Flatline - Murder | Mystery | Intrigue

Chapter 5

Emile

I couldn’t get that woman out of my head, she consumed all of my thoughts and I found myself having to work hard at concentrating on anything else. 

The background check came back and was just full of surprises, good and bad. 

She was currently single, thirty-four years old, had a degree in marketing and had been with the ad agency for the last five years. 

She had had a few relationships over the years, but never married. Her finances were basic, just enough to look after herself and the kid, nothing fancy. Her recent black eye was from a karate tournament which she often participated in, she held a first dan grade. 

She was kidnapped at nineteen by her friend’s murderer, Vova Volkov, the current head of the Russian mafia. I doubted that he was the head back then though. She was held for three months and was rescued when police raided a location; a cop died in that raid. 

She spent a month in hospital recovering from severe injuries and malnutrition, and then many years in therapy. Once she had recovered from her physical injuries, she adopted her friend’s son as requested in her friend’s will.  

I sat back and sighed. Despite everything she had been through, she still seemed like a well-put-together person. She must have worked very hard to get where she was; it wasn’t often someone with such a dark past overcame it and even thrived. I admired her spirit. 

I’d already spent a restless night thinking of her, reconciling the information I’d received with the person I’d met. I needed some air and a good coffee to clear my head before hitting the office. I asked the driver to stop at a coffee shop on our way to the office. Usually he’d get the coffee for me, but I needed the air so I hopped out and headed in. 

I sucked in a deep breath of air as my eyes fell on her, and then I smiled. The Gods were  favoring me today, there she was, still beyond sexy in her prissy skirt, shirt and stilettos. I smirked and walked over. 

*_*

Kay

I was still a little unsettled by that damn dream, couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to train instead, hoping to work off some of the frustration. It had helped a little. It was going to be a long day so I decided to stop by my usual coffee shop for my favorite treat. The queue wasn’t too bad, thankfully. 

“A flat white and pain au chocolat please,” I ordered. 

“Make that two please,” came a familiar voice behind me. 

My head whipped around in shock, what on earth was he doing here? As if I wasn’t flustered enough this morning. 

“Emile?” I managed to croak. “What are you doing here?” I asked without thinking, my brain had short circuited. What kind of question was that? I mentally face palmed myself.

“I presume the same thing you’re doing, fending off darkness and chaos with hot bean juice,” he joked with a devastating smile. 

My cheeks heated up, so embarrassing. That aside, what a weird sense of humor, but I could appreciate it, in fact it was somewhat refreshing. He looked incredible in his suit and tie, none of which could hide his muscular form. It made my knees a little weak wondering what it would feel like to be held in those obviously strong arms. I took a deep breath, trying to snap out of the lustful spell. I had been staring. 

“Oh, I see,” I spluttered, at a loss for words, cheeks reaching a deeper shade of red. 

He smiled, eyes twinkling and clearly very happy that I had been checking him out. 

“Here you are Miss,” the barista said, breaking the hold he had over me. I turned, smiled at him and as I went to pay Emile piped up again. 

“Here you go,” he said and handed his card to pay. “I insist,” he said before I could even protest and the barista charged his card. “Why don’t you grab us a seat Kay, I’ll join you in a minute.” It was more of a command than a request, my eyebrow raised. “Please?” he added quickly. Sighing, I nodded and went to find us some seats. I hadn’t even processed how I felt about him and how I wanted to deal with him, never mind the steamy dream and here I was face to face with him again. I wasn’t ready. 

He walked over and I didn’t fail to notice every female’s eyes on him, dreamy, lust-filled eyes. I nearly rolled mine, it was just typical. He was clearly used to it as he just ignored them all. Did he always ignore them all or was that just for my benefit, I wondered. He flashed that smile again as he sat down, I smiled in return, albeit a slightly fake one. Were he not a client, I wouldn’t even be entertaining him, I would have run for the hills. Professional, that’s what I’d be.

“Well, it’s lovely to see you again Kay,” he started. He was about to say something more when his eyes focused on something behind me and his face registered shock and surprise. I turned to figure out what was going on. 

“Emile?” A tall, slender blonde walked over. “So is this how it is now?” she asked with a teary voice. “Are you punishing me with her?” 

My jaw dropped, wait, what? I looked at Emile, his expression hardened. 

“This isn’t the time or the place Kimberly,” he hissed, anger evident in his expression now. 

“So you just get to cheat now and I should shut up about it?” she accused, her voice becoming steadily louder. He seemed to get even more angry for some reason. I cringed, I did not need to get in the middle of this kind of drama! 

“Kimberly, I suggest you leave right now. You and I will discuss this later,” he fumed. My head swung back and forth between the two. 

“I’m pregnant,” she announced. Aaaand that was my cue to leave, I had heard enough. I picked up my pastry and coffee. 

“Mr. Riley, we will have our meeting on Friday as discussed. Please excuse me, I need to get back to the office.” Before he could react, I turned and walked away. 

After the shock had worn off, I realized that despite the obvious s****l tension between us, it was so much better that I had found out now, long before I became emotionally attached. I took a deep breath and exhaled, long and slow, releasing the tension and uncomfortable feelings. Well, that was that. 

I grabbed my phone out of my bag as I walked and sent a text to my friend. Izzy couldn’t be more different to me, one would think that we wouldn’t get along. Instead we complemented each other, dragged each out of our respective comfort zones and the same went for Avery.

 I needed a girls’ night so badly, and I was sure they would love to hear about the drama that seemed to be following me around these days. Once I’d told them, I’d gain some new perspectives, I could be harsh in my way of thinking when it came to relationships or any sort of interactions with the opposite s*x. Between that, the work drama and Seth, we’d have plenty to talk about.