The Red Doll

CHAPTER 28

****Aria's POV****

I get into the van that was waiting for us, sitting down between Lana and Liam. I couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt building up in my throat, slowly chocking me like poison. I know I have no reason to feel bad for what I did back there. It was the right thing, after all. You cannot combine this line of work with personal feelings. Me and Revon both know that. We only teamed up because our interests happened to align. Nothing more, nothing less. It's not the first time I had to take the role as the bad guy, putting distance between myself and others.

I sigh, shaking away these useless thoughts. I'm on my way to my most important mission up until now. I can't fuck this up. I need to get a grip on myself and concentrate on what I need to do, not on whether I hurt Revon's feelings or not.

Lana's hand grips my thigh, gently squeezing it and making my train of thoughts evaporate. I look at her and I'm welcomed with a sweet smile, but I can notice that her eyes are filled with concern.

"Aria, are you sure that you're alright?" she asks me.

I put on my most convincing smile and take her hand in mine, trying my best to reassure her. "I've just been feeling a little anxious, that's all. I absolutely cannot fail this mission so I've been feeling a lot of pressure on my shoulders lately," I tell her. This isn't entirely false, but it's also not entirely true either. I just hope she'll take the hint and drop the subject.

Lana looks at me for a few moments, turning my words around in her mind, probably trying to find an ulterior motive, but even if she does, she just sighs and lets go of my hand.

"Alright. I understand. Just know that I'm always here if you need someone to talk to. You're not alone anymore, alright?"

I can't help but genuinely smile at her words. Even without knowing, Lana always manages to say the perfect things to lift my spirits up. "I know," I say softly.

"We're here," the driver says, putting an end to mine and Lana's conversation.

I look out the window and see the big mansion that looms over the entire city, always present in the background. It's absolutely massive. That's probably why you can see it even from our hiding space back in the city.

"Jesus Christ, it's almost as big as Revon's," David gasps.

Liam chuckles besides him and I can't help but roll my eyes, already expecting his response. "That's what she said," Liam laughs, earning a slap on the back of his head from David, but that only made him laugh harder.

"Quit fooling around you morons," Sarah says, getting out of the car. We all follow her, stepping on the grass in front of the mansion.

Immediately after we got out of the van, 5 men dressed in black suits (where they were clearly hiding handguns) approached us.

"We'll be taking you to meet our boss. His orders," one of them says.

All the foolishness from earlier dissipates and is replaced with seriousness.

"Of course," I say sweetly, giving them a polite smile and walking besides them inside the mansion.

The mission has officially began.

****Revon's POV****

I muster up the strength to get out of bed, putting on some clean clothes and picking the ones I was wearing last night off of the floor.

"Professionals don't mix their personal feelings with their work, Revon. It's pathetic."

Aria's words ring in my head, tugging at my heart. I crouch down, hugging my knees and burying my head between them.

I know she's right. Every word she spoke was true. I don't know what else I was expecting.

But the expression she made while she spoke those words... The emotionless face and the cold glare. It sent an icy shiver up my spine. If that's what her victims see before she drains the life out of them, then I'm truly glad she didn't kill me when she had the chance.

I think that was the first time I actually saw why she's so well known and why everyone is so terrified of her. Sure, I've seen what she's capable of first hand, but both of us treated this whole thing more like a game. We were equals. But this morning... She looked down on me. She picked out my weaknesses and ruthlessly attacked me.

That's right, Revon. That's what she is. Your enemy, that you just so happened to work with for a while. That's all. It doesn't matter that during this time you got to see more sides of her; to see her smile or to hear her laughter fill the room while she was having fun with her friends; it doesn't matter that she looked at you with her eyes filled with so much compassion that it melted down your wall of ice that you surrounded yourself with.

None of that matters. She was just momentarily being friendly because you still have to work together. And this morning she had to remind you that. Hah. Truly a professional until the end, Aria Vixen.

I slowly get up from my crouching position and walk out of the room. Some of the men I took with us were waiting in the common room.

"Good morning, mister Thorn," they all said to me.

I sit down on one of the couches, emptying my brain of all the useless thoughts about Aria, putting on my business face.

"Where should they be now?" I ask them.

"If everything went according to plan, by The Doll's assumptions, they should be meeting The Lion's boss right about now," the info man answered.

"They will get a hold of us when they are done, to announce if the first part of the mission was successful or not," another one continues.

I sigh, tensing up a bit. "Alright," I say. I still can't help but be worried for her. She walked straight into the lion's den (no pun intended; ok maybe a little bit lol). I just hope they'll reach out to us soon, letting us know that they're ok.

Aria, hate me all you want and call me unprofessional, but just come back to me in one piece, please.

To be continued...

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