Liar Liar Billionaires

24. Decisions

Chloe completely froze. Her eyes did not hide her shock.

But she recovered fast.

And within seconds, she decided between pushing Gabriel away or going along to prick Nathaniel. She decided that she would get to witness something fun, so she went for the second option.

So, taking even Gabriel by surprise, she placed a hand on his cheek, tilted her head a bit more, and accepted the invitation of his tasty, soft lips.

But as Gabriel intensified the kiss, her mind kept running towards Nathaniel. And almost instinctively, she flashed her eyes open to glance at him. His arms were still folded, but his eyes didn't hold much of the confidence his body language was trying to give.

Chloe now discovered that the fun she hoped to feel wasn’t there. She felt quite awful, so she withdrew from the liplock. And as she slid her hand off Gabriel’s jaw, her head shifted to Nathaniel.

As soon as their eyes met, she sucked in her lower lip, and the memories of their kiss came to her. And weirdly, she felt like she had betrayed something they had.

With an inner groan, Chloe rebuked that feeling. By all means, she should be angry at the man for being so cowardly with his affection, covering his faults with the good old method of being hostile to a potential romantic partner. She should not be feeling like she had hurt him.

"Chloe..." Gabriel's eyes never left her, and like other times, they looked dreamy.

Chloe sighed. Then closed her eyes for a moment and cursed the situation she was in.

When she opened her eyes, she turned to Nathaniel again, whose tongue flicked inside his mouth. And, Chloe knew she had to, at that moment, shun every feeling, every attraction towards the man, and kill any space of romance.

And this time, she would be doing it for real.

"You really don't care then?" she asked Nathaniel. His lips parted as his arms came free and rested on the table. Nothing came from his mouth as his eyes pierced hers. With slow nods, she slowly said, "Fine. Make sure you don’t come onto me from now on. This is it as long as we are concerned.”

A heavy pause followed, then, with a lowness in his deep voice, he replied, “I guess.”

Chloe smiled.

This unexpected development was for the best. It would ensure her mission flows as smoothly as possible. And she would not have to risk giving her heart to someone she could potentially find dirt on.

Feeling uplifted by her decision, she got up and faced Gabriel, “I’m sorry, Gabriel. Thank you for liking me, but I can’t say yes.”

“That is fine. I would still love to be the first man in your life, though. If the future allows.”

Chloe did not miss the little frown now on Nathaniel’s forehead. "Who knows? Maybe it will.”

"Well, time will tell, Cupcake." Chloe smiled at him, carried her cupcakes and prepared to return to her room.

Occupied by thoughts that assured her that ending the romantic potential was very necessary, Chloe was blind to the fact that she was almost at the foot of the staircase.

"Hey." A perky Amir caught her before she tripped. "Are you okay? Aren't you having dinner?"

Chloe sighed. "I think these will be okay for tonight," she gestured to the box.

Amir's eyes raked through her. He studied her like he was trying to run a diagnosis on the spot. Eventually, he said, "I will have Lucille bring your dinner. Don't forget to use your medicine, okay?"

She nodded. And with a soothing pat, he sent her off, Chloe grateful that he didn’t ask any more questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe’s life was truly complicated.

As long as she was still working for the Agency, she would never get to live a normal life, not to mention loving a person. The only normal life she often dreamt of having will only be attained after she gets certain answers from the Agency. Until then, she can’t do anything else.

Yes, a normal life was not in her cards.

So, as she quietly lay at the end of her bed and captured the view of the ceiling, she played with her spy smartwatch, trying to make a decision.

Following the choice she made earlier in the dining, it occurred to her that she needed to push certain factors to act in her favour so that sooner or later, she could take a break from the whole spy thing and catch a breath.

Minutes later, with a deep sigh, she reached for her headset, jumped out of bed and made for the bathroom, her hand hitting the call button on the watch.

There was no delay in picking up the call.

"Where on earth have you been, Chloe?" And, she was glad to hear Agent Conner on the other end.

"I have been busy."

"Did you have news?"

Chloe almost snickered at his question. "The Agency sends people to stalk me, don’t they? They must have informed you that I was sick.”

He sighed. "It is good that you are alive, Chloe."

"I wasn't dying," she snapped.

"Chloe..."

"When am I getting my answers, Agent Conner? I am getting sick of this."

" Chloe… perhaps we should speak later. You sound tired,” Agent Conner persuaded.

"Yes, I am tired of all these dramas." Chloe wished she were with him in person. He needed to see for himself how frustrated she was. "In my first mission, I lost so much. But I didn’t blame anyone for what happened. I didn’t even mind the dangers that came with it as long as it meant I would get closer and closer to finding out the truth and making things right. But right now, I mind as f**k. I’m sick of the silence, I… I… I’m tired of being told to always do the next mission without getting what I want. I just… I just can’t help but feel used, Agent Conner.”

"Chloe... that's not true. These things take time."

"It takes time to provide answers? BAN has investigative facilities that the normal cops would die to have. Finding a couple of answers shouldn’t be hard, Agent Conner.”

"And you will get those answers."

"When?" Chloe's eyes narrowed at his statement. "After I have lost everything? After I become some lonely lady who does nothing but risk her life for a non-caring Agency? Tell me, sir..." Her voice softened. "When will I get them?"

"You have to exercise patience, Chloe. These things are not as easy as you think." Chloe went quiet. "Chloe, be patient. Okay?"

"Why did you leave so many calls?" Chloe chose to put a pin on her anguish and decided it would be best to continue focusing on her present mission.

"The NAG brothers are expecting a shipment, and it will be delivered to their house."

"What do you think is inside?"

“Our intel, though not perfectly accurate, suggests it might be ammunition. Guns, especially.”

Chloe frowned. "Why would they need those?"

"They might be traders. But we don't know for sure. That's why we need you to check once the shipment is around."

"And if it turns out to be something illegal?"

"We will conduct a raid and build a case against them."

Chloe felt a tug on her chest as she thought of the men being in prison. Then, she chuckled bitterly in her head.

At the beginning of the mission, she was excited to toss them in jail. But now…

"We are counting on you Chloe," Agent Conner intercepted her thoughts.

"You people had better have what I am asking for at the end of this mission," she said before abruptly disconnecting the call with the hope that they would finally keep their end of the bargain.

She was really craving a normal life.