As Spade's car drove away from the hotel, Nate couldn't help but steal glances at the man beside him, his mind traveling far with so many thoughts running through it.
His eyes moved from his face to his knuckles that were already turning white due to the grip he had on the steering wheel, Nate's eyes counted the rings that adorned his knuckles, not too much but enough to be noticed.
They were all gold and expensive.
His eyes moved from Spade's hands to his face, his beard covered jaw that he was clenching so hard, Nate actually felt sorry for his teeth, the way his eyes narrowed at the road, as if he was actually glaring at the road, was there ever a time when Spade wasn't glaring?
His tongue ran through his lips as he watched every single detail of Spade's face, and he wasn't really subtle about it but he barely even cared.
Spade's beard didn't look rough but Nate could tell he hardly ever shaved it, maybe a little trim here and there but that was just about it.
Then slowly but surely his eyes stopped at Spade's lips, it was pulled into a thin line, a little darker than usual.
This made Nate swallow hard as he quickly looked away from Spade, he could already feel the bubble of excitement inside of him, the sweet tingles he could feel all the way to his fingers.
His eyes focused on the road and that gave Spade a small chance to relax a bit, he'd been tense since he took off with his car, his whole body had been tense and rigid, because as much as he tried to ignore it, He could very well feel Nate's eyes on him and that didn't help the little situation he was having, it only made it worse.
Nate didn't very well recognize the road they were taking, it looked strange and way out of the usual places he knew and drove through.
"Where are you taking me"? He asked looking at Spade momentarily, but instead of getting an answer like he expected, all that was met with him was silence, utter and complete silence.
Spade only focused more on the road, not even sparing him a glance.
It was as though Nate was the only one in the car.
He sighed out and looked at the side of his window, his eyes looking through every sign they passed, every store and building but he still didn't recognize any of it.
"If you're planning to kill me, the least you can do is tell me" he muttered, this caught Spade's attention as he took his eyes off the road for a split second and gave Nate a once over, he noticed the way Nate's hands were intertwined on his laps as he fondled with them, something he was doing subconsciously.
Spade clenched his jaw tighter because right now it felt like every little thing Nate did was somehow trying to get a reaction out of him and he was trying hard to keep that side at bay.
He quickly looked away
"If I wanted you dead Miller, you'd be dead the first day I saw you" he muttered making Nate swallow hard, not out of fear but something else.
Hearing Spade call his last name like that, not only made his fingers twitch but his pulse also increased.
He felt like the veins beating on the side of his neck woud explode from too much thumbing and blood.
"Then at least tell me where you're taking me" he muttered
Expecting an answer again but he got nothing from Spade, which made him more curious and a bit skeptical about following Spade in the first place.
This was getting frustrating, not knowing what Spade was planning for him or had planned for him, he was stupid to have just followed him without questioning him in the first place, even after having so many chilling encounters with Spade, most of them ending in the man threatening his very life, he just jumped into his car without even as much as a second thought.
"Are you always this nervous"? Spade's thick voice broke his though as he quickly looked at Spade hoping he would find those hazel eyes staring at him again but Spade was more focused on the road than on him.
Only now did he notice that his hands were on his thighs as he fiddled them, they were extremely sweaty and wet.
"What makes you think I'm nervous"? He asked in a murmur, looking away from Spade and facing the road ahead, this made him miss the glance he sent him.
Spade could feel his lips slightly move up in a half smile as he was kind of finding it amusing that Nate was in fact questioning him, unlike when they just met, he could barely even say more than ten words to him.
"You know for someone so quiet, you seem to ask a lot of questions" he muttered
"And for someone who is always warning me to stay out of his way, you seem to be doing the complete opposite of that" Nate retorted back, he didn't know why but he was kind of feeling rather daring and that was plain stupid of him, because he was in Spade's car, not just anyone but a very dangerous and deadly person.
He could kill him without breaking a sweat and no one would question him for it, but here he was being plain stupid and talking back at him in his own car
But Spade wasn't in fact offended, instead he was more curious and amused at the sudden courage Nate was displaying, he took his eyes off the road for a moment and looked at Nate, the way his lashes almost covered his eyes and the way his lips twisted to one side as he focused on the road, looking at him felt like he wasn't even the one that spoke a few seconds ago, he had the most calm, innocent and collected look.
"I said to stay out of my way, I never said anything about me staying out of your way" Spade muttered, Nate resisted the urge to scoff out loudly because this was plainly absurd, without saying anything else he just turned and faced the other side of the car, leaving Spade to wonder in his thoughts alone.
*****
Spade's car stopped in front of an unfamiliar building, there was a huge sign in front of the building, shinning with lights, written in bold italics were the words Saint Deluca.
It looked like a club but without neon lights and it looked much bigger and less crowded ob the outside, it was already almost dark outside, Spade's eyes moved from the steering to Nate on the side, he could see the awe in his eyes as he looked through the car window
Something inside Spade warmed up as he watched Nate, the mere fact that Nate was somehow pleased with whatever he was seeing made Spade kind of relax, like he had been tensed before, somehow hoping Nate would approve of wherever they were going.
Nate heard the door click and Spade's seatbelt click before he turned around and faced Spade who was opening the car door and going outside, Nate watched him and just as he was about to go out, his eyes caught the back of Spade as something black shone through the small raise of his jacket, a gun
Nate swallowed before he opened his own door and stepped out of the car.
The building looked a lot bigger outside than when he was in the car, and he could see the numerous flashy and expensive cars parked just outside the building just like Spade's, now he knew why Spade insisted they took his car, because Nate's car was nowhere close to being as expensive as any of these cars here.
He could feel the evening breeze blow his face and hair, and a few air got into his mouth as he felt it dry up slightly, he quickly closed his mouth and he looked at the other side of the car and saw Spade looking at him with amusement, this made him go all hot as he adjusted his tie and quickly looked away from him.
Without saying another word, Spade shut the door and started advancing towards the entrance of the building, Nate quickly pulled himself together and did the same, gently and silently following behind Spade like a lost puppy, everything about this was supposed to smell danger to him and he should probably turn back now while he still could but something inside of him was pushing him to still go ahead and see whatever was behind those doors, the curious part of him.
Spade stopped in front of the door and pushed it open before stepping inside the building, Nate followed closely behind him, his whole being telling him this was borderline stupid but his brain was saying a different thing entirely.
They both stepped into some kind of lobby, with a reception desk at the front, and just on the left side was a much smaller door than the previous one they just walked in through, on the counter was a huge man with muscles, he was dressed in all black and had the most fearful face Nate had ever seen, asides Spade's face though.
He could already feel his palms get sweaty as he tried to rub his fingers to his palm to ease the nerves building up inside of him, he looked ahead and Spade just looked normal like he had the whole drive to this place, he walked briskly towards the counter and the man there gave him a Curt nod, obviously already knowing who he was.
Without looking back, Spade just walked towards the small door on the side, Nate's eyes moved from Spade to the man on the counter and he still had a stoic look on but his eyes were narrowed on Nate, he quickly scrambled his way towards Spade as he stood just behind him as if he would disappear into Spade's body anytime soon.
He could smell Spade's cologne from where he stood, and a tinge of cigarettes smell.
Spade felt Nate's warmth behind him and this only made him even more alert of the young man that had been following him all evening.
He wanted to look back and see his face one more time but they already had an audience.
His nose were acting on their own accords as they basked in the sweet scent of Nate's aftershave and probably hair shampoo, he shut his eyes before tightening his hands around the knob and turning it.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside the huge, vast wide hall.
It was filled with people as always.
The moment Nate stepped inside the room, or more like huge hall, he felt like all eyes were already on him, he could hear noises and chatter from every corner of the room.
Spade was covering most of the view with his broad shoulders, but Nate could almost see enough from where he stood.
There were different standing machines that looked like vending machines, all with different people standing in front of them, all hitting a button or another, he could hear chiming sounds coming from the machines and the groans from some of the people standing in front of the machine, while others cheered.
His eyes moved from the vending machines and he counted more than five huge tables scattered around the huge hall with chairs and people occupying the chairs on each table, they were all clad in suit, expensive suits, while some of the women wore expensive dresses and others wore very revealing clothes, younger ones precisely.
Some of them giggled as their partners played and won, most of the girls were seated securely on the thighs of whoever's they came with.
He could see most of the workers scattered around each table, helping out with whatever they were doing, all the workers were all dressed in uniform, a red waist coat, white buttoned up long sleeve shirts and black pants, while some of the female workers wore black plants, others wore very skimpy black skirts, revealing almost everything in them.
This definitely wasn't a club, but it was definitely also not somewhere he wanted to be at.
It reeked of danger, lots of it too.
Typical Spade's territory.
Spade turned to look at Nate and he watched as his eyes darted round the room as he looked from left to right at everyone and everything going on.
He could almost see the gears in the young man's head turning as he tried to make sense of what he was witnessing.
The way his brown eyes watched, observe and scrutinized the whole place, made Spade's craving for him increase by 10%, he wanted those eyes to look at him like that, to try to understand him, to assure him that he wasn't the only one with this crazy, craving for whatever this was.
"Miller" he muttered making Nate to look at him, almost as if he was already lost in the room, before Spade called him, with his slightly parched lips, parting a little
"Follow me, don't stray to anywhere else, always stay close to me no matter what, and no matter what you see, Keep your mouth shut" he muttered the last part out as if he was warning Nate and the same time as if he was looking out for him.
This kind of confused Nate a bit as he scrunched his brows up in confusion.
Why would Spade be looking out for him?
As far as he knows, Spade would kill him in a heartbeat if he felt like it.
He just nodded all the same before he watched Spade walk down the few flight of stairs, Nate followed behind him with caution, his eyes still looking around at the unfamiliar environment he found himself.
This whole scenarios felt all too familiar for him, it bought a nostalgic feeling to his stomach.
It reminded him a lot of his childhood, following behind Spade and trying to avoid the prying and questioning eyes of the strangers in the room, he suddenly regretted coming here with Spade.
He clenched his hands beside him as he could feel the sweat on his palms.
He was still following behind Spade when they stopped at the first table, the table was filled with people, men and women, some chanting and some just watching quietly as one of the employees rolled a dice on the huge table.
Looking closely Nate already had an idea of where this place is, the tables, the workers, the security guy at the lobby and the people that filled the halls.
They were in a casino, Spade brought him to a Casino.
He swallowed as he watched with keen interest at the table they were currently standing at, he didn't even understand what was going on but by the faces of the people they met there, he somehow guessed that whatever they were playing, they were losing.
His eyes moved to Spade and with his clenched jaw, he was watching the table with rapt attention, his hands tucked in his pants pocket.
He was at 100% attention right now as he watched the game with keen interest.
Nate took in his features again, for the millionth time since he'd met Spade.
Everytime he got the opportunity, he would check out the man and now was a good enough opportunity for him.
In the lights inside the room, Spade's hair looked brownish gold, like he added highlights at the tip of his hair, and Nate noticed that his hair was never scattered or out of place.
In fact, there was nothing about Spade that was ever out of place, he was always composed and sharp.
The two top buttons of his white shirt were undone and he was not putting on a tie, Nate could see the outline of a necklace peeking from inside his shirt, it was shiny and illuminated through the lights, Nate could see a few chest hairs peeking from withing his shirt.
He felt his neck go hot and his whole freaking body tense as his throat got dry, he quickly swallowed and looked away from Spade, he'd been watching him too much and if Spade caught him, then it'll definitely be awkward for him.
Nate is definitely stupid for following Spade 🤔🤔
Your thoughts please