The men kick open two wide doors and throw me inside. I groan and sit up on the ground only to come face to face with Alex. "Of course," he says knowingly, shaking his head before extending a hand to help me up.
I ignore it and manage to stand, dusting myself off. "You really should have learnt by now that I don't follow orders from scary, gang-affiliated men with egos' the size or Mars," I grumble, walking past him. Behind a desk sat a man wearing an unbuttoned, white dress-shirt, cigarette at his lips, skin covered in tattoos and huge, dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hasn't slept in weeks. There was a gun on his desk, a few stacks of cash, two lines of cocaine and a switchblade.
"Hello Darling," he says, his voice calm and collected laced with a thick French accent as he looks me up and down. "Hey?" It comes out as more of a question that I intended.
He glances over my shoulder to Alex. "Is this the girl?" Before he has a chance to reply, I clear my throat and step forward, raising a hand. "Sure is. And she is right in front of you so don't speak like I'm not," I smile sweetly down at him. I hear Alex sigh from behind me and he slips his arm around my waist.
"She's feisty. I like it," he chuckles. I roll my eyes and plop down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Alex shortly follows suit. "So, what's popping guys?" I ask, glancing between the two men. Alex stays quiet for a while and for a minute I thought they were just going to completely ignore me before the other man answers. "I am going to save your life," he states. I raise an eyebrow and smirk. "Fun times. Now who exactly are you?" I ask again.
"Raphael Ramírez," he states slowly, kicking his feet up onto the desk. I have to admit, he was pretty attractive... Not a good time, Ivy. "Wait a minute... Ramírez? As in son of Christopher Ramírez?" My jaw drops. Surely not, right? My life can't be that much of a tragic coincidence...
"You know my father?" A sly grin makes its way onto his face. It is only then that I notice the small, framed picture of Raphael here and Dr. Chris behind him on the cabinet.
"That man is a fucking legend! Honestly, never before in my life have I seen someone perform an aortic dissection with such... Grace!" I lean further back into my chair with a sigh. Not to mention how he was an absolutely lovely man. James was lucky enough to earn an apprenticeship with him and was invited to observe and even assist many of his surgeries. They had invited me to catch up every now and then for lunch after a shift and Christopher was always so respectful and funny.
"Do you work with him?" Raphael raises an eyebrow. I shake my head and chuckle. "Oh God, no. Me and my hand tremor could never! He works with my boyfriend though, and I see him around every now and then," I explain. He glances between Alex and I with disbelief. "Since when were you a cardiothoracic surgeon?" He cackles at Alex with a scoff.
It takes me a good minute to actually understand what was going on but before I could retort, Alex replies. "Me? Dating her? C'mon dude, my standards aren't that low."
A glare makes its way onto my face and I cross my arms. "Bitch, you slept with every breathing female at our psych-ward of a boarding school. If anyone has low standards, it's you," I snare back at him. "Well at least I could get some," he laughs. Okay, I have really had enough of his bullshit for one day.
"Yeah? Well at least I never left you to die at the hands of your ex-bestie while you were prancing around on a tropical island somewhere because of a mess that you made," I spit back.
"Shut up, you fucking whore." I don't even know what exactly happened, but one minute I was in my chair, the next I had stolen the gun off Raphael's desk and had it pointed at Alex's head. "Go on, call me a whore again. I fucking dare you." I laugh in his face.
I roll my eyes. This gun wasn't even fucking loaded. It was too light. A knife drops from Alex's sleeve and he holds it up, readying himself to throw it at me. I smirk. He really thinks he is going to win with a knife? "Come on, stab me. Hope for your sake that this time it kill me."
"Wait, who the fuck stabbed you?" He furrows his eyebrows and a strange look fills his eyes. A sad sigh leaves my mouth at the memory. I did absolutely everything I possibly could to flush every memory of that stupid bitch out of my mind simply because I was an emotional wreck whenever I thought about it. "Elijah." I drop the gun back onto Raphael's desk and collapse back into my chair.
"I'll kill him," Alex spits. I giggle and pat him on the arm as he takes his seat. "Not if I kill him first," I say, blowing him a kiss. All the while, Raphael sat in front of us, a smirk adorning is face. "So you two are seriously trying to tell me that there is nothing going on here?" He mutters.
Alex and I exchange a small glance. "There is definitely something..." He begins slowly. I couldn't help the scoff that left my lips at his expression. "Bitch, I have a boyfriend."
Alex just stares at me for a minute, jaw ajar. "Oh okay, you have a boyfriend, so what? We have slept together every night since you left him in that cabin in the forest!" Alex exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air. I look to Raphael for help but he throws his hands up. "Hey, don't look at me," he grumbles.
"We didn't sleep together, we just slept next to each other. And that was only because your stupid ass kept booking rooms with only one bed," I retort coldly.
Before Alex had the chance to reply, Raphael cuts in. "Okay, you two need couples therapy," he begins, furrowing his eyebrows in concern at the two of us. "And I have a meeting in ten minutes so we need to speed shit up and make a plan."
Alex hums for a minute. "We need to keep both the gun and this bitch hidden from Ace at all costs but we also need to get his attention somehow," Alex murmurs, almost to himself as he brainstorms.
"Well, it's simple. I contact Ace, tell him I found Yvette and lead him to our base where my men will be waiting for him," Raphael states, crossing his arms over his chest. Alex turns his nose up. "Trust me, Ace will know something is up. Who's to say that will even get him to come? He will probably just send his men," Alex argues. He had a point. Ace was probably the most skeptical person I had ever met, including myself. He questioned almost everything and didn't even trust the majority of his own men, Elijah being the exception.
"So I tell him to come and pick her up himself because I also have a 'business proposition' for him. Everyone knows that a gang war is about to break lose and Ace is smart, he knows he is going to need all the allies he can get."
Great, no doubt I will end up in the middle of said gang war. "But keeping in mind, the second things turn ugly, I'm leaving. I will provide you with unmarked guys, but I won't go against Ace myself. I don't need him as an enemy," Raphael states calmly. I raise an eyebrow. How does he expect us to trust him if he doesn't want to go against Ace?
"We will have to tie you up, make it look like we are holding you hostage for when Ace gets here. My guys will have Ace alone and vulnerable by the time he gets anywhere near you," he says.
"You do realize I am going to kill him, right? Why would going against Ace be a concern if you know your men can provide sufficient protection and take down as many guys as Ace brings?" I question slowly. By the glare that appeared on his face, I could tell he didn't appreciate my queries.
"They can provide sufficient protection," he states angrily. Alex reaches over and places his hand on my thigh. "Calm those tits of yours, Love. We are going to tie you to a chair and leave you sitting in an abandoned warehouse somewhere. We might even have to rough you up a bit first, just for effects," Alex snares from beside me, tightening his grip on my thigh and digging his nails in. I swat his hand away and chuckle. "Well when are we doing this?" I ask slowly, shuffling my legs away from Alex on my chair as he goes to grab my thigh again.
"Tonight. I have a meeting soon, but come back in two hours with whatever supplies you think you might need," Raphael states.
With that, Alex and I exit the room. When we arrived back in the car, I turn to him. "I don't trust him," I state with a frown. He smirks and begins driving.
"You don't need to trust him. Ralph wants to be top dog, but he is afraid of Ace. He will do everything to overthrow him. He needs you alive to use you as a bargaining chip," Alex explains slowly, taking his eyes of the road to grin at me.
I guess that made sense... But there was something off about him. As much as I want to wring Ace's neck as soon as I can, I had a bad feeling about tonight.
. . .
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