Chapter Four: Further

What?"

I repeat—this is my third time saying ‘what’. I am certain I resemble a parrot, yet if that is the case, shouldn’t they change the contents coming out of their mouths?

"Haaaa....what exactly are you saying what to, Agent?"

The deputy commissioner asks, bringing forth his irritation. If ‘Director Heinrich’ weren’t here, I am certain he would have made a comment about how my being an omega is affecting my comprehension skills.

At least I don’t look like an onion, I guess.

"It's simple, Agent Sinclair. I apologised to Director Heinrich about what our organisation attempted to do, but he understood our mission and offered to help with the case."

"So what I am hearing you say, Deputy commissioner, is that our military unit, the one that serves to protect this country, has offered an apology to a known arms dealer, making a mockery of-”

Before I can finish my hastily spilling words, the chief’s warm hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing my flesh warningly.

"Are you questioning me, Agent Sinclair?"

"I-"

Again, the hand on my shoulder tightens its grip, forcing me to swallow my words.

If not for Chief Owen, I’d have been killed twenty times over by the sketchy higher-ups.

A chill in the room forces everyone's attention to Heinrich, whose eyes seem stuck on the hand on my shoulder.

"Ap- I apologise, director. Agent Sinclair is our only omega in the unit, so he gets carried away easily."

Something flickers in Heinrich's eyes before his lips turn downwards in distaste.

"Is your hand heavy? I can hold it for you."

The chilly words were spoken without a trace of humour, and it took us all about a full minute to figure out the words were meant for the chief.

"Excuse me?"

The chief asks, his hand unconsciously squeezing me as the tension in the room grows.

"I asked if your hand is so heavy that you have to place it on your omega agent's shoulder. That is sexual harassment, right? Let me hold it for you. I am an alpha like you, so it’s fine."

"My agent doesn't seem to mind.”

Chief Owen responds.

Huh? What the hell kind of childish discussion is this?

"Chief Owen, please."

The deputy commissioner warns; his forehead looks greasier than usual. I wonder which politician he upset with this mission. Did he not think when he insisted on it?

Then again, the elections are close; he was probably thinking with his bank account.

The mission was a success in the way that matters. The virus was uploaded, so our team should be able to hack their servers. By all accounts, we should have Heinrich by his b*lls by now, but instead…this?

"The hand."

The deputy commissioner reminds, and with a reluctant sigh, Chief Owen’s hand drops from my shoulder.

"I am only an agent."

I say, suddenly feeling a headache come in.

I've only been in the country for three days, and I already want to leave, maybe even switch my branch of operation so I don’t have to see Heinrich.

F*ck, Maya.

I know Heinrich refused to meet her, and she was blacklisted in all his companies because she went there too often to beg him to see her, so she should be fine if I leave again, right? He still won't meet her, right?

He won't feed her false hopes, right?

She’d never agree to leave the country with me because she still wants this crazy f*ck in front of me. If she agreed, I would never have a reason to return here.

"I will leave the main talk to the heads; I'm due for my break anyway.”

I finish, drawing a clear line by asking them, albeit politely, to have their discussion in a boardroom and not my infirmary.

"No, you are the main task force for this mission."

This mission?

I frown at the deputy commissioner’s words.

"Deputy commissioner, agents don't leap from mission to mission; They are given at least two weeks rest, especially if the agent is injured."

"You are more than capable, believe in yourself."

Didn't this f*cker keep saying omega this omega that? What the hell?

"I-"

"In any case, the mission is easier than any you have done before. Director Heinrich will only accept you as the lead; I will let him explain the mission-"

"But inevitably, the choice of following through is Agent Sinclair's, right?"

Chief Owen interrupts, and silence follows his deep voice.

The deputy commissioner doesn't reply. He only scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably, while Niklaus Heinrich only smiles.

"I want you to find the person in my company responsible for dragging my name into the world of human trafficking."

Niklaus says, as if ‘moving on’ from the earlier posed question.

"Oh? Human trafficking? I take it that's a line a murderer of your calibre will not cross?"

Heinrich shrugs at my pointed insult before continuing with his instructions.

"For that, I will allow you to act as the acting janitor of my building."

What?

"The culprit is probably in your staff. Isn’t it better if I am an ordinary office worker promoted to the section of the person you suspect as the ringleader?”

I ask, but he only smiles.

"I thought so, too, but when I saw you in those blue overalls….”

His light blue eyes rake my body.

“Well, let's just say that cleaning up after me suits you..."

Huh? What the hell?

Ah...my blood pressure.

"I refuse."

I answer almost immediately.

"Really? So the deputy commissioner here will have to pay for the damage your virus did to our system."

"I'll give you a promotion. "

The deputy commissioner says desperately.

"I want to retire. "

I respond.

“Fine, I will permit it.”

The greedy commissioner says.

Agents only retire in their late-thirties and mid-forties unless you are Heinrich and you pull a reverse card by being the very enemy they are fighting, and oh...I don’t know, having billions of dollars that can buy you the law. Agents cannot retire before their age range.

The espionage unit takes advantage of agents at their prime; the pay is high, so no one complains, but the dark side is that even PTSD cannot get you excused; if a regular agent leaves their post before they are dismissed, they are marked as treasonous and will most likely be hunted down.

I finished paying off my parent's debt, sending Maya to school and paying for her house and our family home—I want to rest now, maybe get married and grow old with a sweet beta woman.

"I need that in a contract."

I answer the deputy commissioner.

"Done; I will process it tomorrow."

"Good. Now that everyone is happy, I-"

"Also, add that this mission will not last more than three months from the starting date, and if ‘Director’ Heinrich visits any of my family or friends without my knowledge or permission, the contract is immediately void, and I shall return to my post.”

“What are you-”

“I am not negotiating on this.”

Maya is my life.

As if sensing my seriousness, the deputy commissioner turns to Heinrich as if to say ‘the ball is in your court’.

“I understand.”

Heinrich answers before the deputy commissioner sighs in relief.

“Now, everybody leave. We should talk, Lucien. Mission details. You know… now that we are partners again.”

Heinrich says with a cold smile, and I feel my intestines coil in disgust.

“Right, chief, let's excuse them.”

Chief Owen frowns at the deputy commissioner’s words but after a reassuring nod from me, he leaves but gestures that he is right out the door.

**

It's been five minutes, and still, Heinrich hasn’t said a word.

It's getting awkward.

Before I can break the silence, he strides to my side, his hand cups my chin, and his thumb strokes my lip.

What the hell is this?

I try to fight his hold, but he cups my chin forcefully.

“Don’t turn away from me.”

His thumb presses the wound on my lip until the taste of iron fills my mouth.

It hurts, but I will be damned if I let myself wince.

“You are still acting like a wounded kitty that doesn’t even know where it hurts. When will you ever grow up?”

His thumb, now wet with my blood, releases the wound and instead presses against the corner of my lip that is raised in a sneer.

“You make me want to break you further, Lucien.”

He releases his hold on me and my body jerks from the force of the sudden release.

He places his thumb on his mouth before his tongue darts from his slightly pink lips and laps up the crimson blood staining the tip as if it were melted ice cream.

Crazy f*ck.