Dealing Hearts: An Academy FF Short Story (Completed)

Chapter 8

The moment I saw Raven with Corey, I could see the difference between the two of them. They were more open, less stiff, and couldn't stop looking at each other. Corey even blushed. When I walked into the little meeting room and he saw me, he did stiffen up though. I sat down at the front of the table. Raven passed Corey one of the bottles of water in his hand and then came to give me the other, sitting down next to me.

"Thank you, little one," he whispered into my ear while Corey pretended to focus on his laptop.

I turned and kissed his cheek. "Are you happy?"

He nodded. "But I'm not letting you go."

I shook my head as the others came into the room. We would talk about this later because I wasn't really sure what was going to happen. Raven loved Corey. He said he loved me. Where did that leave us?

Once everyone settled down, the meeting started right away.

"I'm spending the day in my hotel room, just relaxing," I said. "That's my excuse."

"It'll give us time because tonight is going to be a lot trickier than we hoped," Kevin said. "Corey couldn't get into Sheppard's computer last night. He didn't have enough time and the man is running off a private server. He needs to get access."

I leaned back. "And how do I do that."

Corey slid over a little pouch and I opened it to see a small USB. "I'll need you to download this onto his computer."

"To do that, she'll need to get access to his place," Raven said, frowning.

Brandon stared at me, watching my expression carefully. I smiled at him because he was probably thinking about yesterday and my confession. I didn't like what I had to do, but I would, because it was my assignment. And if I didn't do it, someone else would have to.

"Well, good thing I already set it up to get an invitation back." I glanced at Raven.

"What did you do?" he asked, his accent thickening.

"My job," I said. "I flirted, I let him know I liked different men each day, and I suggested he could be one of them if he played his cards right. I'll get into his place. I just need an exit strategy."

"No." Raven jumped to his feet. "Not happening."

I got to my feet. "It is, Raven. What did you think was going to happen? They asked me to do this assignment because I'm female. And I'm fucking good. I can pull this off." I straightened up from leaning toward him. "And this isn't the first time I've done that."

"I won't let you act like a whore!"

"Shit, Raven!" Marc said, but I reacted before anyone could do anything. I moved around the corner of the table, grabbed Raven by his shirt and kicked his feet out from underneath him. I followed through, sitting on top of him, applying pressure to his airpipe as he landed on the ground. His eyes were wide as he stared at me, awareness of what he just said clicking in.

"I have never," I seethed, "acted as a whore. I have never laid with a man for an assignment. I'm fucking good at my job, Yevgeny Ravenstahl and that slimeball will never have the chance to touch me. I will not let you call me down. Do you understand me?"

Huge hands grabbed at me, lifting me away from Raven. I let them, still glaring at my boyfriend, my heart hurting with just the implications alone. My mother loved to call me down and I fought tooth and nail against her allegations.

"Fuck," Marc said, coming around the table. The hands on my arms felt familiar enough to tell me they were Axel's. Marc and Kevin helped Raven up as he stared at me. Brandon watched, cautious and ready to jump in if needed. Corey just watched the two of us, his expression nearly closed down, but his worry peeked through.