Free Web NovelChapter 31: The Meeting Of The Minds
ADRIEN’S POV
The arrival of the yellow-eyed rapist sets many things in motion.
Firstly, we change locations—only to the upper part of the club, because Orion would rather sit in a room and listen to the cleaning crew take care of the evidence of his art.
The art of murder.
The five of us, plus that damn Luca, sit in what might be a bookkeeping office or Orion’s secret room for an impromptu ’meeting’. It’s as nerve-wracking as it sounds.
"So, who wants Luca dead?" I ask, getting straight to the point.
I’m not going to sit here and let Orion and that stupid yellow-eyed bastard play tricks on me. Not when they successfully withheld almost all the information I needed to survive at Lady Dimitra’s party.
You know what they say...Once beaten, twice dead...and all that.
"I thought Orion said you were the one they came here for?" Luca asks, glaring at me like a cat whose tail I stepped on.
I blink slowly at him. "Oh, really?"
"Ignore him, Luca. Adrien has a very bad habit of dumping his problems on others." Orion hums.
He’s cleaning out two guns on his desk. He’s been tinkering with them since we took our seats. I just realized that I’ve been subconsciously using the sounds of his tinkering as background asmr.
"You can’t blame me for asking now, can you? You’re the one who called this meeting, and yet look at you, playing with guns like a kid." I retort, irritation coloring my tone.
Marcella— I now know her name— sucks in a sharp breath. Even Luca stiffens a bit. Suddenly, it’s like the entire room is waiting for something explosive.
I just had to step on that landmine and bring up his childhood, didn’t I? I’m fucked.
"Have you ever seen a child play with guns, darling?" He asks softly. His head is bent over his desk, so I can’t see his eyes. I don’t know how much damage control I’m supposed to do. Or if I even can.
"I’m looking at one right now, aren’t I?" Of course not, that was a joke, don’t take everything so seriously, baby.
Ah, I said the wrong thing.
The cleaning rod in his hands drops on the table with a clatter. Marcella subtly inches towards Luca, body positioned in front of him like a shield.
Orion looks up at me, eyes calm, and smiles. A chill goes down my spine. That somehow feels worse than if he had gotten angry.
The room goes silent.
Not the normal kind of silence. This one settles heavily over everyone present like a physical thing, as if even the air itself is waiting to see what happens in the next minute.
Luca shifts slightly in his seat. An already jumpy Marcella’s hand twitches, angling towards the firearm beneath her jacket. Even the yellow-eyed rapist stops looking amused for half a second.
Orion’s smile stays clear in its simplicity. "You think I’m a child?" He asks.
His voice is soft. Deceptively so. And that is never a good sign.
I lean back against my chair and cross my arms. "I think you’re immature enough to qualify as one."
Luca sucks in a sharp breath. He eyes me like I’ve lost my mind, but he doesn’t understand something about his good man, none of them do. Except maybe Orion’s pet rapist.
If you throw a barb at Orion, even if you are very clearly out of line, you have to follow up on it, or he’ll peel your skin off your flesh.
I’ve already overcommitted. I’m either dead or dead. And from the sharp bark of laughter that yellow-eyed cunt lets out, he knows it too.
Orion’s smile widens. "You’ve picked an interesting way to get my attention, Adrien."
"You asked me a question."
"I did, didn’t I?" He chuckles as he assembles his firearms for the unpeteenth time.
"Then wipe that creepy smile off your face." Believe me, no one wants a man as tall as six feet four inches smiling at them like he’s already imagining how they’d look without skin.
"My smile isn’t creepy," he sounds playfully affronted. I can’t tell if he’s playing with me or playing me. "I’m just wondering how you’ve managed to survive this long."
"It’s my overwhelming charisma."
"Or maybe it’s just luck." He shakes his head.
"That is exactly what I said."
"No," he hums. A low nerve-wracking sound. "Luck eventually runs out."
Something dangerous flickers behind his eyes. The room suddenly feels smaller, but I refuse to look away. I need my skin on my flesh, thank you very much.
"I don’t know, but to me, you sound a bit experienced in that aspect." I push just a little bit more.
"I’m very experienced in that aspect, Adrien." There it is— that little crack in his marble mask. Most people wouldn’t notice it, but I do.
I live to see those cracks in Orion’s mask. The larger the better.
Because of all his composure, Orion hates discussing his past. Almost as much as I do. He won’t randomly lose control, but it’s enough to matter. It’s enough to be useful. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"Well," I say casually, "I’m sure you know that using your childhood as a yardstick for your current behavior has been proven to be redundant."
Does it hurt, Orion? Me dissing your past like this, does it hurt you?
Luca immediately chokes. "Oh my god."
The yellow-eyed rapist snorts into a drink I didn’t even see him get up to get. What’s with all these people and their drinks magically appearing out of nowhere?
Orion’s expression doesn’t change, which somehow makes it worse. "Go on," he says pleasantly.
That is definitely worse. I want to hurt him, but not at the expense of my own life. It’s just not worth it. I
"No, no. I wouldn’t want to open old wounds."
"No," he scoffs, "you just don’t want to provoke me, you coward."
I grin shamelessly. "Well, it’s something like that."
For a moment, neither of us speaks. It’s ridiculous.
We’re sitting in what might be an office above a nightclub where several people were probably murdered less than an hour ago, and somehow this feels like the most dangerous thing happening tonight.
The yellow-eyed— Niko, damn it— watches us with open fascination like we’re two wild animals deciding who gets to keep all their limbs.
Finally, he clears his throat.
"As entertaining as this is, can we return to the matter of people trying to kill Luca?"
"Yes," I respond candidly.
"No," Orion says, countering me with a provocative grin on his face.
Niko sighs heavily. "See, this is why I drink."
"You drink because you’re insufferable," Marcella replies.
"Your tone is cute and all, but I can’t get it up of it’s not a dick, Marcella love." He retorts crudely.
"I’d rather hump a statue made of broken glass and rusted nails than— "
Niko’s unprompted confession breaks my staring contest with Orion. This bastard kissed me. He likes men and he kissed me? Was he trying to pull some shit like Orion? Am I in danger on two fronts?
"You like men? You actually like men?"
"Don’t worry, puppy. You’re not my type," he smirks into his glass. "I prefer them a bit teary."
An actual shiver just went down my spine. My soul just shuddered. I look at Orion, and then Niko— two men, both as physically large as their auras, and I thank whatever deity out there that I dodged whatever bullet that might be.
I can’t even manage Orion, how the hell would I deal with a bloody sadist?
Luca groans, dragging me out of my spiraling thoughts. "Can someone explain why we’re all pretending like I’m the one they tried to kill this night?"
"Would you rather I take that mantle? What if I jinx myself?" I shrug, shaking myself out of my stupor.
I’m a bitchy little shit not a scaredy-cat. Besides, if those two lunatics wanted to hurt me like that, I’d bite off my own tongue.
"You will not be jinxing yourself because they are indeed after you! You’re the target not me!" Luca snaps, veins bulging in his delicate forehead as he glares at me.
I refuse to believe that I have armed men after my life. I refuse to believe it with everything I am. I will never agree to it.
"Nuh-uh."
"What the fuck does that even mean? Use your damn words!" He sounds so stressed. That has to be bad for his health. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
He should learn how to go with the flow.
Orion pinches the bridge of his nose. For a brief moment, he looks tired and almost...fond?...then it’s gone.
"Five separate groups have been making inquiries about you, Adrien."
The shift in the air is immediate. I straightened up so fast, my spine creaked. This cannot be real. Did he just say five groups?
What’s with everyone and being excessive these days?
"That’s bad. That’s really bad." I mutter, panic already setting in.
The smirk Orion gives me in return is smug in a way that says ’you don’t even know the half of it’.
"On a scale of one to ten," he laughs, "without me, you’d already be a corpse."
********
Thank you Leontine_Verhoef for being our first ticketer! And Lady_Nyxia for being our first gifter!
There’s more to come.
— TheLovePoet
