A week or two.

That was how long it would take to unravel everything.

A week or two.

Until Zara could fight back.

She could wake up one day with all the details about the war and about each gang on her phone, if only the virus would work faster. But she couldn't hope for everything to happen at one. The slower, the better. There will be no result if the main server is alerted.

Zara felt a weight on her chest every time she talked to Adrian. She could have asked him about whatever she needed to know. But why didn't she?

Every question was answered with a shrug or a definite smile that was hiding the truth behind it. For someone who had a lot to hide, Zara couldn't break down the walls of someone she did not know. He had made it very clear that he did not have friends. His enemies were the shadows of his past and they were what kept him going.

Did she want to know him? That couldn't be right.

"Zara?"

Zara looked to her left at Adrian who was holding the plate of butter in his hands. He was clearly asking if she wanted it for her toast. "Oh, thank you." She smiled politely as she took it from him.

"You seem lost today. Is everything okay?"

I hacked your computer system because you are a liar and I know it.

"I have to go to work today." He stopped eating, his spoon halfway to his closed mouth. "I promise I'll be safe this time but my sending off ceremony is still pending....that is, my final serving of order. It's a tradition that we follow."

"And you have to do it today?"

She nodded. "The owner, Mr. Kanumba....he believes in the right time for everything. Leo sent me a message that today was a full moon, which means that today is a good day. So...." She shrugged.

Adrian nodded. He could understand sentiments. "Alright." He placed both hands on the table. "I will accompany you to the bar today."

Zara's eyes opened wide, making Adrian look at her funnily. "I....I was not expecting you to come. I thought you were going to send me with Lei, now that he is monitoring all my actions."

"You deserve it. He is still not over you beating him up."

Zara hoped she wasn't blushing, still feeling guilty about knocking him out to escape. "I'm up for a rematch any time." She smiled curtsily. "And you don't have to bother. I'm sure Marvin can accompany me. You must have a lot of mafia work to do anyway. I wouldn't want to intrude in between."

Adrian laughed. "My job isn't mafia, Zara."

She had certainly not expected that. She had a perplexed look on her face but she shook her head. She couldn't keep giving him the final say. "The offer still stands."

He chuckled. "I'll be waiting outside. Get ready soon."

⧪

When Zara got down to the garage, she saw several high class cars with bulletproof panels and tinted glasses. She whistled once as she saw Adrian leaning against one car. "These are damn good!" She had to stop herself from running a hand over the smooth windows, not wanting to get her fingerprints on them. "How many cars do you have?"

"Enough."

She smiled. "And which one is your favourite here?"

"This one." Adrian got off the car that he was leaning against. "It was the first car that I bought that wasn't passed down to me."

"And will we be using that to go to the mall?" She asked, placing her hands on her hip. "Doesn't it seem too classy for watching out for someone?"

Adrian chuckled. "No." He brought out a key and pressed a button, making another garage open. "We will be taking my bike."

Zara's jaw dropped when she saw some of her dream models in the second garage. "Shut up!" She giddied up like a child as the two of them walked inside. "I think I'm in heaven now."

"You like bikes?"

"And jeeps. I've been saving up money to buy the ones I've grown up seeing on the telly." 

"You are free to use any of these if you want. The keys are all coordinated there." He pointed to a cupboard on the other end of the room and handed her a helmet.

You might have as well told me that he loved me, Zara thought jokingly. She tugged on her leather jacket as she sat on the backseat. She brought her braided hair to the front so that it didn't fly behind her. The model that she was sitting on was known for being fast.

"So." Adrian started the ignition. "Shall we?"

She smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders. "We shall."

The entire bike ride was spent on trivia questions. It was a normal bike in New York standards....and mafia standards. Adrian drove himself, which left Zara with unanswered questions. Why would he accompany her to work on her last day? Did he know something? Was someone coming for her again?

But Zara chose to keep silent about it because it was going to be an emotional day. She was no longer going to be an employee from that afternoon. She took the morning shift so that there would be less showcasing of her crying out loud. She knew she would have to control herself because she could not seem weak in front of Adrian, although he had seen her shoot bullseyes three times in a row.

He stopped the bike into parking and started to remove his helmet  when Zara decided to open the topic. "Are you sure you want to come? It's going to be pretty boring, and my shift is for more than two hours."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Don't worry." He patted his right pocket. "I'll have company."

Walking into the bar side by side with a good looking man like Adrian had Leo with a million questions for Zara. He knew that she wouldn't date someone like that - the total bad boy attitude. Leo noticed the man having short but straight hair. He was wearing a leather jacket and he was sure that he had been in the bar before because Leo, being who he was, would never forget a perfect jawline like Adrian's.

Adrian reached for Zara's forearm, making her look at him once more before she started her day. The stone cold expression on his face immediately washed away when he smiled in the blink of an eye. "All the best." He told her before walking towards the counter and taking a seat at the counter, the same place he had taken the day he left Zara. "One whiskey please."

It took Leo a few seconds to believe that the man had given the order to him, but he got working on it right away. Zara pursed her lips together, hiding her laugh at seeing Leo this way. She guessed that Adrian had that effect on everyone then.

She walked behind the counter and started her work but following traditions, she would take to serving customers in their respective seats. Her heart was hammering against her chest the entire time because Adrian's gaze followed her everywhere she went. He looked over his shoulder, always looking out for trouble. She half expected a smoke bomb to come through the window just to kidnap the leader of the Cardenas that sat not so many feet away from her.

It was hard when lunch time came by. Her breath caught in her chest when she walked into the back office to hand over her apron to Mr. Kadumba. Leo was present there for taking photos but the Kadumbas were the pillar support that Zara had always needed in her life.

She walked out of the office feeling empty. A huge part of her life was being taken away from her but it was her own decision and no one else's. She was half-tempted to slip out the side door and go to her apartment but Marvin had warned her that it wouldn't be safe anymore, which was why she had told her Aunt to not come back. But she hadn't received any message in reply, which concerned her.

"All okay?" Adrian asked as she turned the corner and reached where he sat. "How was it?"

She sniffed silently and looked up at him, hoping that her eyeliner wasn't revealing her true emotions. "Thank you." She told him. "I really needed this. A great phase of my life is over but....I needed this to move on in a way."

Adrian shook his head slightly. "I didn't mind it." He got off the stool, closing the distance between the two of them. They looked directly into each other's eyes before they took a few steps back respectfully. "Well, now that you are out of work, would you like to have lunch with me?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, a mischievous smile on her face. "I thought you were accompanying me to keep me safe so that we were 'undercover'." She used air quotes for the last word.

He leaned closer to her and whispered near her ear, "Are you scared?" He looked back and saw her squint her eyes at him. "I will dare you if you want."

She rolled her eyes. "Why don't we go for a movie then?" She challenged him, expecting him to refuse her point blank and laugh it off as a joke he made. "You claim to know so much about the recent ones. We could go at each other with the trailers in the previews."

He nodded. "It's a deal."

But was it a deal with an angel or the devil?