"i broke so many bones, but none of them were ever my own"

•••

Andrew's grin made a chill run down my spine as the forest fell silent once again. We kept our mouths shut as we waited for any other noise to ring through the trees, but there was none.

I turned my head to stare at Andrew, who was fidgeting with the holster around his shoulders.

Looking at him, I realised I would be lying to myself if I said I did not find him attractive. Only by gazing at his rumpled hair, gorgeous dark eyes and chiselled face, I learnt why everyone thought he was handsome.

Obviously, he had to be a multimillionaire and a crime lord, as if being good-looking was not enough. I was fuming over his evident perfection when Andrew snapped his fingers in front of my face, bringing my attention back to our current situation.

"Lost you for a moment there, love," he stated. I suddenly had the urge to yell at him for calling me that nickname to maintain my dignity, but I could not do that to him. Worst of all, I could not do that to myself, especially knowing how much I secretly liked it when he did so.

"Tell me the truth," I ordered, taking him by surprise.

"Truth about what?"

"About your relationship with Oliver," I said.

"I already told-"

"The truth and nothing but the truth, Andrew," I repeated, "I want your honesty." He looked at me and sighed.

"Alright," he sat down on the small cave's floor, "Oliver and I did meet when we were teenagers, but I lied; we never stopped being friends, up until a few years ago."

"What happened in high school?" I asked.

"I was the one who decided to live this life," he confessed, "And Oliver followed me. He did take it too far by murdering people for a living, and..." I pressed him to continue. "...I helped him do it." Closing my eyes, I groaned.

"So you are an accomplice of murder, awesome," I stated.

"Woah, I didn't want to do it," he defended himself, "But I needed the money Oliver's boss was offering me, so I took it." We met each other's gaze. "Besides, you know how much I hate killing others now, and my vow is largely due to my past."

That was true; he had informed me of his oath to never murder again a couple of months back. However, he never specified why.

"Why did you pick this?" I raised my hands, "I mean, it is not an easy life, and you willingly walked into it."

"I always had this weird ability to steal stuff from people," he laughed, "And I thought I could take it a step further and create a career out of it. I began with grocery stores and slowly climbed my way up to casinos." He winked.

"And you ended up making a living from it," I concluded.

"Of course I did," he said, "I was too good at stealing and still am; fortune was waiting for me." I rolled my eyes at his fake arrogance.

"What happened between you and Oliver?" I inquired further, "And what did you do with him after you became successful?"

"He told me he wanted to come with me on one of my heists," he explained, "And I obviously approved, but he ruined everything."

"How?"

"He set off the building's alarm and got one of my men killed," Andrew said, frustrated, "The worst part about it was his regret because he had none at all. Oliver didn't give a fuck about anything, so I beat the shit out of him." I concealed the laugh that wanted to escape my mouth.

"And...?"

"I left," he said, "He still didn't give a fuck and murdered part of my crew. He fucking murdered them, love." Well, that sounds more like the Oliver I know. "After that, we never talked to each other, and he never touched my crew ever again."

"Now that is a story," I answered, "Not whatever you said back at the dinner."

"A story indeed," he muttered, looking at me, "What about you, love? What went down after I left?"

"I stopped Felipe from shooting your head off," I tilted my face, smiling, "You are welcome."

"Aw, you did that for me?"

"Yes, who is going to pay me otherwise, huh?"

"Damn, that's harsh," he said, "You would totally miss me, though."

"The paycheck, Andrew," I laughed, lying through my teeth, "I would miss the paycheck."

"Trust me, love," he winked, "You would miss more than just the paycheck if you kissed me; wanna try?" He leaned forwards, "Or we could go directly to my be-"

"Anyways, they interrogated me," I exclaimed, preventing him from finishing that sentence, "And Vincent aimed his gun at me thanks to you."

"He what?" The smug look that had been on his face instantly disappeared as he started to frown.

"Calm down," I said, "I had everything-"

"-under control?" he finished for me, "Sure, anything else?"

"Your hot mafia princess slapped me," I scoffed, "I panicked and did not answer any of their questions, so she made me react."

"That explains the red mark on your face," he remarked, "What did they ask you about?"

"My relationship with Oliver and you, of course," I said, "And my past."

"And what did you say?" Andrew rested his face on the palm of his hand, and for a brief moment, he looked like an angel.

"The truth," I stared at the ground, "That I was not aware of your friendship with Oliver, and I denied we were associated with him."

"What about your past?" he raised an eyebrow.

"What about it, Andrew?" I crossed my arms across my chest as I slowly examined him.

"Did they ask anything too personal?"

"They wanted to know where my knowledge of weapons came from," I said, shrugging, "Because you were the one who pointed out my skill to Elias, he was the one who brought it up." The realisation of what I had said hit him, making his mouth fall wide open.

"I'm sorry, love," Andrew muttered, "I didn't think about the future consequences that defending you could have."

"It is alright," I replied, a small smile playing on my lips, "I am used to your recklessness; you never think about the consequences of anything." He grinned.

We spent the next few minutes in silence as we both stared at one another absentmindedly. My eyes trailed the shape of Andrew's figure in the darkness of the cave, and I noticed small details I had not seen before.  A bruise had appeared on his cheek, and his inked arm had an extensive cut on it.

The feeling of worry began to surge in my chest, and I tried my best to ignore it, but I could not help myself. Andrew's lips were pressed in a tight line, and when I opened my mouth to speak, he did the same.

"What happened to you?"

"Do you want anything for your forehead?" We laughed together before he answered my question.

"A branch got in my way," he smiled, "I'm more worried about you, though."

"I am fine," I said, "It does not hurt as much as it did when I first got it." I sighed, "Although, I am not sure if that means I am better."

Looking down at my dress, I remembered what I had been planning on doing. I stood up, stretching my hands down to the skirt and, grabbing the smooth fabric between my fingers, I tore it.

"What are you doing?" Andrew asked.

"Ripping my dress, what does it look like?" I lifted my head to gaze at him, and I watched him swallow nervously.

"No, I got that," he replied, "But why the hell are you doing it?"

"Do you have any idea of how difficult it is to run with a dress this long?" I continued to shred the gown as I spoke, "This will make it more comfortable to move."

"Oh, right, that makes sense."

When I was finished ruining the dress, I tore it into a smaller piece and looked at Andrew. I sat down in front of him on the floor and held the fabric between my hands. Without giving him an explanation, I seized his injured arm and placed his hand on my lap.

"You don't have to do that," he began to move his arm away, but I held it firmly in place.

"I really do," I stated, "You are bleeding, and I can bet it is very annoying." I wrapped the cloth around his arm several times. "Moreover, it will prevent you from getting the wound infected." I tightly knotted the fabric before admiring my work. "There."

I used what remained of my dress to wipe the blood from my forehead, or at least what I could. Andrew helped me when he noticed I was struggling, cleaning the scratch coarsely.

"I promise I will treat it properly when we get back home," he noted, "For now, you will have to endure having the wound."

"I have had worse," I grinned, "I can manage it."

"I never said you couldn't," he stopped moving the cloth, dropping his arm beside him. Neither of us said anything as we stared into each other's eyes, making me smile. "What?"

"Sab," I said, startling even myself, "You can call me Sab." He gasped, putting both of his hands on my shoulders.

"Who are you?" he shook me violently, "Where is my assistant, you impostor?" I placed my hands on his chest, pushing him back.

"Oh my God," I murmured, "I decided you can call me Sab because I know you will keep insisting on it."

"Are you-"

"I prefer Andrew," I interrupted him, "But I might call you Andy a few times if it does not bother you."

"It doesn't," he shook his head like a child, "As long as I can call you Sab, I'm perfectly okay with whatever you call me." He leant against the cave's wall.

"Now," I stood up, "We should leave." Brushing the dirt off my dress, I offered my hand to Andrew and helped him get to his feet.

"Why?" he asked, "I mean, we're good here; we just need to wait for them to pass by."

"Trust me," I said, "They will check in here, and we cannot risk getting discovered." I pulled my phone from my thigh holster and checked our location on the map. "Look, there is a street right behind the forest, and it is opposite to the mansion."

"We can steal a car and get the fuck away from here," Andrew reasoned.

"Exactly." He grabbed the guns from his holster and checked they were not damaged and loaded before running a hand through his hair. I imitated him to avoid distracting myself by staring at his complexion.

Dammit, I was absolutely smitten by him.

"Bloody hell," I cursed.

"What's wrong?" Andrew inquired, looking at me with curiosity.

"I am missing my-"

"A dagger!" I heard a woman shout right outside the cave. Andrew and I snapped our widened eyes to each other as he opened his mouth to swear under his breath.

The voice belonged to Emilie fucking Schneider. Of course, she had to be the one who found us first. I kneeled down to grab my shoes as Andrew placed his hand on top of one of his weapons, ready to attack.

The vines covering the entrance were moved aside by a manicured hand, and Emilie gasped as she looked inside. She had a gun with a torch and the dagger in her grip, her mouth hanging open.

"Woah, thank you so much," Andrew quickly exclaimed, moving towards her, "Sab was searching for this." He removed the knife from her hand without force and handed it to me. I instantly slipped it into my holster as I watched Andrew smile. "Now, if you don't mind, we really need to move."

"You are not going anywhere, stud," Emilie shot at the sky before aiming her weapon at Andrew, "They are over here!"

Without giving it a second thought, I tackled her. We fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and I slapped the gun from her hand, throwing it a few metres away from us. Emilie fought my grasp as I struggled to reach her neck to get her to pass out without her hitting me first.

I heard footsteps approaching, and before I could actually grip her throat, Andrew wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him.

"We need to leave!" I was too startled to react, but Andrew seized my hand and yanked me with him as gunshots began to follow us.