with the barrel of my gun pressing into his head.
It shut him up pretty quickly.
"You don't get to ask questions, you can only answer. Those people were members of my group, and unlike you, I give a shit about my people. So answer my fucking question" I stated.
"...yes, his family is struggling. But obviously I lied when I said I could help them. I thought you would have killed them already before they could come crawling back" he said.
Shaking my head, I let out a frown. Trash like him deserved to be put where it belongs.
"Well, Adler, I'd be lying if I said this was a nice chat. I'd also ask if you had any last words but frankly, there's nothing you can say to me at this point that could change my mind" I said and Adler was staring at me with wide eyes.
"What?! I answered your stupid questions! You said you'd let me live!!" He cried.
"I said I might let you live. I also said to take that sentence with a grain of salt" I said and Adler began to shake in his binds.
"You can't do this!" He yelled but I was already putting my finger on the trigger despite his protests.
"I hope you have a fun time in hell" I said, giving a lifeless smile before pulling the trigger. The loud bang resonated throughout the entire warehouse and Adler finally shut the hell up.
"That didn't feel as good as I wanted it too" I said after a moment. I didn't really feel as much satisfaction as I expected to, it kind of felt like it wasn't even worth it to kill him.
"I think your anger has subsided a bit" Mikhail said as he stepped up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"What makes you say that?" I asked while looking at him from my peripheral.
"Well, you were pretty patient with him. You're usually very quick to start shooting if someone isn't answering the way you want them to" he said and I hummed.
"Hm..I guess" I muttered.
He's not wrong. I know how quickly I can get agitated whenever someone wasted my time, but I feel as if that hasn't been happening as much lately.
Huh, I wonder why.
Taking my mind off the subject, I turned away from the dead man and began to walk off, Mikhail right on my tail.
"About the Elzheim situation, Cole says some UC is at the hospital and was able to call him out pretty quickly. He was asking Cole about the situation going on. I want you to look into him, his name is Floyd Nixon" I said and Mikhail nodded.
"Alright, I'll have it to you sometime in the afternoon. Anything else?" He asked and I stopped before looking to him with a smile.
"How do you feel about a raise?" I asked. Mikhail raised a brow at me.
"...is that a thing? I don't think I've ever heard about raises being given in this field of work" he said as he let out a chuckle.
I rolled my eyes.
"Okay jeez you want a fucking vacation or what?" I asked. Mikhail just smiled and patted my shoulder.
"I'll take the vacation" he said before walking off. Chuckling a bit, I followed after him.
We all need a vacation after this if you ask me.