Page 263 of DATE
"Like me, what?" Hedy raised an eyebrow. "Please remove your helmet. I believe that is basic courtesy."
There was a brief moment of silence, before the man finally took off his helmet.
Hedy focused on observing the man's appearance, unable to stop herself from smiling.
He was quite handsome.
With James Dean’s sharp facial features and a small mustache reminiscent of Henry Fonda, there was a rugged charm to him, with just the right hint of a rogue.
"What are you laughing at?" Luris raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice. "Perhaps you should know that I can make sure you don’t leave this room at any time."
"I was thinking," Hedy relaxed in her seat, "whether those two little mustaches make you sneeze often. Zino—miss?"
Luris froze for a moment, a look of irritation crossing her face. "You're making a joke that isn't very clever."
"Really?" Hedy leaned in closer, observing her short hair and smooth throat. "Your voice does sound similar—and your disguise isn’t too bad overall."
The tall and muscular young woman took a deep breath, reaching up to pull off her small mustache. "If you don’t explain yourself, I’ll break your throat right now."
Her voice remained deep and magnetic, like a man’s, and her face was somewhat square. Paired with the short hair, she indeed looked like a somewhat seductive man.
If Hedy had to guess her age, the woman was probably just a couple of years older than herself.
"It’s not about the voice or appearance," Hedy poured her another half-glass of wine, her tone calm and steady. "Men don’t usually open their legs in front of someone they don’t trust."
Now Hedy understood why she managed to survive so well in a world surrounded by men.
Those burly men were probably her brothers, and people didn’t really pay attention to things like an Adam's apple—educated mercenaries were few and far between.
Luris Zino stared at her for a few seconds before snorting through her nose.
"So, why do you need mercenaries?" She swirled the wine in her glass, leaning back in her chair but removing her long boots from the table.
"First of all, I’m not anyone’s wife—at least not right now." Hedy said, slow and unhurried. "Second, one of my duties is to protect Florence."
"The French are coming."
Although the information wasn’t yet confirmed, the Medici's network had already been activated to verify the departure time from that side. Hedy hoped they could confirm things on their end as soon as possible.
"You?" Luris sized her up, noting her smooth, milky white skin and the obviously untouched, perfect features of someone who hadn't endured much hardship. She furrowed her brows. "You want to participate in a war?"
"Not participate." Hedy took a sip of her wine, her tone calm and relaxed. "Control."
The young mercenary leader rolled her eyes and stood up to leave. "What a naïve and unrealistic fantasy."
As she was heading for the door, Leonardo entered holding a strange-looking firearm. He glanced at Hedy, who was sipping her wine and reading a newspaper. "All done with the discussion?"
"What is this?" Luris eyed the unusual firearm warily. She noticed it didn’t even have a match cord, and the connections had complex, unfamiliar mechanisms. This wasn’t any gun she had ever seen.
"Hmm?" Hedy took another sip of her drink while continuing to read the paper. "You can leave now, Mr. Zino."
Da Vinci's first instinct was to glance at her throat, raising an eyebrow at the title she had used.
Luris immediately began putting her helmet and false mustache back on, revealing only her eyes.
"We should discuss this business," she said.
The business discussion soon moved from the room to outside the ranch.
