Her Con Artist

CHAP-8

I was lost in my own train of thoughts while drying my hair with a towel when a knock on the door pulled me back to the reality.

"Come in."

Ella poked her head in and found me standing near the bed. Passing a smile she walked towards where i stood. Pulling the towel down from my semi-wet dry hair, i gave her my full attention.

"I wanted to talk to you before we leave." She said, fidgeting in her place. Biting her lips in hesitation.

"Sure. Sit." I said, taking a seat on the bed, patting the space beside me.

She passed me a soft smile and sat down, looking down at her hands. I frowned at her behavior.

"What happened?" I asked, curiously

"I-i am sorry for hurting you, Monica. In a span of few months, you have become a really good friend of mine and i dont want to lose that. I know our reason is not valid for what we did to you but it was never our- especially my intention to hurt you. There is a reason we are gathered here and doing this shabby stuff. We are nice people though our actions exhibit completely opposite. And one more thing, the stuff you said the other day were really hurtful, i agree if i were in your situation i would have said the same thing but it really wounded Eric. He doesnt express himself but we all know him, he is not what you think he is. Don't try to understand us but just be careful with your words." She said, looking at me with softness in her eyes, my heart melted away.

She saw she was having an effect on me and decided to give me a side hug. But i wasnt a loser, it was my time to lay my cards now.

"I will forgive you only if you all decides to tell me the reason behind all this. I am involved in this as much you all are. I cant escape even if i try, so its better to have me by your side." I said, patting her hand and stood up from the bed, making my way towards the dressing table. Picking up the hair brush, i started brushing them. I watched her sit there having a conflict with herself about what to do.

"I will talk to others about it. For now, lets go down. We are leaving in a few." She said, after a few minutes of silence.

I nodded my head and gave her a tight smile. Reaching in the launch, they all were ready to go. But i couldn't see a particular person.

"Monica, Eric is calling you. He is in that room." Josh said, pointing towards their meeting room. It was like he read my thoughts. Nodding my head, i walked towards the room, mind racing with thoughts. I entered in without knocking and found him standing near the table with a phone in his hand. The phone seemed awfully familiar.

"Oh you are here. Come here. I need you to do something." He said, looking down at the phone.

As i stepped closer to him, i found it was my phone that he was holding.

What the hell?

"What are doing with my phone!?" I asked and aggressively snatched my phone out of his hands.

"Your phone has been ringing for a while now. I didn't want to cause trouble for you, so i am letting you answer it for now." He said, putting his hands in his front pockets.

I felt a sensation of butterflies in my abdomen at his sincerity. I shoke my head to get rid of my hormonal self.

I saw around six miss calls from Dalton and around ten emails from my boss.

"s**t!"i cursed as i dialed Daltons number.

Erik was standing beside me, silently watching me.

"Moni! Oh my. Thank goodness. Where were you? " His panic voice reached my ears. Moni was my nickname given to me by him.

"Relax, breath. I am fine. I-uh was busy, so didnt saw it. Sorry for worrying you." I said, calmly.

"Oh. I thought something happened to you. Where are you?"

"I-uh am just here and there looking for them. Dont worry i am fine." I said, casting a glance at Eric, who had his arms crossed over his chest listening to what i was saying.

"Monica, leave it to police. They will find them, come back. Zara is upset with me for letting you go like this."He said, i could imagine him frowning

"Tell Zara, next time i will take her with me. Did you send my leave application to boss?" I said, chuckling to which he groaned.

"Yes, i did, it was accepted by the boss. So you are not going to listen to me?" He was asking question which he already knew answer of.

"You know me." I said, cheerfully.

"Well, Take care and come back soon."

"Sure. Take care." I said and ended the call.

I opened my mail and went through all of them, felt Eric walking towards me.

"I am not telling anyone about you or this place, so please give me my privacy." I said, without looking up at him

"If you show me that i can trust you then i will let you have your phone back." He said, taking my phone away from me gently.

"I didnt tell him about you, isnt it enough for you?" I asked, sighing

"No. I still have to question you about yesterday night but i am letting it go." He said and pocketed my phone, like it was his own.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever."i said with sigh.

He grabbed my arms as i was about to walk past him, making me halt in my steps. Looking up into his blue eyes which were staring deep into mine. '

"Dont open door for anyone. If there is any threat, hide in this room and call this number." He said, passing me a small paper on which a number was written.

I raised my eyebrow at him in question.

"It belongs to my friend, who lives nearby. He will come immediately when you ring him." He said, his voice was stern but held certain softness in it.

Suddenly Ella's words came into my mind. I looked up at him, trying to read him-his real self. From what i have seen from the past months, he deeply cares for those he cherishes.

Does he care about me or was just doing for his own purpose?

"Stay safe, cant have my client wounded." He said, like he read my mind and answered my unasked question.

He let his hands fall from my arms and walked towards the door.

"Eric, wait." My lips moved on their own accord.

What are you doing? I questioned myself

He looked back, with a raised brow.

"Don't tell anyone about this" I said, with uncertainty. He nodded his head and walked out of the room.

He was dangerous, i feel too comfortable with him that i wanted to share all my secrets with him. I need to keep my space with him. Shaking my head to clear my mind, i walked back to the launch and found all of them has left the house, it was Lexi and me only.

"Want to see a movie?" She said, while going through her phone.

"Umm sure. There's nothing to do anyways." I said, walking towards the sofa and laid on it.

Sigh.... peace

She sat on the other sofa and started telling me about movie names.

"This has high rating. Lets watch this!" She said, excitingly, her hair jumping along with her.

I nodded my head and laid on my stomach, hands under my chin as i stared at the screen.

We watched and ate like a pig. The movie was finished long ago, we were randomly talking when the bell rung.

Both of us looked at the door and back at each other with same thought.

Did they found us? Or it is someone else.

My thoughts went back to Eric's words, what he told me. The bell rung for the second time and this time with urgency.

"We need to see who is it, otherwise it would raise suspicion." I told Lexi as she looked a bit scared.

She blinked her eyes trying to process my words and shoke her head. Rolling my eyes, i grabbed the phone from her. I decided to do what Eric told me. My guts were telling me to trust him and follow his instructions.

"Don't follow me. I will handle it, if something happens, grab that lamp and attack." I told Lexi, to which she nodded her head.

Typing in the number he gave me, i approached the door without dialing it. If a situation occurred i will call him immediately. I opened the door and found two men dressed casually, waiting there.

They looked up at me and back at each other.

"What do you want?" I asked, narrowing my eyes to show them they disturbed me.

"Sorry to disturb you, but do you have information about new people who shifted here recently?" One with blue eyes asked, his eyes glinted with danger.

He must be asking about them. They were the members of the gangsters.

"Yes i have heard from the people around here." I lied with confidence,

They seemed surprised and looked back at me with mischievous glint.

"Do you know where live?" The other with brown eyes asked excited.

Like i will tell you, idiots!

"They live around two streets away. That's all i know." I told them with a soft smile on my face.

"Oh thank you, miss." They said and was about to leave when i stopped them.

"Why are you looking for them? Did something happen?" I asked innocently, making my eyes wide and lips pout.

They blinked surprised by my look and looked guilty somehow.

"No no. Don't be scared. We are their..umm..." Brown eyes man stammered and i chuckled internally.

"Friends!" Blue eyes man said with a glare to the man.

"Ya Friends.. Ha ha ha." He said, scratching his head.

"Uh... Okay. You can call them?" I said, pushing them to say something.

"We want to give them surprise that's why we can't tell them."

"Oh. You can ask Police they will know about their whereabouts." I said with a soft smile to which they pursed their lips and passed fake smiles my way. I shut the door on them and looked through the peek hole and watched them fight as they walked away.

I sighed and locked the door. Turning around i found Lexi standing with curious look on her face.

"Yes, what you are thinking is right. They were gangsters. They are looking for you all. I somehow turned them away by lying to them but not for long they will come back looking for you." I said, passing her phone back to her.

She quickly moved her fingers over the keyboard of the phone. Surely, messaging them and letting them know.

I sat down on the sofa and thinking. Some thing wasn't right. It was a gut feeling like a fish bone stuck in my throat that's failing to go down my throat.

It was weird how fast they found us. A month back when i went to hunt them and reached their place, the man who warned about gangsters were on us. The signal gangster's caught was Keith's fault, he accidentally switched on the burner phone which was used for communication between them and gangsters. But I clearly remember, Russell crushed that phone the same day and Eric gave Keith a hell about it. To which Keith swore he would never touch a phone again.

So how?

After a few minutes the door busted open and they all huddled in. I turned my neck to look at them. Russell had a anxious look on his face as he ran inside and when his eyes fall on Lexi, he relaxed and walked towards to hug her.

Cute.

I looked away not pry on them. My neck was also hurting so i turned back around and sat cross legged on the sofa as they all took the seats. I was picking my nails when i felt eyes on me. I looked up to find blue eyes staring at me from head to toe and when they collided with my hazel ones, he quickly looked away.

Was he checking me out or looking for any signs of injury?

Ignoring him, i looked back everyone. Russell had his arms around Lexi who was had her face laid on his chest and arms around his waist. Ella was rubbing Keith's back who looked scared, he was the youngest among us so it was natural for him to get scared. Josh had blank expression on his face. Owen sat beside me and was shaking his foot continuously with anxiety. As i looked at Eric, he looked at me and made eye contact with me.

"Tell us what happened." He said, pursing his lips, his elbows on his thighs and hands fisted together.

"We were just talking when the bell rung, so i decided to look because if i didn't it would have raise suspicion. So i went out and there were two men, they asked me if anyone new shifted here recently. I said yes and gave them wrong address to which they believed me and left." I said, looking at Eric who was sharing a look with Russell.

Taking out his phone from his pocket and then faced the phone towards me. It was picture of at least ten men who were bulky and had tattoos on their bodies.

"Which one were they?" Eric asked, grabbing the phone fron him, i looked closely.

"These two " i said, pointing to him. He nodded his head and looked it again.

"Don't worry about it. We will look into it." He assured everyone and stood up from the sofa.

"Russell" he called and left the room with Russell tailing behind him.

"Are you okay?" Ella asked me, softness in her voice.

"I am fine." I told her with a smile.

I need to talk to Eric.

I thought and stood up but only to be stopped by Owen who held my hand in his.

"Excuse me?" I asked with a raised brow at him.

I twisted my wrist and break free my hand from him.

"Is there any food left?" He asked me with a big smile.

"Really Owen!?" I said with a disgusting look on my face. Rolling my eyes, i left the room as Ella was beating his ass.

The situation was so serious and all he could think is about food. i***t.

I went to my room first and took a shower to think. Shower was the only private space here where no one could disturb me. Coming out and brushing my wet locks, i walked near the window and opened it. The soft chirping of birds against the chilly air made it so beautiful. I felt my insides take a deep breath and a soothing effect was dawn on me. The gorgeous scenery nature and the night always calmed my nerves. It was evening, the sun was going down leaving it's shade on the light blue sky. The pink and orange shade were blended in so beautifully as if by hands of an artist and after all the God was an artist.

My peaceful moment was broken by a sharp knock on the door. Grinding my teeth in frustration, i sighed and looked back at the sky which had turned darker. Leaving the window open i called in the person who was impatiently waiting outside the door.

"Food is ready. Come. Hurry up!" It was Owen. Who spoke with his head poked in and left the room within a second.

I blinked at his actions. One second he was here and in a blink of an eye he was gone. Chuckling at the weird duck, i walked down to the kitchen.

Yes to me he was a duck. A dumb duck.

I joined them and the only seat available was beside Eric. I looked at him as i was about to sit and at the same time he looked up and found my eyes on him. He nodded his head as in indicating me to sit.

Of course, i was going to sit. I don't need your permission to sit.

I thought to myself as i settled down and grabbed the plate. I ate quietly, listening to everyone. Eric was similar to me, he never talked while eating. I suddenly started coughing as the spicy sauce hit the back of my palate. Eric quickly grabbed the glass and poured water in it. Instead of passing it to me, he pressed it near my lips. I looked at him with watery eyes as he nodded, telling me to drink it. His eyes were wide as his other hand was on my back rubbing it. I drank the water and the spice died down. But my heart was on fire now. His eyes. They were lethal.

"Are you okay now?" He asked, removing his hand from my back but still had eyes on me. He was finding my situation funny as he chuckled along with them.

I nodded my head and gave him a soft smile. To which he returned with a chuckle. His laugh was just perfect- with half close eyes and laugh line appears around his eyes with a dimple on his right cheek.

Okay the cough was coming again now.

Controlling myself, i cleared my throat.

"Eat slowly." Ella said with a chuckle. I fake laughed it off and awkwardly ate my food.

Later after dinner, i was allowed to join the rest in the living room to discuss the new plan. Josh brought the medium sized sliding white board into the living from their meeting room in front of us Russell grabbed the board marker from Josh and started writing down. He turned around and then i could see what he wrote.

x Green land x

Two x on the sides of the company name. X must mean their next target or like finish this off. Russell was speaking something but my mind was somewhere else.

Green land belonged to TSB construction. Which was my dad's company.

Why were they targeting this company which was a branch only?

For now i decided to focus on the current things. As i looked up, half of the board was filled with writing. Blinking in surprise, for how long i was lost?

I crossed my arms over my chest and concentrated ahead. I read the things on the board- CEO name and information and his schedule was written ont he side. Next was Director and his information was also written. The line continues till Manager.

"...And here we will come. This time be perfect for us. As they will be out for the visit, we will have our revenge." Russell said, banging his fisted against the board in excitement. He wore an evil smile. To which all of them except Eric and me were clapping and cheering.

Clicking my tongue against my cheek, i just looked at them.

Revenge for what?

Eric stood up after Russell was done with the basics.

"There's an alley right a few blocks away from the building, so you will easily have access. Keith you know the drill." He pointed his marker at Keith who nodded his head while fixing his glasses.

"Next, Ella and Owen you two will play a role of investor. We will discuss the story later, for now, write it down." He said to them while pushing his black sleeves up his elbows.

My eyes automatically started looking at him. Like really looking at him from head to toe. I never paid attention to him until now. And to my expectations, the view didn't disappoint me. From sculptured face to lean but a bit muscular body. He had a good height which was a plus point.

Holy cow. He was a fine piece of art.

My eyes widened at my own thoughts.

What the hell! Monica control your self!

" ..... So yes. We will do that." He was saying something to Josh which i came back to my senses.

"Lexi and Russell will guard the hallways and doors." He said, pointing to them to which they both nodded.

"What will you do?" I asked, grabbing all of their undivided attention to me.

They looked at me like they forgot i was here with them.

"I will sneak in and steal the money." He said, nonchalantly.

I nodded my head and thought thank goodness i was not involved.

So Eric and Russell are the master minds behind all this. My insides were itching from curiosity, i have so many questions to ask.

"Any questions?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.

They all shoke their heads and today's meeting was finished.

"Anyone up for movie? Let's lighten up the mood!" Owen said with Ella hooting with her.

Both of them were crazy. They had lost their brain cells, i was sure of this.

How can they be so chill about it!? I am losing my wits here!

Rolling my eyes i stood up and at the same time Josh also did. We both chuckled as we jinxed. Eric left the room, mummering something under his breath. Russell and Lexi followed behind us. Guess it was Owen and Ella only. After biding my good nights to the rest, i walked towards Eric's room which was beside Ella's. Bringing my hand up and knocked on the door. I waited for him.

No answer.

Was he ignoring? Or he didn't hear it.

Shrugging my shoulders, i knocked again this time thrice in a row. I waited for a few minutes but got no answer again.

If he is ignoring for real, i will surely kick him today.

Grinding my teeth in anger, i opened the door as it was unlocked. Poking my head in and saw the room was lightly lit by the lamp sitting beside the bed. But no sign of Eric, then i heard the water running. He was showering.

Stupid. Always in hurry.

Biting my lip in guilty i closed the door slowly and gently. Wishing he doesn't come out and saw me peeking in his room. After closing the room, i ran to my room, embarrassed at myself. I laid in my room, idly looking here and there while waiting. I didn't realize that my eyes closed and slept. Suddenly as if pricked by something, i woke up and sat on the bed. Rubbing my eyes, I looked at the time and it was 12, it's been thirty minutes so far. Fixing my hair and shirt, putting my feet in the slippers and march out of the room towards his. Yawning and rubbing my eyes to remove any signs of sleep in them. I reached his room and slightly knocked on his door, so that if he is sleeping, I won't disturb him.

I heard some shuffling and footsteps nearing the door. I took a step back as i had my ear pressed against the door to listen.

Ya whatever.

The door opened to reveal a messy hair Eric. He frowned as he found me standing here at this hour.

"Is everything okay?"

Was it just my imagination or really he was being nice to me for a few days now?

"Yes everything's fine. I wanted to talk about something. If you have time.." i said and looked at him with a big eyes of hope.

As i come now better to ask them now before i change my mind.

"Sure. Come in." He said, nodding while moving back.

I entered in while biting my lip and twisting my finger in the hem of my shirt. A habit of mine while i am nervous. He turned on the lights and gestured me to take a seat. I sat down at the end of the bed as i looked at him making his way towards the desk chair and sat down. Putting his hands in his jumper with on leg propped up on the other, he looked at me. Blue eyes so vibrant and fresh like water and sky.

He respected my private space- another plus point. He really had good manners despite the mood swings here and there.

"What did you wanted to talk about?" He asked, his voice held certain softness to it.

"I am involved in this as much as you guys are. So i want to know everything what is going on and why gangsters are after you? Today they came to the doorstep and next time they will have a gun pointed at my head? So please tell me, can't you trust-"

"Wait hold up." He said, cutting me in between and stood up.

Frowning, i looked at him. He walked towards the bed and opened the first drawer and pulled something out of it. Rubbing it against his shirt as if clearing it of dust or something. He extended his hand towards me and i saw my phone in his palm.

I looked up at him in question to which he put it beside me on the bed and sat down.

"I trust you. I have seen it today. I know you are smart but still be careful with it." He said, casting a look at my phone.

Grinning, i nodded my head and hugged my phone. I heard chuckling and found him laughing my actions. I scratched my head and smiled anyways.

"It's dear to you. I see." He said with a teasing tone.

"Yes about my question." I said and yawned at the end.

"Go to sleep. We will talk tomorrow." He said, raising his eyebrow at me.

"No no. It's fine. I am not sleepy. Tell me right now. What if you deny telling me tomorrow?" I said and stifled a yawn in the end.

He rolled his eyes and this took me by surprise. He really was being himself around me which really melted my heart.

"I said i will. Anyways, if you insist." He said with a shake of his head probably calling me i***t.

"The Shadow Gangsters is a based on very large scale. They have subgroups that are living in various cities and doing their jobs assigned by the main boss- the head of the shadow gangster. The gangsters which approached us are a subgroup of the main gangster, so what i am trying to tell you is that, they are dangerous but not as vicious as the whole of it united together as one. Now coming back, Gangster's approached us to loot a few politicians and made a deal with us. We were in need of money and the deal was feasible for us so we took the bait. The deal was to divide the money in half and we agreed to their terms and conditions but they tried to fool us and take our money as well. We are con artists after all, we conned them before they could and run away with the whole amount. That's why they are after us now to get back the money and kick our butts for conning them." He explained, while playing with a dice. I had laid down on his bed while i listened to him

I was surprised with this whole information and nodded my head slowly.

"The man we met at the bar?" I asked, putting the dots together.

"Yes, they are gangsters- The Shadows which are after us. Thst day we made it out alive thanks to you." He said, throwing a grateful look my way.

I was busy stifling a yawn to notice his smile or anything. He went back to playing with his dice on the table so didn't notice me. My eyes were getting heavy but i kept them open despite the urge to close them.

"We were really....... "

And my world got black.

~~~~~