Clearing his throat, he shook his head. "Do I look like an idiot? Bring your Boss here so I can get permission for you—"
"Or you could just wait for my break." Haven butted in, batting her lashes at him with a wide smile. "Like the gentleman, I hope you are."
At this, Zei couldn't help but smirk. Leaning sideways against the wall, he asked, "What part of me makes you think I'm a gentleman?"
None, she thought inside her head and her subconscious whistled as she looked him up and down and turned red when she remembered this was the very killer of her parents. The man who murdered her. The very reason she was now roaming around this world with the title of an orphan.
'We do have to get him on our side, gain his trust so that we could finally take him down.' her subconscious reasoned and Haven internally scratched her head, her words making sense but still not seeming entirely reliable.
"You're blocking the way for my customers. Get a seat or drink your expresso out on the streets like a beggar." she pushed him to the side with a bright smile on her face which instantly faded when she saw Vivian winking at her from a corner.
Just wait till she knew who he actually was...
Then she wouldn't be winking but screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs.
While processing each and every order, she could feel two pairs of eyes boring straight into her skull. It took every little piece of self-control she had to not look up and flip him off. Are all gangsters unemployed like this one?
Yes.
No.
Maybe?
As soon as it struck 12:00 in the afternoon, she turned around the corner and sat in front of the man who had ordered about 5 shots of expresso while she was busy working her ass off. Massaging her temple, she parted her lips and said, "What do you want?"
[You.]
Coughing out loud, he lifted the small cup to his mouth and took a sip, glancing around at the few people who were still in the shop, half of them having their gazes fixed on the pair.
"Have you told anyone yet." he paused, looking down for a second or two. "What you can do to me?"
Leaning back in her chair, Haven shook her head in denial. Gavin was smart enough to pretend dumb if he was ever questioned by this son of a monkey or any of his screwed-up lackeys.
"Listen, you already know who I am. The trick you pulled that night affirms that from now on, you are included in the list of my weaknesses which I despise having. Any one of my enemies can find you, use you, torture you to get to me. So the only viable option right now is for you to come with me and stay with me for the present until we can figure out what to do with you and why you have this hold on me."
He finally breathed out, loosening his shoulders up as if a burden was just thrown off of them. "Okay?"
Haven folded her arms, contemplating him for a while from which he didn't back off. While he was assuming that she was wondering whether to accept his offer or not, Haven was delirious with happiness at achieving 10% of her new plan this quickly.
If she had taken this approach from the start, she could've—but wait. Would she still have managed to control him if she was in her original body as Haven Chen?
'Probably, since when I did get reincarnated, my body changed but my soul remained the same. It might've still worked if I was in my previous body... yet it didn't. The day I died, I asked the man to stop but he still did push me back into the sea. Conclusion being that the man wasn't Wei, probably one of the men he sent to finish me off. Insulting not gonna lie!'
"You're asking me to willingly lose my current job and come live with you? Does that even sound convincing?"
He mirrored her posture and Haven's eyes almost popped out seeing the veins on his arms become more visible with the shift in movement. Is he doing this on purpose!?
"Mind reminding yourself that my men could've kidnapped you if I snapped my fingers? I'm trying to bargain and be reasonable here for your sake, be grateful no?"
"Or maybe you should be grateful that you didn't lose a dozen of your guards if you had sent them after me. No?" she questioned back and saw his jaw harden at her response.
[I really like her, you better treat her with respect—!]
"What's in it for me?" she asked.
"I'll give you a job at my company. The salary will be whatever figure you name. I'll take care of your residence and basic necessities as well. Anything else wild kitten?"
'W-Wild kitten!?'
She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. Don't call me that."
"I'll call you whatever I want, whenever I want to."
Rolling her eyes she stood up and wondered where she would get an aspirin for the headache she was now suffering through because of this nuisance she had brought onto herself. 'Please god, let him leave and never come back!'
"I'll give you my answer by the end of this week. Now leave before I go to the nearest news station to spill the juiciest gossip of the town." she smiled as sweetly as she could and he glared as if nothing else in this world irritated him more than she did.
He stood up, his height a flaw as he loomed and dominated over her with the use of it. Haven straightened her neck, looking back with the same pressure and intensity, unwilling to look down and admit defeat.
"I'm leaving for now. But if, by the end of this week, I don't receive the answer I await, make sure to remember that." he leaned down, his lips nearing her ear, making a full-blown shiver pass through her entire body.
"I have my ways to get you to come to me. Don't forget that, wild kitten." he looked into her eyes for the last time and left without sparing a glance back.
[She smells of roses and vanilla and everything else that I love in this world.]
Shut up!