After driving several more minutes, the duration in which I spent glaring out the window with flushed cheeks and Wolfe with a smirk on his face, the streets got familiar. Pretty soon, we turned onto the block of small local shops. The Espresso House was visible at the end of the street, lights glowing from inside. 

I put my phone into my bag and got ready to say my thanks when Wolfe suddenly stopped the car and cut off the engine. 

Right there. 

In the middle of the street, a full block away from where he was supposed to pull up. 

The asshole didn't even park. 

Brooklyn streets were always busy. Thankfully, no cars drove by just yet but sitting there like two idiots, just waiting to get into a car accident, made me nervous. Suppose a car needed to get past? Wolfe blocked the entire street. And I didn't even want to think about what would happen if anyone dared to even get into an altercation with Wolfe. 

You don't honk at Wolfe Sterling. 

He honks you.

And then, to make matters worse, Wolfe locked all the doors at once with one push of a button that was on his side of the car, right above the armrest. His car had the kind of locks that couldn't just be pulled open with fingers, which is exactly what I tried to do with no luck.

"Hey." I frowned, pulling the straps of my bag over my shoulders. I had to yank on my hair to pull it out from underneath. Wolfe didn't move, staring straight ahead something with a look on his face I couldn't describe. Not angry, more like...disappointment. "Come on, don't do murder-y stuff like that. Unlock the doors, Wolfe. Thank you for the ride but I need to go-"

"Who's that kid sitting on the steps of your apartment?" He asked quietly.

"Who?" Confused, I followed the line of his gaze. A figure hunkered down on the stone steps, hood pulled over and reading the newspaper. When the person finally glanced up, I realized who it was. "Hey, that's Ade!" I exclaimed, fumbling with the seatbelt. "I have to go-"

"Boyfriend?"

I stopped and stared at Wolfe. "What?"

He pressed his lips together and let them go, and the blood rushed back to color his mouth quickly. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Wolfe almost seemed pissed. But I knew better, so I didn't think that. He stared out the windshield, seeing things no one else could. With hands clamped tightly around the steering wheel, Wolfe made a little grunting noise. "Is that your boyfriend?" He repeated, just as quiet as before.

"No! What's it to you?" I expressed my annoyance as I pulled open the seatbelt. With a cautious glance, I reached over slowly and tried to push the button he did to unlock all the doors. Before I could, however, Wolfe smacked the hand that was slowly snaking over his lap. Pulling my arm back, I shot him a stinging glare. "Open the door, Wolfe! Please. I need to go. Why would you stop in the middle of the street? Who does that? Only assholes do that. And you, sir, are the king of assholes. You should do porn, you're so good at being a dick." Okay, shut up now Florence. "You're like one of those weird slick-backed hair type of guys that always wears a red silk bathrobe to show off his manly chest hair and smokes one of those pipe things and everyone pretends to like them just because they have money and-"

"Shhh." Wolfe leaned over and shut my lips tight with two of his fingers. I swatted him away. "You always talk and I have no idea what you say half the time, so let's cut the bullshit, Florence. It's my turn to talk and you better sit here and listen because I'm not letting you leave until you do."

He looked at me to see if I would comply, which I did after muttering 'jerk' under my breath. 

Wolfe stared at my legs for a second. He didn't look at them as one would look at legs, I suppose. There was nothing there that had the barest hint of making me uncomfortable on purpose, which he was so fond of. Rather, it was more like an object to focus on as he spoke.

"Do you remember that night in the coffee shop, when I came by to confront you for going to the cops?" Wolfe asked, almost breathlessly. "Because I do. Oh boy, do I remember every fucking detail about that night. I'll admit, you had me fooled. I don't think you understand just how influential you can be, Florence. But that night, you were terrified. You wanted to run for the damn hills. That did piss me off for a moment, that you'd think I'd hurt you in any way. But then again, what was I supposed to expect? Your hostility towards me is pretty clear and you have every right to be. After all, I'm not exactly the nicest guy in the world."

"You can say that again." I added unnecessarily.

His glare was enough to shut me up for the next few minutes. "But there was something else that night. A look in your eyes." Wolfe continued softly. "I've been trying to figure out what that look meant every since that night. When I ran into you today, crying your eyes out, I saw the same look flash by and I realized what it was."

I was afraid to ask. "What?"

"Hope." He answered. "You hoped. Now, I'm going to assume that the kid sitting on those steps is the one who's the cause of your troubles today, right? And I'm also going to assume that there is more than one side to this friendship of yours that you both share. You don't want a guy like that, do you Florence? No excitement. A bland, vanilla relationship." Amusement entered his tone even though I could find nothing funny. "There's no white picket fence in the future for you, is there? You want excitement. You want to fight. You love the fight, just as much as I do. But you'll never ask for one, unless someone else initiates it. Someone who can bring your desires to the surface, show the world that you're not such a good girl after all."

I was afraid to breathe. To what extent he was accurate in his observations, I had no idea. But I wasn't going to show Wolfe that he did get anything right in the first place. Keeping a passive expression on my face, I stifled in the silence of his pauses and the weight of his words.

"There are bad people in the world. I'm one of them myself. But you're not a bad person, Florence. You just want-" Wolfe paused, changing the structure of his next sentence before they left his mouth. "You're not as innocent as everyone thinks. I'm surprised you fooled everyone. Even me, at some point. I can admit that. You are a mystery."

He was quiet for a second, and then continued. "Tonight, I want you to do something for me, okay? Tonight, I want you to stand in front of your mirror. Take a good look at those pretty red lips and those bright green eyes, and then decide if you want to keep this nice, sheltered life you have going on here or if you want something more, something that these ethical, law-abiding citizens can't give you, least of all that goody-two shoed kid waiting for you so he can give you some bullshit explanation as to why he purposely stood you up this morning. And then come pay me a visit when you make up your mind. Have a good day, Florence."

Wolfe unlocked the doors.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Muttering a thanks, I opened the door and stepped out, right into a puddle. At this point I could barely tell the color of my own shoes so it didn't matter. Without looking back, I made a beeline for the sidewalk and towards Ade, who finally noticed me when I was close enough to be seen. Wolfe's words were fluttering around my head, trying to form themselves in a way I could comprehend. You don't take offers from wolves. Flustered, exhausted, and dignity torn, I stomped my way up the steps and to the apartment door where Ade was waiting. 

"I can explain-"

"I almost died."

"Listen, something came up and I think you need to- wait, what?" Ade stopped, confused. "Really?"

"No!" I smacked his chest angrily. "But I could have!"

"Oh, Florence." Ade sighed. "Really, I am sorry. I got held up in university today. Everyone did. There was a drug search on campus today."

My anger died down a little. "Really? Why?"

"They're not telling us much, but one of the professors did mention that some college juniors were found with methamphetamine this morning." Ade explained. "The drug unit was called in and everyone had to be searched. They wouldn't even let us go to the bathroom without an aide. Took about four hours to get through the east wing where I was. By the time they let us out, you were already gone. By the way, did you walk home or something-"

"I took an Uber." I lied.

"Oh, really? How was it? I always wanted to try one."

"It was fine." Avoiding his gaze, I pulled out my keys and inserted them into the door. "Why didn't you at least text me back? I left you, like, a hundred messages. And that's not even an exaggeration. Literally, a hundred. Or maybe even one hundred and one."

Ade shrugged. "I left my phone home today to charge."

It wasn't like Ade to go anywhere without his phone. However, my mind was too caught up in everything to take much notice. What did Wolfe mean, pay him a visit? He didn't know anything about me. It was just a simple observation. I was very easy to read. Wolfe didn't know me. It was such crap. I didn't want either of them, Ade or Wolfe. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I most certainly will not be looking in the mirror tonight and I was definitely for sure not going to pay him a visit. Whatever the hell he meant by that, anyways. Damn, his words had a real knack for getting under my skin no matter how hard I tried to brush them off. One man's opinion doesn't define me, least of all Wolfe Sterling's. 

"Are you okay?" Ade asked. He was still leaning away as if I was going to attack him. Gently swatting me with one end of his rolled up newspaper, he said, "You look really pale, Florence. Are you coming down with something or-"

"No." I rubbed my eyes, exhausted. "I'm just tired, that's all. Hey, if you're done with that newspaper, can you give it to me? I like to read the comics section before I fall asleep."

"Well, I was going to give it to you anyways." His voice shifted to one of nervousness. "Um...there's something you need to know. I mean, I think you should know. After all, it is kind of your business since you have a bit of um- involvement, I guess you could say. An association, maybe? I don't know. Uh-"

I stared at him. "What is it?"

Ade rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting my gaze. "Uh. I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tell you this but, um-" He quickly thrust the sheath of newspapers at me. "-here you go. It's better if you read it rather than let me explain."

With a curious glance at Ade, I unrolled the newspaper and read the title of the front page.

The newspaper was a copy of the New York Times, largely distributed through the streets of Brooklyn. In bold black letters, the front page headline screamed 'Brooklyn Crowns Initiate Largest Drug Smuggle in Criminal History - 1,000 Pounds of Methamphetamine Imported into NYC' for the whole world to see. Following the riveting title was a long article, accompanied by the same blurry candid shot of the Crowns and Wolfe's back that was on the news website. I guess they only had one picture. The date on the newspaper was yesterday's.

For a second, I was so stunned I forgot how to speak. 

As if the headline wasn't bad enough, I realized a very important piece of the puzzle.

Exhaustion left me in the blink of an eye. I was already halfway across the street when Ade finally caught up. Boy, I was fuming mad. Wolfe Sterling was more cunning than anyone ever could believe. He was just as bad as how the media portrayed him, if not worse. God, that bastard. 

"Florence!" Ade had to jog to keep up as I made a beeline for the doors of the Espresso House. "Hey, wait up! What's going on?"

"The tunnels." The two words left my mouth in a strangled cry. Grabbing the cold handle of the coffee shop doors, I paused for a second. Clancy was behind the front counter, talking to a man with blonde hair and a ponytail. Damn, I'd recognize them even in my dreams. Grinding my teeth together, I pulled open the door and walked inside, making another beeline for the basement door. Ade was mumbling to himself 'what tunnels' and he still hadn't caught up. Clancy and Daniel turned at my furious entrance, watching me in silence as I made my way to the basement. Daniel realized what I was doing and immediately took up trail behind Ade, who still hadn't figured out why I was so upset.

"Screw them. Screw all of them." I huffed under my breath, flinging open the basement door. Like cars on a freight train, Ade and Dan followed. "Fuck you, Daniel! And tell your assface boss the same thing." I called over my shoulder. Ade, looking befuddled, pushed his glasses up and looked fearfully to Dan, who looked mildly amused. 

Pulling out my keys, I pushed the right one into the cellar door and opened it, not knowing what to expect.