EREX

The silence in the car was punctuated only by the occasional taps of Kaya's manicured nails on the armrest as she bobbed her head to some song, earphones in.

Her hair was tied up in a ponytail again, high and shiny as spun gold. Her blue and white checkered shirt fit her frame flatteringly, just like the pair of tight black jeans she'd donned. I internally shook my head, back to focusing on the road.

I'd been a fool.

I didn't like it. 

Not one bit. 

That interaction was meant to be a heavy strike on Kaya, not something she'd turn around on me. Two days in, and I'd already realized what a big mistake I'd made. For the sake of my pride, I'd gladly agreed when she goaded me. I got the last word in, and yet I knew I'd lost to her masterful steering of the conversation.

And now I was stuck carpooling every day with her.

I liked my space but now she was invading it. Granted, I was curious about her, but this crossed a line I didn't like. And yet, to deny her would be to admit defeat. Damnit.

She took out her earphones as I parked the car, turning to smirk at me and rub her win in my face without saying a single word before she elegantly got out of the car.

I cut the engine and closed my eyes, exhaling, tamping down the urge to rebuke her look, to say something that would end up spelling doom for me again.

If I tried provoking her, she'd give back as good as she got. 

If I tried to use charm and seduction, she'd just flip the tables on me with one curl of those morphine red painted lips and a blink of kohl lined multicolored eyes and I'd have to tell myself to calm down because god knew she wasn't someone I could just grab and kiss. 

And the urge was there. Sometimes out of the blue, sometimes persistent. The internal battle was not something I was enjoying.

Human biology sucked sometimes.

Because that's what this was: plain and simple biology.

I took my sweet time to get myself back on track before leaving the car.

Climbing into the elevator once Kaya was well and truly out of my sight, I hoped there'd be a new case to distract me. That's mostly all I thought about as I went through the security check, getting scanned and putting my briefcase into the scanner. Once I was through, I unbuttoned the top of my short and breathed a little easy as the familiar scent and environment of the office surrounded me.

As soon as I entered the office lobby, though, I realized God must have heard my plea for once.

Jung Ae-Ra and Jared Abernathy were here, and that spelled destruction and doom in a whole different font.

I guess I got my distraction.

—🎭—

KAYA

I tilted my head slightly, watching as the Korean woman pressed down on her tie, head held high, her hair sleek and straight, and a midnight black.

She sat in the lobby, completely at ease, and yet not. Her back was ramrod straight, her eyes intense.

And she had a magnetic presence.

But more than that, I recognized her.

Someone whistled next to me, and Callie chuckled at Zeke's rare antic. I glanced at the two, having stopped at Zeke, Finn, and Erex's work cubicles because they had a pretty good view of the lobby, and I wanted to see. 

"It's Aera. She must be here to get an official statement from us on some of the closed cases." Finn remarked as everyone paused in their work, briefly sneaking at her, and there was a slight lull in the activity. "Probably Amella's case."

The woman had come in right after me, drawing attention to herself. Someone had gone to inform Maddox that Aira from The Black Swan - a global news company dealing in everything from gossip articles, sports coverage to criminal and political news.

And she'd certainly made a name for herself as one of the best reporters in the field at 26, just a year younger than me. And already so accomplished. Probably also a free person and better off than I was.

"Oh, she's gonna be pissed." Someone whispered.

Another person grumbed, "Man, not today. I'm tired."

Another female agent, Sadie, smacked the man who'd spoken and grinned lightly, "Oh, it'll be fun. Don't be a spoilsport. It's always entertaining."

"What are they talking about?" I questioned, turning towards Callie just as the door to Maddox's office opened.

A handsome man walked out wearing a pressed navy blue suit and a briefcase, his features disturbingly aristocratic in nature. He must have been nearly six feet, close to Erex's height, just an inch or two short.

"I'll see you later then, Mr Abernathy."

"Pleasure's all mine." He smoothly shook hands with Maddox and then turned, charmingly  smiling at everyone and greeting us with a polite wave. 

Our Head of Department walked back in, waving his secretary closer and muttering about sending Aera inside in a few minutes before a brawl broke out.

In the meantime, the man in question who I could now recognize had reached the lobby and promptly stopped.

Computers and printers whizzed, a phone rang somewhere and someone answered it but all of it seemed like background noise. I heard some munching sounds and looked around for a split second, only to find a packet of chips being circulated. Everyone had their eyes glued to the two encountering in the lobby and munching away as if this was a daytime opera.

I could almost see the glee in some of their eyes.

This was a new development. Hmm.

I turned back to watch the drama unfold as well, grabbing a chair from the side and deciding to seat myself. I caught view of Erex's sturdy physique just stepping inside the lobby and promptly stilling.

"Oh my. Look what the cat dragged in." The blonde haired aristocrat drawled, and his voice could be heard far too clearly than should be possible in an office on a Thursday morning.

The woman's face morphed from stunning, cold beauty to sneering iciness. Her lips curled, and she stood up, the name spoken slowly like a knife being dipped in poison. "Abernathy."

Giving a mocking little bow, "Always a pleasure to see you, Jung Ae-Ra." Even despite his thick British accent, Jared pronounced her name perfectly in the Korean accent.

I realized why he'd emphasised the correct pronunciation of her name. Mostly, everyone knew her as Jung Aera. They pronounced it more as Ai-Ra. An americanized version of the name they couldn't correctly pronounce, and she must have learned to just accept it. 

Ae-Ra glared at him. He smirked, glaring back but in a pleasant kind of subtle manner. Huh, I needed to learn how he did that.

"Why are you here?" She asked heatedly.

"I'm a lawyer, Ae-Ra, or did you forget? We just met two weeks ago, though." He stepped closer to her, towering over her roughly 5'3" stature and deriving obvious joy from it. "Or do you perhaps need me to send you some herbs and almonds for helping your memory?"

"No, thanks. You'd probably just poison them anyways, you conniving bastard." She spat, going toe to toe with him, I noticed her heels gave her two more inches, so she was almost 5'5 but it was still no comparison. "I'd rather murder you with a skillet knife, sounds much more fun than working on my memory problem." She smiled sweetly.

"Such unlawful ideas being openly discussed in an FBI headquarters. My, my, you really must have some connections." With an infuriating smirk that even I could tell was full of mockery, Jared Abernathy booped on her nose, stepping back.

I think Ae-Ra was seeing red.

Her glare was tenfold when she looked at him, wide-eyed and furious. "What do you think you're doing, you gae-sae-gi?" She hissed.

He gasped dramatically, clutching where his heart must be, "Ah, how you wound me with your sharp tongue, Ae-Ra. Calling me a son of a bitch in Korean is really your favourite pastime, isn't it?"

She stepped closer to him, her finger poking him in the chest and her nail must be digging but Jared didn't move an inch, smirking down at her as she looked up with loathing. "One day, I'm going to carve out that useless heart of yours and keep it as a souvenir. And I'll make sure it'll be painful. Then I'll sell all your organs on the black market and-"

"Okay! Hello, Miss Jung, Mr Abernathy!" Erex intervened, clearing his throat.

He was promptly ignored and the tension in the air was palpable.

"And?" Jared encouraged, a sadistic twinkle in his eye.

"And I'm going to poke out those fucking offensive eyeballs of yours with a fish skewer-"

"Really not the appropriate place to be giving each other death threats, guys." Erex reminded politely.

Finally breaking eye-contact and chuckling, Jared looked at Erex, "Now, now, she's the only one threatening, not me. I need some protection from her, Mr Castillo."

She scoffed in disbelief, waving her hands in the air as if that was preposterous. "Neo michi-neom--"

Someone chuckled behind me and even Calli was holding back a smile.

"You switched back to Korean." Jared callously remarked and Aera cursed, "You motherf-"

"Language, please!" Erex let out a breath of ridicule.

Something was bubbling up inside me as I watched the drama and watched Erex in particular being overlooked, almost like amusement.

I exhaled, "Wow, tense."

"It's always a war between them. Doesn't take more than one look at each other before they're like rabid dogs at each other's necks." Finn remarked.

"Jared, you were leaving, no?" 

With a faux sigh of despondence, he nodded at Erex, "With a heavy heart."

Aera rolled her eyes, arms folded over her chest as she clenched her fists, holding herself from probably pummeling him. "Get lost."

Maddox's secretary rushed out, "Mr Gray will see you now, Miss Jung."

Jared turned, mouth open to say something certainly provoking when Erex put a hand on his shoulder, "Next time, in a different place please."

Aera kept glaring at him as he nodded and flashed her a wink before turning away.

I think I could hear her grinding her teeth from here.

"Miss Jung?"

"Yes, I'm coming. Let's go." She huffed and followed the secretary and the air seemed to life. 

She barely glanced at any of us, a complete contrast to Jared Abernathy's interaction.

The door closed behind her and Jared left as well, though not without a heated glance her way before she vanished.

Once the office was empty and Erex returned, conversation picked up like normal.

"Are they always that way?" I asked.

Finn nodded, "Pretty much, yeah."

"I'm surprised that Jared was here though." Callie mused and waved at Erex whose flitted towards mine briefly before he also joined us.

"Why?" I further asked, a furrow in my brows.

Erex was the one who answered me this time, "Although he's one of the best criminal lawyers at the moment, Jared Abernathy is rumored to b einvolved with the Irish Mob. It's why the FBI keeps some tabs on his as well." 

I rose a brow as if that was news to me. 

It wasn't.

The Italian Mafia and the Irish Mob had been at odds for a while now. There were talks of a peace treaty but it didn't seem to be going well the last time I had any updates. There was, of course, no proof that Jared was involved in anything shady. No paper trails, just assumptions and the fact that he'd represented some very notable personalities of the Mob in the past. And skillfully won the cases too.

He'd been mentioned in passing by Marcello as well since he operated in Chicago.

But it went without saying that Jared Abernathy, the British born and bred son of a fifth generation Marquess, had questionable dealings.

"But why was he here, you got any info?" Finn asked Erex who shrugged.

"Not sure. Although I can guess why Aera was here."

"Why?" Callie curiously leaned forward.

Erex's blue eyes flashed to me before he answered, "Black Swan probably wants the scoop of the case about Amella. She's here to get the official statement."

"That means the case was wrapped up." I inserted some accusation into my tone of voice so they'd know I felt a bit offended that I hadn't received any updates. 

Zeke shot an apologetic smile while Finn looked away and Calli just stared at me. Erex  nonchalantly continued, "Yes, it's wrapped up. She'll be spending 30 years of prison time on account of murder and for living as an illegal migrant in the States. But since she wasn't entirely responsible for the fate, she didn't get life imprisonment."

I scoffed under my breath, an entirely uncalculated response.

But truly, it was unfair what the Italian woman was being subjected to, being an innocent.

"And Darius? What about her son?" I narrowed my eyes at Erex.

He met my gaze unflinchingly, "He'll be put into foster care and taken care of."

What a joke. Everyone is well aware of how bad the foster system in the States is. There's a very small chance that he'll find a steady family, get adopted or lead a good life. And considering all he was subjected to until now, I find it highly unlikely that he'll have an easy integration into the foster system. But there was nothing I could do.

"Shit, guys, someone just hacked into the New York HeadQuarter's FBI database, we just got the intel!" Someone shouted and everyone went into action.

I followed Callie and we all found ourselves in the Digital Department, watching as the screens fluctuated and phones rang incessantly. Maddox joined us soon and Aera was besides him.

He mustn't have had the time to get her out.

"Shit, who do you think it is?" One of the Data Analysts next to the seated Callie spoke up, typing away on the keyboard.

The sound of clacking keys filled the room and Maddox cursed. "Strengthen our firewalls, this could be an extended cyber attack."

And then suddenly, the central screen in the room went dark.

"What?

"What happened?"

"A power outage?"

"...can't do anything..."

Murmurs filled the room and chaos ensued for a few seconds before words flashed in front of the screen once more: ACE.

A trademark.

And then the screen turned back to normal.

"Guess we got our answer." Maddox sighed. "Ace struck again."

It was a true mystery though: who was this guy and who did he work for?

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I contemplated taking it out or not but decided to see.

Marcello: Scout 'Cafe and Coke' on 5th street tomorrow. The signals came from there.

Bruno: Yes, Boss.

I glanced up, noting how everyone was talking about the latest development. Erex locked eyes with me, his gaze dropping to my phone before he returned to speaking with Maddox, and Aera was being rushed out of the room.

That text thread vanished as I exited the conversation.

A conversation not meant for my eyes.

But I knew what my plans for tomorrow would include.

It was time to see if I could find something incriminating about the infamous Ace myself. Because he couldn't be the only one with an upper hand.

A deal I might make with him but not unless I had something to gain and hold over him too. He definitely could expose me but the fact that he already hadn't, was still messaging me....

It meant we could be useful to each other.

But I wasn't going to let him lord my weakness over me and get me to do his dirty work. No. I had plans too. 

And he'd be helping me. Very soon.

UNKNOWN: You're testing my limits, Artemis.

ME: Good.

Just one more day.

—🎭—

A/N

Well, well. What do we have here?

A valentines gift lol. Didn't have anything else to give, sorry y'all. I thought I'd have been able to write the next chapter but so far no luck. Got busy again. But don't worry, I'll do my best so you can get another update on the next Wednesday!

That was surely an eventful chapter, no? I introduced two new characters who won't be making too many appearances here but they'll certainly be getting their own book. I already have a story planned. Anyways, did you like Aera and Jared? Sure hope you did. Lots to uncover there though. You guys got a look into Erex's mind after the way he changed his approach.

Just a head's up though, all the techinical terms and departments are not exact, accurate representations. Some things are certainly made up since I couldn't find enough accurate info on everything. So don't take it all at face value. Thank you.

And about Kaya's further plans, hope you're eager to find out more mysteries about who ACE could possibly be. We'll get some more insight into Kaya's mind and her life, her skills at work once more in the next chapter, wohoo!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, though it was mainly a filler. Don't forget to vote and comment as per usual. 

Till next time, then!

~Skyler