Chapter 4: Dakota's POV

There's a party going on in the house downstairs, Isabela mentioned something about it being because of a success against the Vietnamese Cartel.

But I don't have time to attend stupid parties. Evelyn, my supervisor, would throw a fit if I'm unable to find something against Javier in six months.

Now, all the she wants is dirt on him, and honestly, that's easy to get. So if I can just get it on time, I'll have more time to carry out the main reason I'm here.

I hide myself behind a wall as a group of drunk men stumble down the hall. When their voices fade out, I make my appearance again, disappearing inside an open door.

Javier's office.

I take out my flash drive from my hair and open his laptop. The passcode is easy to hack but when I successfully get in, there are no files.

"What the fuck?"

I check all the folders, but they're empty except one. It has images of various beach houses and the first thing that comes to my head is that these are possible locations of operation.

But the closer I look at them, something familiar tugs at my chest. These are the images of the beach houses we'd seen on the Internet when we were younger.

The ones he'd hated, but forced himself to like just because I liked them. My heart stutters for a moment, but I force the emotions out.

I shut the laptop and begin digging through his hard copy documents. They are the actual maps of his activities over the years.

The door knob twists and someone begins pushing into the office. In a split second, I hide under the table, holding my breath.

I see the leg of a man casually stroll into the office, whistling a tune. Javier? No...Javier never knew how to whistle.

Then again, he's changed after all these years. He might have as well learned.

"I know you're in here," the man calls and my pulse quickens.

That's not Javier.

He walks closer to the table, and I hear him fiddle with the laptop. "A butterfly drive? Cute."

Shit! I left my drive on the table.

"But you know, the boss doesn't leave any digital footprints, so it's a waste of time."

The drive falls to the ground and he bends over to pick it up. His head snaps to my direction and when our eyes meet, his lips stretch into a smile.

"Oh, you're as beautiful as they say." He coos, the stench of his alcohol breath harassing my nose.

He has a lean face with a scar that runs from his left eyebrow to his cheek bone, his blonde hair is messy and his blue eyes are a bit dilated.

I stay rooted in place, not sure what I'm supposed to do. Is this where he reports me to Javier who wouldn't waste a second blowing my head off?

He stretches his hand towards me. "A pretty lady can't be hiding under the table, can she?"

I stare at his hand and he waves it in my face when I don't take it. "Come on. I'm not going to eat you...yet."

I take his hand and he helps me out from under the table. "You were only employed two days ago and you've already begun snooping around?"

"I got lost."

"Huh. You got lost and found your way here, then you decided that you could get some information to your flash drive?"

"That's not my drive. I was only looking through the paintings on the wall and I panicked when I heard you come in."

"Huh." He licks the inside of his cheeks. "You know something Kota? I hope you don't mind me calling you Kota."

"I don't mind at all."

He nods. "Lying is an art in the underworld. Your life depends on how well you're able to sell a lie. And you, my dear beautiful puppy, are the worst liar I've ever met."

I clench my fist hard. I've always been brilliant at lying, even among my colleagues. I have no visible ticks that disclose my lies.

"What gave me away?" I try to hide my panic.

"Well..." He trails off, walking around me and stopping just at my back. "When you left the party, you avoided every single guard on site. You hid when someone was coming the other way and you picked a few locks, disappointed each time when you figured it was the wrong door." His breath is on my neck now.

"You were following me?"

"I was curious to see the Dakota everyone was talking about." His drags his nose up and down my neck. "And maybe...get to know her better."

I push away from him. "Who the fuck are you? If you're going to tell the boss, you might as well get on with it."

He smiles and raises his hand in mock surrender. "Esteban at your service ma'am. And no, I won't be telling Javier about this... encounter."

The second in command. Esteban. Fuck, I'm in shit.

"Why? Won't that be betraying him?"

"Betraying him? I thought you said you got lost." He licks his lips in sly smile and I can't help but feel the alarms in my head going off.

"You want something, don't you?"

"I want to taste you. That's all."

"Taste me?"

"What? You smell delicious."

"You mean sex? You want to fuck me in exchange for your silence?"

He wiggles his brows. "I didn't say I wanted to fuck. I said I wanted to taste."

"That's literally the same thing, pervert."

I suddenly feel exposed, and my hands move up to my chest. The dress I'm wearing has a revealing neckline and his eyes flicker there at the action.

He moves quickly, backing me up against the wall, his hands taking mine of my chest and then he buries his nose into the crack between my breasts.

"What the fuck are you doing you perverted fucker?! Get off me!"

I try to shove him off, but he wouldn't even budge. Instead, he presses his face deeper into my breasts, his teeth grazing my breast pad.

Then, he takes a big sniff and looks up at me. "Fucking you would mean sticking my cock into your tight coño. Tasting you would mean sticking my tongue into your sweet coño. They're not the same thing." Then he drags his tongue from my breast line to the base of my neck.

I stiffen, unable to even draw a breath, resisting the urge to pluck his eyes out with my nails, knowing he would most probably kill me before I touch him. Then, he bursts into a fit of hard laughter, doubling over.

"Oh my-fuck! You should have seen your face!" He mimicks my look of terror. "Oh no! He's gonna fuck me!" He fakes a lady voice, then he stops laughing. "I'm not that kind of dog. I don't take my women without their permission."

I push away from the wall, my blood boiling in humiliation. "You fucking weirdo."

He grabs my arm as I push past him, keeping me from taking another step.

"Get the fuck of me!" I try to break free from him, but his grip is strong and he pulls me into his chest.

"Come on now, puppy. I was just fucking with you. No need to get feisty," he breathes into my ear.

But I still try to push off him. "Esteban, let. Me. Go."

"Or what?" He dares. "What will you do about it, Lilith Hayes?"

My heart stops in an instant. What did he just call me?