Chapter 10: We have a dead body...buddy
"No...No, please put me down. Asher, put me down" Eden tapped him gently on the shoulder in protest.
"Ouch! You are hurting me, Eden" Asher feigned pain to know her reaction all the while he kept walking towards his private jet.
"Oh sorry, I am sorry. Did I hurt you too much?" Eden asked with a concerned voice.
"God! You are worse than a doormat. You are gullible too" Asher jeered at her.
"That is not very nice, Asher"
"I am not a very nice person, Eden"
Soon, they were in the jet and Eden was looking like a terrified puppy. Kidnapped by a stranger was not in her to do list when she woke up today.
"I am not going to hurt you. I am just going to show you that the world is a wicked place and you need to toughen up to survive" Asher told her.
"I like who I am" Eden murmured.
"Like yourself less, darling" Asher answered and closed his eyes as the jet took off.
Soon, they were in New York in a sapphire boutique and Eden was looking for the perfect dress.
Asher sat comfortable on the chair with a magazine while Eden tried several outfits and she showed it to him for approval.
Asher rejected most of the dresses until she tried on a red gown that showed off her delicate features.
For the first time, Asher took his time to look at her.
She wasn't bad looking. She was the opposite, actually with a comely figure which suited her perfectly.
Her crescent shaped eyebrows that almost looked artificial could use some trimming but when she blinked her languid eyelashes of velvet-black made it impossible to ignore that she was a beautiful woman.
If Asher wanted to be honest then he would call her teeth heavenly-white alongside her hair, which was a glorious tumble of midnight black and her virility-brown eyes could set any heart a-thump.
"You are beautiful" He told her sincerely.
Eden's heart fluttered, she had never had anyone apart from her dead parents say those words to her and mean it. Her ex-fiancé, Liam Barrington didn't mean it or he wouldn't have dumped her a week before their wedding.
Eden believed Asher. She didn't know why but she believed him.
"Can I have my eyeglasses back, please?"
"No. The contact lenses work the same" Asher told her.
"They are making my eyes itch, please" Eden lied
"No, they are not. You just find comfort in having another layer of protection between you and the world. Without the glasses, you are... exposed"
Eden knew he caught her in a lie.
"Just give them to me, please"
Asher placed it in her outstretched hand. He looked at his watch.
"We have two hours until the party starts. We are going to play a game, an experiment if you will"
"Okay, what game?" Eden asked him.
"You are going to go shopping in different high-class boutiques or shopping malls guaranteed to have mean bitches. How good is your acting skill?"
"Good, I guess but why?" Eden asked him.
"Because you will go to one of those shopping malls as yourself, kind and apologetic but the other...you will go as a mean person like Lean Jackson. You will waste roughly one hour in both places and you won't buy anything" Asher told her.
"But that is just wrong!"
"Exactly, let's see who they insult and be mean to, the real you or the mean you"
Eden wondered whether she would be able to pull it off, to be mean and rude to someone without breaking into cold sweats.
"Do you really believe that there is no good in this world?" She asked him.
"Yes... I believed it until I met you and I hate being wrong. So, I am going to prove myself right"
Charlie had his eyes glued to the entrance. He had intentionally chosen a boutique that had two entrances/exit, one hidden and the other one very obvious.
He noticed an unusual movement near the first entrance of the boutique. He moved closer to Asher.
"Asher..."
"I saw him too. Hey, Eden...why don't you try more outfits, now"
"But I already have an outfit for the party" Eden pointed at the red dress.
"Try more outfits all the same" Asher pushed her into the changing room with a pile of outfits he got from the rack and locked her inside.
He pulled out the Glock he had in his jacket and dropped it on the floor. Charlie was gone in an instant as Asher came face to face with his assassin.
The man was in his mid thirties and had a horizontal scar on his face. He was average and he looked mundane which in their line of work was a great quality.
The man was ordinary which made him even more dangerous because most of his victims never sees him coming.
"Mr. Hellfire" He murmured
Asher smiled and raised his hands up.
"Oh please, Call me Asher or better still Angelwings, I haven't gone by that God awful name in a while but I guess Hellfire is better than your name, Scarface" Asher told him in a kind voice with his eyes glued to the gun on the man's hand.
Scarface ran his hand over the scar on his face. "The name fits, Asher....Did I ever thank you for giving me this scar?"
"Oh yeah, I did give you that... didn't I? you are welcome by the way" Asher knew he was referring to the fight they had when they were still teenagers, when they were low level earners fighting for Ares attention. He obviously won.
Scarface pointed a gun to his face.
"Don't be a sore loser, Harold. Let bygones be bygones" Asher called him by his real name.
"Ares sends his regards. Goodbye Asher"
there was a muffled sound and Scarface fell on the ground.
Charlie was standing behind him.
"What took you so long? He would have shot me in the face" Asher told his friend.
"I had to get the silencer in the car" Charlie shrugged.
"Wait! you left me unprotected?" Asher had an exasperated look on his face.
"Oh please, everyone knows Scarface is a little talkative. you were fine.... mostly" Charlie told him.
"Next time, You are bait" Asher pointed at his face.
"No not really....You see I didn't fucking piss off a Mafia boss because of a girl that has no idea that you existed and who is currently trying to break down the door" Charlie pointed at the changing room.
"Asher! Let me out of here! Let me out of here!" Eden banged on the door loudly.
"Are you going to let her out?" Charlie asked him.
"Obviously not buddy! there is a dead body!"