Paris was larger than I expected.
I expected a small quaint city with cobblestone streets and some sort of warm glow emanating from the buildings.
It was still beautiful- still much more ornate than the states. Almost antique. Black twisted gates, perfectly trimmed hedges, cathedrals and large rounded doorways.
Though I wasn't able to see much of it. Everything I'd gathered, I'd gathered from staring out the window of the car that picked us up from the airport.
Sin and Arrow had wasted no time. This trip clearly wasn't about site seeing. I had yet to figure out what the trip was actually about. When I asked Sin as we crawled into the car, he just glared at me. He'd obviously heard what happened in the back room of the jet. And while Arrow sat with a stupid twisted smirk on his face- I sat in between them being nauseous and slightly mortified.
This really wasn't the way I saw my life going.
I didn't expect my first time in Paris to be locked in car between two mob bosses.
They sky had darkened again and after all the flying, sleeping and jet lag. I had no idea what time it was. But I was pretty certain the sun was going down not coming up. Had it been a day since everything happened? Two days? Guess it's hard to say considering the time change.
When it got too dark to see outside, I let my head fall against the headrest and I stared at the roof of the car. Arrow leans over from my right and kisses my temple. I wanted to shove down the warmth that crawls up my chest, but I can't. So instead, I moved closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder. Closing my eyes, the silence lulls me to sleep.
***
I wake as the car comes to a stop. Groggily, I try to look out the window but it's pitch black out there. So I just let Arrow lead me out of the car and into what looks like an apartment building. Which is odd because we seem to be in the middle of nowhere.
Arrow's hand is warm in mine as he walks me up a few steps. Sin unlocks the door with some sort of swipe card and we walk into the building. Lights flicker on as we enter and I realize they're motion detectors.
The lobby is beautiful. Tall ceilings with large pillars in all four corners. In the center of the room there is a glass dome with water cascading down the sides and into a pool. Aside from that- the lobby is relatively empty.
Arrow releases my hand and puts it on my lower back. He steers me towards a set of elevators. Sin stabs the button and the doors ding as they open.
We ride in silence. Arrow's hand never leaving my back even as we step out on the top floor. They direct me down to the end of the hall. We only pass one other door on the way down here.
Sin swipes his card again and the door clicks open. It's a very modern apartment. The whole main floor is a window and because we're up so high, I can see the lights glittering from the city miles away.
Arrow and Sin disappear into another room but I walk in a trance up to the glass. We're probably only thirty minutes outside of the city. But god it was beautiful. The lights and the buildings and the ambiance. I could stand here all night and stare down at it.
A knock at our door pulls me from my thoughts. I look back at the apartment door. Then around for Sin and Arrow who are nowhere to be seen.
I pad over to the door and look through the peephole. There's just one man standing there, hands in his pockets and looking painfully bored. He's got dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. And it looks like he's wearing a T-shirt and sweats. I guess it is probably late at night. I'd check my phone but the the thing died hours ago.
"Can I help you?" I ask.
The man looks startled at the sound of my voice and he straightens. Clearing his throat he says: "Sin called me, he asked me to come up."
Come up. So he must live here too.
Sin suddenly appears out of nowhere. I try to move but he leans in next to me to open the door open. His arm brushes my lower stomach as he pulls it open. I have to try and ignore the tingles now caressing my skin as I take a few steps back. Away from the door and away from Sin.
"You're very causal," Sin huffs.
The man, who actually looks a bit older than Sin, laughs and steps inside. Slipping his hands into his sweat pants pockets. "It's 4am, Sin." The man eyes me for a brief moment before looking back at Sin. "Some of us sleep you know."
Sin grumbled something and turns, almost running into me as he does. He sends me a glare and it's so harsh that something in my stomach twists.
He hates me. I mean he really really hates me. He never even liked me. He was just pretending to see if he could get me to slip up and reveal who I worked for. He was certainly a good actor- I'd give him that much.
I step out of his way and he moves to the living room just a few feet away. Sin sits on the couch and the man starts to follow but stops in front of me. He's oddly close as he stares down at me.
"So you're the girl."
"The girl?" I echo.
He smiles, a real one. "The one making Sin trip over his own feet."
"Isaiah," Sin snaps impatiently but to my surprise, Isaiah just smiles wider and runs a hand through his fluffy blonde hair.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." He raises his hand for me to shake.
I stare at it for a moment. "It is?"
He frowns and drops his hand. "Well that's what I said isn't it_"
"If you two are fucking done," Sin stands and Isaiah rolls his eyes. "We have shit to do."
"Isaiah, are you pissing him off already?" Arrow appears from a bedroom in the back. He's showered and changed. He has Nike shorts on now and a black sweatshirt. He looks like he just got back from gym and it looks good on him.
"I'm doing my best," Isaiah slips around me and clasps Arrow in one of those man hugs. The two seem very close. I don't think I've ever seen Arrow act this way with anyone. Not that I'd seen him interact with a lot of people in the first place. But this exchange seems personal.
"Poison," Arrow calls my attention. Making Sin grumble something under his breath. "This is Isaiah Tylen. He's... a good friend of ours. He's going to help us track down where the hit originated from."
My eyes dart to Sin but he surprises me by not saying anything.
"You can call me Ivy." I nod to Isaiah and he gives me a lopsided grin.
I suddenly feel like the elephant in the room. My skin begins to crawl as they all stare at me. I'm not sure what they're waiting for- if anything. The energy in the room only gets more tense as time seems to slow down.
Arrow clears his throat, thankfully drawing the attention to him. But he meets my eyes. "I laid out some of my clothes for you, there's a bathroom in my room if you want to shower."
Fuck, yes I wanted to shower. It'd been god knows how long since I'd showered. Since I'd even changed my clothes. And while a part of me worried they might plan my death while I was in there, the other part of me didn't care.
I nod. "Thank you."
Arrow's lips tug up in a small smile and he motions to his room on the other side of the living room. I move past Sin and Isaiah and brush past Arrow. But Arrow catches my arm and pulls me into him. His arms wrap around my waist and settle on my hips. Keeping me in place as he brings his mouth down to mine and kisses me. Kisses me hard. My cheeks flame red and I try to shove him away but he just smiles against my mouth. And after a tense moment- he lets me go.
I step back.
"Come back after your shower Poison," Arrow says giving me a wink. "And we'll catch you up."