Page 14 of Grit & Glamour

The lift dings, and the doors slide open, revealing the flat that takes up the entire top floor of the building. I glance idly over the place. There's no real character, but I must admit it's pretty modern and sleek. The decor is almost exclusively all black, white, or chrome, and the furniture itself is all block-like shapes and sharp corners. Whoever decorated this place, and I’m almost certain that person wasn’t Theo, clearly took the idea of modern, funky, and minimalistic and ran with it. It also looks as if nobody thought to tell them when to stop either.

When we’d first stepped into the lift and One saw the keypad for the code required to access Theo’s floor, several colourful curses flew from his mouth. Luckily, I still remembered the code to get up here from my last visit, and I'd tapped it in before One could complain further. It's probably a good thing I remembered it, otherwise I would have had to call Theo to request he let us up. For some reason, I doubt the assassins would be too thrilled with that plan.

“Who is it?” Theo's voice calls from somewhere in the large, well large for London, dwelling.

“It's me,” I call back, before One can answer or stop me from doing so. I turn to stare out of the huge window that takes up the entire wall in this part of the home, other than the set of glass doors leading out onto the balcony anyway. The view from which I know is beautiful at night. “Scarlett,” I add in a shout when he doesn’t respond, just in case he didn’t recognise my voice.

“Scar?” he yells back in a bewildered tone. “How the hell did you get up here?”

“I’ve been here before, remember!” I reply, matching his volume and looking around, trying to discern just where his voice is coming from. I don't have to look for long, as Theo steps out from a door at the end of the corridor that sits to the side of the large, open-planned living area. Down that hall I know are at least two bathrooms, and I assume some bedrooms—not that I’ve been in them. There's a shorter corridor to the other side of the living area too, which I know leads to an office and another bathroom.

I smile nervously as he approaches, my eyes running over him in appreciation. He'd strolled into the room without a shirt, and it's a sight few would complain about seeing. Dark skin, darker hair, and the bluest damned eyes I've ever seen. Tattoos are scattered across his skin, and I notice a new one on his left forearm. A dragon. I grin as I recognise it. Some things never change.

“What the fuck happened to your face?” Theo growls. I jerk from surprise, my hands flying to my face unconsciously. “Did you do this to her?” Theo demands, rounding on One, whom I think he'd only just noticed standing beside me. Shit.

“What if I did?” One counters, his tone calm and brow raised. He straightens up and somehow manages to tower over a guy that’s just under six foot. Theo, however, doesn’t balk at the challenge.

“Did you fucking do that to her?” Theo repeats, his tone strained. I notice his hands balling into fists at his side.

“He didn’t do it, Theo,” I interject, but he ignores me.

“Okay, listen up. You’re going to stop fucking smirking at me, man, or I am going to knock it right off your face. You understand me?” Theo continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “Now tell me, did you hit her? Because if she’s too scared to speak the truth to me because of you, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“If I ever decided to hurt her, you’d never see her again in order for her to tell you.” One’s response is deliberate and meant to bait a reaction. He doesn’t move as Theo lunges forward, fists flying. I stand there, staring in shocked silence as Theo’s right fist connects with the palm of One’s suddenly open and waiting hand. He grabs Theo’s arm and twists it, pulling it behind his back as he does so. A groan of pain escapes Theo, but stupidly, he decides the best thing to do is to make things worse. He pulls out a knife from god only knows where with his free left hand and slashes it in One’s general direction.

“Theo!” I snap, grabbing his attention only for a second, before One decides to chuckle. The sound of his laughter seems to enrage Theo further, and he turns back to him. “One! Cut it out, let go of his arm, and stop goading him. You said you wanted answers, not to come and fuck with my friend just because your ass is so sore after getting fucked by one of your so-called friends.”

“The issue with our transaction was on your end, Scarlett. Not mine.” One glares at me, almost challenging me to keep arguing with him over it. I choose not to and turn my focus back on Theo. He seems to have calmed down, apparently no longer concerned I have somehow become a poor, abused girlfriend or something to some asshole since we last saw each other. He is, however, looking confused and more than a little embarrassed.

“What’s going on here?” he asks, looking between me and One as he dusts himself off and stands back up. My eyes flick to the knife he still holds at his side, pressing close to his leg, as if he’s trying not to draw attention to the fact he still has it.

“I’m the one asking the questions,” One responds with a smirk.

“I think not,” Theo says, waving the knife about. It appears he’s somehow managed to block out the fact he just got his ass handed to him. But I’m sure his right arm is hurting way too much for that to be the case.

“How about I ask the questions?” I intercede, trying to stave off another altercation and praying One will just roll with it. For the sake of us all making it out of here without killing each other, at least.

“Fine,” One concedes. “Ask him what he knows about the laptop.”

“The laptop?” Theo echoes, his eyes meeting mine in a panicked exchange. He definitely remembers the unusual favour I’d asked for. He may be a drug dealer, but Theo’s interests and talents have always been with computers. He was the only person I trusted enough to ask for help, and he had, without question. “I don’t know anything about a laptop,” Theo lies, misreading the worry in my eyes as fear of my secret being found out.

“The laptop I asked you to get for me,” I encourage, nodding my head. “It’s okay. I need you to tell One everything you know about the laptop.”

“Are you sure, Scar?” he asks, giving a dubious look at One.

“I’m sure,” I confirm.

“Well, you asked me for a laptop, and I got you one. What more is there to tell?” He shrugs, still clearly unsure about divulging information to this stranger with me.

“What was the laptop for?” One demands, finished with allowing me to pretend to be the questioner. Theo looks at me again, and I sigh.

“Just tell him everything, Theo. Please,” I plead. He nods and turns back to One.

“I don’t know what the laptop was for, she didn’t tell me. She wanted to be able to get onto certain parts of the internet untraced. I figured it was sketchy, but she’s not a bad person, so I did it. End of story.”

“Not quite. See, just because Scarlett here didn’t tell you what she was planning to do, doesn’t mean that you’re too stupid to figure it out. I’m not insinuating that you’re a cunning detective by any means, but if you’re close, surely you had an idea of what she might use it for?” One questions.

“Suspicions. Nothing concrete. Why do you care so much?” Theo asks. I notice his grip tightening on the knife in his hand and press my lips together to keep from speaking out. He’s not likely to put the knife down because I asked him too.

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