chapter 4

NIKLAUS TITTERINGTON

I looked at the woman in front of me dressed in loose pants and a baggy beige top with a scarf tied around her hair holding it in a loose bun and I fought the urge to smile.

“Not so elegant and classy today?” I teased as I watched her face for a sigh of reaction.

Her blue, calculating eyes watched me for a minute before breaking into a smile. “Well, what can I say, we can't always look our best now, can we?” She replied back with an air of composure that surprised me.

“Mr Titterington, to what pleasure do I owe this visit?”she asked sweetly and I laughed.

“I believe we have some unfinished business from last night”.

“There was nothing left to finish” she replied in a clipped tone and avoided my eyes. I watched as she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and smiled. Aha, that was the reaction I was looking for.

“Ohh, I'm not talking about that”. I drawled as I folded my arms across my chest, straining the fabric of my shirt in the process.

Not that I was exactly thrilled when I had opened my eyes to see that she was gone. I had been so stunned that I burst out into laughter right there on the dance floor at the absurdity of it all. But that wasn't what I was here for today. I was going to pay Darana here for that stunt she played but not today.

“I don't understand,” she said in genuine confusion as she peeled her eyes away from my chest and rested them on my face. “What then, are you talking about?”she asked.

I smiled and parted my lips to speak when….

“May I take your order?”a waitress asked as she stood in front of our table and I sighed when I realized we were at a Cafe. The surroundings seemed to fade away into the background when I was with Darana.

“Black coffee” I said, without taking my eyes of Darana to look at the waitress. Darana sighed and looked at the waitress. “Just water”.

She retraced her focus back to me when the waitress was gone and waited for me to speak.

I smiled and took my time to open the file on the table and slid it across the table watching as her eyes widened as she took in the details of it.

“Darana Ashcroft, twenty five years of age, blue eyes, five foot three, no parents, only a high school certificate and ohhh, a little sister tucked safely away in one of the elite boarding schools in London. A very expensive one I might add”.

She sucked in a deep breath and squeezed the file tightly in her hands. “How did you get this?”she whispered and I smiled.

“Well after a certain jewel got missing in our home last night, I connected the dots together and made my own little research as you can see there”.

“Now should we talk about your other identity? Darana of the Twilight Rose trio, or should I say the mistress of seduction and deception as people like to call you?”.

I watched as the color drained from her cheeks and my smile widened. Backing people into a corner was one thing I enjoyed doing.

“It's very funny because no one could place your true identity. They can't really say what you look like and I can't blame them seeing you were blonde last night and had a mole on your chin but today you have black hair with no mole. I'd suggest you add mistress of disguise to your other….erm, titles”.

“What do you want?” She spat venomously and I laughed.

“Getting straight to business now, are we? So you'd agree that we do have some unfinished business”.

“I wonder what your other gang members would do when they see you in the position you've put yourself in”.

Her eyes widened at my comment and she paled further. “What?”I asked. “You think I'd run only a background check on you and leave your friends out? What am I? A fool?”

“I wonder how Gemma Miller, your tech guru and Adrika Towne, your extricator as you people like to call her, would react to the men that have surrounded your hideout?”

“Or do you think Reggie Jones, your getaway driver, would be able to get them out in time?”

I was subtly dropping all the hints that I could wipe everyone off if I wanted to and she must have gotten the message because her shoulders slumped and her confidence wavered.

“What do you want?” She asked again and I nodded thoughtfully. “Good question”.

“I could report this all to the police and have this matter dealt with in a twinkling of an eye or we could come to…. an agreement”.

“What agreement?”she asked, searching me with her eyes.

“Well, you could do something for me and in exchange I'd turn a blind eye to the one million, five hundred thousand dollars jewel that was stolen from the empire last night and if I'm pleased enough I could even let you and your gang continue this heist business you have going on”.

“And what do you want me to do for you?” She asked slowly as if dreading my response and I smiled and leaned closer into her space.

“Marry me”. I said simply and her lips parted in shock.

“Are you crazy? She yelled and a few heads turned in our direction. “You have no proof that shows that we stole the jewel last night. There are no CCTV cameras in your empire”. She said with a smug smile on her face as she leaned back into her seat, putting some distance between us.

“Hmmm” I said with a defeated sigh as I reached for my phone and placed it in front of her.

“I wonder what Juniper has to say about all this” I said with a thoughtful expression and her eyes widened as she snatched the phone from the table and watched the video of her sister heading to class oblivious to the fact that someone was watching her.

“Don't panic, she's safe….for now”. I said as I retrieved the phone from her and placed it back in my pocket.

“So, are you going to consider my offer?”.