The Ghost and the Shadow

Chapter 49 - Negotiations

The sound of my alarm disrupts my peaceful sleep, and I fumble for my phone on the nightstand to turn it off. The time on my phone reads 4h30.

As I turn to my side, I see Ghost lying next to me, his eyes closed. I hope he didn't hear it; I don't want him to leave yet.

To my reluctance, he moves slightly and groans, before tiredly opening his eyes.

"How's your head?" I ask, snuggling closer to him.

"Hmm," he responds, his eyes still closed, "Nothing I can't handle. What time is it?"

"4h30."

"Ugh," he lets out a groan of annoyance before getting up and sliding off the bed.

I curl up under the warm blankets, still feeling the lingering effects of our late night and watch him as he starts getting dressed.

"Are you still mad at me?" I ask. I don't know if he even remembers last night.

He's quiet for a bit and sighs, "Are you still gonna ignore my orders?"

I smile softly, "Depends..."

"On what?"

"On what Graves says."

As he fastens his belt, his gaze meets mine, his expression unamused.

I smile playfully, "I'm just kidding, Mr. Grouchy."

With a disapproving shake of his head, he reaches for his mask on the bedside table and roughly pulls it halfway over his face. Leaning down towards me, his hand supports the back of my head as he presses a hard and deep kiss on my lips. Breaking away, he mutters, "You better be," before pulling his mask down and heading out the door.

I let out a content sigh and stretch my tired legs under the blankets. A small smile tugs at my lips as memories from last night flood my mind. I hope we weren't too loud.

I'd be mortified if Pixie or the woman on my other side heard any of that.

Just then a text comes through on my phone and opening it, I see it's from Graves –

"We're negotiating with the narco today, meet me outside the container at 9."

"I'll be there," I respond back.

I drag myself out of bed and reluctantly change into my PT clothes before making my way to the gym. Despite my sluggishness, I push through an unproductive session and head to the showers afterwards.

During my shower, I notice faint bruises and marks over my body from last night. Thankfully it's all under my clothes though and no one will see.

After getting dressed, I make sure to check my exposed skin for any love bites, not wanting a repeat of what happened last time.

Satisfied, I head for the holding cell to meet up with Graves.

When I reach it, he's already waiting for me and greets me with a friendly smile, clearly in a better mood than he was yesterday.

"Morning, I'm guessing this is Shepherd's handiwork?"

He nods, "You guessed correct, I spoke to him yesterday and he cut Alejandro's time short."

"Oof, Alejandro's probably not too happy about that?"

He shrugs, "Couldn't care less, come on, let's get this over with."

We enter the shipping container to find the dark-haired woman seated in a chair in the center of the confined space. She glances up as Graves and I approach, her dark eyes darting between us. Graves positions himself behind her and she eyes me up and down as I stand in front of her.