Saint By Day, Sinner By Night

CHAPTER 11

Myles's POV

Time seemed to freeze the moment that Serena's hand connected with my face. All my employees froze in shock and fear and utter disbelief that this had happened.

I was shocked that she'd done this. I couldn't remember when last time I was slapped. Hell I couldn't remember getting slapped at all, my reputation as the ice king wasn't only when I was arguing cases in court.

I wanted to be really angry! I wanted to start giving her a piece of myself, but then I noticed that she was crying. Her eyes were puffy and swollen with tears already welled up and were ready to fall. She had a briefcase that she was holding rather too tightly.

“Who are you?” She asked amidst tears. “What have you done?!”

Her questions caught me off guard, and for the first time in years, my heart beat rapidly.

I turned and glared at the entire office, which had paused to watch the live drama, and everyone immediately went back to their work, but I knew their eyes were all perked and ready to hear whatever I had to say.

“Come with me,” I said lowly before unceremoniously walking past Serena and towards my office.

I reached my office and stepped aside for her to enter. Once she did, I shut and locked the door and then blurred the glass to give us privacy. My office was soundproof too, so I was completely shut out from the rest of the building.

“Now what the f**k was that all about?” I growled with my hands on the table and my eyes boring into hers.

“You tell me!” She screamed. “The moment you show up in my life, I've started getting threats from strangers, and my mother starts getting threatened at the hospital. My mother. She's just…” She broke into sobs.

My initial anger suddenly vanished, and my eyes slightly widened at her words. What did she mean? What had they done to her and her mother?

“Serena?” I tried calling in a softer and calmer voice. “Serena, listen to me. Is your mother okay?”

She didn't answer but kept sobbing with her whole body shaking uncontrollably. What was I supposed to do now? Move closer and hug her? Is that what girls want these days? I really couldn't tell.

“Is your mother fine?” I repeated the question.

“She's..” She wiped her face. “My mom's fine. I went to see her last night. I was terrified at first, but she was only using the washroom, and couldn't answer my calls. She's okay.”

I felt a sense of relief hearing those words, but that still didn't explain the reason behind her slap nor the strange men she earlier spoken about earlier.

“What's this all about?” I asked. “What's going on with you. Tell me everything.”

“My life was threatened.” She replied. “My mother's life was threatened, too, on account of my giving this to you personally.”

She dropped the briefcase she was carrying on the table, where it landed with a heavy thud.

I slowly examined the briefcase. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it, just a simple briefcase, but with a lock that could only be opened with a key. Wait.. a key?

I instinctively reached into my pocket and brought out the key I had received earlier. What was this?

“Who gave you this?” I asked with my eyes flickering at Serena.

“I don't know.” She replied. “They stood in the dark and were on motorcycles. I couldn't see them clearly.”

The word motorcycles immediately caught my attention. I began to understand what I was dealing with. I was dealing with a rival gang somehow, and Serena was dragged into this! Gosh, how could I be so stupid?

“You might want to leave the room now,” I told her.

“Why?” She frowned.

“You should. This could be a bomb or something just as bad. Protect yourself now. Step out of the room.”

“Those men... those men who gave me this briefcase, they sounded like they had a history with you. Are you their pals or what?”

I wasn't anyone's pal. I knew for sure that those were rival gang members but I couldn't really tell exactly who at the moment. I had a lot of enemies, and not just because I was the worst gang leader but because I wasn't as evil and twisted as they were.

“I'm a lawyer who's never lost a case. I have put a countless number of criminals permanently behind bars and have sent some to face the electric chair. I'm bound to have enemies.” I lied told her. I couldn't just fess up that I was the president of a motorcycle gang. No. “Just step out of the room now, Serena.”

She hesitated for a while with her eyes flickering to the briefcase and then to my face. I could tell she was as curious as a cat, not minding the saying curiosity kills the cat.

“No.” She finally spoke. “I'm not going out now. I've carried that case around since last night. My life and my mother's have been threatened for that briefcase. I think I deserve to know what's in it.”

Her eyes burned directly into mine as she spoke, and I knew that there was no point arguing with her; she was stubborn and she was not one to back down that easily.

“Okay. At your own risk.” I muttered.

“At my own risk.” She nodded.

“Just stay away at least,” I said, nudging my head towards a corner of the room. “Just give me and this…” I tapped the case. “…some space.”

She understood, thankfully and moved to one corner of the room while I moved to another corner of the room.

My hands were sweaty as I propped the briefcase down and inserted the key into the lock. It was a perfect fit.

I glanced up at Serena and could see that even in her corner, she was straining her neck to look at the contents of the case, even when it wasn't open yet.

I finally turned the key and… CLICK... the case opened and..

WHAT THE f**k?!

I gasped and almost fell on my backside.