The Story of Blood and Roses

This wasn't a smart idea.

Sean first concentrated on one particular camera which was placed over the door. Then he picked out the video's when the location of the shipments was confirmed.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Just like on facebook where you go through the procedure of tagging someone once and it gets saved in the system, I'll try to do the same." I stared at him wide-eyed. I hadn't known that was possible.

He kept working and then it took him about ten minutes to see through the places where Scott was in the room. There were just two places.

Once when Scott had come in to call on Anthony and another where he seemed to sneak in and in a matter of fifteen minutes he was out. He had been rifling through the system and hacking into it slowly. He was not that good, but he did the job anyway.

He saved the video's on a CD and then put it inside his pockets.

"Now we need to build a new firewall… one that's absolutely terrifying to hack into." His smile was infectious, but even though I smiled with him, I had a plan forming in my head. I pulled out my mobile phone and texted Daisy inconspicuously.

I didn't look up towards the security cameras because I knew that would look suspicious. In about three minutes I had a reply from Daisy and was ready to implement my plan.

Cracking my knuckles I went back to work. Sean worked through the system, building up walls and replacing them when he wasn't satisfied. In the middle of the whole process, Sean went out of the room to give

Anthony the CD for a few minutes, asking me to carry on with my work. I took the opportunity to pull out my cell-phone and type in a whole program which would help Daisy keep tabs on the work.

Information. We needed valuable information that we could use against them.

I installed a bug so that it was easier for Daisy to access the information and then ensured that it produced a ripple effect and produce some inconvenience for Sean. He'd fix it, but he'd take time to get this bug out of the system. I'd texted Daisy to know which bug would have the best effect and her reply had not only been enlightening but also had the methods I could use to make the bug invisible.

I was done before Sean was back. It took me about two minutes to complete the whole process, and I was smug that I could do it as fast as I did. Bugs where touchy little things… you never know when they screw your plan.

"Are you done?" I nodded, relieved that I'd had enough time to finish off the part he'd asked me to check. He smiled. "Let's get back to work, shall we?"

After what seemed like hours of work, we were done. We had the details of how Scott broke in and had figured out how to make the system more secure.

My shoulders ached, my head throbbed and I could feel my eyes drooping.

"That's it. We're done." Sean smiled at me. I nodded and got up.

"You're good," I complimented him and left.

.

I saw that Anthony's office was open and peaked in. His eyes which were on the computer screen shifted up to my face and he ushered me in.

I took in his appearance, he hadn't shaved in the morning, and the scruff was very conspicuous. His jaw was clenched as he gripped the paperweight on the table and went back to watch the computer screen.

He tugged at his hair as he looked away and then peaked at me from under his lashes.

"Job well done, Mia. I'm impressed that you are capable of dealing with computers as well. I didn't expect that." He smiled a tight-lipped smile at me, reminding me of his challenging tone last night. He'd been angry, but I'd proved that I could do what I set my mind to and presumably more than that.

"Thank you," I said with a smug smile. He seemed to ignore it, so I continued. "I have done what you asked me to do. I think I will take your leave now." The words sounded awfully formal as they slipped from my lips. We did share a relationship that was based on hate and revenge after all. I had no reason to be so formal with him. He raised a brow, surprised by my choice of words but didn't comment.

"No, you can't," he replied calmly. "I have found some valuable information that I think is important to share with you. You're taking up the position of my partner; you need to be informed about threats." I just nodded.

"Eric informed me that the stolen shipments haven't been located as of yet. I believe that I know who's behind this, but I will not take any action against them until I'm perfectly sure that my suspicion is correct." I raised a confused brow at him. "I told you last night that I had known Scott was a rat, but I hadn't taken any action against him because I didn't want to get into a full-blown enmity with another mob."

"Who was Scott working for? Who do you think it is?" He smiled.

"Luke Darcy." The name made me freeze.

"Luke… Darcy?" I choked out. "You pissed off Luke Darcy? How?"

Luke Darcy was a hotshot arms dealer in Russia whose ammunition was known for its power and brilliant handling. He also dabbled in drugs and human trafficking, but he was infamous for smuggling weapons from under the noses of Government officials. He had enough power to destroy whole cities and people who met him with the intent to take him down never lived to tell the story. He never lost… neither did he leave his challengers alive.

"I didn't piss him off," he hissed. "He thinks I'm branching out in Russia without going through him- which I am," he added when I gave him a stern look. "He hasn't sent out any warnings, but he's keeping tabs. He's taking as much as he's losing out on in Russia. He had sent in Scott so that he could keep track on my work, but he was becoming too obvious. I had to get rid of him."

"That's why you went easy on him that day," I realized. "I thought Scott was Italian." Anthony shook his head.

"His name is Scott Bashov. He was pretty convincing in the beginning, but I knew better."

"If he was so convincing, how did you know otherwise?" I asked.

"I have my eyes and ears spread across the globe. Believe me, very little escapes my notice." I raised a brow at him, feeling overly smug because I proved him wrong. He seemed to take aggressively to it.

"Mia, I like feisty women. Their attitude is something I appreciate and love. I admit that having an attitude is necessary for this field of work and that you need to look tough in front of the crowd and maintain your reputation, but you need to tone it down a bit. I'm your boss. You don't question me, you do as I ask and in the way, I ask you to do it. Your ego shouldn't come in between your work. I don't give a damn to how you treat other people, but you will respect my authority. I demand that you shut up and do what I tell you."

My mouth tasted bitter as I gave him a sharp nod.

"You'd better remember who you are," he growled at me. I clenched my teeth together to keep from snapping back at him.

"You may leave now." I turned around.

"Oh, Mia?" He called me back. I turned back to him, giving him the attention he wanted. The look in his eyes made it clear that he was going to say something about last night. His eyes were dark, yet in control, "Close the door behind you," he commanded.

I turned away not bothering to give him a reply and thud shut the door behind me as I left.

---------

[Donate @ paypal.me/SunScar9 and ko-fi.com/sunscar9 to ensure I don't starve.]