{5}

"The rest of your belongings have been retrieved from the safe house." Michael announced, getting off the phone. "An agent of mine has just arrived with them."

River, Michael and I were in a private room in Heathrow Airport, waiting to board the next flight. We had given our statements about what had happened. Michael was surprised to hear about the red suited man that hung by the entrance of the safe house.

"Here are your passports and alternative forms of ID as well as other miscellaneous documents." He told us, handing River a large brown envelope. "You'll solely be using these from now on. As for money, River has a credit card he uses when travelling in Europe."

River wasted no time in taking the passports out. He opened one, analysing it before scoffing. I glanced at what he was looking at in curiosity, and recognised my ID picture. 

"Hey!" I exclaimed in embarrassment, snatching the passport from him. 

They used the same ID picture as my normal passport. My eyes narrowed in on his one, wanting to take a peak at his one. He saw this and proceeded to shake his head at me. "Don't even try."

I rolled my eyes at him, and brought my attention back to my new passport. My eyes widened as I took in the new information. "My name is Mia Lordson?"

"Mia should be easy enough to remember, and it's phonetically similar to your actual name." Michael explained. He glanced at River and said, "His name is Luca De Marco."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "They gave you an Italian name, Frosty. What's the reasoning behind the name?"

I heard Michael quietly mutter. "Frosty?"

"It's my alias name, I've used this name for years." River explained, his cool gaze on me. "An Italian name for an Italian person seems fitting, don't you think?"

"So you have an alias name, as well as a fake name." I said, shaking my head. "I wonder how long it's been since someone has called you by your real name."

It wasn't very noticeable, but he stiffened when I said that. I eyed him curiously, getting a fierce glare in return. Two agents arrived just then, to my relief, with our suitcases. The speaker announced that our gate was ready for passengers, giving us the cue to leave. 

Michael, once again, reminded me of the importance of sticking to my fake identity before we left. River and I headed to our gate, getting through security with no issues, and sat on the corner chairs when we arrived. He immediately brought his phone out and didn't speak, which was fine. 

I needed to call someone anyway.

I dialled her phone number and waited for her to pick up as it rang. "Hello?" She said, uncertainty apparent in her voice.

"Mum, its me." I told her. My other phone number was terminated immediately, and was given a new number.

"Lia!" She exclaimed, worry evident in her voice. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, sweetie. I'll save this number straight away. How are you feeling?"

"Um, I guess I'm a little overwhelmed." I responded honestly. "I'm just going with the flow at this point."

"I'm glad, you're taking this all in better than I expected." 

"I need to ask you something." I told her. I've had questions for her since that day, I'm surprised I've waited this long to ask her. I guess, I needed time to adjust to how quickly my life was changing. 

"Did you know dad was a, you know...?" I didn't say it out loud, since I was in public.

There was a brief pause over the phone before she replied. "Yes."

I gulped, taking that in. I guess I expected it, because of the lack of reaction to his sudden disappearance. Maybe since I was eighteen, when he initially disappeared, she thought it would not impact me so much.

I guess she was right, but it still hurt to know she knew this entire time. 

"And you couldn't tell me because it was confidential."

"And it would compromise his and our safety." She added with a sigh. "I'm sorry Lia, I hated keeping this from you."

I took a deep breath in, accepting it. "It's fine, I understand since it makes sense. I have one more question."

"Go on."

"How did you know about his occupation?"

Another brief silence before she responded with, "I'm afraid that's a story for another day."

"Huh? Story for another day?" I repeated with frustration. River's head slightly tilted my way before looking back to his phone. 

I couldn't understand why she couldn't tell me now. 

"Yes." She said firmly. I stayed silent, annoyed that I knew she wasn't going to budge. 

"Okay, fine."

"I heard you're going to Paris, stay safe." She continued calmly. "Although, I have no doubts that you'll be fine since you have River with you. I heard he's exceptional at his job."

I snorted in amusement. "Like I've never heard that before."

We spoke for a while before it was time to board the plane. River and I found our seats, but to my dismay, his seat was the one by the window. 

He sat down on the seat and looked up at me when I didn't sit by him. My gaze moved from him, to the window and then back to him. 

He stared back, face void of any emotion. 

I stared back, my eyes still flickering to the window and back to him. 

After a minute of us staring each other down, he sighed heavily and got up. He gestured for me to sit on his seat, looking unimpressed with my behaviour. 

"You child." 

I held the urge to whoop in celebration, and calmly sat down. "But I won."

The flight only took about an hour and a half. We could've just taken the train there, but I didn't comment on it. We landed in Paris, feeling so drained and exhausted. 

We got into a taxi and made our way to our destination. Despite how sleepy I felt, I couldn't bring myself to take a nap. I felt too paranoid from what had happened earlier, if only I had slept on the plane. Instead I looked out the window, enjoying viewing the beautiful Parisian streets.

The taxi finally pulled up to a quiet neighbourhood. River quickly paid, got our stuff and headed to the place we were staying. I took my suitcase from him, wanting to hold my own stuff and followed him. Looking around the area, it seemed like a 'rich' area, judging by the cars I was spotting.

He whipped out a key when we stopped in front of a large white door, and opened it. I followed him inside, taking in the minimal, yet classy, interior. I closed the door behind me and left my luggage near the door like he did. 

Without looking back, he headed towards what looked like the living room and plopped onto the large sofa. I stood by the doorway, watching as he brought his hand over his eyes, and sigh heavily. 

"Looks like we'll be staying in Paris for a while." He murmured, taking his hand away from his face. His unreadable silver eyes focused on me, staring at me intently before sighing again. 

"There are three bedrooms in this house, but you'll be sharing a room with me." He explained, rubbing his temples. "This way I can ensure your safety. Unlike the safe house, this place isn't as secure. Since the safe house was infiltrated, you could only imagine how easy it'll be to infiltrate this place."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, so there's a bedroom with two beds?" 

"Yes."

I shrugged, not really bothered by it at all. "If you think keeping me in close distance will ensure my safety, then so be it."

"We'll try not to unpack, so utilize your suitcase as a wardrobe." He said as he stood up. "We're exhausted, lets go to bed."

And with that, we carried our stuff to the master bedroom and got ready for bed. We used different bathrooms to brush our teeth and dress into comfier clothes. I wore my usual grey sweatpants, and sports bra to sleep in, before I realised how exposed I felt.

The truth was that I never shared a room with a guy before. So I quickly slipped on a random black T-shirt before heading into the room. He was already in one of the beds, facing away from my side of the room. 

Was he already asleep?

I was about to turn off the lights before he spoke out loud. "Turn off the lights."

A scowl automatically appeared on my face, I hated when people told me to do something I was about to do anyway. My stubbornness almost made me not want to turn them off, but I was too tired to make a scene. 

"There's something called 'politeness', I'm sure you've heard it before. Words like 'please' are used very often when asking someone for a favour." I told him, annoyance seeping into my words. 

"Shut up, and turn them off already."

I gaped at the back of his head, immense frustration and vexation coursing through me. I held back the urge to go over there and hit him, so I opted for punching the air instead. 

"Are you...punching the air?" He called out unsurely, amusement lacing his voice.

"No." 

"Okay."

He knew I was lying, damn it!

With much reluctance, I turned off the lights. "Some manners won't hurt, Frosty." I told him, as I got into the bed, snuggling into the covers.

"Don't call me that." 

I smirked, knowing very well I'll continue to call him that until we part ways. Already feeling hot, I began to take my T-shirt off under the covers. "Whatever you say, Frosty."

I got no reply, feeling good that I got the last word. The T-shirt was finally off, I can finally sleep comfortably. I got into a comfortable position before closing my eyes and falling into deep slumber. 

*~*

"Mia." 

I shifted in the warm bed, burrowing my face into the pillow. 

"Wake up already!"

I groaned out loud, who would dare wake me up? I burrowed my face even further into the pillow, not wanting to face reality. I wasn't ready to wake up and function like a normal human being. 

"Mia!" 

Who's Mia?

"SHUT UP, YOU'RE SO LOUD!" I screamed, my voice muffled by the covers. I was not a morning person, everyone knew that.

"I'm loud?"

My mind finally registered I was talking to Frosty, making me even more moody. I finally remembered why he called me Mia, damn fake names. 

"Okay, I'll wake up. Just give me...ten minutes." 

"Fuck no, I've waited two hours for you to wake up." He growled, his voice sounding significantly closer. "I'm hungry, so get your ass up!"

"So get food and eat it, you hungry hippo." I deadpanned, wishing he would leave me already.

"I can't go anywhere without you, you dumbass!" He gritted out, sounding exasperated. "I have to keep an eye on you at all times, so get out of bed. I'm giving you one minute."

He was giving me a headache, so early in the morning. "I actually hate you." I said calmly. 

"The feeling is mutual, now get up. You have forty seconds."

"Okay." I shot back.

"Okay, what?"

"I'm going to make use of that forty seconds, and sleep as much as I can." 

"Yo-." He started to protest.

"Shush."

To my surprise, a considerable amount of time passed until he spoke again. "Three minutes is over." 

Okay, maybe I felt a little bad. I cracked one eye open, seeing his tall figure looming over my bed. "I'll get up."

His cold silver eyes glinted at me dangerously. "You better."

I closed my eyes one last time before getting up. I guess that action, understandably, made it seem like I was about to go back to sleep; since he suddenly snatched the warm covers off me. 

"Hey!" I exclaimed, feeling startled. "I was really about to get up."

"Didn't look like it." He sneered, throwing the covers to the other side of the room. His striking eyes widened slightly and then narrowed, taking in my attire. Looking down at my sports bra, I wrapped my arms around myself and glared at him. 

He looked away before saying, "Get dressed and meet me downstairs. We're having our breakfast in a café."

He left the room, leaving me shivering and moody. I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day, putting on appropriate clothes for the weather. I headed downstairs, carrying a small bag with my phone, lip balm and earphones. 

River was by the front door, impatiently watching me hurry downstairs. I glared at him, he had woken me up at nine thirty when we arrived in Paris so late or early, depending on how you want to look at it.

His striking eyes flickered down at my outfit before nodding in satisfaction, I was wearing a monochrome outfit. Something we both had in common was that we preferred to dress in all black, which was ideal for our situation. 

We didn't stand out too much. 

I glanced at him as we left the house. Actually with those looks, he stood out a lot. My mind started to wonder back to all those female clients who fell for him, maybe it was really authentic?

But, how did they look past his annoying personality? No matter how good looking someone is, there has to be a point where you must draw the line. We walked a short distance before reaching a local café shop, there were already several people having their breakfast. 

"Remember, you are Mia." He muttered under his breath. "I can't call you anything else from now on, even back at the house."

I nodded. "Understood, Frosty."

He let out a sharp sigh, his jaw ticking in annoyance. "It's Luca, should be easy to remember. I swear, if you call me Frosty again..."

"Such a drama queen, Frosty." I interrupted his threat, skipping past him. 

"I think you forgot that I'm the one with the money here." He reminded me darkly. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to end up with no food in your stomach."

I glowered at him, somehow maintaining the smile on my face. It sounds very juxtapositional, but I was glaring and smiling at him at the same time. "I take it back." I gritted, not wanting to lose my breakfast. 

He scoffed in triumph, walking ahead of me. I drilled holes into the back of his head with my glare, he was the damn devil. We walked into the café, lined up to order and once we did, sat down. 

He ordered for the both of us, in fluent French, which I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I understood most of it from what I remembered learning the language in high school. We sat in the corner, far from the window and away from the majority of customers. 

A waitress came to our table with our food and drinks, carefully setting them down. She exchanged a few sentences with River before leaving with a smile. I couldn't care less about what they had talked about, and dived straight into my meal. 

"I got a text from Michael, he sorted out your university thing." He told me, drinking his coffee. "All of the lectures should be available on the uni's intranet, apparently you know where to look."

"I do."

We sat in silence, finishing off our meal before sitting back and sipping our drinks. I began to wonder how this week was going to look like, this guy infuriates me sometimes. 

I glanced at him, he was reading a newspaper. Or maybe he was annoying on purpose, to put me off from falling for him. I internally scoffed at his ego and train of thought, he honestly didn't need to go that far; assuming that's the reason he's such a douche sometimes. 

Another customer came in to the café, it seemed like this place was pretty popular. A tall man, wearing a sleek navy suit walked in, emitting immense confidence and authority. He looked to be in his mid twenties, his youthful and handsome appearance caught the attention of most of the women in the café. 

Even mine...

The cashier fixed his hair nervously, lustfully checking out the navy suited man. The handsome man walked in further and ordered a black coffee, while making a call. It sounded like he ran a business, and he seemed passionate about it.

"Hey, so." River started to say, drawing my attention back to him. 

"What?"

He looked away and shrugged. "I forgot."

I raised an eyebrow at him, it didn't seem likely that he'd forget something so quick. Despite only knowing him for several days, I already knew forgetting things was unlike him. Instead of pushing it, I let it go. 

I suddenly heard a chair behind me scrape across the wooden floor, and someone sit on it. I glanced at where the man was standing, and found him no where in sight. Either he left, or he is sitting behind me. 

"Let's go." River spoke up, setting down his empty mug. 

"Wait, let me finish this." I told him, trying to gulp it down. I got a sudden, sharp nudge in my back, making me gasp in alarm. River's fierce eyes narrowed at me, wondering what was wrong. I reached to rub where I had gotten nudged, soothing the area. 

I twisted in my chair to see the suited man turn around at the same time. 

"Pardon." He apologized immediately, regret etching his face. "Je m'étirais et Je t'ai frappé par accident."

Any kind of bad feelings I had, dissipated instantly and I gave him a smile, all I understood was 'accident'. His striking eyes startled me, more so like when I first saw River's silver eyes, this man had grey eyes. So unusual...

He tilted his head at me in curiosity, his eyes giving me a once over. "Vous ne comprenez pa's Français?"

That sentence was easy to understand, thank goodness for GCSE French. "Je parle anglais." I told him. 

"Ah, that's my first language." He exclaimed with a chuckle. "Are you here on holiday?"

My eyes widened in surprise, chuckling along with him. "Yes, I am." I responded, keeping my replies to a minimum. But this guy seemed really sweet, I wasn't getting any bad feelings from him. 

"You sound English, from London?" He observed with a grin. "Any guesses where I'm from?"

"Umm." I began to say, not really good with accents. "Canada?"

"Close."

"Really?"

"No, not really." He laughed, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "I'm kiwi, from New Zealand. I wish I was here for a holiday, but I'm here for business."

Like I heard earlier.

His features were fierce, bone structure perfectly symmetrical and sharp. His thick, brown hair was styled to perfection, but what had me in a trance was the gentleness in his smile. "My name is Kian, what's yours?"

"Mia." I replied, glad that he didn't push for a surname. "Nice to meet you."

He was about to say something else, reaching into his pocket before River interrupted. "We need to go, Mia." He gritted, his piercing eyes flickering towards Kian. 

"Hi." Kian said in surprise, looking between us. 

River didn't reply as his gaze zeroed in on Kian's hand, which held a phone. My heart skipped a beat, was this guy about to ask for my phone number? My excitement quickly turned into sourness, realising I wasn't in a position to hand my number out to strangers. 

I glanced at Kian's confused expression, poor guy was confused as to why River was behaving so coldly. Realisation flashed across his face, looking sheepish all of a sudden. "So, you guys are...together?" He asked, looking disheartened. 

I was about to scoff and say, "No."

But froze when I heard River say, "Yes."

Kian glanced at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I controlled my expression with as much effort as I could, he clearly said 'yes' and there was no going back from it. Maybe River saw or felt something fishy in this guy that I couldn't see.

Regardless, he is the elite spy, not me. I kind of had to trust his intuition, since he's been doing this for years. So instead of protesting, I stayed quiet and nodded in agreement. 

"Alright." Kian finally said, putting away his phone. I couldn't ignore the sad feeling overcoming me, this man was so fine...

"Let's go, Mia." River murmured to me, grabbing my hand. I gave a small smile to Kian before we got out the café. We walked in silence, but he didn't let go of my hand until we reached the house.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Another chapter! <3

Just to note, I do NOT speak French whatsoever. So if there are any mistakes, feel free to correct them! >< 

Please VOTE and COMMENT <3 

Love Yasmine xx

Extra notes:

GCSE - In the UK, school students (ages from 14 to 16 years old) work hard to achieve good grades to receive GCSE qualifications, in lots of subjects. It's kind of the whole point of high school, to get GCSE qualifications. I think I had a little over twenty, separate GCSE exams in the last year of high school - I don't know how I did that tbh... ><