Undercover Lover

Exclusive

Sunlight softly flitted through your thin curtains, warm rays falling onto your face as you stared up at the ceiling from your bed. It was the next morning after your outing with Gerard yesterday, which was wrapped up by the two of you grabbing a slice of pizza to eat while the two of you walked through the city and talked. You kept it casual with him, insisting the two of you grab something small and not go sit down and eat like he suggested. As much as you needed to spend time with him, sometimes it was hard for you morally. If he wasn't who he was, you'd probably really like him. His personality, when he actually showed some of it, was bright, playful, teasing. It made you blush, gave you the good kind of nerves.

But you couldn't allow yourself to like someone as bad as him. It wasn't what you stood for. As an agent, you swore to protect this city from evil, to take down the bad guys and save lives. He went against everything you pledged to be. After losing so much, you needed to save someone.

You decided to start by sneaking into the VIP lounge today before night hours. During the small part of the day the club was open, not many people really came in, but Gerard kept it open for business people to come and meet and for anyone who wanted a drink during the day. You figured you could go into work early and check out the lounge when no one was looking and then sneak back out. What else was there for you to do?

~*~

After waiting for the club to open up and putting your uniform on, you headed to Club Killjoy, a black jacket pulled tight around your torso to battle the cold. At least it wasn't snowing yet. You hurried your steps to finally get inside, nearly running from the chill in the air as the wind started to pick up.

"You're here early," a voice came from the bar.

"Figured you'd want my company," you quipped, flashing a friendly smile to Josh, the club's other bartender. You had spoken with him and Tyler interchangeably throughout the nights you had worked, developing friendships with them and Jenna. You still weren't sure how involved they were with Gerard's "business" though. They didn't spill many details about him or really anything about the club.

"Flattering yourself, hm?" Josh teased, leaning on his elbows on the bar as you approached him.

"Just speaking the truth," you replied with a casual shrug, motioning for him to hand you a rag from behind the bar. You could use wiping down the tables as an excuse for making your way toward the VIP lounge.

Josh handed you a white rag with a smirk, shaking his head before going back to cleaning a few glasses.

You turned and walked to the main lounge, which was empty to your delight. "Slow day today?" You called to Josh as you started to mindlessly clean off one of the tables.

"Yeah, not much going on right now. Should pick up soon though," Josh replied, his eyes not lifting from the glass he was focused on, his red hair cascading down his forehead, teasing at his sight.

Then you needed to hurry up and get to the VIP lounge before anyone caught you. Watching Josh carefully, you steadily backed your way toward the door of the VIP lounge, steps quiet. You reached out to grip the doorknob, the coldness nearly shocking you as you turned the knob. You peaked inside the door to see a dark hallway illuminated by a golden lightbulb from up above. At the end of the hallway was a black door that was shut of course. You entered the hallway, shutting the door behind you and making your way to the other door. Dark red carpeting covered the flooring, padding your already soft steps as you reached the black door.

You felt a flush of worry at the thought of it being locked. You tested the doorknob, feeling it give and turn. They really wouldn't lock the room they were so adamant to keep people out of? You shook the thought away and entered, your eyes doing a sweep of the room that was illuminated with golden light like the hallway. It really didn't look that different from the main lounge. There was a short, medium-sized circular table in the middle of a group of black leather lounge chairs. That was it. Chairs and a table.

They had to be hiding something somewhere. You tapped your foot on the hardwood flooring, trying to listen for hollow spots. Maybe there was a door leading beneath the property in here? You moved around to the table, kneeling so that you could check under the table and chairs to see if anything was attached to the bottom of them. Before you could start to frisk the furniture, the door flung open, prompting you to stumble to your feet, face flushing from shock as Frank walked in.

"Oh, look what we have here," Frank murmured, staring you down as he stepped toward you.

"I-I was just cleaning the tables," you actually stuttered, catching a dangerous vibe from Frank, despite his lack of inches on you. You wouldn't be surprised if he carried out a good portion of the hits. You held up the white rag as proof, trying to come off as innocent.

"What's going on?" Gerard's voice came from the doorway as he entered the room, looking between you and Frank.

"She snuck in where she's not allowed," Frank told Gerard, eyes narrowing a degree.

You could tell Frank didn't trust you, but you weren't concerned with him. Whatever satisfied Gerard satisfied the others. You needed to convince the leader.

"I told Josh I was going to clean the place up a little before night hours," you told Gerard, shrinking back a little into yourself, an anxious expression overtaking your features. You hadn't actually told Josh, but he could still vouch for you.

Gerard held your gaze for a moment, like he was reading you, testing your honesty.

The tension bordered on crushing for you, adding onto your nervous performance by making you draw a shaky breath in through your nose. He was adamant in making sure you were genuine, and you had to play that part with every fiber of your being.

Finally, a small smile appeared on Gerard's face, his posture relaxing a little. "It was just a misunderstanding. I should've explained to her that the VIP lounge doesn't need to be serviced by staff," Gerard told Frank, calming him and making him back off of you.

"I'm really sorry. I know you guys use this place a lot, so I figured it was due to be cleaned," you explained, dropping your eyes to the ground to come off as compliant. You flinched as you felt an arm curl around your shoulders, feeling your body being pulled against another. You tilted your head up to see Gerard looking down at you, your body tucked against his.

You felt a jolt in your chest, bordering on shocked at the comforting motion. It made you feel warm and sick to your stomach at the same time. You couldn't deny that it felt nice being pressed against him, the smell of him so strong and prominent it nearly made your head spin. Then again, it put you on edge. How could you let someone who had taken so many lives with his own hands touch you like this, like he cared, like he wanted to somehow save you from this situation?

"Don't worry about it. Really," Gerard told you sincerely as he led you out of the room, his eyes meeting Frank's briefly as he passed by him. He took you back into the main part of the club, golden light succumbing to the red glow.

"I didn't know it was so exclusive," you commented, testing your boundaries a little. How much would he tell you?

"It's just for business discussions. It's kind of like our own sacred meeting place, been using it since I opened Club Killjoy," Gerard explained, a light laugh accompanying his words to make the concept not seem so serious.

You could tell he was trying to cover up a little, to soothe your worries to the point of forgetting. You wouldn't forget or let this go, but you had to pretend to.

"Oh okay. I'm going to see if Josh needs help with anything before night hours," you nearly chirped the words, giving him a flash of a smile as you slipped out from under his arm and made your way to Josh. Your skin felt alive, blissfully numb from the contact, and it brought you enough shame to make you disgusted with yourself. This case was definitely going to be a lot harder to finish than you thought.