CROFF

"Earth to Croff."

Croff snaps out of his haze and struggles to pull himself back to reality. Reality. He hasn't been paying much attention to that reality. Now he scans the room and finds Idris along with an associate who came for a visit. Some new cocaine batch or the other. A taste test. Some issue with the batch's delay. Croff doesn't really remember. He'd zoned out as soon as the meeting began.

"Morning sickness?" Idris asks.

Croff frowns at his mockery, which prompts a smile from Idris. And in that smile, Croff knows he has no idea what he's done to him. That he's betrayed him in possibly the worst way possible. So he lets him carry on the joke, because it conceals that same betrayal that currently eats at him. It conceals what's truly on his mind. Josi. Her taunts. Her little games.

Just as he expected, he regrets that day. That moment of heated passion he shared with Josi. He lost his mind like he always seems to do when he's around her. Now he can't look his friend in the eye, but he sits and acts like things are fine even though they're far from it.

Croff misses his life before Josi.

"I'm just tired." Croff tells Idris, his own elaborate lie.

"We'll have the chef make you alphabet soup or something." Says Idris. Then to the associate, "That's right. Croff here makes the best meals. I should fire my head chef and just put him in charge."

Only the associate finds humor in this at first, because Croff just sighs. Until he crafts a smile — not at the joke, but at the compliment. Although he rarely ever cooks anymore. He's too busy wallowing in guilt.

Croff takes off for the study room once the meeting concludes. He needs time to clear his head, to bring his focus back-which seems to have been missing for the longest while now. He wonders if things will ever go back to normal, back to when Josi was no more than a stranger. All he really has to do is get rid of these feelings for him to have that reality back, but he finds that task harder than any mission he's ever had to embark on.

And even if he were to succeed, he can't take away the fact that he's already crossed boundaries he shouldn't have trespassed around in the first place. There really is no solution.

While still in deep thought, a corner turn brings him face to face with the one person he doesn't want to see. Josi. She comes to a stop and eyes him just as much as he does. Then she smiles.

Croff frowns. He grabs her arm and pulls her into the study room. "Listen to me. Sleeping with you was my mistake. It shouldn't have happened, but I let it happen. And that's why this needs to end. I know you're having fun messing with me and whatnot, but for Idris's sake, we'll put a stop to whatever this is and move on."

Josi, now seated on a desk, scans the furniture around a couple times. "This is the position we had sex in."

Croff is so frustrated, he doesn't even sigh. Just looks at her with weary eyes. "Why can't you be serious?"

"I am serious. You were between my legs and-"

"Josita!"

"Oh, please, we both know you're dying to fuck me again." Says Josi. "But sure, Croff, we'll put a stop to whatever this is and move on. I'm sure Idris won't mind that we only slept together once."

Croff frowns. "You think this is a joke?"

"No, I don't." Josi tells him. "If you want to pretend like nothing happened, then fine. But I won't be the one losing nights of sleep thinking about me."

Now Croff feels like throwing something, because he knows she's right. She will always be right. Even as he regrets the first day he acted impulsively; following her into that room and kissing her, he still finds his mind centered around her. Around the same woman who flipped his life upside-down for the worst. Who led him astray and turned him into a traitor in the eyes of his friend. Well, not yet he isn't. But when Idris finds out, he will be.

Josi, having nothing left to say, leaves her spot by the desk and heads for the door. But of course, she can't exit without rubbing more salt into Croff's wounds. "It's a shame, really. The sex was great."

Croff is left in the study with a silence too cruel for him. A surge of anger overtakes him, because even as he stands there regretting his decisions, he still finds himself in love with Josita Cade.

~《¤》~

JOSI

On Josi's next day outside, she meets up with Dami and Rosari at a café. Except Rosari hasn't yet arrived, so it's just the two for now. Since the weather that day is warm with a cloudy cover, they hold the meeting outside the cafe's front. Best to soak in the mellow weather before the harsh sun returns.

"You're always first to arrive." Says Josi.

Dami accepts the cup of frappuccino the waiter comes to serve. "I stopped taking requests for the meantime. So now I have some time on my hands."

At this, Josi finds herself curious. She knows not the first thing about hunting, which seems to be the assassin's expertise. Does she have traps set in place? No, sounds too primitive. And these are living beings, much wiser than animals. Yet, she always seems to track them down. Then with little mercy, takes their lives in exchange for profit.

Though it chills her spine, Josi asks, "What's the craziest thing you've ever had to do on a job?"

Dami thinks for a little while. "This was four years ago. I tracked this guy all the way to Indiana, and on the day I finally caught and was going to kill him, he asked me to grant a request before he died."

"What did he want?" Josi asks.

"Keep in mind, my hair was brown at the time, and he said he'd never once done it with a brunette before. But it wasn't sex he wanted. He wanted to be tied down and have a gun shoved up his ass specifically by a brunette. Said it had been a fantasy of his."

Not exactly what Josi had in mind, but the surprise is still evident. Apparently, there are victims out there who still have time for kinks during their hour of death. "Did you do it?"

"Of course, not." Dami tells her. "I was on a time crunch. And I wasn't getting paid extra." She sips from her straw. "There are people out there with crazy kinks, I tell you."

Two peas in a pod. But Josi pushes no further. Let Dami explore her sexual preferences.

Rosari arrives more minutes later in an unhappy mood. From the fitting black dress, long coat, and platform boots, Josi concludes she must have had plans before this. And from the frown on her face, she can guess it was with some victor from the auctions.

"I went on a shitty date with this man and I swear I lost more brain cells than I ever have living with that creature Enzo. I told him my mother was from Pakistan and he told me his father fought in the Vietnam War. Men can be so stupid at times. And that ugly hat he wears! I mean, I, too, would be embarrassed if my hair started in the middle of my head, but he shouldn't be walking around with a beret!"

Josi hands her a cup of tea. "Sounds like you've had a long day."

"Tell me about it." Rosari sighs. The tea seems to work, because her demeanor relaxes. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Now Rosari gives her attention to Dami who has gone back to the same curly hair and cheekbones mix and looks nothing like she did at the resort. "I don't know how you do it."

Josi knows what she means. Flipping her appearance and adopting so many new features. Dami must know it too because she says, "Facial prosthetics and make-up."

"And you have the equipment for all of that just lounging around?" Josi asks.

"Yeah, but it gets exhausting after a while."

Rosari nods, still a bit baffled. "So which face is real?"

Dami simply shrugs. "Who knows?" She takes more sips from her drink and swerves the conversation. "Anyway, about the information on the Toulours. It seems that family really is in trouble."

Josi finds herself leaning forward. "What was on there?"

"Turns out there's an informant out there somewhere actively on the run." Dami answers. "Domenico Ontario, that's his name. He knows everything that goes on in the Toulour family. He knows things that could end them in a second if he so decides to open his mouth. And seeing as the Toulours haven't hired me to track him down, it must mean they really can't risk it. That's how in deep shit they are."

"How long has he been on the run?" Rosari asks.

"It didn't state a specific time frame, just that he's never once been caught or even spotted. It's like he's been wiped off the map completely, and not even the Toulours or Enzo have been able to track him down. Quite frankly, I'm really curious as to how he's been able to stay off the grid."

This is bigger than Josi expected. To have their entire safety on the hands of one man only - this certainly must be a drag for the Toulours. "But if the Toulours are still here then that means this Domenico guy hasn't ratted them out yet. Why doesn't he just go to the police?"

Dami considers this. "Beats me. But if I had to guess, then maybe the Toulours have someone on the inside; a spy within the NYPD in case he does decide to show up. And if he came forward, then he'd be risking his safety. The Toulours would have him dead in seconds."

"Talk about desperate." Says Rosari. "Personally, if I were head of a mafia household, I'd just shoot myself."

This, Josi agrees with.

"Back to Domenico. I'll give it a shot and track him down myself to see if . . ." Dami's words fade out, and Josi finds herself baffled at the sudden silence. But Dami is too busy scanning the environment, as if something has caught her eye.

Josi grows concerned as each second ticks by. "What's wrong?"

Dami slowly settles her attention back on Josi and Rosari, then says, "Would you two like to go for a walk?"

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