It took a while to convince Tamsen into giving him the Detroit address for Ethan's meeting. Thomas had to call Javier and let him know he was following Ethan across the state to watch over him, and this was the cherry on top for Tamsen to give him the details.

Thomas slammed his car door shut as he loudly grunted in his own quiet space. He slammed the horn once, yelling profanities at the same tune as he started the car.

Ethan Shelton was a piece of work, who somehow managed to break Thomas mentally so quickly. Years and years of experience working as a bodyguard for people all around the world, yet some privileged rich guy made Thomas angrier than working for anybody else.

Ethan was about 20 minutes ahead of him at the moment, and that didn't take into account any traffic or accidents along the way.

Detroit was about a 3 hour drive, so that gave Thomas plenty of time to cool down a little. Incidentally Thomas gripped them steering wheel tightly as he imagined it was Ethan, wanting time to silence the smart mouth for just a little while - because he was plaguing his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later and Thomas was alerted to someone calling him. Seeing his dad's name on the monitor, Thomas accepted the call and warmly greeted him.

"Hey Dad, how are you doing?"

Giles' voice was warm and happy as he talked to his son. "Things are good here Thomas, I'm kind of missing my only son right about now."

It had been only a day since Thomas had left, and he ended up laughing as he recalled longer times he hadn't seen or spoken to his dad. "So clingy Dad. You have hundreds of children in the program."

"They're my employees, you numbskull."

Thomas ended up smiling even more after his dad lovingly insulted him. It brought a warm feeling to his chest, and Thomas cherished every moment he spent with him.

"How's it going with the Sheltons?" Giles asked, "Things are going okay over there?"

The little blissful moment Thomas was in soon became tarnished as he relieved the recent events. "I actually hate you for sending me over here now, Dad."

Giles wholeheartedly laughed at his son's reaction. "And why is that? Do you not like Javier or something?"

"Javier gave me a very nice living arrangement. Nice car, decent apartment, and spending money for emergencies." Thomas explained.

So far Thomas hasn't touched a dollar that was given to him, because he used his own converted money. The car he was using was an automatic, so Thomas could actually drive it. And the bed he slept in last might made Thomas feel like a king.

"Right... What an evil, evil man!"

"Dad! Don't mock me!" Thomas chuckled, "It's actually his son, Ethan."

Thomas took a calming breath after saying the cursed name, because his blood pressure began to boil immediately afterwards. He anxiously began to tap the steering wheel because Ethan managed to bother him so much in so little time.

"Ethan's a mouthy, petty, parasite that likes to play childish games when his life might be in danger!" Thomas immediately yelled.

"Oh boy..." Giles sighed, "You've had trickier people to deal with before though, right?"

Thomas didn't miss a beat as he told him, "No."

"Thomas, I-"

"It's only for 2 weeks as well!" Thomas bursted out loud again, "He's acting like his life is ending!"

It has been a while for Giles to see his son have an angry outburst like this. Thomas was always a calm mannered person, who is careful when controlling his own emotions and feelings.

Giles wanted to remind Thomas of that. "I remember you completely withholding any pain when you had to pull the knife out of your own arm..."

Thomas remembered it was his first ever job. Back then he was much younger and less experienced, so he learnt to be more careful when on the job.

"You managed to survive the ambush attack when you were in Tokyo..."

This was 2 years ago, and Thomas just had to make sure one of the pregnant women he was guarding could deliver her baby without any immediate danger.

"You've even dove in front of a bullet before!" Giles shouted with pride.

This was only a couple of months ago, and luckily there was no permanent damage when the bullet passed through his shoulder. It was as painful as playing peanuts with a bodybuilder, but Thomas just absorbed the pain and let out fake smiles during that time.

"Yeah... Never again." Thomas whispered.

Thomas knew that if he could survive all of those extreme scenarios, then surely he could bite his tongue for 2 weeks.

Realistically, how far could this random vendetta against Ethan Shelton go?

"It's just for 2 weeks..." Thomas repeated like a mantra.

Giles smiled at his phone as he started to wrap up the phone call. "You're the best of the best after all, and nothing can stop you from completing your mission."

Thomas looked through the car window and saw that he arrived at Ethan's meeting place. He parked his car in the nearest lot, and bid farewell to his dad.

"Don't forget to take your blood pressure meds Dad, I'm not coming home to you in a hospital bed again."

Giles shook his bottle of meds in his hand, and Thomas heard the rattle from his end of the phone call. "Got it here Thomas. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye Dad."

~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas fastened the buttons on his suit, and he brushed his fingers through his hair as he walked into the lobby.

Standing in front of the receptionist desk, Thomas waited for the brunette woman to finish her phone call.

Her eyes seemed to light up when she noticed Thomas' presence, and she readjusted her blouse once she finished her phone call. "Welcome to the Dalesford building, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a man named Ethan Shelton. I've been told he has a meeting in this building." Thomas explained.

The receptionist, whose name tag read Erica, refused to give Thomas any details because of security reasons. "I'm not liable to share any information to those who just walk into our lobby."

Thomas was at a slight impasse on how to proceed further. Whilst it was reasonable for the company's safety, Thomas knew that his priority was Ethan's safety.

"I'm actually Mr Shelton's personal assistant," Thomas lied. "We arrived in separate cars because of trouble in our office back in Columbus." He said truthfully.

"You're... a secretary?" Erica was in mild disbelief as she didn't believe Thomas. "That's just... impossible."

Thomas practiced his poker face and kept it completely neutral. He didn't want to get caught up in his lie, quite frankly he never enjoyed lying to begin with. "What do you mean?"

Erica looked Thomas up and down, and Thomas had an inkling that her eyes were lustfully roaming his body.

This was confirmed when she whispered to Thomas, so that she couldn't be heard by her superiors. "You're way too hot to just be an assistant."

Thomas' eyes widened slightly as he did a double take on what he just heard. He still kept his lips sealed as he remained verbally silent. 'Is she hitting on me?'

"You've got a very gorgeous face, and the way you've dressed in that suit just makes you look extra hot..."

"Really?" Thomas asked.

Erica leaned over the counter to quickly squeeze Thomas' biceps. "And you must work out at the gym - like a lot!"

Thomas could only nervously laugh as he distanced himself slightly. He was certain that he wasn't giving Erica any signals, and Erica was now making him slightly uneasy.

But Thomas had his priority's straight, so he did what he could do to get into the building. "I can say the same for yourself, Erica. The way you're wearing your ascot just highlights your gorgeous skin."

It had been a while since Thomas had hit on someone, so he was slightly rusty at it.

But it seemed to work because Erica began to giggle and blush crimson.

Thomas rested his elbows on the desk as he whispered intimately to Erica. "Could I just... get a little hint of when the meeting ends? I need to make sure my boss doesn't kill me because I'm not around. It will just be our little secret, Erica..."

Erica went back to her computer and began to type on her keyboard. After taking a little while to do some digging, she began to look around her before scribbling something down. "I'm not saying a peep..."

Thomas laughed on the inside at the poor espionage of when Erica slipped him the note. Thomas nodded at Erica as he read the piece of paper.

An uninterested Thomas ignored the phone number that was unmissable due to the size of it. He scanned the note and saw something that didn't seem right.

Looking back at Erica, Thomas asked. "What do you mean it was cancelled?"

Erica confirmed the news as she softly whispered to Thomas, "Mr Shelton cancelled the meeting earlier this morning. It's been rescheduled for another day."

The seriousness on Erica's face gave Thomas a sense of dread. Ethan had deliberately made him take a 3 hour car ride to another state when he wasn't even going to be there.

It was all a ruse, and Thomas fell for it.

"Thank you so much, Erica." Thomas forced out with gritted teeth.

"Call me!" Erica shouted, as Thomas quickly left the building.

As Thomas angrily marched towards his car, he was sat inside when he got a notification from Ethan's Instagram account.

Thomas saw Ethan update his Instagram account. He had tagged his location back in Ohio, with the latter boasting about playing poker at some sketchy casino later tonight.

There were a series of emojis under the photo of a beaming Ethan, including a purple devil and a cheeky wink. Thomas just knew it was directed at him, and Thomas was convulsing with rage.

'There's not going to be anyone to protect if I kill him first!'

~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan felt very devious as he managed to shake Thomas' off his tail for a little while. Nobody else knew he cancelled the meeting because he was still a little hungover, so he used the cancelled meeting as an excuse to literally drive the bodyguard away for a little while.

Ethan was dressed up in one of his nicest outfits, and along with Harrison they entered the building together.

The casino was underground as it was notorious for some more unconventional reasons. It was a highly populated place for those who wanted to fly under the radar, and Ethan chose this exact location because he shouldn't be found by someone from out of town.

The Golden Goose welcomes everyone with barrels of booze, servers in minimal amount of clothes, and seductive music. It was all so loud as Ethan could barely hear Harrison speak, and cigar smoke wafted through the atmosphere because this was the kind of place The Golden Goose was.

Taking a drink from the busty server, Ethan sent a flirtatious smile to the woman as he sipped the martini. The liquid went through his system smoothly, and Ethan was ready to get the night started.

~~~~~~~~~~

After watching a riveting performance from someone with the stage name 'Blossom', Ethan was left alone as Harrison went to explore the scene.

Ethan wasn't left alone very long as a stunning woman took the available seat besides him. Ethan finished his drink as he signalled the barman for 2 more, and passed it to his guest.

"I'm Chantelle."

Ethan kissed the hand that was offered, and introduced himself to the woman with beautiful dark locks. "Ethan."

With a clink using their glasses, they both took a drink as they began to learn about each other. "Did you come here alone? Surely no one would leave such a beautiful woman alone in a place like this."

Chantelle giggled as she then lured Ethan in to whisper seductively. "Doesn't matter who I came in with, all that matters is that I go home with you..."

Ethan felt her lips pressed against his cheeks, and a cheeky grin came out when he moved his head slightly so that he could kiss her on the lips.

The kiss was very soft and addictive, and Chantelle was ready for more as she slid her hand against Ethan's thigh.

When Ethan didn't stop her, Chantelle went further and skirted around his groin. She then pressed her long fingers against his nether regions as she managed to trace an outline through his trousers.

Ethan looked into her eyes and saw them burning on the inside. But the flame was soon distinguished when her eyes looked past Ethan's shoulder, and 2 men stood behind him.

Chantelle seemed to duck away as she avoided their looks. Ethan then turned around and saw both of the men looking stoic, yet agitated.

One particular man seemed to recognise Ethan as Ethan noticed how one of the men began to seemingly sputter something angry into the other guy's ear.

The taller man with the buzz cut hair whispered something to Chantelle, and she instantly moved away from the group - with one last wink to Ethan.

Ethan was disappointed with how his latest potential conquest slipped through his fingers. He turned to the 2 men and questioned them, "Was she your girlfriend or something?"

Both of them remained silent as they neither acknowledged or admitted their relations with Chantelle. As the conversation was going nowhere, Ethan attempted to stand up and leave the bar.

The angry shorter man grunted into Ethan's ear as he forced Ethan back down onto his chair. "We're watching your every move..."

Ethan didn't have time to react to the threat because he simply looked back at them confused. He felt like he didn't do anything wrong, and Ethan recalled how she was the one who even made the first move.

Harrison came at just the right time from preventing a potential bloodbath, telling everyone the table was ready. "Let's get going."

There was more confusion for Ethan as the strange men ended up walking away, instead of physically or verbally brawling it out.

They deliberately shoulder barged Ethan as they walked past him. Not being one to dwell on something he didn't care about, Ethan laughed it off as he entered the VIP room to play poker.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan folded as he threw his cards on the table. Reading the players' facial expressions, he was confident he was going to bested. Therefore he didn't want to bluff his way with a pair of 6s because he sensed a lot of them had something better.

A guy named Checkstone had the biggest pool of money. Hand after hand the older gentleman kept on taking everyone's winnings, and with every winning hand his ego was boosted.

"You boys are sloppier than usual." Checkstone laughed as he fiddled with his beard.

All of the players were chuckling along at the older man's attempt at humour, but Ethan didn't want to joke around because he wanted to win.

Another hand was dealt to everyone, and Ethan kept it hidden how he had a queen and king of hearts in his hand. He played it cool when he raised the pot to $10,000, casually throwing the chips as he confidently met the eyes of every player.

"No kidding around..." The woman besides him commented, as she followed Ethan's bid.

All of the other players called the bid, and Checkstone went as far as to double it. "You feeling confident?" Checkstone laughed as he challenged Ethan.

Ethan didn't even think twice before matching Checkstone's bid. He was confident with his hand, so he wanted to rinse Checkstone of all his money.

As the dealer dealt 3 cards to the centre of the table, Ethan's adrenaline spiked a little when there was a 9 of hearts in play.

Faking doubt, Ethan deliberately took a while before adding $50,000 to the pot. The heat in the room began to intensify as several people folded, meanwhile Checkstone placed an extra $40,000 to the pot.

"I think you're being stupid." Checkstone laughed as he met Ethan's eyes.

"Don't worry about me old man, you should worry about having enough money for the retirement home after you age 10 years from sheer embarrassment."

The trash talk was high between the only 2 players left. And the pot was high too, as it was raised to a total of $110,000.

"Do you need to call your daddy and ask if you can have an increase in your allowance?" Checkstone teased.

"Is the money I'm winning coming out of your pension?" Ethan quipped back.

Harrison leaned towards Ethan and tried to warn his brother in law. "You might want to reign it in a little..."

After being pointed towards the people around them, Ethan saw that the 2 men from earlier were on Checkstone's standby. They already threatened him before they entered the room, so they definitely weren't going to be happy when he destroyed their boss.

Both of the suited men were staring Ethan down, and Ethan was being given a shifty look from everyone around him - for disrespecting someone more powerful.

"I've got this..." Ethan whispered back as he raised his bid.

Ethan smirked as he stared back at Checkstone, "I can give you an internship when you're bankrupt, thrown out on the streets, and selling your body to women older than your grandmother."

Checkstone snapped as his face turned red with anger. With so much rage pushing him forward, Checkstone was done messing around. "All in."

Checkstone pushed all of his chips forward, and then casually leaned back on the velvet chair.

Murmured chatter filled the room as tension was high, and everyone was waiting for Ethan's move.

Before Harrison could even suggest anything, Ethan went all in too and slid all of his chips forward. Ethan revealed his cards to everyone in the room, and Checkstone showed off his pair of aces.

Over $400,000 was at stake, and Ethan felt like he was losing the sensation in his fingertips.

Everybody was leaning forward to wait for the dealer to continue, while Checkstone remained in the same position because he was too confident.

With a 6 of clubs, 9 of hearts, and a 10 of spades on the board, the dealer drew out an ace - which terrified Ethan to the maximum.

Checkstone began to wholeheartedly laugh because he knew he was in the lead. He had the stronger hand with a 3 of a kind, while Ethan technically didn't have anything yet.

Ethan was clenching his fists with anxiety as the dealer pulled out the last card. When it was shown to the players, Ethan's heart stopped when a jack of spades was revealed.

"I won..." Ethan whispered in disbelief.

Checkstone immediately punched the table as his 3 of a kind lost to Ethan's straight. He was livid as he lost to Ethan, and it didn't help with Ethan celebrating so joyously.

"I fucking won!" Ethan immediately hugged Harrison as he then collected his winnings. "Suck it, Checkstone!"

Ethan laughed even harder as he picked up several chips at a time, antagonising Checkstone simulataneously. "I think this one was yours... And this one... And don't forget this one..."

Checkstone had secretly sent a signal to his men in between his fits of rage, and Ethan was too distracted with collecting his winnings to see it.

"This is more fun than watching our stock prices rise!" Ethan shouted to Harrison.

Harrison only celebrated for a couple of seconds because he felt a shift in the room once it started to become empty. He didn't like being in the room anymore, so he warned Ethan that they should leave. "Get your money so we can get out."

The low whisper caused Ethan to stealthily look around them. More strange men began to fill the room, and Ethan began to feel nervous.

Sharing a look with Harrison, Ethan signalled for Harrison to run out the door. Not wasting anymore time, they both fled the room when Ethan gave the sign straight afterwards.

Pushing past all of the men that were in the way, both of them ran out as they were getting chased through the casino.

Swerving, dodging, and crashing into people, both Ethan and Harrison tried their best to leave the building unscathed.

They had made it across the street when they saw several of Checkstone's men close behind them.

"When we're at the crossroad, split up and I'll take them away from you." Ethan whispered as he heavily panted for oxygen.

They were already sprinting when Harrison vocalised his thoughts. "I can't just leave you out here! What if they catch up to you!?"

"It's me they're after." Ethan laughed, "There's no point in me dragging you into danger as well."

"Ethan that's insa-"

They made it to the crossroad when Ethan pushed Harrison towards the opposite direction - without a second to hesitate. "Go!"

With the men right behind them, Harrison didn't have time to defy Ethan's command and just followed through with his plan.

At the same crossroad, all of Checkstone's men followed Ethan upon Checkstone's demand. Ethan was thankful that the pressure was taken away from Harrison, so now he could focus on getting himself to safety.

Ethan picked up his speed when he ran around the corner. However he didn't think that he would be able to outrun them any longer.

Making it to the alleyway, Ethan ducked behind a dumpster and prayed no one would find him. His nerves were wrecked as he was hiding for his life, and Ethan needed a miracle not to be caught by Checkstone's men.

==========