Chapter 5: I Promise
Alena Fleur
Seriously, what was with people threatening me with guns?
Was it a new trend for handsome men to turn up and scare cute innocent girls like me? God, please get these dangerous men away from me and I will do more charity than I already do.
I could understand one of Elian's men putting me under gunpoint, even Elian himself, but who was this tall man with pretty green eyes and black hair? What had I ever done to him? Was this one of Elian's enemies who wanted me dead for whatever reason?
"Um, I think you have the wrong person here. I swear I have not seen you kill anyone, so you can let me off the hook—" I tried to reason, only to get cut off by the man.
"You are Ms. Fleur, am I right?" he asked.
"Yes, I am. But I'm not on sale for people to kill—"
"I don't have the wrong person here, Ms. Fleur. You're a risk to a person I really care about, so I'm afraid I have to kill you. It's nothing personal, I promise. So could you just make this easier on both of us—"
"No, why should I? My life is precious to me too, you know?" I raised my hand, which had Elian's gun, and the unknown man backed off.
"Boss, she has a gun. She's a dangerous woman!" said one of the men I hadn't even noticed until now. The uninvited guest also had a few men in black like Elian did last night.
"She's not as innocent as she looks," said another of the men.
I didn't understand what they were talking about. How could my sweet angelic face ever scare someone off?
I took a step forward, swinging Elian's gun in my hand, and all of the men took steps backward. I frowned in confusion, but my confusion was soon cleared when I followed their gaze.
Oh, so that's the case.
I smirked and aimed the gun at their boss. "Yes, that's right. I'm very dangerous. Leave, or else, I will shoot."
I was lying, of course. I had no idea if the gun even had bullets inside. Plus, even though I worked in an armament company, I had never used a gun myself. I always saw the sample shooting, though. Even if worse comes to worst, I had to shoot for my defense. I just hope they go away—
Boy, I wish.
Their boss didn't take any more steps backward, rather he took a step towards me without lowering his own gun, his eyes glaring right into my soul.
Two of us had our hands on the trigger—
"What the hell is going on here?" an authoritative voice echoed through the corridor outside my apartment.
I tore my gaze away from my competitor, only to find a furious Elian standing there.
As Elian looked between me and the unknown man, he settled his angry gaze on the one in front of him. "Lance, what the fuck are you doing here?" he yelled at the man named Lance.
Wait, how did Elian know this man?
"Elian, I was just..." Lance tried to reason, but Elian gave him no chance.
"I know exactly what you were up to, so don't try to give me any lame excuses, Lance. We talked about this, didn't we? Didn't I tell you to leave it be?"
"But Elian—"
"Did I or did I not, Lance?" Elian shouted, and Lance finally lowered his gun.
"Yes, you did," Lance murmured, looking like a scared puppy in front of Elian.
"Serves you right," I snickered, only to earn a side-glare from Lance. I didn't know what the relationship between the two of them was, but this was entertaining.
Lance looked back at Elian and said, "Elian, I don't understand why you are protecting this girl. Don't you get what will happen if she exposes you? You know how low these people can get. Either she will sell you out to the cops or will keep blackmailing you for money until eternity."
I was about to protest, but Elian beat me to it. "She won't do any of that. I trust her," the firmness in his voice made me awe.
"How can you? She's just an employee in your office," Lance argued.
"She's my—" Elian started to shout again but paused and said calmly, "Yes, she's only my employee, but I know her well enough. She's not like that."
Color me surprised. I never imagined that Elian thought of me like that. True, I wouldn't do any of that. In fact, the thought of exposing or blackmailing Elian didn't even cross my mind, but it was an honor to have Elian trust me that much.
"You can't know that, Elian. You know, we are not supposed to trust anyone—" Lance was starting to retort, but he was sharply cut off by Elian.
"She is Alena Fleur."
Just as Elian said those words, Lance froze. I didn't know why that was so shocking, but Lance stared at Elian for a long moment before looking at me in horror.
He turned back to Elian and said, "She's— Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Elian."
"Is it me you're supposed to be apologizing to?" Elian questioned.
Lance glanced at me before storming away with his men on his tail. He almost seemed... scared.
Why did he react like that after hearing my name? Was my name cursed or something like that? Or, there actually was a previous life like Abigail said, and maybe I was a renowned mafia leader in my previous life.
Oh, well, who cares? My name saved me.
After the corridor was emptied, Elian approached me and said, "Uh, I'm sorry about that idiot."
My eyes widened. "Is Mr. Elian Storm apologizing to me?" I gasped dramatically.
He groaned. "Well, what can I do? It's my duty as his elder brother to apologize on his behalf."
My eyes widened even further. "He's your brother?"
"Yes," he sighed. "He's not usually this reckless. He just gets like that whenever his loved ones are close to danger."
"But I'm not a danger to you," I let out.
"I know that, but he doesn't." I nodded my head in understanding. "Anyway, forget about him. He won't bother you again. Now, if you could give me back my gun, I'll be on my way. I have a younger brother to teach a lesson to."
I was about to hand him the gun, but a thought occurred to me. I pressed the gun against my chest and said, "What do you say if I keep it?"
"Why?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Look, I have been put under gunpoint thrice in the last twenty-four hours. I need some kind of protection," I said desperately.
Elian chuckled. He actually chuckled. And goddammit, why did he have to look so handsome like that?
"I would let you have that, Ms. Fleur, but I'm afraid this one doesn't have any bullets," he confessed.
I stared at him in disbelief. "You mean that you threatened me with an empty magazine?" How dare he?
"That's correct," he admitted cheekily.
Anger rushed through my veins as I started to fume, "You're such a—"
"Considerate and cautious person who didn't want to risk firing at you?"
"No, just annoying bastard!" I exclaimed.
He chuckled again and said, "Ms. Fleur, you keep forgetting I'm your boss."
"But you can't kick me out of the company. You said yourself that I can't leave the city, which means I'm staying in the company," I reasoned.
He smirked and replied, "Yes, I said that, but I never said I couldn't demote you."
This man was impossible!
"Ugh!" I shoved the gun at his chest and stomped towards my front door. "Have a goodnight, Mr. Storm!" With that, I shut my door.
"By the way," Elian started to speak from the other side of the door, "If you really want a gun, I can get you one."
"No need. I don't even know how to fire!" I hollered.
"You work in an armament company, but you don't know how to fire?" he taunted.
"Yes, go ahead and say I'm a disgrace to the company. I don't care. What's the point of having a gun, anyway, when so many people like Lance will come to kill me?" All because I saw that one cursed bloody scene.
I heard Elian sigh. "Ms. Fleur, I promised you that you will be safe as long as you keep my secret. No one will harm you."
"What's the guarantee? Who will even keep me safe?"
"I will."
My heart skipped a beat at the sincerity in his voice.
"I promise I will keep you safe, no matter what," Elian said.
"Okay," I mumbled.
"I'll leave now. Goodnight, Ms. Fleur. I hope to see you in the office tomorrow," he said.
As I heard his receding footsteps, I couldn't help but wonder why my life had to turn out like this. What had I ever done to anyone? Why did have to continue working under a murderer?