Rule number ten; eat pasta, run faster.

A giggle escapes my painted lips as one of my hand's clutches to the button up shirt of the man beside me. A martini glass held in the other. Some of the liquid in the glass slips over the edge and lands on the bar as I move closer to the man. My eyes hooded seductively.

His eyes twinkle as he continues with his story, his palm resting on my thigh. His thumb rubbing small circles against the bare skin. He turns towards me, leaning in until his face is dangerously close to mine.

Taking a sip of my drink, I set it down as the water rushes down my throat, cooling the heat.

"I'll be back in just a moment." Lucien says, climbing from his seat and walking for the toilets. My shoulders slump as I swallow the rest of my water down, letting the glass rest between my fingers.

A body slips in beside mine, the shape of his body already familiar to me.

I turn to face Archer, lifting a brow at his brooding face, the glare on his features causing my stomach to swoop.

"What?" I ask, my eyes going to the bathroom, cautious of the target seeing him.

"You left."

A small laugh escapes my lips as I turn my head slightly to face him and shrug, "You followed."

His lips quirks up at my answer, mouth opening to reply.

He doesn't get the chance as I turn away from him, fixing a smile on my face as I stand and begin walking towards the bathrooms, catching Lucien just as he exits the hallway.

"So, Sierra, you want to get out of here?" My eyes stare into his blue ones as I nod breathlessly, letting him take my arm as he leads me out of the building, all the while feeling eyes on my back. We walk closer to Archer, and I lift my hand, letting the fingers skim the underside of Lucien's jaw, capturing his attention.

"Oh, my bag." I quickly leave his side, walking back towards where Archer sits, his back to us once more. Grabbing my clutch, I murmur lowly. "Give me forty minutes."

"You have thirty." He replies, his head turning slightly to look at me, the grin on his face wicked. "Make it count, Sarge."

I grind my teeth at the nickname, knowing Archer chose it for a reason. Just another little reminder of my position in his team. He may be calling me Sergeant, but it's mocking, reminding me that I'm the furthest thing from a sergeant in his mind.

I narrow my eyes on his grinning face.

"Thirty minutes." He says, "Time starts now."

I spin around, walking back towards the target. He leads me out of the building, towards his car, opening the door for me.

The leather seats are cold as I take a seat in the man's Lamborghini. His face hovers dangerously close to mine as he reaches over to buckle me in. His fingers making a slight detour on their way to the buckle and skimming over my upper thighs. Dangerously close to a place I will kill him if he touches.

The small sensual smile on my lips does not say that though.

His hot breath fans over my lips as he lingers longer than necessary before pulling back. Eye's twinkling, I give him a tiny smirk as he shuts the door and makes his way over to his side and gets in the driver's seat. Starting the ignition, his car roars to life and we travel away from the bar.

The car ride remains in a comfortable silence as we drive to his apartment. Fiddling with my fingers I open my clutch and pick through it as we come to a stop at the lights.

When the lights turn green again. I allow a gasp to escape my painted lips as my bag's contents spill all over the floor of the car when it jerks to a start.

"Shit! I'm sorry." He says as I bend at the waist to pick up the cluttered items.

My hands blindly grab object after object, replacing them in my clutch.

"It's fine." I breathlessly giggle at the end as I stare back at him, his light eyes staring at me with lust. I keep eye contact as I slip the listening and tracking device under the leather material of the passenger seat. Sitting back up, I pull my black crop down as it rides up, pretending to not notice as his eyes rake my body.

The car slows to a stop out the front of a fancy hotel, getting out he opens my door and gives me a hand out of the car.

He chucks his keys to the valet as we wander by, the poor boy struggling to catch the jingling metal.

"Good evening, Mr Eilish." The concierge bows as he opens the humongous double glass door for us.

Lucien doesn't answer, and I shoot a sincere smile the concierge' way.

I follow the guy into the elevator as he opens a small metal compartment. I press myself into his back, arms winding around his waist as he enters the code to his penthouse. My eyes following the movement of his fingers on the keypad.

The keypad beeps and the elevator starts its movement up to the top floor.

The twin doors slide open, and I strut by as he gestures me in.

"Drink?"

"Vodka?" I ask in return. Turning back to him, eyes raking slowly up and down his body, teeth biting my lip as I flash a small seductive smile.

He chuckles and goes about making our drinks, leaving the room. As I watch his shadow disappear, I reach into my pocket for the clear tube of lip gloss in there and coat it over the red. I grab a mint, slipping it between my lips before I walk towards the TV and run my hand along the ridges. My gaze taking in the place curiously.

Walking to the fireplace mantle, I pick up the photo sitting centre and look at the image of my target and another man. My fingers delicately running along the wood.

"Here you go." He comes up beside me, handing me my drink. Noticing where my attention lingers, he takes the frame from my hand.

"Who is it?" I ask as I take a miniscule sip of my drink.

"My brother-in-law." He says, placing the frame back. "He manages the fancy casino next city over." He throws that titbit out, looking over to me with a raised brow.

I hum but don't answer, turning for the couch. I sit and he sits beside me, his free hand clutching my thigh possessively.

I adjust my sitting, leaning closer.

"Thank you for the drink." I mutter with a sweet smile as I pretend to take a small sip.

He smirks at me as his hand moves higher up my thigh. Finger almost bruising when he reaches my hip dips.

"So, tell me about yourself?" He mutters, taking a slurping sip from his glass.

I glance down, sipping at my own and let my hand rest on top of his. I drag my eyes back to his as my hand twists around his wrist, slowly travelling up his arm. "There's not much to say, I just moved here. For some reason I decided to move to a place where I don't know anyone, so I'm making friends." I let small laugh escape my lips.

"What about family?"

"I don't have any."

"What do you do for a job?"

I shrug, glancing away in embarrassment, "Haven't found one yet."

His head tilts, "So where are you living? Without a job, I mean."

I laugh, shaking my head. "I have money saved but if I don't get a job soon I'll be out of a place to live."

He grins wolfishly, the sight unnatural on his charming face, making his lips twist oddly. "Must be hard, having no one here. What if you went missing?" He jokes with an odd chuckle.

I laugh, "I guess, someone would notice. Wouldn't they?" I shake my head, "Besides, it's not like I'm going to go missing."

"Don't worry, I'd know if you went missing." He winks and I blink, lifting my drink closer to my lips but not drinking it.

His thumb lands on my cheek as he uses his other hand to push my drink to my lips, forcing me to swallow the liquid that spills from the rim.

The vodka burns going down and he drags the glass way, replacing the rim with his lips.

I let him, letting my fingers squeeze his shoulder roughly, almost painfully as he moves my face the way he wants it. His fingers move to the hem on my skirt, skimming it.

A ringing sounds throughout the penthouse, destroying the moment.

Ripping my lips from his, I fumble with my clutch. Removing my phone as the ringing continues, the man's eyes glaze over with lust and danger.

That was not thirty minutes.

I answer and don't give the person on the other line the chance to say anything before I'm standing from the couch and pacing around, face distraught.

"Get your ass downstairs right now." Archer growls.

"What, you're sure?"

"Eleven, I'm not kidding around. You've been followed. Meet me behind the building."

"Calm down. I'll be right there." I say after a minute of pacing. Hanging up on Archer and knowing it'll piss him off.

I turn to Lucien but don't get the chance to say anything as he pushes me against the wall, his hand diving under the fabric of my shirt.

I grunt at the contact, pushing him back slightly.

His blue eyes are hazy as he tries to drag the shirt up, muttering lowly.

"You're not going . . . anywhere."

"You wouldn't be able to stop me." I mutter back, watching as his eyes roll back and he slumps against me before sliding to the floor.

I wipe my mouth with my jacket and glance down at the heap of rapist at my feet, kicking him to roll over.

I bend to pull him to his bedroom when I remember what Archer said.

I've been followed.

"Goddamn it." I mutter to the prone body, "I'll be back."

• • •

The night is cold as I round the building. Stars gleam down at me, winking in and out as I walk under streetlights.

My shoulders are tense, awareness high as I discreetly look around for the people who followed me here, keeping my back to the brick wall and features in the shadows. I turn the corner, fingers running along the rough wall.

I stop abruptly at the man in my way, glaring at me. I lift a brow at the man straddling my bike, thick thighs curled around the seat, hands curled around the bars.

"Fancy seeing you here."

"Get on." Archer says, hand reaching behind him for my helmet, he throws it to me. I catch it, stalking for the bike.

"Last I checked that was my bike."

"I don't care." He reaches forward, pulling me towards the seat. "Get your ass on the bike, we're leaving-" his eyes flash over my shoulder. "Now."

His hands reach forward, fingers grasping my hips as he pulls me forward in front of him, forcing me to take a seat, my skirt riding up my thighs. My chest is flush to his as his strong arm curls around my waist before disappearing completely, cold air replacing his heat.

The bike rumbles to life under me seconds later, and I move my head back so I can glare down at him, he only grins back as he takes off. My chest smashes against his and I glare at his laughing hazel eyes, "I told you to get on."

"You didn't have to manhandle me."

Archers chin dips as he looks at me, hazel eyes dark and analysing before he shrugs once more and reaches behind him for his gun. He shoves it in my hand, his fingers holding on for a second too long.

"You can be the lookout."

My eyes flash over his shoulder as he takes a corner, seeing the car following us at a high speed.

I straighten my arms over Archer's shoulder, feeling the weight of his gun in my grip.

Streetlights flicker above us as we drive under them, their warm light bathing us before night takes us in her cold clutches once more as we exit onto another street.

"Who are they?" I mumble as I situate myself closer to Archer's chest, resting my head on his shoulder so it's stable.

"I have no idea. They followed you from the bar."

"What do you know about them?" I ask quickly, staring at the side of his chiselled face. His chin tenses before he moves his head slightly, looking at me briefly from the corner of his eyes.

"There were two of them from what I could see. We don't know who they are or what weapons we have and right now it looks like we have one gun between the two of us. I don't know about you but to me that's not great odds."

I roll my eyes at his dramatics, turning my gaze back to our pursuers as Archer speeds up.

I swear vividly in my mind before grinding out, "I have two daggers on me and another gun under the seat." I mumble after a few seconds of silence.

Archers' shoulders tense before loosening, and I feel his eyes on the side of face, proving but I ignore him, focusing back on the task at hand.

• Question of the chapter •

Who is your favourite person in the world?