Page 28 of Game of Love
Xander
ConsideringI wasn’t supposed to be thinking about her, I wasn’t doing a very good job.
Jia hadn’t left my damn mind.
Never mind the part about being totally taken by her beauty but I was as unprepared to see her last night as her father had been.
She really shouldn’t have been there and if I were him I would have done more to get her out of the place before the show began.
Fucking Ethan, forgot to tell me Giovanni was crazy.
I’d heard Giovanni had some unsavory habits, that he could be unpredictable. Last night however, was something else.
Even I had to admit that last night was of the inhumane variety.
It was clear Giovanni had no intention of showing Jia or anybody else any sympathy. I just chose to be the one to do it, giving her the compassion he should have shown.
Tonight was round two. A bigger night than last night for it being my first night on the job.
To make sure I went in with a level head I’d decided on having dinner with Wes first.
I watched him cut into his steak and pop a slice into his mouth. He held up a finger and nodded with satisfaction.
“This is so good. Oh, so good. Better than what we would have gotten in Rio and better than sex,” he stated.
I shook my head at him. Wes and steak. I’d never known anybody to love steak as much as him.
“Man if you think a piece of steak can be better than sex, there’s something you aren’t doing right.”
He wagged his finger and blinked several times at me. “Nah man, I treat my ladies just right and I know what I’m talking about. The steak is divine.”
“God, you are something else Wes.”
I continued to watch him tucking into his meal.
I couldn’t blame him, it felt like days since we’d had anything decent. Even I was happy for the steak we were eating in the five star restaurant my best friend had chosen.
It was my treat for the shit we’d landed ourselves in.
I had to call it shit because, damn it to hell, what else could it be called with Giovanni’s crazy ass?
I’d never been in a situation like that before, and thank God I’d developed a good stomach over the years to counteract the fucking poison I’d drunk.
Thank fuck I had, because I would have at least turned pale or green like one of the other guys.
The years of eating whatever I could in the desert and building up an immunity had made me hard. Would have still killed me within the four minutes though if I didn’t get the antidote. I could feel it starting to shut me down, but I put on a good show of playing Mr. Cool.
“You know what…I’ve been thinking about this whole mission,” Wes stated, cutting into my thoughts. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Great, he seemed to be working overtime to rattle me. “Nothing ever feels right Wes.”
He leaned forward and set down his utensils. “Xander, It just feels like a big mess and I hate that there are no specifics. What about the bigger picture?” He frowned.
“Bigger picture?” I asked. I knew where he was going with this because I’d considered it myself. I just thought I had enough on my plate and wanted to focus on one thing at a time. Especially since I had just got my foot through the door with Giovanni.
“Yeah.” He leaned closer and whispered. “Like knowing who Giovanni is working for. I know Ethan has people working on figuring that out, but I hate the lack of information. We don’t have a time scale. We just know we have to work fast. It’s not good enough.” He shrugged.
“Wes, it’s not ideal but the way the unit works is to identify a problem and nip it straight away. That eliminates the bigger picture. I get the prints and there is no big picture.”
