A weird proposal

ETHAN COLE

I sat on the sofa staring at the contract before me. The words were clear enough — almost to my benefit and my job wasn't supposed to be difficult. Protect subject, Ava Chrys Duval. The pay was more than handsome, especially for a flimsy job like that. 

“Play, protect and get paid.” I muttered while picking up a pen and signing on the first page. 

   Coming to the Duval estate hadn't been my plan, rather an order from someone I couldn't refuse. Ava merely caught my attention after the incident and my employer saw it as an opportunity — I was a tool to be used. 

…

  Me, Winnie and three others in my group had gathered in our usual hideout, the bar which looked normal to everyone else. Below the bar was something even the media would never handle. 

“Don't tell me you shot his cock!” Winnie exclaimed, slapping my arm.

“No, I have dignity,” I chided, rolling my eyes at her obscene thoughts. 

“Dignity? Didn't you drive a pole through a target's throat?” One of them whom we called Zero pointed out mockingly. 

“Fuck you,” I cursed.

“I'd like that. I'm sex starved.” I rolled my eyes again and focused on my laptop.

VAR had requested a meeting with my group. It was a bit odd because we usually took odd jobs with or without VAR’s approval. 

“Why do you think they summoned us?” Seth asked, his Slavic accent a little bit intense or worried. 

I shook my head in response. When Lily, the last member in my group opened her mouth to speak, a call came on.

Finally. 

  I put it on, and an image came alive; one of VAR’s agents wearing a mask with a cigar placed gently between his lips. 

“I have a special mission for you,” he spoke, the voice reverberating throughout the room. 

“Spill,” I said, already tired of hearing his voice. 

 VAR was a dangerous organization that ran deeper than any organization ever made. The deeper one went, the darker it became and the day I realized that was the day I knew there was no going back. I was twelve when I learned that and ten years passed, nothing changed. 

  “I want information about the Duval's arms technology,” he blurted, not cutting across corners — straight to the point. Exactly how greedy they were. 

“Duval? Aren't you affiliated with them?” Lily asked, her brows raised in confusion. 

  The man let out a mocking laugh. He crushed his cigar and stared right at us. “I need one of you to steal information, and I'll consider promoting you.” 

VAR always looked down on us, our potentials, and now they wanted my team to steal from their allied corporation. 

“How are we going to do that?” Winnie inquired.

“It's simple. Get close to the asset, get information and leave,” he explained.

“We can't all go,” Zero muttered tapping his feet furiously on the floor. He did that whenever he was anxious. 

“One of you has to go…”

“I'll do it. I'll infiltrate the estate, but I'll need you to recommend me as a bodyguard for Ava,” I said, cutting him off. 

What was I thinking, accepting such a proposal? I liked that Ava was interesting but why would it make me make such rash and selfish decisions? 

   Everyone wore an expression that read surprise. They were probably shocked at how quickly I accepted the proposal, only if they knew it was because I found her intriguing. 

“I will do just that, Nikolai. You never disappoint,” he said and cut the line immediately. 

   My team stared at me for a while, no one saying anything. 

“Don't tell me you found your type?” Seth joked and that broke the silence. 

“Type? Ethan doesn't have a type!” Winnie mocked jabbing me with her fist. I chuckled softly, happy they didn't ask the reason for my sudden acceptance. 

I had worked with them for four years and our relationship became more than just colleagues, especially Winnie (we've been together since day one)

“So you're going to be a bodyguard?” Lily asked, handing me my knife she'd sharpened.

I played with it, feeling the smoothness of the edge.

“Yes, wish me luck, sweetheart.”

…

   I signed the last page and dropped the pen. I hope I wasn't making a mistake accepting the mission. It was a simple one, but the tug at my chest and the bile stuck in my throat said otherwise. 

   The door opened and Ava appeared into the room, standing like she owned it — she did. Her hair was in a wolf cut which suited her elegant style of dressing. 

  I assessed her features, hazel eyes, thick lashes, pouty lips and a pretty nose. 

“Here,” I said, handing the document to her. 

“You'll start tomorrow.” I nodded standing to take my leave. 

“You'll have to move in though, it's in the contract. I'll show you your room Mr Ethan Cole,” she said scanning through the contract. 

  I stepped closer trying to read her expression. It looked like she didn't approve of my signature or something else was bothering her. 

“You don't need to do that, it's all in the document. I'll take my leave.” As I walked past her, my fingers grazed hers and I saw her turn back. 

Did I make the right impression? 

I was all about killing, and how to win the heart of the nation's most valuable asset wasn't part of my training at VAR 

When I left the Duval estate, I let out a sigh of relief. I had been holding my breath, worried she wouldn't like me. 

“I'm terrible at first impressions,” I muttered as a car parked in front of me.

I slid in, shutting it behind me. “I'm so fucked, Winnie,” I blurted taking out my phone. 

“You're the one who chose to play VAR's game, and you're already fucked? Sweetheart you're more than fucked.” 

She was right. The organization knew everything and I walked right into their trap. In the end, there was no going back, I needed to play by their rules if I wanted in. If I wanted to live. 

   Ava seemed like a sweet girl on the outside, but who knew how deadly she would be. I switched on my phone and clicked the search button.

‘How to make your type get attracted to you.’