aesthetics for this chapter and the next

***

Six inch heels
She walked in the club like nobody's business
Goddamn
She murdered everybody and I was her witness

The fact I had gone from being an FBI agent to committing a crime was and felt incredibly weird.

FBI agents are trained to make sure everyone follows the law, and now I was about to do the exact opposite. From what Natalie had told me, stealing the diamond wasn't even for good purposes, but she had to accept because of a threat.

Well, her situation was pretty much like mine.

Supposedly and according to her, the people she killed were dead for a valid reason. She claimed to have killed a bunch of bad people, but she never mentioned anything about my father. And he was innocent, so what was the good there?

Anyways, our positions were similar because she was being forced to do bad while she had always 'done good', and that was kind of what I was going through.

What if the FBI themselves caught us?

I would definitely be fired and put in jail, and I would get killed in there. After all, being about to commit a crime didn't take away the fact I had been an agent once.

Maybe I could just sneak out and tell my sister to leave Europe and never come back. If she did, then I was free to go without risking anyone's life. But there was also the possibility that Natalie got mad at me and killed me anyways. I wouldn't mind, as long as no one else was hurt.

That didn't mean she wouldn't hunt my sister later. Besides, Gemma would never accept to leave her native country without a good reason, and there was no way in hell I would tell her I had been threatened by a killer. She would get worried and for what?

Natalie had explained everything to me. The diamond would be passed from hand to hand on a chain trade through different countries across the world. We would have to interrupt the trade at some point, and we thought it would be better to stop it before it started.

Of course I refused several times, but it only took a reminder of the threat for me to accept.

The first trade would be here in London, in this bar Natalie knew. We had planned the whole thing - well, actually, she had planned the whole thing, because I was still mad as hell.

The guy with the diamond was supposed to be wearing bright green clothes, though we had no fucking clue how he would look physically. This was going to be harder than we expected.

The trade was supposed to happen at punctual midnight in the back parking lot of the pub. We were hoping everything went as planned and this lasted no longer than a couple days, because we both were already craving to go back to our normal lives.

The idea was to be subtle and steal the diamond without anyone noticing, because we couldn't leave two dead bodies in a public bar. Still, Natalie insisted, if the thing got too difficult, we would have no option but to kill them. The thrill she discharged while saying this was enough to prove to me how much she actually enjoyed it.

We were currently in her Toyota, the same van I was tracking twenty four hours ago. The air that blew past the car was fucking freezing, and Natalie still had her window down. I had insisted for her to close it, but she refused.

Our clothes were black, like usual cheap thieves, and the trip was about to come to an end. Natalie's hair was tied up in a high bun, some loose strands of hair falling on her eyes. She was driving with only one hand, the tattooed one I had seen earlier.

The ink design was right on the back of her hand and spread all the way to her knuckles, portraying a rose. The ceruse contrasted against her pale skin and it looked so good. Her fingers were cladded with rings that glimmered under the street lamps, all of them different.

A silver skull garnished her middle finger, and a ring with a big black stone was posed on her ring finger. On her pinky, a simple design ring and the emblematic rose on her index.

Her nails were painted with black nail polish that was kinda chipped, and I never ever in my life thought I'd find hands hot. Well, you can't blame me, her hands were, in fact, hot. I wondered how bad it would hurt to be punched with that hand - she had hit me with her left one. I was pretty sure that one only had a single ring.

I had rings, too. Funny now, the rose on her index was exactly like one I wore myself. What a coincidence.

It wasn't long till we came to a stop in the back parking lot. The pub was called Steam & Rye, and it was a single upward staircase illuminated with cheesy bubblegum pink lights that led straight to the actual bar. The railings and walls were dirty and graffitied, unintelligible drawings and words.

"I think we're supposed to wait here." Natalie broke the ice after long minutes of pure silence.

I didn't answer, mostly because I didn't know what the fuck to say. She was the one supposed to know what we had to do, not me.

The atmosphere in the car was awkward, or at least it was for me. The only thing polluting the silence was the sound of the running air that entered through Natalie's window.

I couldn't understand why she wouldn't close it. It was so fucking cold outside and I was freezing, but apparently she was focused on torturing both of us. Although... now that I checked, she didn't look bothered at all.

"Why do I have to do this, again?" I complained all of a sudden.

"Do you seriously want to bring that up right now?" She huffed in annoyance, not looking into my eyes even though I was looking into hers. She kept scanning the area with her eyes, probably waiting for the guy.

"Yes, I do, so you better start talking right the fuck now." I started to lose my patience quite quickly, tapping my fingers on my knee in anxiousness.

"There's no fucking reason, I just told you to stay and you did. Happy?" She raised her voice as she turned her head to me. Her eyes were wide open and there was the tiniest curve on her lips.

"That's not how this works and you know it." I chuckled cynically and with no humor at all. I don't know what was up with me, especially since I knew Natalie could take out a gun and shoot me right here right now. "Why are you forcing me to stay? What kind of deranged psycho are you?"

"Dude, shut the fuck up." Natalie feathered her eyes close and I just didn't know how to react anymore. Her jaw was clenched harshly and the strength she was using to grip on the steering wheel was making me wonder how hadn't the volant snapped broken yet.

"You're going to get us both killed and for what?" I ignored her previous statement and continued to test her limits. I didn't give two flying fucks if I didn't make it out alive of this car, honestly.

"You should shut up if you know what's best for you." Natalie continued to talk with her eyes closed, shaking her head the slightest bit. If you asked me, I would've rather died before having to do this shit.

"Not until you tell me the fucking reason why I have to stay. Just let me go and-" I lowered my voice tone, but I wasn't able to finish my sentence.

She was quick to grab a gun and click the hammer, aiming it right at my chest. She didn't shoot though, which I was secretly thankful for. Still, I didn't even jolt. I had had guns aimed at my chest before, it wasn't new.

"If I tell you to stop, you stop! I'll explain to you later, but right now we're going to-" Natalie almost screamed, looking around once more and stopping in her tracks. "Fucking hell!"

She removed the gun from my chest and immediately got out of the car, so I had to follow her. Turns out the trade was happening right in front of us, and we were too distracted arguing instead of paying attention, so now the guys were parting ways.

"You follow that one and I'll follow this one. Come back here if you lose him." Natalie demanded, and she didn't even give me time to answer when she darted in the direction of one of the men. I guess that one was one with the diamond, because I was following the one with bright green clothes and the trade had already happened.

As soon as the guy - who was climbing the stairs to the bar - heard me, he accelerated his pace. I was forced to follow him, which meant I had to go inside the bar. I could hear the man's boots tapping against the floor with each step, but I couldn't see him anymore.

The vibrations of the music grew louder the closer I got to the pub entrance. The beats echoed in this narrow hallway and the bass vibrated against my feet, making my whole body tremble in the process.

The footsteps suddenly stopped and my heart dropped to my stomach. There was a door at the end of the stairs and the man was nowhere to be seen, which meant he had entered the bar and I was fucked. The excited squeals and voices coming from the other side of the walls told me the place was full.

I bursted the door open and came face to face with a gigantic night club crowded with people. There were blinding colorful lights illuminating the place and the smell of weed and nicotine invaded my nostrils.

I mentally punched myself as I made my way down the stairs and back to clean air. I took a deep intake of oxygen to wipe my system from any secondhand smoke and I saw Natalie walking towards me, huffing in frustration.

"I couldn't get him." She adjusted her tank top. "And he had the diamond."

"Fuck." I cussed under my breath. "The other dude went into the bar, I lost him."

Natalie sighed, looking down at her feet. Suddenly, her face lightened up and it looked as though a very good idea had popped in her mind.

"No you didn't." She suddenly started to take off her leather jacket. She walked towards the stairs and I looked at her in confusion.

"What the hell are you thinking about?"

Her cleavage was now exposed, and I might as well add she looked so fucking good. The way her hair was tied up in that messy bun made her look so hot, plus the tank top and skinny jeans... damn.

"Go in there and don't do anything stupid." She looked at me with a cryptical air and smirked lightly. "You're about to get a really good show."