The Story of Blood and Roses

Chapter 173 Long Enough

"Agent Hunt, to what do I owe this pleasure?" I asked, honey dripping from my tongue.

"Don't be cross with me, Mia. You know very well that I tried my best to talk to the agents before I came to you." He was frustrated, and I could see it. His eyes had dark circles under them, and he was wearing the same clothes that he had a day ago.

I was kept sitting in the Chief's office, where the meeting with the board members had taken place. There were teams of researches moving in and out of the room, artistically moving around me, not daring to come anywhere near.

"So, did you convince your team to take me out for killing your father?" I asked him with a cheeky smile.

"Not yet. I hope you are going to explain why you did what you did." He was too calm. I had expected him to show anger and betrayal, but there was none of it. The evidence was there and I had pretty much confessed to killing the man myself, but no one had dared to touch me, not even the man's own son.

"I suppose Daisy already gave you the file," I realized. He gave me a small nod, but I could see the distress in his eyes. He would open up, eventually.

"Why didn't you tell me everything? I could have helped." I shook my head.

"You would feel guilty if you had known. If you found out that you were incompetent enough to not use the information you had, it would crush your confidence," I taunted. He gave me a scowl. "I took your fingerprints and logged into your account. I took out all the information and found out that three people were involved in the plan: Anthony, your father, and my own father. I didn't get the opportunity to kill my father, neither do I have the heart to kill Anthony. The only one who could quench my need for revenge was your father. He was a bastard, I will let you know. He probably planned on getting you killed once you put a ring on my finger. Or maybe he wanted me dead. He had the power; it was only a matter of time. I did you a favor by taking care of him. I saved you the guilt." Self-righteousness was the only thing that protected me from the storm surrounding me. I had convinced myself that what I had done was right. There was a small part of me that contemplated the theory that I had finally snapped. Maybe, that was why they avoided me like the plague.

Maybe they would put me down like a rabid dog.

"At least I would have known how to protect you." He grumbled. I was utterly confused.

"Why aren't you angry, Jacob?" I asked. "I wanted to kill my father with my own hands, but I still hate the man who killed him for doing it."

"You have a lot of hatred for the man, Mia. I didn't have much hatred for my father, just resentment. He had wanted to use the lethal injection while you were in a coma. I had somehow managed to ban him from the hospital and bribed everyone on the floor handsomely so that he would have no way to influence someone to kill you." That surprised me. It really did. Not much surprises me any longer, dare I say. "You might think that I am stupid, but the mistake was one of omission." He smiled a reluctant smile that made me want to feel guilty for taking his father away from him.

"You aren't as curious as the others?" I teased.

"I'm a sniper, for god's sake. I stalk my prey to get to know them. I have never wanted to know more about the organization than I had to. I never wanted to take over, I wish someone else would do it in my place, but after what I see has transpired in it, I don't trust anyone to control it in the spirit in which it was formed."

He leaned forward, grabbing my hands. He took the knife out of it and placed it on the table beside the chair. He encased my hands in his and then leaned in to press his lips to mine.

"We keep the society safe from crime, but make money out of it," I commented.

"And everyone wins in the end," he sighed as he stared at our hands.

"Will you do something for me?" I asked, knowing well what the answer would be.

"Kill him for me. Make him feel pain. Make him repent."

"Only if you do something in return," he smiled. I gave him a pointed look. "Help me lead these men. Show them how to work. Be their role-model. Resume your position, Agent Vincent."

"You took long enough to ask." He threw his head back as he laughed. Soon, I joined him.