A V E R Y
'I don't what the fuck I'm doing, Mads. He's part of the Damnation, for god's sake. And now I'm running around with him, kissing him. I'm so dead.' I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. I was going crazy thinking about Mason and why he doing anything with him was a terrible idea. And the only person I could talk to was Maddie. So when I got back from the cafe, I went straight to her and told her everything. And suddenly I was spilling my heart out to her, and she reacted perfectly; she let me talk, pulling me into a hug when I was finished.

'Look, you're over complicating this more than you need to be, Avery.' She said, tilting my head up with her hand.

'I am?'

'Yes, you are!' Maddie laughed and I smiled a little at her. Even when times got bad, her continued enthusiasm was sometimes my sole reason to get up and do something with my day.

'What am I over complicating, then?' Frustrated, I blew out a breath and stared at her.

Maddie rolled her eyes. 'Okay, shithead, stop being dumb-' I squawked in protest at the insult but she continued over me, her voice increasing in volume. '-because the answer is simple. You like him, he likes you, great. That's it. Be with him if you want to. If he's the one, these little hurdles will be easy to get over.'

Deflated, I pushed my chin into the palm of my hand, my elbow bent on the table. 'You think it's that easy?'

'Honey, I know it's that easy. You do too.' She studied me critically, head cocking to the side a little. 'There's something else, isn't there? Something you're not telling me.'

I hesitated. It was something I hadn't said aloud to anyone. But if anyone would know what to say, it would be her. 'I'm... scared. Honest to god, I'm fucking terrified that something will happen to him, or me.' It felt good to get it off my chest.

Because every time I hung out with Mason, I was happy. Happier than I've been in a long, long time. And afterwards, I was buzzing with the after-glow that only his company could give me.

But a few hours, a few days later? I was worrying, antagonising and overthinking. I was sure that we'd get caught, that he'd get hurt, or worse.

I pushed that last thought away, closing my eyes. I didn't know what his father was capable of doing, but I sure as hell didn't want to find out.

'Hey, chill. Nothing's going to happen if you're here and he's over there. Okay?' Maddie shook my arm, pulling me back to what we were discussing.

'Okay.'

She grinned, standing and stretching like a cat, her arms raised above her, head full of dark hair tipping back. Then she held a hand out, wriggling her fingers at me.

'Damien said he wanted to show us some new stuff. So get your lazy ass up and let's go.'

We walked side by side to Damien's office, both of us silent, content to stew in our own thoughts. Eric smiled at from his desk, looking up from where he was typing on his computer behind the front desk.

'Mr Fuller is waiting for you in the weapon room.' He said, waving a hand down the corridor. We quickened our pace. What was so important that he needed both of us?

Maddie pushed open the door to the weapons room and we stepped in, immediately seeing Damien at a huge table, running his fingers over what seemed like jewels in his hand.

'Hey.' I called out, slipping off my jacket and throwing it on the hangers by the door. He looked up and waved up over, the jewels glinting.

'I have some new tech for you two.' Maddie and I grinned at each other and made our way to Damien. He stepped back and I raised my brows at what lay on the table.

'Jewellery?' I asked, bewildered. 'Why would we need jewellery?'

He laughed and put what I now saw were a set of earrings down on the table. 'That's just the reaction we want, Avery. Just a harmless piece of jewellery. Come closer and see what it really is.'

Maddie stepped forward and picked the earrings up. They were diamond, that much I could tell, and not the fake version either. The diamonds were large, tear-drop shapes hanging clustered together.. They end result... was breath-taking.

'They're beautiful.' I said, reaching over and taking one of the earrings from Maddie. 'What's so special about them?'

'They've been designed with a camera inside, so if connected with our computers, we can see whatever the person who is wearing them is seeing. There's a matching necklace with a built-in speaker and another camera.' He said, gesturing to the beautiful matching set laid on a piece of silk.

'Are the diamonds real?'

'Oh, yes, Maddie. Only the best for my best agents.' I grinned and put the earring in, turning side to side to see my reflection in the wall-long mirror behind the table.

'They look good.'

'Hell, yeah, they do. Put this one in too.' Maddie handed me the other one and I put that one in too. She whistled lowly. 'They deserve to go with a dress that could kill a guy from just looking at it.'

I laughed, putting the earrings back on the table and turning to Damien.

'What else have you got?'

I got a grin in reply. 'A whole lot more.'

He proceeded to give us both Rolex watches - fucking Rolex watches - and told us they had hidden tranquillisers and a stun feature when we pressed the dial and rotated it to different numbers. He reached under the table and pulled out two pairs of shoes-

'Holy fuck are they-'

'Fucking hell, Damien, if I knew you were splurging I would've made you a list-'

'Jimmy Choos-'

Damien laughed and sat down in a chair while we screamed, fussing over the shoes.

'Oh my God, Damien, can we keep them?' I gushed, wide-eyed and speechless. The two pairs of heels were still on the table, one black, one a dusty pink colour. I didn't want to touch them for fear that they'd disappear.

'Yes. They're yours to keep. Try them on.'

I nearly screamed.

I grabbed the pink pair as Maddie grabbed the black. To my surprise, the shoes fit perfectly on both of us. I glanced up at Damien who was watching us with a bemused expression.

'How did you know what pair we'd pick? How did you get the sizes right?' I asked.

He shrugged. 'You forget that I raised the two of you. I know you well enough to judge what kind of shoes you like.'

Maddie smiled softly at him and then lifted her foot in the air, twirling it a little so I could see the full effect of the shoes fitting snugly around her feet. Looking down at my own pair, I took a moment to admire them.

'Girls.' We looked up at Damien. 'Tap the heel of the shoe against the floor.'

We did so, frowning when nothing happened.

'Harder.'

I tapped the heel on the floor, applying more pressure, and a blade slipped out. A gasp told me that Maddie had done the same. I did it again on the other shoe and the same thing happened. Another tap made the blade slip back in.

'You can't even tell that there's a blade hidden inside. Clever work.' I mused, slipping the shoes into a protective bag.

'Thanks.'

'Now can we go kick some ass?'

'As much as I want to let you, we have some business to attend to. And plus, there's nothing to do at the moment.'

I sighed and flopped down onto the sofa next to Damien. Squeezing his hand, I relaxed and leaned my head against his shoulder.

'Thanks for the new 'tech' you gave us.' I grinned. 'It's better than any of the stuff you gave us before.'

'Hey!' Damien had an expression of mock outrage on his face. 'Those guns I gave you? The ones with bullets and darts? They were pretty good, you have to admit.'

'They were okay.'

'Okay? You stayed at the practice room for hours, shooting away. Do you know many guns I had to order for you every week?'

'How many?'

'Around thirty.'

I scoffed, standing up. 'You did not. I don't believe that for a second.'

Damien laughed and gestured to the door. 'Believe what you want. Now, I need to see to some paperwork, so you girls go along.'

I picked up the jewellery set, the shoes and my watch, passing Maddie her various items as well. Even the weight of them screamed, hey, I'm expensive as fuck and don't you know it.

'Bye, Damien,' Maddie called, waving a hand over her shoulder.

'See you later.'

***
M A S O N

I had it on good authority (and by that I meant the twins' sleuthing skills) that my father was in some sort of secret meeting with the so-called 'governors' of the organisation. Which was weird, since as far as I could remember, there had never been any governors; only benefactors and sponsors from all over the world, paying my father to do dirty work that they couldn't.

It was disgusting, but, as my father like to say, someone's got to do the work, and the ones who do it get the money. So it might as well be us, son.

So here I was, tiptoeing into the dining room, which was never actually used, through the lobby, stopping by one of the meeting rooms. I sank down to sit against the wall sideways, pressing my ear against it to try and hear.

The sound was muffled, and I could only hear few words at best. The only solution was to move closer to the door... but that would risk me making a sound and alerting my father that someone was outside.

It was the only way.

I stood up from my position by the wall and slowly, quietly, walked around the corner. The door metres away, but the sound coming out was so much better than where I was before. I leaned against the wall, so that if anyone came - a highly unlikely situation, seeing as Father had drilled it into every staff member's head not to disturb them - they'd see the boss' son casually waiting for his dad outside.

Ever the dutiful son.

I tilted my head slightly so my ear was a breath away from touching the wall. Then I listened.

'You cannot be serious. No way am I paying you for such a stupid idea.'

'It's not stupid, any you'd do well to listen before making rash decisions, Vincent.'

That was Vincent Rodriguez, then. Heir to one of the most successful drug cartel businesses in Spain. Not that many people knew that, of course - he lived under the guise of a lawyer and estate agent gone rich.

'Go on, then, Woods. Enlighten us.'

Us. So there were more people inside.

My father cleared his throat. 'This little drive could be one of history's greatest inventions. We could use it to our benefit, then sell it on for millions- billions. So we need to find it before anyone else does and hold that to our advantage.'

A sigh came from somewhere else in the room, one weary and mildly annoyed. 'That's all well and good, Samson, but you fail to mention the risks of retrieving the drive. Care to tell?'

'I was getting on to that.' No mention of who the speaker was. 'We have enough cash to last us years, even if the mission goes wrong. As for risks, well, there will always be some kind of hassle when going on missions like this. Our men may die. We have to prepare and plan so that are as little casualties as possible.'

If someone heard that last part, they'd gush and say that my father was so brave. Such a strong-hearted man.

Strong-hearted was one way to describe him; I'd say his 'strong heart' was made of stone.

I listened on for another few minutes, but it was pointless. They didn't take about what the mystery drive was, or any more about the mission. Even my father was vague about what he was saying to the others.

I had a feeling they were being closed off because of the fact that anyone could stumble upon this place, hear what they were talking about and sell the information to the highest bidder.

Sighing internally, I picked myself up and walked away, my steps near-silent on the floor. Then I texted the boys. They appeared a few minutes later as I made my way to the kitchens, my stomach groaning in protest at the stupid idea I'd had of not having breakfast in the morning.

I was busy worrying.

And thinking.

Mostly worrying.

'So what happened?' Jacob asked, slipping his hands in his pockets as we ambled along.

I gave them a quick rundown of what was said. They looked confused, just as I was. Josh had a hand on his light stubble, thinking with a deep look in his eyes.

'What is it, Josh?' I asked.

'Nothing. It's probably nothing.' He said, but his voice wasn't sure.

'Are you sure?' His brother said, looking at Josh sceptically.

'Yeah.'

We parted ways, but not before Josh pulled me away from his brother a little and murmured low into my ear. 'Okay, I didn't want to say anything in front of Jacob or he'd get mad that I knew about these things.'

'What things?' I was intrigued now.

'The drive, Mason.'

'Oh- shit. Are you sure?'

'Yeah. I think I know what is.'

This was crazy. Too crazy to be true. If we knew what it was... it could change everything. We could find it first. Have something over Father. We'd be at a breaking point.

The ideas were endless.

'Tell me.'

***

Thank you to those who are patiently waiting for uploads. I'm moving house this week, so that means no internet or access to my computer for a few weeks. This chapter took me aaaages to write, though I have no idea why. Sorry for the wait.

So if you're still here, thank you again from the bottom of my heart. You'll get a new chapter in a few days, weeks... I really don't know yet.

Love you all,

-M