'What can I get you, sir?'

The bartender's question went unheard as Joost stood rigid. Heat rushed to his fingertips and the gun in his waistband underneath his shirt whispered in his ear. In recent days, he never left his apartment without it for the very reason that was walking through the restaurant sipping his pint.

Joost's breathing had ceased as he watched Ski Aggu approach their table. He slipped into the seat beside Arabella and Joost dreaded the moment Elke would leap up from her chair and-

'Sir?'

Whipping back to the bartender, Joost was met with a wrinkled forehead and concerned eyes.

'U-Ugh, sorry...' he stuttered and cleared his throat. 'Just a heinekein and a lemonade, please.'

Walking off to make the drinks, the bartender left the blonde to turn back to the table in the crowded restaurant. Aggu was seated, his maskless face holding the most convincing smile Joost had ever seen. Arabella threaded her arm with his as she rambled to her friend in the opposite chair. She was oblivious to the fact that she was sitting next to a murder, while Elke's expression and reaction was yet to be apparent.

Joost didn't know why he committed to gettting drinks. When they were placed on the bar, he paid and grabbed them like he wasn't about to evacuate the building. Any enjoyment Joost anticipated for the night was gone and yet, Joost carried the bottle and glass of fizzy drink through the tables.

As he approached, his eyes remained on the German who he had never seen without a ski mask. If he hadn't already identified himself at the bar, Joost could have been convinced that it wasn't Ski Aggu, at all. The casual behaviour and blue eyes were that of someone normal and unpsychotic. It could have been Aggu's long-lost brother. But Joost's wasn't foolish enough to enjoy such a lie, so he put down the two drinks and hesitated in sitting down.

'Thank you, Joost...' he caught the subtle shake in Elke's voice and despised the fearful look she tried to hide.

Despite not wearing his mask, Elke could tell who sat beside her friend in an instant. Aggu's eyes bore into hers from across the table and it made her sick to watch Arabella cling to his arm. Her hand wanted to reach to her neck where the bruises were still fading. She still needed make-up to cover them but at Aggu's presence, Elke felt like they were darkening by the minute.

The hands that had been around her throat were now idle on the table, acting as if they hadn't held her down only a week prior. Aggu smiled as Arabella talked and Elke had to remember to breathe.

'Are you going to stand there all night, Joost?' Arabella laughed. 'Sit! I was just telling Elke how August almost lost his ear.'

When Elke didn't stand up, Joost shrunk into his seat obediently. If she said so, Joost would leave the restaurant without an explanation to Arabella. Hell, he would whip out his gun if Elke asked him to and would shoot Aggu in front of every diner. But at Elke's heavy silence, Joost faced Aggu with a straight face and an uncomfortably straight back.

'Can you believe that someone would do that? In broad daylight?' Arabella shook her head. 'You're not safe anywhere anymore. It was lucky that you didn't have your passport in there, right, August?'

'Yeah. It only had my wallet and book in there. He packed a hell of a punch, though.'

The story was laughable. Aggu had told Arabella that he was robbed in Rotterdam. A thief took his bag and assaulted him in the side of the head. The innocence that Aggu portrayed was pathetic, especially with how untrue it was. It made it even more unbearable when Aggu stared at Joost as he talked. It was his bullet that had skimmed his ear and Aggu was making sure that Joost remembered it.

Elke remained quiet and Arabella was yet to notice. The brunette didn't trust her voice to cooperate with the game they were forced to play. It was obvious Arabella didn't know the true Aggu despite them already being in a relationship.

She had already told Elke how they met; Arabella was at a cafe and Aggu approached her asking for her number. She found his accented-Dutch cute and had been texting him ever since.

Up until now, Elke had been happy for her friend. The stories she had told of August were like every other building relationship and Elke had been excited to finally meet Arabella's boyfriend. But everything had changed and Elke couldn't wait to leave the suffocating table.

If being tracked by a sim card wasn't violating enough, Aggu was interfering with Elke's life. He was dating her best friend in another attempt to get to her and Joost. This couldn't be a coincidence. Elke had learnt that Aggu never did anything without having a sinister motive. For him to turn up with Arabella was another agonising realisation that almost nothing in Elke's life was free from manipulation.

While a waiter came to take their order, Elke felt Joost's hand on her knee. She took the time Aggu spent voicing his meal choice to look to her boyfriend. In the quick glance, Joost pleaded for her to give him the word. He wanted her direction for once, because in front of her best friend, Joost didn't know what to do. Do they tell her? How do they get Arabella as far away from Aggu as possible? What happens when they try to go home tonight?

'I'm going to head to the bathroom-'

'I'll come with you.'

Arabella didn't find Elke's offer out of the ordinary and got up with a nod. Even though she didn't want to leave Joost at the table, it was an opportunity to get Arabella alone. Joost's hand fell from her knee and Elke tried not to hurry after her friend.

Yet to relax in his seat, Joost stared at the man who slouched in front of him.

'How long have you been planning this?' he dared to ask through clenched teeth.

'She made the reservation a few weeks ago.'

'Don't fuck with me. What's your game? Why are you involving people that don't need to be involved?'

Joost could have leapt across the table at the way Aggu took his time to answer. He was beyond agitated and it took a lot for him to get riled up in the face of someone so dangerous. The restaurant's calm ambience did nothing to soothe him.

Swirling his beer in his glass, Aggu leaned his elbows against the table. He peered at Joost through uncovered eyes and enjoyed seeing the man's tight jaw and feeling his unnerved aura.

'Everyone's involved, Joost.'

'Because you made it so.'

'And you didn't? When did Elke's name land in your group?'

He hated hearing him say her name after what he had done to her neck.

'When Roan Colijn was recruited by Acid.'

'No,' Aggu shook his head almost mockingly. 'It was when you interferred. Roan would have gotten himself killed, regardless. Elke would have been used for what she was good for, scared into staying quiet, and then let go. It was you, Joost, that made her a target.'

No matter how untrue it was, Joost struggled to be resilient. No one was ever 'let go' after Nathan was done with them, much less, if it was Aggu behind it all. They cut ties and didn't risk loose lips. Elke would have been used as a drop-off, made to do as Roan or Nathan said, before being left for dead once they were finished.

But then again, the issues didn't start until Joost showed up. When Roan got defensive and insecure about Joost's closeness to Elke, Nathan tried to end her involvement. His attempts to keep the group distracted by botching their deals were forgotten. He tried to steal the money back in hopes that Joost and his group wouldn't be added to the situation.

But Joost couldn't help himself. He had to help Elke. He had to take the money. That's when the sim card was slipped into Elke's bag and when whoever Donnie's informat at the car meet was followed.

'Is that regret I see? Are you finally realising that you're the problem in her life?' Aggu cooed. Joost glared fiercely but was faltering.

'What do you want?' he seethed. 'You didn't agree to this just to mock me.'

Another smirk tore at Aggu's unmasked face and Joost felt powerless at the table. He wondered how Elke was going in the bathroom. Had they slipped out the back after Elke explained to Arabella who her boyfriend really was?

'I thought you would never ask. I need help.'

Joost's eyebrows shot up.

'Help?'

Aggu leaned back in his chair, sighing as if Joost's confusion bothered him.

'Acid was useless, Donnie was out of the question, so you're the last one who knows what they're doing. And after Elke counted the money, I'm sure you want that backpack out of The Netherlands as soon as possible.'

Joost knew what was coming but could do nothing to stop it. He couldn't call Apson or anyone to come to his aid. Everyone thought that the couple were at a nice dinner. None of the guys would know they were in trouble or that Ski Aggu was sat across from Joost and Elke in the middle of Amsterdam.

'I'm settling a deal tonight. You're going to help me. The girls will sit in the back and you'll drive-'

'No. If I'm going to do anything, it's so Elke doesn't have to. I won't help you endanger Arabella or Elke anymore.'

'If you want to leave tonight, you'll do what I tell you.'

Joost didn't need to look under the table to know that a gun was now pointed at him. While Aggu was talking, his hand had slipped from his pint. Everyone's meals were placed down in front of them and Joost had no choice but to agree silently to Aggu's offer.

---

'Bella, you have to listen to me. You need to dump him.'

'You're crazy. You don't know the first thing about him!'

In the womens' bathroom, Elke gripped Arabella's arms and pleaded for her to understand. They had gone into seperate stalls like normal while the brunette took deep breaths. She could finally breathe from being away from the table. But after drying her hands in the sink, Elke blurted out what she had been dying to say all night.

'Joost knows him. He is not who he says he is!' Elke cried. She hated to see Arabella offended and could only imagine what she was thinking.

'If he's so bad, then why does Joost know him?' Arabella threw back. 'You know, I've watched you go through shit relationships, Elke, but to come for mine is just ironic.'

'This isn't about him being a cheater or something! Aggu is dangerous-'

'Aggu? Where did you hear that name?' Arabella's eyebrows creased in confusion before she shrugged it off. 'Whatever. I'm not listening to this. See you back at the table.'

Elked tried to call for her friend but it fell flat as the door fell shut. Arabella was gone and she was left in front of the spotless mirror. With fidgeting hands, Elke turned to her reflection and took note of her wide eyes and pale complexion.

No wonder Arabella wouldn't listen. She looked and sounded crazy. Elke knew what it was like to be oblivious and naive to what was going on right in front of her. She didn't blame Arabella for not understanding, but she wished that somehow, her friend would trust her. If only Arabella could see that Elke was just trying to save her.

As soon as she got back to the table, Elke knew she was going to struggle to hold a conversation. But maybe in the time they had been in the bathroom, Joost had gotten rid of Aggu. If not, then it was going to be an uncomfortable meal and Elke feared the moment it would end.