Raindrops shimmered with an orange glow as they collided against the pavement under the street lights, various neon signs from local stores illuminated the night, cars spilled out onto the streets from every direction and people from all walks of life roamed the city. The smooth R&B tunes that played from the radio in Maurice's car perfectly suited the sultry yet dark vibe of the evening.

Trish's head rested against the cold window glass as she passively watched the hustle and bustle in the streets. Her left hand clenched the edge of her seat and her seatbelt felt as if it was tightening around her like a snake, she couldn't stop her legs from bouncing up and down with impatience. Like a sacred mantra, she kept repeating the same thing in her head: This will be all over soon. This will be all over soon.

Sitting on the other side of the backseat, Han instinctively reached out and took her right hand resting on her lap. As if he was reading her thoughts, he gave her a concerned look.

"Don't worry," Han massaged Trish's thumb against his, "we'll do everything we can to keep him safe."

Trish sighed heavily, interlocking their fingers. "I know, but sometimes it feels like things are never going to end. I just want this to be over, to be normal again."

"Me too," he softly answered, "me too."

Meeting Han's eyes, Trish saw how bloodshot they were and noticed the creases on his forehead had gotten deeper. All of this stress clearly affected him as much as it did for her, putting them right back in the dangerous circumstances when they had first met each other.

She didn't want that to define their relationship, being dependent of one another because of danger. They were both living through so much, but their relationship needed to be a safe space from all that.

"I'm sorry," Trish squeezed her partner's hand and managed to pull off a weak smile, "I'm bumming you out."

This made Han slightly smile too, slowly shaking his head. "No, it's fine. I would feel down too if I were you."

"Nah, you'd pull up on your enemies and fight them head to head," Trish let go of Han's hand to playfully punch him on the shoulder, his smile widening as she did so. She then remembered the time when they'd both taken down a woman that was trying to eliminate them. Han didn't want to hit women so he'd used Trish's fists and kicks towards her, almost like they were dance-fighting together. "Not the girl ones though, you need me for that."

"Come on, you totally liked that."

"It was okay, kinda chicken of you, but I'll give you a couple pointers next time."

"Oh, so you think you can teach me a lesson or two now?"

"Only if you prove yourself to be a worthy student. I don't settle for amateurs."

"Well then you'll have to find another student because there's absolutely nothing you can teach an expert like me," Han dusted his shoulders off with mock cockiness.

"No need," Trish leaned towards him, placing her hand on his cheek and dragging her fingers along his jaw, stopping under his chin. "I know you'll attend all of my classes anyway. You can't resist me."

Her eyes twinkled with mischief and a glint of flirtatiousness, catching Han by surprise at her unexpected yet totally natural shift. He could feel his face start to heat up as her fingers lingered on his skin, her gaze trailing over his facial features, appreciating their beauty.

Trish's hand finally dropped as her eyes landed on his lips, then back into his eyes again. Han quickly looked at her lips as well, making note of the clear lip gloss she had on as if it was going to be on a test later.

He then met her stare once more, this time eliciting a loud gulp on his part and making her giggle. Han flashed an embarrassed smile before slowly leaning closer towards Trish. She immediately closed her eyes, tilted her head a little to the side and slightly parted her smiling lips.

Han felt his heart beating loudly in his chest as he came closer to Trish's lips, feeling her breath against his face, before finally-

"Y'all better not be making babies in my car right now!" Maurice loudly said from the driver's seat, observing the couple with his rear-view mirror. "I just got it cleaned and everything!"

Trish pulled away with frustration, angrily turning to look into the mirror. "Will you shut up for two seconds?"

"Not when y'all about to get to it in my car," Maurice scrunched his nose up in disgust. "At least wait until we get to the hotel or something, ya little nasties."

"Just focus on the stupid road," Trish waved him off, slouching in her seat.

Turning towards his window, Han wiped his now sweaty hands on his lap as discretely as he could. His face still burned with embarrassment while the girl he almost kissed returned to her usual cool and unbothered composure with ease.

Quickly glancing at the rear-view mirror, he saw Maurice looking back at him with a devious grin: I see you, Romeo. Their chauffeur was clearly satisfied with himself by the awkwardness he brought between the pair and seeing how much it affected Han was just the icing on top.

Han flicked him off in retaliation, it didn't wipe Maurice's gap-toothy smile from his face, but the message was sent and received.

"So," Trish turned her attention back to Han, who rapidly recomposed himself, "you never exactly told me what you overheard my dad say."

He exhaled loudly. "It didn't sound good, whoever's after him won't rest until they get what they want."

"Do you think they're affiliated to your father? Or at least used to be?"

"Maybe, one of your father's men mentioned that they had promised to give the Chinese territory away."

"I don't understand, how were they gonna do that? Territories don't just get given, especially not when it belongs to your rivals."

"I only know that the other triad families have divided up everything my father had between themselves now. It doesn't seem like they have a new leader yet."

"So do you think they might be behind the explosion? Maybe they felt threatened or something."

"I don't think so, the whole gang wars stopped with my father's death. Well, it was supposed to..."

"Y'all clearly don't know jack!" Maurice jeered from the driver's seat before making a harsh turn, sending his passengers flying to the right. "Nothing ended, it just all hit the fan after that."

"What do you mean?" Han clutched the car handle.

Trish cursed under her breath, leaning towards him and placing a hand over her mouth. "Remind me to never let him drive me anywhere again..."

"Hey! I heard that!" Maurice complained. "At least somebody's interested in what I have to say!"

The pair just frowned back at him in silence.

"What? I can't savor this moment a little? Tough crow, sheesh."

"Tell us what you know already!" Trish told him.

"Ok, ok, damn!" Maurice said in his defensive, high-pitched voice, making her roll her eyes. "After the head Chinese gang guy shot himself, everything was sorta on put on pause. Our side waited for Isaak to heal from his bullet wounds so he had us carry out some errands to maintain the territory and the businesses. We had no idea what the Chinese were doing on their end, but we left each other alone to regroup and focus on the next step. Boss told us that he wanted to get his money straight and leave the crook stuff, but since his last deal fell through, we had no choice to go back to the streets, for now at least. That's when we came across some random dealers on our territory, strapped up with some military-grade stuff. They said they we owed them, that they were gonna take us out and then take the Chinese out."

Trish eased in her seat when she heard that her father had planned to turn legit, at least he was trying. "Mmh, I see... What did the dealers look like though?"

"Asian dudes, but they had an accent, couldn't tell from where."

She still had so many questions, but that would have to wait as she saw the Lux Plaza Hotel, beautifully lit up, come into view from her window.

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