A week passed but Chloe was yet to make any discovery that could serve as a lead. Instead, the week was filled with chores and chores and a quiet house as the men were hardly around. But then, taking care of a huge house was more than she had anticipated.
After her second day, Chloe just had to appreciate the fact that Lucille was employed as her partner.
With tiredness coursing through her system as that particular day happened to be more tedious considering that she helped Madam Lugi, the head domestic help (she is mainly the cook) with the laundry. There were so many clothes enough for a community of fifty people to wear repeatedly for three years.
Not bothering to take off her uniform, Chloe kicked off her shoe and jumped onto the amazing bed which she added to the list as one of the few things she liked about the house after she had experienced a wonderful night's sleep on it the first day.
Gradually, sleep carried her, distant voices from outside her room entered her subconscious but they did not achieve the aim of getting her out of her state.
As she deepened into the dream world, a particular, non-ignorable sound reached her ears. Her eyes snapped open. Alert, she listened carefully for the faint scream to call again and when it came, a few minutes later, Chloe's sleepy self jumped, wore her slippers, and tried to trace her way to the strange noise.
It might be the lead she has been looking for.
The scream came again, louder this time as she walked a few steps away from the entrance of her room. The voice or maybe voices sounded like they were in pain. Chloe wondered if the NAG brothers ran their trafficking business in their house.
Chloe doubted it, the house didn't have the construction of a building with hidden places.
But she was still going to find out where the sound was coming from.
As she took a turn away from where all the rooms were, her legs walked her up a short spiraled staircase, and into a library. Wondering how on earth she missed the room during her survey of the house, Chloe found herself moving towards the shelved books. There had to be about ten huge shelves in the room, all arranged as you would see in public libraries.
Her hand running through a row of books, she admired the collection and wondered if all three men were into reading. If they were, she had found a reason to like them.
“Having sleeping problems too?” She had not noticed anyone in the room. As she turned, Gabriel had the side of his mouth tugging.
“Uh... I did not know you were here.” He was the only one she had not officially met and she was glad it was not under weird situations like it was with Nathaniel.
“I was at the other side when you came in. So, do you like books? Or did you come to scowl at them?”
“Who scowls at books?”
He tendered his palm. “Amir does. "
Making a fake wince, Chloe said, "Amir doesn't know what he is missing. Books are amazing."
"Finally, someone that appreciates a rare form of art. Would you like some orange juice?"
Chloe smiled, genuinely. Even though she was meant to be putting up a fake act, this one could not help but be natural. So, she did not fight it. “Yes, I do.”
“Alright, let's go have some orange juice.” She liked his personality. He sounded simple, he sounded like someone who would hardly have issues with the world because of his obvious introvert persona .
'It will really suck to see him in prison.'
On the other side of the shelves was a round table, like those in coffee shops and a few books lay on it. Chloe smiled to herself, she had found another favourite thing in the huge house. Her eyes followed him as he reached for the mini-fridge just behind them and brought out a carton of orange juice, and two glass cups tucked in his hands.
A library with a snack source? Their library was officially the best thing in the house.
“Thank you,” she gestured with her filled cup.
He smiled, cuteness overriding his already cute face. As he took his seat on the red cushioned seat, he said, “So, I am guessing you did not come up here because you knew there was a library here.”
"No. I actually just..." Chloe did not see the need to lie. "I heard some noises, it sounded like someone was screaming."
"You heard that? Oh my, I am so sorry if I woke you up . Sometimes I prefer to listen to the audio version of a book, it gives the story more life you know. I was listening to the audio of a crime novel, hence the screams. I woke you, didn't I?” She did not miss the apology in his eyes.
"No, you didn't. I was just curious and a bit concerned." Her shrug was a huge one as she went on to gulp her juice.
Chloe could feel his eyes watching her, studying her. It was as though he were eager to know all about her. If humans came with the ability to read about a person just by looking at them, Gabriel would have finished the book about Chloe seconds ago. “I am curious about you Chloe. Tell me, what kind of books do you read?”
His voice carried a bit of authority. It was not surprising. “Uh..” She was sort of glad to be having a genuine conversation.
“I generally like any good story. But if I want to be specifically selective, I love horror, fantasy, adventure, historical fiction, crime, and uh, yeah, romance.”
“It is funny how romance finds its way into every other genre of books. I like your taste.” He punctuated his approval with a sip from his drink. Chloe noticed he hadn't taken much compared to her.
“What about you? "
Um... I love all genres. Is that weird?"
"No. It is not."
"How do you find this house?"
Chloe gave a peal of laughter that sounded outright ridiculous. "Oh, it is huge . Very huge for just three men to be living in.”
“Well, five people live here presently, Chloe.” Her brows quirked as she calculated the statistics. Eventually nodding in agreement to his statement, she heard him say, “But you are right. This house is huge. But I like it anyway .”
Chloe had no words to reply him with, so she just sat there, twisting the side of the glass cup against her palm, her eyes anywhere but on Gabriel.
“What do you think of us?” Boy, did he ask questions.
” The three of you?" He nods. Chloe pretended to think. But, what she thought of them was not so hard to fetch from her brain.
"Well, I think you are cool and gentle and amazing."
"Maybe ?" His nose scrunched in amusement.
“I don't fully know you yet.”
Chuckling softly, he said, “What about Amir?”
Chloe felt her insides coil as she recalled the video of Natalie. “Honestly speaking, without meaning to be rude or anything, I don't really like him. I mean, he acts like he wants to sleep with me every time he sees me. That can be so uncomfortable."
“I apologize on his behalf. Amir is,” a little sigh escaped his thin, firm lips. “, well he can be a douche most times.”
“It is fine.”
“Nathaniel? ”
The image of the tall man with a face chiseled almost perfectly and eyes so blue they peered through whoever he was looking at, flashed through her mind. What else did she think of him apart from the fact that he appeared authoritative? Shrugging, Chloe replied to Gabriel. "I see him as a figure with a lot of authority."
"You don't like him?"
Why on earth would he ask her such a question? Has she been acting like she does?
"Uh... no I don't."
"That's a shame." Chloe frowned, her hand raising the glass to her lips. "He really likes you."She gagged the juice back into the glass.
Trying not to have a fit of coughs, Chloe cleared her throat, her eyes glaring at Gabriel who sat as he was, watching her like he did not just make some ridiculous claim.
“I have to warn you though. Ever since I have known Nathaniel, I have never seen him with a woman despite the advances he gets. Chloe, this is the first time he is showing interest in a woman and I can't blame him, you are a beautiful woman without even trying."
Chloe bit her lip as she awaited the warning which might disrupt her mission.
“Once Nathaniel shows interest in something, he never stops until he gets it in his grasp. And I don't think you will be an exception, Chloe. The way I am seeing things, Nathaniel will soon start working on ways to make you his, and trust me when I say..."
Chloe could not help but get a bit uncomfortable as Gabriel's eyes displayed a lot of seriousness. "Nathaniel Stone doesn't like to fail, at anything."
"Boy do I hate working from home." Amir stretched as he decided to take a break from the system in front of him. His eyes darting to the busy duo in front of him who had decided to ignore his declaration, he decided it was time to get something else done. He could maybe have some fun. Leaning back in his chair, his nose picked up the vanilla-ish scent of the new help, Chloe, which signed how close she was to the room. Getting up, he decided she would be his fun for the day. Or perhaps for a long time. There was just something about her that interested him. He was right. Chloe was standing in front of the small living room, her eyes trained on something ahead, a broom staying still in her hand. Scoping her, Amir could not help but appreciate how amazing she looked in the uniform. Not being too loose nor too tight, the black and white material sculptured her in the right places. “Eh- hem. Chloe?” It was evident she had been deep in thought as she appeared a bit startled as she tur
"I don't think I can work under such conditions, sir. It is already quite strenuous on my mentality that I am living with a rapist. But him coming onto me, that's quite too much.""Pepper, I know how infuriating that can be, but you need to calm down and think with a cool head. You don't want to jeopardize what we have going here."Chloe shook her head unbelievably. He kept saying he understood, that he knew how infuriating it can be. But, he was not the one working his ass off because of some fucked up mission!“I don't even understand why I have to live with them. Whatever happened to sending a trained ninja-like agent to tape the house? It makes things easier that way. I wouldn't have to sit my ass here waiting for them to mention something related to rape or young girls."“Agent Pepper, you have to calm down. Yes, we could have taped the house but that would have done no good. That is why we need you to forge a relationship with them. A kind of relationship that would get you into
Chloe looked at the little group that hovered over their laptops and she wondered why they decided to do their boring finances in the library. It was even more annoying that they kept talking at intervals. And it annoyed her even more when they were not having a conversation that could give her a lead.Raising the book in her hand to make it seem like she was still interested in its content, Chloe wondered how on earth Nathaniel's words of them being a family was going to work out.There is Lucille who is always either doing something in her room or throwing dagger glares at her whenever Nathaniel happens to pass by. Amir on the other hand could be in a corner of the house making phone calls with his women if he is not busy with work.Gabriel as usual is his quiet self. He spends most of his time in the library while Nathaniel was always looking so serious and having one call after the other most certainly about business.Chloe did not see how them being like a family was going to help
Deep in thought, Chloe wondered when she was going to get that one lead she was looking for. Time was moving fast and having nothing to do but chores upon chores was starting to get on her nerves.True, it was part of her work so she had to be very patient and vigilant to get what she was there for. But, she didn't have all the time in the world to spend months in a huge house working her butts off. She had issues of her own to deal with.Her hand clenching the edge of the tiled surface, Chloe let out a swear word.Then, her train of thought drove in another direction.Recalling Gabriel's and most importantly Amir's words about Nathaniel liking her, she wondered if she wanted to use that channel to get what she wanted.Toying with real emotions was something that could become dangerous for her.She let out a huge sigh, nothing was clear to her anymore. Maybe that was because her reason for being there was not yielding results. Assuming she had gotten that one lead she was so desperate
“How do you manage to make any dress look good?” Gabriel complimented from the doorway.“Oh, Gabriel,” Chloe said shyly as she played with the end of her curled hair.“I think the dress just happens to fit me. But, isn't this a bit too much?"She looked into the huge mirror that came with the team that had come earlier to take care of her appearance. The dress which was long and black with a bit of silver sprinkled at its silted ends, really took Chloe aback who was just expecting a regular-looking gown.“I think you look amazing.” Gabriel moved closer and stood just behind her to continue admiring her look. “I love how daring your eyes look, it suits your personality even more.”“But what do you know about my personality?”“I know for sure that you have a crazy side that you are managing to keep in check because of your job.” His hand came up to help adjust the strand that was resting uneasily on her shoulder. After, he looked at her image with a small smile that brought out his cuten
Chloe hated the fact that she was finding it hard to get the feel of his lush lips against hers out of her mind. She hated, even more, the fact that it was the next day already.As she almost unconsciously recalled the night, Chloe turned on the tap of the wash hand basin and let the sound of rushing liquid ease her a bit.Nathaniel didn't come back after he left her standing in what one might as well call shock. Instead, after she had stood for almost an hour, he sent a driver to come get her and take her home.It was quite rude of him, but it was established that he did weird things sometimes.Sucking her lower lip in, Chloe got off the toilet seat and walked to the door handle where her smartwatch which kept vibrating was hanging.After she successfully connected her headset, she said, “Agent Pepper here.”“How did yesterday go?”“It was a short night. I noticed a few things though.”There was a brief silence before Agent Connor said, “Do tell .”“Well, Nathaniel Stone seemed to be
Nathaniel kept a hand on his waist as he almost confusedly watched her crawl out from under his bed. “And what on earth are you doing under my bed?” He finally asked once she was standing.“She gets weirder every day,” Amir mumbled loudly earning himself a glare from his friend."Well, I thought you were the one coming into this place with a woman. I definitely won't want to watch you go down on a woman," Chloe kept her arms folded as she talked, her shoulders occasionally shrugging.“But you were listening anyway,” Amir muttered again and the half-naked Lucille beside him nod in agreement causing Chloe to almost sneer at her.“There was nowhere else close by to hide,” Chloe continued her glare at Lucille.“It is okay Chloe. I don't have any issue with you but I have with this man-whore on my bed.”Amir immediately got up. “Who the heck are you calling a whore? Look, pretty boy, don't -""Don't what?" Nathaniel squared his stance and glared back at the seething man in front of him who
“So,” Chloe leaned in on the wash basin. “If it is not a car's plate number, does it at least have something to do with a car?”“No.” Agent Connor made a tutting sound before continuing. “Suarez thinks it might be a coded bank account number. So, I think we could work with that and sees what comes out of it.”“This Miss Sanquire, what do we know about her so far?”“She owns a clothing line and changes boyfriends the way she does with clothes.”“Is she rich enough to pay Nathaniel twenty million pounds?”“Actually, no.” Chloe's ears picked a knock from outside.“I see. I have to go, sir.”“ Good work so far Chloe, just make sure to go about undetected.”She took a look at her dirty uniform which reminded her of the remaining work waiting for her in what Amir called hispersonal space. “I sure will sir.”As the call ended, Chloe turned off the tap, and took a deep breath which she instantly regretted- she had also inhaled dust in Amir's abandoned space. Just when she thought she knew th