LII. exposed

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Alex had to stop himself from dropping his phone. He gritted his teeth and gripped his phone, hoping it wouldn't crack. "How do you know my real name?"

"I know a lot of things about you, 'Mr. Stroud'," the boss mused. "I know about the parts of your past that your brother hid from you when you all left. I know about your father."

Alex's blood ran cold at the mention of Father. "Is...he...?"

"He's been asking around, trying to find people to kill you, yes. Lucky for you, most agencies don't do the kind of work that he's asking for. Les Joueurs was one of the few who could but...well, you saw what happened to them firsthand." He could hear the man sitting upright in his chair. "He seems to be rather angry with you. I get why."

I don't understand why that weak bastard doesn't come and kill me himself if he wants me dead so bad. He obviously knows where I am by now and my new name. Why won't he come and get me? "I don't understand the point of this call. Did you call to make me sweat? Well, congrats. You did. My father wants to kill me and will stop at nothing to do so. I'm quaking in my boots. Now, can I get back to Virginie?"

"You don't get to say her name after what you did to her."

Alex was confused. Since when did bosses care about their employees this much? What was his relationship with Virginie? The possessiveness in his voice when he spoke about her made Alex's skin crawl. "After what I did? Wow. Sorry for saving your agent's life."

"It was the least you could do after this woman sacrificed herself for you. They scammed the hell out of her. Her life is worth at least ten times more than yours."

Alex shook his head. He wasn't going to let this crazy man make him feel worse about the situation than he already did. "Virginie decided to protect me. No one forced her to do so. She was the one who gave herself up in that restaurant, so I cou―"

"Are you fucking her?"

It took everything in him to not drop his phone. He could not believe that this man would be so bold. What was his business knowing about his agent's sex life even if they were having sex? "Excuse me?"

"My little flower hasn't had sex in such a long time. She doesn't like intimacy, you see. I don't know if she's ever told you anything about her background, but she's been―"

"Why the hell are you calling her your 'little flower'?"

The boss chuckled, sending a strange feeling throughout Alex's body. Something about the way he spoke about Virginie didn't sit right with him. It was like he felt like he owned her. What happened between the two of them? "I don't need to explain the nature of our relationship to you. You would never understand."

Alex rolled his eyes. The "relationship" seemed pretty one-sided to him. "I'm sure I can't."

The boss grunted in annoyance. "The point is, whatever relationship you think that you have with her needs to end. She seems to like you too much."

Alex's heart skipped a beat, and he tried to hide the smile in his voice. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What makes you say that?"

Luckily, the boss seemed to be too deep inside of his mind to realize how elated Alex was. "She's still doing this little intern thing with you every day. Usually, she would do it so she would only be there some days, but she spends almost all of her time with you. She got herself captured for you. Why the hell would she do that if she doesn't like you?" There was silence on both ends as they mulled over the idea. "Don't let this go to your head, Mr. Stroud."

"Still don't understand why you called me."

"You don't?" The boss sounded amused. "Let me make it simple for you. Leave Virginie alone. Cut her off. Make sure that connection that you all have is destroyed because I will kill you."

"Are you kidding me?" Alex laughed. "Virginie will never let you lay a hand on me. And even if you did, she would never forgive you."

"At least she would be safe."

"She is safe with me! The threat is gone. We've all had our hands in getting rid of that monster Kieran, and no one wants to take on my father's case. There's nothing to worry about." Alex shouted.

"So she doesn't need to stay with you anymore? Good. I'll file for her to be removed from the firm. Thanks for reminding me to do that."

The realization hit Alex hard, almost making him fall to the floor in surprise. It took everything in him to keep his weak legs from falling. The thought was a crushing blow. It was the boss's turn to laugh. "Did you forget that this is all just a job to her? The friendship, the internship, the connection that you thought that you had? She's getting paid. Every laugh, every giggle, every sly remark, every inside joke is part of the package that you paid for. She really is rather spectacular at her job, isn't she? Now that she's going to receive the check, she can move onto the next assignment and do it all over again."

Alex opened his mouth to say something, to say anything to wipe the smug smile that was probably plastered on the bastard's face right now but he had nothing. The boss was telling the truth. Virginie had entered his life as a woman doing her job, something that she did quite well. He remembered her telling him in the beginning about how she seduced men for a living. Is that all I am to her? Another notch in her belt? Another guy for her to laugh about with Colette when they were musing about past missions?

The worst part was that she hadn't just seduced him. It would have been so much easier to forget about her. He could find another desperate girl like Stephanie and let his frustrations out that way. But Virginie had given him a piece of her mind, and in exchange, she had taken his entire being.

"I wonder what my little flower would think about what Yves has done."

"Please," Alex managed to choke out. "You can't tell her. You can't tell her anything about who I was. I'm not that person anymore. That's why I left. Please." He coughed, suddenly having trouble breathing.

"If you're a good little boy and listen to what I say, I won't have to spill any of your secrets, Mr. Stroud. But you're messing with something that I love. You understand that a man has to do everything to protect the things that he loves, right?"

He didn't know how to respond, so he focused on steadying his breathing instead.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Yves. I hope you think about what I said so that we can have one of these talks again soon. I've quite enjoyed myself."

The line went dead, and Alex was left to collect himself.

It's over. It's all over. He's going to tell her. I know he's going to tell her. Why wouldn't he?

He had to get out of here and put his mind on something else. Anything else. He couldn't think about this. He felt like his heart was collapsing in his chest but trying to break through it at the same time. He tried to focus on his breathing as he staggered towards the bathroom again. He could barely move his legs. It felt like someone had taken a melon baller and removed his insides, leaving nothing but TV static. His vision was getting blurry, but he tried his best to focus.

She's going to leave me. She said she wouldn't leave.

He stood in the doorway, trying to make his eyes stop seeing double. Corey snorted when he noticed Alex but he still looking down at whatever Colette was doing to Virginie. "The two bastards finished talking I see. What did you do―" He looked up at Alex, and his entire expression changed. He seemed worried. "Are you okay? What happened? What did he say to you?" He turned to Colette. "I've told you multiple times that man is unstable! Look what he did to Alex!"

He's going to tell her all about my past. Who would want to be with someone who did that? Someone like me?

Alex waved his hand, trying to be dismissive. He tried walking into the bathroom but could only stumble. "I'm fine. He didn't say anything to me." He tried taking another step, but he collapsed on the floor, hitting his head hard. He could feel his consciousness leaving him.

She's going to know I'm a liar. She's going to find out about who I was and leave me.

"Virginie, stop! You're going to rupture your stitches; sit down!" Virginie ignored the command because he should hear her feet pounding on the marble.

Why did I ever think that I had a chance?

"Alex! Alex!" He could hear Virginie's voice and feel rubbing his shoulder. "Calm down. It's okay. I'm here now. I'm right next to you. Just tell me what happened. What did he say to you?"

She knows...she knows...

He was hyperventilating, and he wanted to say something to her to make her stay. He couldn't let go. Not after everything they had been through. He was trying to open his eyes, but they felt like they were glued shut. He could feel himself slipping away and losing the loose grip that he had on his consciousness.

Virginie...please...don't leave me...

"Do y'all know what the boss said to him?" Virginie murmured, trying to keep her voice level. She stared at Alex's unconscious, quivering body. His face looked so pained and stressed. She ran her fingers through his hair softly, hoping to calm him some.

She was glad that she had another feeling to replace the pain that was radiating throughout her body from the night's events. It was taking everything in her not to beg Colette to give her some painkillers. Virginie knew that Colette would be more than eager to provide them, but she did not like having drugs in her system. That was no longer a possible solution.

"Virginie," Colette cautioned. "You need to be resting. We haven't finished tending to your wounds yet."

"I'm going to put him on my bed to lay down so that he can get some proper rest," Virginie decided, ignoring Colette.

"Are you even listening to me?" Colette shouted. "You have some serious injuries!"

"I won't be able to sleep until I know Alex is okay and I know why he had that panic attack. He doesn't get phased easily, but I know the boss is good at getting under people's skin. Many things could've shaken him like this."

Colette sighed. "You are too kind for your own good; you know that?"

Virginie turned around to wink at her. "Am I really?"

"When y'all hook up, can y'all call me beforehand?" Corey interjected. "I want to watch. In person or even a recording is fine."

Colette's response was a hard punch to the shoulder as Virginie giggled. "Does that answer your question?"

Corey folded his arms and pouted. "I don't see why what I said was so out of the ordinary. I'm just a simple man who wants simple things."

The girls rolled their eyes. "You're disgusting," Colette snorted. "Why do people sexualize women loving each other?"

Corey shrugged. "It's hot."

"But why?" Colette pressed.

Virginie didn't have time to listen to this. She scooped Alex into her arms carefully, making sure not to grip him too tightly, to disturb him. He had gone through so much during the past couple of hours. She couldn't believe that he had gone so far to save her. Stephanie was probably shaking with anger right now in her SoHo apartment, knowing that Alex's mind was on Virginie and not her.

This idiot is going to blush hard as hell when he realizes he's in my room. He's gonna be so cute.

Once she arrived in her enormous room, she pulled back the comforter with one hand and then placed him down with the other. She removed his shoes and socks. She then realized that he would probably feel uncomfortable sleeping in his suit, so she took off his tie, shirt, and dress pants so that he was in his undershirt and boxers.

She allowed her fingertips linger on his supple skin for a second, giving her a minute to daydream. She quickly tucked his body under the cover so the thoughts that were beginning to bubble in her mind wouldn't surface.

A ringing from his pocket interrupted her thoughts, and she stuck her hand in it to find the source. She grimaced slightly when she saw who was calling. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell Jabari that wasn't going to make him worried. She knew if she were him, she would be feeling horrible no matter what was said.

Ignoring logic, she answered the phone. "Jabari? What are you doing up this early? It's like six am."

"Virginie? You're okay? The mission was successful?" He interrogated. "That idiot Alex wasn't about to tell me that he rescued you, hmph."

Virginie smiled. "Yes, I'm okay. Thank you for your concern."

"Wait, what are you doing answering Alex's phone?" He asked with suspicion in his voice. "Is he okay? Can I speak to him?"

"He's actually out of commission at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"Enough with the cryptic messaging and the bullshit. I want to know what's happening. Can you explain to me why Alex is 'out of commission' and what the hell that means? C'mon Virginie, I thought you were better than this."

Virginie sighed. She should've known that she wouldn't be able to get anything by his best friend. Jabari was keen and smart. Not one to be played with. But she had to play with him. She couldn't tell him the truth. It was too dangerous. The fewer people that knew about the boss, the better. She couldn't imagine what she would do if Jabari got caught into this web as well. "He was tired after the mission, so he fell asleep. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just knocked out in my bed right now."

"Oh?" Virginie could hear the bed sheets rustling like he was sitting up. "With you in it? Sounds hot."

She rolled her eyes. She was glad that he wasn't questioning her about Alex anymore, but this pervy side of him wasn't attractive. "Gross. Was there a point in you calling? Because I don't hear you arriving at one."

"Yes, there was. Please tell Alex when he wakes up that Stephanie is desperately trying to reach him. She even tried calling me. I don't even know how she got my number, but she called me asking for more information about where he went."

"What did you tell her?"

"I gave her the runaround. It wasn't too hard because Stephanie is...Stephanie. Not to mention, she sounded drunk off her ass. She took whatever bullshit I gave her and held it like gospel. I didn't care, I just wanted her to stop talking to me."

She laughed. "Yes, she can have that effect on people sometimes."

He sighed. "Well, I'll let you and Alex get back to do doing whatever you were doing. Send pics!" He hung up before Virginie had the chance to retort.

Virginie slipped Alex's phone under his thumb to open it up using Touch ID. She then opened up the phone app to see what was the last number that called. Sure enough, it was the boss. Calling from his direct number, no less. She wondered how he could be so careless.

She pressed the number, hoping that he would think it was Alex and say something stupid. When it came to her, he always went too far even though she never asked him to.

"Hello, Mr. Stroud. Back for more?" He answered smugly.

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