𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓
༻☠︎︎༺
I wasn't expecting anything special this morning other than the fact that three new members were joining us, each one for every team. One for Los Vaqueros, one for Task Force 141, and the remaining one joining us in the presence of Chimera—a private military company. Price had already told me the news this morning. What he forgot to mention was that one of them would be her.
Nadia fucking Ibrahim.
I had just gotten out of bed after a sleepless night, leaving the warmth of Val's body pressed up on mine behind, which was the very reason why it was so hard to leave in the first place. She was naked underneath the blanket, and it reminded me that her clothes were dirty with holes and basically destroyed. I would have washed mine from yesterday and given her those, had I not remembered the bag of clothes in the SUV that I kept in there for the "just in case" situations.
So I got up, carefully not to wake her up, watched her a little like a fucking creep because I couldn't help it—she was too beautiful not to look at; appreciate her softness when she was sound asleep. I wanted to stare at her all day without getting caught, but if I said I cared if I got caught while doing so, I would be lying.
I went in search for the bag. Everything was correct, according to my plan. I was going to get her my clothes, get her some breakfast, and do a double check of her injuries before continuing with our day.
But this. This was a fucking annoying bump in my way. When Price said someone from Chimera was joining us, I never thought it would be Nadia Ibrahim. But then, I always forgot about her existence—it happened with things that didn't have any important meaning in my life so it was better to just push them aside and out of my mind. I had other important things to care about.
Sure, Nadia and I spent a night together, doing only God knows what. Things, as I said, I didn't even recall anymore and I hoped I would never have to again. It was one night, one slip-up that got me ending up in a bed, naked, with this woman by my side. That was all it was, one thing. I had told her since the beginning that I wasn't looking for a partner, much less someone I had worked with.
But she didn't get the memo. I'd tried having her at an arm's length whenever we were in the same room, but she kept insisting and it was getting on my damn nerves. If I knew letting my walls down for just a single night of pleasure would cause in this, I wouldn't have let my desire win. Did she not understand when a man wasn't interested? Was it not enough when I told her face-to-face that I did not want to have anything to do with her other than perhaps working in the same team?
That problem had the girls that always got what they wanted. They got off with things that were hard to get. Good thing, I wasn't interested in being one of those toys she got off with trying to get.
As soon as she spotted me this morning, she ran and threw her arms around me like we were good acquaintances, expecting me to hug her back. I wasn't going to. Oh no, if I dared to do that, she'd think I was going crazy for her, which I was fucking not.
The only woman I was crazy for was Valentina, and she chose that exact moment to enter the party. I was too confused and annoyed that Soap shouting her name across was the only thing that took me out of my thoughts. Funny, how lucky I was. I should've trusted my needs this morning, should've craved in, and stayed in bed with her until she was woken up still in my arms.
Valentina was still staring at me, and when her eyes traveled down I realized Nadia was still hugging me, still expecting the best of me but I wasn't a good man. I placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her away from me. "Nadia."
"Ghost," she smiled so big it felt wrong to be wasting a smile like that on someone like me. "It's been so long. I've tried calling but you never answer your phone. How've you been?"
"Good. Look..." I trailed off, my voice getting caught at the back of my throat once my eyes settled on Valentina. Valentina who was now hugging a man so fucking excitedly it made me lose all of my senses.
And then clothes. Where the fuck did she get those clothes? Whose were those and why the fuck was she wearing them? Sweet, dark jealousy burned through my veins, so foreign, so dark I didn't realize when I had started marching toward them until I was right behind her.
I caught the goosebumps growing on her skin and caught the way her spine arched ever so slightly like she wanted to get closer to me before I even had the chance to say something. I had to resist the urge to do exactly that. To yank her close enough our bodies would be pressed tightly against each other. I had to resist the urge to bury my face in the crook of her neck and inhale her scent. To pull my mask over my head and kiss the hell out of her until everyone in the room knew that she was mine and mine alone.
Goddamn it, what the hell was that? It wasn't the first time I'd thought about taking my mask off just to find out how good she tasted, but this felt different. It felt like I was actually willing to do that and... fuck. Panic surged through me but I quickly pushed it away.
Instead, I faced Valentina and asked her whose clothes was she wearing, making sure to call her Darling and wrap an arm around her to put her closer to me, hoping that would tell this guy—who I now realized was Manuel Rodriguez, a former Los Vaqueros member—that she was not available for the moment, maybe ever. The answer Val gave me made me even more jealous, and all I could see was red jealousy. Where the fuck did she get Alejandro's clothes from?
His clothes looked bad on her. They were not meant for her and thus they were trash and I wanted to burn them for having the privilege of touching her skin. Worse, I wanted to rip them apart right here right now, and demand she wore my clothes only. But there were too many eyes, the only thing that was holding me back because I didn't want anyone to find out how perfect she was without clothes on. I wasn't going to give them that privilege either.
I was going to make her change out of those, take her hand, and guide her back into the office, when Nadia Ibrahim chose that moment to enter. She stood on my other side facing Valentina, and she waited. For what? I didn't want to know. Perhaps for someone to introduce her but I wasn't going to be that someone. In-fucking-fact, I didn't want them to talk to each other. Nadia didn't deserve Valentina's words.
I turned to Valentina and opened my mouth to ask her to go back to the office, but Nadia was fast. She grabbed my arm and asked, "Who is this, Ghost?"
My blood pulsed within my temple, anger radiating through me for one: touching me without my permission, and two: not giving Valentina the respect the deserved. Who did Nadia think she was?
Val, however, surprised me by stretching her good hand and introducing herself with a beautiful smile on her face. "Valentina Herrera. Welcome to Las Almas. You are...?"
"Nadia Ibrahim." I let them shake hands only because they had to know each other in order to work together, but if it were a different circumstance, I would have taken Val's hand and gotten her away. "You two seem very friendly. Have you known each other before working together?"
Val's eyes met mine. "Nope, but I wish we had."
My heart skipped one beat, and I reached for her. But Nadia cut me off again, "Oh, I bet you do. Ghost is very different when he's not on duty, you couldn't imagine."
"What do you know?" I snapped, but might as well have said nothing.
"Is that so?" Valentina pressed her lips together and glanced at me for a split second before her face transformed in a way I'd never seen before, and somehow she looked so fucking sexy blood went rushing to my cock. I missed this sensation, missed the eagerness and her sweet scent all over me. I missed her, period. "I don't think I heard how you two met."
"Oh, you know, brief missions." Nadie threw her hand in the air. "We used to be a really good duo. Work together and all that. Got each other's back. Everyone said we made a good couple. I'm pretty sure Ghost has mentioned—"
"I'm sorry, Simon has never mentioned you."
Atta girl. That was all it took to wipe Nadia's smug face off. My Darling, I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and have my way with her because fuck, she looked so sexy right now and I didn't even want to interrupt her. I wanted her to keep going because it was so hot to see a jealous Valentina in action claiming what was already hers.
"You do know Ghost doesn't like to be called by his first name," Nadia said.
"That's not what he tells me at night." Mhm, I prayed that Val's head was well enough so I could make her come multiple times today before lea— "Or am I wrong, Simon? Does it bother you?"
Everyone turned to me now, and if it weren't for my mask, I was certain everyone would have gotten a stroke, because the smile on my face was so big I couldn't form any words. Instead, I stared at her. I couldn't seem to look away. Suddenly, a strong urge to touch her ripped through me, and I lifted my hand and brushed her jaw with my thumb, before burying my fingers into her hair and pulling her to me.
"Only if it is you that says it, Darling."
Her big sharp eyes widened, and then her pupils dilated and her lips parted but no air came out. Yep, her head definitely had to be okay.
"Damn," I heard someone, Soap, who was now looking at us like he was watching the most interesting gossip. He looked like he was taking mentally notes, information he could put to use later. I knew I was fucked then.
"Shall we return to the office?" I asked Val. "I'm afraid I need to change your wrist's bandage." No, I didn't, I just wanted to get her away and rip those ugly clothes off her.
"Yes," she breathed out. "Of course, let's go."
*ೃ༄
𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃...
* Nadia Ibrahim is a character made by this author 🤎