𝐕𝐀𝐋 / 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓
❁༺♥༻☠︎
Val
My broken hand was my worst enemy now. It wasn't broken per se, but fuck, if it didn't feel like it. I wanted to put my hair into a ponytail so it wasn't bothering my face for the rest of the day, but I was supposed to let my hand rest, that way it would get better sooner and I would be able to use it then. I couldn't use it for now unless I had to. I didn't have to use it now, but I was about to say fuck it and do exactly that, if it wasn't because Simon stepped into the bathroom and made everything stop.
He stepped behind me and I met his eyes in the mirror as I slowly lowered my hands from my hair, letting it fall down my back. It wasn't long but neither was short. It used to go all the way to my hips a couple of years back, before I cut it off to my neck after my sister's death. Now it was still growing and I wanted it to be long again, though I still missed having it so short I couldn't tie it back. It made things so much easier.
However, I forgot about short hair and broken hands the second Simon's fingers ran through the length of my hair before he gathered it into a loose grip with both of his hands. He was helping me without me having to ask, my Lord. I shivered. Hard. Making my shoulders shake. The butterflies in my stomach were too much to take along with the rush of nostalgia and buried memories. I leaned forward, my hair slipping from his fingers.
"Do you know what you are doing?" I asked. It came out a little more breathless than I would have liked.
The smile in his eyes was the softest I'd ever seen in them. "Darling, I always know what I am doing."
I rolled my eyes, the smile on my face was unmistakable. He was just so good at everything I couldn't even tell him he was being arrogant, because he was just stating facts.
Simon clicked his tongue and stepped closer. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, Valentina."
"Or what?" I defied him, my heart starting to beat faster and faster under his hard gaze through the mirror.
A growl rumbled from deep down his throat. "Or what?" he echoed, his fingers wrapping around my neck from behind like a perfect necklace, and he squeezed tight but enough to let me breathe. "I will give you a real reason to roll your eyes."
He pulled away before I could process what happened, though my body reacted in a wave of lust for him instantly, leaving me with little to no air. This man, he looked like he hadn't just promised me something sweet, how can he switch so fast?
"Now let me help you." Simon gathered my hair into a low ponytail. He stood tall and proud behind me—I barely reached his chin—and he looked completely different from the self he showed everyone outside of this room; completely different from the man polishing his knife the first time I got a glimpse of him. I'd never seen him this gentle and soft and beautiful before, and I fucking loved it, too much for my sanity, but I did.
He trailed his fingers through my hair as he combed it carefully and it brought so many memories back from when I was little and the only person I let touch my hair this way was my mom. My chest hurt, and when he said, "Your hair is beautiful," just like she used to say to me, I couldn't help but tell him what was going through my mind.
He met my eyes in the mirror, and quietly, "Do you miss her?"
"Every day." I exhaled the knot in my throat.
After he was done, Simon snaked his hands around my waist until they were wrapped and pulled me to his body. I relaxed back into him, liking the way our bodies fit perfectly. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and tickled me when he inhaled my scent. "My mother used to stroke my hair until all of my worries went away," he said and my breath hitched. "She never stopped and I didn't want her to either. Even when I was a grown adult, I still let her comfort me that way."
"That's so sweet." My heart squeezed for him. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you," he breathed. His eyes were shut, so I couldn't see what he was going through.
I thought of something to say, but I couldn't form any other words, because Simon opening up to me was still strange and unusual, and it always took me by surprise and left me in shock, swallowing my own tongue.
I gulped and smiled softly. "What color is your hair?" I regretted it the moment it left my mouth. Gosh, that was what I decided to say? What if he didn't want to? What if it triggered something in him? What if—
His shoulders shook.
Simon chuckled.
Tilted his head.
And said,
"Why are you so eager to see me, woman?"
I pursed my lips and then bit the inside, my stomach spinning around. "I don't know."
"You'll be the death of me one day." He groaned out loud, hiding his face in my neck once again and pressing my body tightly against his. "God, you feel exquisite in my arms."
I giggled, trying to get away from his tickles.
"And I'm blond," he mumbled.
My body went rigid. Oh my God. I didn't expect him to actually answer me. Oh fuck. I knew, I suspected that Simon was blond, but I didn't have any proof. Now I knew I was right and I couldn't help but imagine him without his mask once again, and it made me ache on the inside. Why did I ask? Why was I such a stupid person? Was it right, that I like pain so much? Now how was I supposed to keep going 'knowing' what was under that mask?
"I have to leave," he spoke again, too soon for me to gather my thoughts. "Will you be alright?"
"Yes." I turned around to face him. "I wish I could join you."
"You need to rest as much as you can." Simon brushed my lips in a silent kiss and waited for me to say something, but I couldn't. Now more than ever, my mind was full of things I needed to process.
My sore body, my broken hand. Kate, shit, that part. I still needed to speak with her, but my worries decreased after my talk with Price, who gave me the okay for me to stay and join Task Force 141 for the rest of the journey, as long as my well-being wasn't in the red line.
And then there was Simon. Being blond and speaking about his mother to me. Him leaving to fight Graves and his Shadow company to take Alejandro's base back. All of the risks he was about to take while I had to stay here, helpless. I trusted him to come back, but still, something in me wanted him all to myself. We'd spent all morning together, and now he was going away and it felt like they were ripping my bandages off me. Stubborn girl, that was what my mama should've named me.
Now he was about to walk out the door and I still hadn't said anything. My stomach sank and my heart pounded twice as fast. He can't leave like this—"Simon!"
He stopped and turned around, accessing me with those piercing eyes.
"Be careful," was all I could say.
And then, after a few seconds, he took two long strides and took me back into his arms. "I will come back to you."
*ೃ༄
Ghost
I had to admit, I couldn't hold myself back from requesting we capture Graves alive. It had been there in my veins, the urge and desire to destroy him myself, eating me alive from the second I found out he put his hands on Valentina. Now he was in front of me, tied to a chair, at my mercy, on his way to fucking hell.
If something had happened to her...
My chest squeezed, the alien feeling making it hard to get air into my lungs. I still couldn't believe how the events had turned out. I accepted this job and joined Price, not knowing I'd get my feelings involved in the process. God, I didn't even know I still had feelings before her. For all I knew, I was dead inside. But somehow she found that deep spot in my soul where I had every emotion compressed, and she unraveled it, still unraveling the deepest feelings, and God if I wasn't addicted to her.
Which was why I needed to make sure every bastard knew what they were getting into if they ever dared to touch her; as much as look at her the wrong way.
I pushed my sane thoughts to the side for now and soaked Graves with cold water to wake him up. He did, groaning. His eyes settled on me, and instead of looking scared, he looked furious, and it made everything even more worth it. I couldn't wait to switch those looks with one another.
"What is it?" was the first thing he said, and I didn't respond. Only stared back, deciding which way I should start. Hands or tongue? "What do you want?"
I tilted my head. I wanted so many things right now. Things that only a psychopath could want, could get, but in moments like this, that psychopath was me. "Blood."
Graves narrowed his brows, assessing me, before realization hit them so hard his eyes widened. "Don't tell me it's about Valentina Herrera."
I swallowed the growl rising up my throat. He didn't deserve to say her name. I wanted to cut it out of him.
Graves barked out a laugh. "You can't be fucking serious."
"You touched something that was mine." I wondered what weapon I had to use. I didn't need much to make a great job with him, but I was enjoying this too much to even consider my options.
"Are you really that fucking pussy-wiped?"
"Careful."
"She's just a fuck, Ghost. Do you actually believe she would want to be someone like you? She's fucking you while on a mission, for God's sake, do you think she'd want to be with you outside of this?" No, I never said I did. "I thought you were better than this."
Enough.
I stepped closer to him and stared down at him, looking small and helpless. Now the anger was wiped, replaced with wiriness. "You know what's the problem with you, Graves? You are superficial. You like to see and not dig if it's not necessary. You saw me as this twisted, lonely pathetic man who uttered a word only when he was spoken to, unable to do any other thing unless he was told to.
"You were right, for the most part, but let me tell you: lonely comes with its perks. It makes you not give a fuck whether you die or not. You should know very well that when a lonely man encounters the slightest of happiness, he'd do anything to keep it close. Anything."
"You made a mistake when you chose not to care enough to dig a little further under my facade. Now, I was going for your hands first, but since you seem incapable of keeping your mouth shut, is there anything you would like to say before I cut and feed you your own tongue?"
Graves shook in his chair. "You sick bastard."
I smiled. "Nice choice of words." And everything that happened after then was blurred by the red in my eyes.
*ೃ༄
𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃...
I hate this chap 🫠
but duo pov!!!