DEALT ( saving his soul )

Chapter Nineteen.

“ What I'd like to know is why were not in bomb party if not holding one ? ”

A shoe was thrown at his head.

“ No, seriously! You all look like she's dead and about to be buried while she's back and alive , well kicking ! So , why is Blue on the damn floor with his head in his hands seeming so miserable and Lan is pacing while Gregory looks like he wants to chop my head off ? ”

He squished the big loaf to his chest as if hugging it.

“ You realize I bought that bread , Frost ? ” Gregory glared.

“ Oh ! Is that why you look like you'd rather have my head on a silver platter ? ”

“ And I bought it for the primary reason of eating it , Frost , ”

“ Oh ! Shush ! It's just bread , we've got serious matters at hand , for example why Blue is on the floor looking like he's about to hang himself , ”

“ Cause the woman he's in love with is an assassin you dimwit ! ”

“ Oh ! I know you , still mad at me because of some stupid warm bread - ”

“ WILL THE TWO OF YOU SHUT UP ! WE CALLED YOU HERE TO THINK NOT TO ARGUE OVER SOME STUPID CHEAP BREAD ! ”

“ Easy Lan , ” Gregory said then shot a glare at the man cuddling with his long brown bread.

“ It wasn't that cheap, ” Gregory grumbled .

“ I don't like that guy, ” Frost said , pointing at Mr. Fazul who sat at a corner his eyes darting around in mild concern.

“ Because he's serious unlike you , ”

“ No , he looks like he can kill you with a single stare , ”

“ I'd suggest the two of you cooperate with Mr. Blue's thoughts and keep me out of your stupid business, ” Mr. Fazul said , stroking his braided goatee.

The bickering around him could not register in his mind. Jonathan was confused . He looked at the white wall infront of him. It was right infact proper that he subject Cora to full torture so that she could tell him everything but he could never do it. Jonathan could not bare to see her in pain , it did not feel right even if the woman held information that could lead to his own destruction. Her painful screams were the reason he stopped Lan from proceeding the day before. Each scream seemed to tear his heart apart and all he wanted was to pull her from the chair, cradle her in his arms and whisper that he would keep away the pain.

He was in love.

Jonathan Blue was in love with a cold blood assassin who was also after his own life . He shook his head.

“ I'm sick , ”

“ No wonder ! You got us worried man . That can be the only sensible reason explaining why you're on the floor like that. So, is it stomach ache - ”

Jonathan glared , “ Take him away . ”

“ What ? ” Frost looked at his friend in pure astonishment while Jonathan's men were already by his side , “ You can't do that. ”

“ Hey ! Don't touch me , ” he yelled at a guard who had already pulled him to his feet, “ I'm his friend and you can clearly see he's not serious. ”

Jonathan rubbed his forehead in irritation , “ Out ! ”

Frost tried to struggle and got angry when the loaf was pulled from him , “ Not squishy too ! ”

His loud insults made everyone groan as he was dragged out of the room.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed at Frost's departure. Everyone noticing Jonathan's no nonsense mood . Mr. Fazul observed the miserable man on the floor with keen eyes while Gregory sat upright on the sofa.

Mismatched eyes looked at the men in anger, frustration and confusion.

“ I suggest we give her a chance , ” Gregory spoke up.

“ Quite true but the problem is , who does she work for ? The last thing we need is an ambush coz we took some gang’s member. We can't trust her , ” Lan said, stopping to stare at Gregory.

“ True , what if she still wants to kill Jonathan? ” Gregory wondered aloud.

The disturbing unanswered question lingered in the air.

“ If she was to kill your so called Mr. Blue , she would've already , ” Mr. Fazul began , crossing a long leg over the other , “ Mr. Yong's main motive was to steal Mr. Blue's production strategies of the oil plant, production plans and start up details of his global chocolate factory chain. The only convinient way she would have done this was by eliminating Mr. Blue and Lan first then carry on with the plan . ”

Lan glared at him,“ Don't you dare exonerate your pathetic self from that plan mister. You are part and parcel of it when you introduced her to this plus our security system would not have been easy for her to breach then carry out with your stupid elimination plan . ”

Mr. Fazul raised his arms in mock surrender,“ I'm not defending myself junior, I'm only saying that if she wanted to kill you

she easily would've done so. As for your system, the b***h is too intelligent-”

“ Don't you dare ! ” Jonathan rasped threateningly, “ Only I get...to call her...such. ”

Mr. Fazul rolled his eyes, “ Damn your drama ! ”

“ I'll pull that annoying thread from your chin for calling me junior,” Lan said and glared at the man .

“ Easy, let him finish, we can do all that later , ” Gregory stated.

“ As I was saying,when Mr. Blue left for a while , she already stole your budget that shows you how much of a quick thinker she is. Cora is also a master manipulator alongside her magnificent assassin skills : the main reasons I found her perfect for this job. Mr. Yong only wanted Jonathan dead as bonus because he hates his guts and I am in undisputable agreement with him on that particular matter. I find your boss quite dramatic and annoying - ”

“ That's it ! ” He rasped and quickly pounced on the man seated behind him , grabbing his collar, “ I'll kill you ! ”

“ Please calm down Blue ! ” Gregory held him back.

Lan shot Mr. Fazul a death glare.

“ Come down , let him speak first we can deal with him later , ” Gregory slowly stated.

Jonathan released the Mr. Fazul by roughly shoving him . They all sat down , Jonathan choosing to sit on a high stool facing Mr. Fazul.

“ I SAID I DIDN'T LIKE THAT GUY ! ”

The voice echoed and they ignored it.

“ Continue , ” he rasped.

“ Stupid interruptions, ” Mr. Fazul muttered earning a collective glare from the men around him, “ The easiest way Cora would've completed the assignment was by killing both Lan and you so that she could manipulate the system. She already knew that you were in charge of monitoring it half the time but she didn't do that . She went round avoiding to kill you two and even seduced this asshole so that he could confide in her information only for her to be kicked out like a damn dog - ”

“ Right , he was an asshole , ” Lan nodded.

“ Exaggeration ... I didn't kick ...her out like...a dog ! She's the one...that killed my men ...on her way out , ”

“ Oh ! Mr. Fazul , I totally agree with Blue , she deserved it , she's an assassin by the way , ”

Mr. Fazul shot Gregory a spiteful look, “ A merciful assassin and from my point of view , I feel this two imbeciles should've joined those shot guards - ”

“ That's it ! ” Gregory was angry and the two of them pounced on Mr. Fazul.

“ Stop ! ” Jonathan ordered.

Lan froze with a raised fist in the air and Gregory loosened his hold on the bearded man's collar.

“ Let him be , ” Jonathan shook his head , “ He risked his ...life for Cora. ”

The men relented but the anger and hatred was still present in their eyes. They glared at the man whose face bore a smug grin. They sat down and a few moments later, Jonathan was lost in his thoughts struggling to come up with a decision, Gregory picked up his squashed bread ; a heartbroken expression on his face, Lan went back to his endless pacing and Mr. Fazul went on with his aimless staring at the white walls.

“ I STILL DON'T LIKE THAT GUY! ”

Frost's voice echoed and this time the three men in the room nodded in agreement and shot a murderous look at a self satisfied Mr. Fazul.

********

Jonathan stared at the bowl of cereal in his hand then at the door knob. He looked at his wrist watch, it was four o'clock in the evening, he smiled, he had brainstormed for over four hours.

He lingered at the door for a minute then finally turned the knob pushing the door open . His mismatched eyes already spotting an awake Cora blankly staring at the ceiling. Softly, he padded over to her bed and sat beside her . Jonathan tried to adjust the pillow to fit her head into comfortable position so that she could feed.

“ No need if you're going to kill me , ”

He frowned at her.

Tearful eyes looked at his mismatched eyes , “ I know I got involved with the wrong kind of deal and I've dealt with so many things, I don't think I can do this anymore, ”

“ Cora - ”

“ It's okay, I mean I lived a very sad life you know. I've killed so many people Blue , so many, I thought it was way to deal with things it only for me to be dealt with because of the, because of how I lived, ”

She was at the verge of tears.

“ We've all been... dealt with, ” he smiled, “ in some way. ”

“ Will you kill me ? ”

Jonathan stared at her, an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

Cora looked down at her hands, her eyes puffy, “ I'll understand if you do. It feels better it's you and not that psycho. ”

She blinked looking up to stop the tears.

“ I never wanted to kill you, ” she started, “ but blackmail forced me to your steps Jonathan Blue. I didn't wanna in the first place because I knew you. I saw the kind of pain you went through in my employer's house and in several different ways, I identified with you - ”

“ Your employer's house? ” He was confused.

“ Morris, your , your cousin , ”

“ Half cousin , ” He corrected as he frowned trying to remember.

“ I was just a maid among the rest of the twenty that was there. You wouldn't remember me plus we never crossed paths but I knew you, it's normal for an employee to know of her employer's relations, ”

He nodded in agreement, there was no way he would have known the girl.

“ When I came my plan was just to steal the business document and the blue prints Mr. Yong wanted then I'd run back give them to him and lie you're dead, but your security system was a bother . The other way through it was by killing you and I - I - I couldn't do it, ” She sniffed, “ Then the night you know , we - we did , you know .”

His lips curled into a wicked smile. It was adorable and strange at the same time that Cora who was tough and had killed even brutally still blushed over their night of intimacy.

“ I intended to tell you everything in the morning but the following day you asked me to leave and in anger I just killed your guards. I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying I couldn't kill you even if I tried, ”

“ Why ? ”

“ I feel the rejection as you do. I connect with you in some way and now that I'm scarring too, I kinda feel everything. I wish I had a body mask, ” she whispered staring at the healing cuts on her arms.

Jonathan did not know why but he felt obliged to do it. Slowly and gently, he took of his mask . Cora whose eyes were following his movement flashed with a look of adoration.

“ Oh ! Your face , ”

She reached out and touched his non-existent scar.

“ So beautiful, ” she whispered.

A light finger traced his hairline, his brows , the corners of his eyes. He saw her stare at his lips and a look he could not understand filled her eyes before she pulled away and looked down. He could see the hurt and he frowned.

“ What's wrong ? ”

“ I'm happy for you. You look beautiful, adorable even , ” she smiled weakly.

“ But ? ”

“ I've got my own demons to deal with Mr. Blue, ” she weakly grabbed the bowl from his hand.

Jonathan raised a brow.

“ Don't worry , I'll manage , ” she raised a trembling spoonful to her mouth, “ Fattening me before the s*******r, huh ? ”

His lips curled into an amused smile, “ I won't kill...you. ”

Cora gaped at him .

“ Not yet , ” he smirked.