The Billionaire's Assassin [COMPLETE]

File 12: The Test

Santa Barbara, California

2010

“Gabe?”

Standing before them, Gabe’s eyes widened at the appearance of Rex. Darting between Maya and Rex before taking a deep breath and smiling handsomely at the both of them. That night, Rex called him that night to hang out but Gabe made up the excuse that he had a project to finish. Truthfully, they were having a meeting about their progressive plans on getting intel from the police when Maya got a call to fix the detector at the store. It was supposed to take half an hour, now he’s been more than an hour when he decided to find her.

Now he found her by Rex’s side.

“Rex? What are you doing around here?”

Everyone at school knew that Rex lived in the more luxurious providence of Santa Barbara where the sea water met the overly opulent mansions. To be downtown where the grim of the lower class meant Rex was getting into trouble.

“Hanging out at the convenience store. Had to get out of the house for a breather.”

Gabe’s earlier words rattled in Rex’s mind like a marble in a shaken container, analyzing his attire. He wore a jacket zipped halfway down showing off his undershirt and loose sweatpants. There were times in their friendship Rex envied Gabe muscular figure, always taking care of himself, which he fell prey to now. Mentally, he questioned by Gabe dressed like he just stepped out the house before bed...to look for Maya.

“Were you looking for Maya?” he asked abruptly. “This late?”

Maya opened her mouth to answer before gave one of his friendly laughs, something at soothed even Rex nerves. Gabe always had a way with calming people around him and knowing what to say and do in the right moments. “Rex, whatever you’re thinking, stop it, man. Maya and I live in the same building and her foster dad asked me to come and get her.” His brown eyes settled on Maya, furtive apprehension only apparent between them. “You left your phone. Let’s head home.”

Maya questioned the look but didn’t refuse. “Sure.” Turning to Rex, she noticed the sight perplexity crossed between them, his lips quivering with a question. “I’ll see you later, okay? Night.”

Shaking the thoughts out his head, Rex responded standing from the bench, “Yeah. See ya. Gabe, I’ll call you later, bro.”

“Later.” Rex was the first to walk away, heading the opposite way they came until disappearing a block ahead and around the corner. Gabe turned to Maya with a sigh. “Was he having a hard time with his parents again?”

Maya nodded, getting up with a stretch. “Yeah. You two are close, aren’t you, bro?”

Gabe shrugged as they started to head towards their apartment complex. “We had one assignment in school together when I first arrived and he’d been hooked on me ever since.”

Slipping her hands into her pockets, she nudged him with her hip playfully. For the years she’d known Gabe growing up at the agency, training, and squabbling like siblings, she’d never known him to be accepting of a bro position to outsiders. “I’m getting the feeling he’s rubbing off on you too,” she noticed.

Gabe kept his eyes forward. “I’ve been here longer than you, Maya. Hanging out with him every day, I thought it’d be just another assignment, but that kid...he’s something.” He glimpsed down at his sneakers, kicking a loose pebble into the street. “I thought he was going to be some snobbish rich kid I’ have to pretend to play nice with.”

“He isn’t?”

He shook his head. “Once you break that facade, he’s actually really nice and caring. Say what you want about him but once you’re a trusted friend, he’d dedicated to the friendship whether he notices or not.” Trusted rolled off his tongue with a guilt grimace Maya noticed and couldn’t help being gripped by as well. “I never knew I could feel ashamed for befriending a guy like that for alternative motives. It’s just…”

Maya placed a hand on his shoulder, pausing his stride to look up at him. Gabe stood a head taller than her beneath the street lamps, black hair slicked back and brown eyes, small and remorseful. “We’re after his father, Micky, not Rex. He’s not our enemy. And once this mission’s over, maybe after some time, you both can become real friends.”

Gabe’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Says the girl who guards herself twenty-four-seven. But you’ve loosened up lately. He’s getting under your skin too, isn’t he?”

Heat prickled along her cheeks, removing her hand from his shoulder to look away. “It’s nothing like that. He flirts too much and after a while, it became tolerable...slightly tolerable”

“Well, a friend once told me, he’s not our enemy. It’s alright to tolerate him once in a while.”

Playfully punching him in the arm, she started strutting down the sidewalk again, Gabe following behind. “Whatever. Let’s head home before our foster dad grounds us.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Damn it, I was so close to an A,” Rex cursed as he entered the library study room. Maya marked the page in her book, looking up at him from her seat. He looked too amused with himself, a tight-lipped grin made to appear saddened. It wasn’t fooling her though.

She shot him a puzzled glare. “You got an A-minus, didn’t you?” Despite the laid back persona he displayed when it came to school work, his intelligence to accomplish personal tasks was unmistakable.

Flailing his paper, he took a seat opposite from her, his mouth dropping in forged shock. “You think that lowly of me, mujer?”

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head at his ridiculous actions. Maya was reluctant to admit her excitement that he passed his test with a better grade than last time. “You didn’t pay the teacher off, did you? Because that would be cheating. And I don’t hang out with cheaters.”

He scoffed, waving her words away. “I got this on my own, thank you very much. And sweet A plus to go with our sweet A plus date tomorrow.”

Unable to contain a chuckle and smile, Maya propped her book to conceal whatever emotions were now residing in her. It wasn’t her usual nature to be so pleasantly occupied by someone like Rex, a conceded flirt. However, lately, she’s been allowing herself to sink into this better nature, getting to know the boy with the charming, impish grin.

Extending a finger, he lowered the book away from her glossed lips. “Never hide that beautiful smile from me, princesa.”

The air within her lung halted at his sudden words, her heart thumping rapidly against her chest. Her eyes lingered on his, absorbing the depth of emerald in his eyes beneath thick lashes and the way his lips always had a hint of mischief in the corner. Honestly, she liked Rex bold approach to things and his placid approach to life. He always groomed himself as though he’d be heading to a photo shoot each day. And when he spoke, sometimes she’d catch her toes curling at the sound of his deep, melodic voice near her. But she’d never admit it.

Forging a fake cough, lifting her book to shield herself once more, she examined him across the table. “You seem quite sure that I’ll be impressed with this date.”

He leaned back in his chair, throwing a lazy arm over the backside. “Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind, Maya. It’s not everyday Thomaz ‘Rex’ Henson charms a girl off her feet the way I’m going to for you.” Just to cement his words, he gave her a wink she just rolled her eyes at with a tight smile.

“I’ll believe it when I see it, peulinseu maelyeog,” she retorted with a smirk. Prince Charming.

He craned an eyebrow. “Did you just call me some type of p***s mongrel?”

Before she could catch herself, a cheerful giggle bubbled out of her and through the study room. Covering her mouth with one and holding her waist with the other, the laughter wouldn’t subside which made Rex smile. She only stopped with a tiny snort escaped, her biting her bottom lip at the sound.

This time Rex laughed. “That snort...oh, it was so adorable.”

“Shut up.”

But he continued. “Like a little piggy. You are so damn cute.”

She glowered at him. “Rex, I swear, not another word about that.” From the corner of her eye, she spotted Jenna walking passed the doorway. Rex followed her gaze and slowly backed out of his seat. “Where are you going?”

“To apologize to Jenna like we agreed on.”

Maya followed his motion, now regretting her words from earlier. Her chest tightened, knowing the strain between them but never wanting to intervene, upon Jenna’s request.“But you won that bet.” And she was relieved that she did because Jenna would have chewed her out if she found out about the bet to go on a date with him if he’d lost.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t apologize.” He walked out of the study room, between the bookcases to catch Jenna about to head out the doors with a book in hand. “Jenna, can I speak to you for a moment?”

Flipping a coiled strand of blonde hair over her shoulder, Jenna gave him a disgusted look before walking past him. “Whatever you have to say, Thomaz, save it. You’ve hurt me enough.”

He followed her out of the library, unwilling to let her speed by. “That’s what I want to apologize about, Jenna.” That got her to pause, glaring at him with blue eyes that could burn an entire forest with a spark. “What I did to you was wrong. I was a jerk--”

She placed a hand on her slender hip with a smug expression. “Thinking more on the lines of a pretentious asshole but go on.”

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. “The thing with Olivia that night was wrong of me. And I didn’t mean to treat you like that after…”

“You took my virginity the same night.” He winced at the sharpness of her words, cutting him deeply. She rolled her eyes with a humorless scoff. “Thomaz, why all of a…?” The gears in her mind clicked together one by one, looking over her shoulder at the library, at their usual spot. Rex would never be caught at the library unless he was with… She scowled at him, tightening her grip on her book. “Keep your fake apology. I don’t need it.”

“Fake?” An offended glint crossed his face at the word. There were prying eyes from classmates heading to their designated clubs or to their cars, whispering around them. Neither of them paid it any mind.

“Yeah, fake! You just want to apologize so you can look good in front of your new target, Maya. Am I wrong?”

Rex opened his mouth for any words that could come to mind. Nothing but hot air came out. This wasn’t good and internally, he prayed Maya wasn't watching this mess of an apology.

“That’s what I thought. But I’m not going to let you use her like you used me--”

“I don’t want to use Maya. I don’t want to hurt her. I genuinely like her.”

Jenna gasped lightly as though she’d just been shot in the chest, trying to catch herself, blinking rapidly to ease the burning in her eyes. These vulnerable emotions weren’t her. She made that mistake before with him. Not again. But still. “So you didn’t like me back then?”

“That’s not what I--”

Squaring her stance, Jenna looked up at Rex with an expression that reminded him of a lion ready to rip a gazelle apart. “I know what you mean, Thomaz. And I’m not going to let my best friend sink down that rabbit hole. I didn’t tell her the whole story but if she’s going to get involved with you any further, I think she should know.” With a delicate swivel, she turned her back to him with a humph. “Take your weak ass apology and shove it.”

It took a moment for Rex to regain his composure, watching her march down the hall and out the front door. The gossiping students were growing louder in his ears, like buzzing nets. He granted them all glares, some walking away quickly while others just kept their heads down. Turning away, he headed back into the library and into the study where he found Maya reading her book, to his relief. She placed it down when he took a seat.

“How’d it go?” she asked, slowly marking her page. She kept her eyes to the table.

“Not as bad as I imagined,” he sighed, trying to act nonchalant although a flame still dwindled inside him.

“What did she mean”--looking up at him, his heart sank into his stomach at her solemn expression--“about the whole story?”

Shit!