Rivals

Chapter 10

"Rio's Four Factions"

First, there's a part of me that is partially grateful the police haven't come to know the faces of Rio's gang, yet. Second, the other part of me is flooding with a cold mix of confusion and anxiety as to why he's here.

Still standing against the door to my office, I don't move. Instead, feeling my heart pound incessantly at the sight of the gang leader, I watch Rio begin to turn around.

In a black hoodie, with the hood halfway on his head as if he doesn't know how to wear it properly, Rio's dark brown eyes latch onto my own from across the room.

"Why are you here?" I finally gather the words to speak.

In return Rio's full lips curve upward, in amusement, as he then diffuses a low chuckle. "Why can't I be?" he returns.

I watch him begin in his deliberate tracks - towards me. He seems to always move at a slow and calm pace, I'm starting to gather. The gang leader's brown eyes are dark and gleaming with trouble, on mine.

"C'mon, relax." He says lowly, stopping just inches from me. I glance slightly up to keep my cautious gaze on Rio's; his taller figure too close. "I just wanna talk, Isabel." he adds huskily.

I watch his eyes carefully examine my face, and for a moment something flickers within his gaze that's quite unreadable. That is, before a grin creeps it's way onto his face and he turns to walk away from me - increasing the distance between our distinct frames.

"I see you've gotta criminal wall going on here," Rio gestures toward the wall I saw him observing the moment I walked in, "this really help you put together missing pieces and whatnot?"

In return I softly take in a breath, before finally walking towards the center of the room; watching the gang leader wander.

"It does, actually." I answer, solemnly.

Suddenly, the reminder of how Rio and I had left off yesterday at the park, and our deep conversation about all of this - his business, his life, and mine - somehow forces the pinch of nervousness I had in me to wither away.

I clear my throat, beginning to make my way towards him and the wall he examines.

"I call it my Rescue Wall." I inform, tone rather eased and... friendly. My gaze fixes on the wall embellished with red and blue strings across it's surface, in front of me.

I shrug next to Rio, feeling his gaze trace the side of my face while I gaze ahead. "It's just something I came up with two years ago, when I decided to fully commit to saving as many lives as possible. You know, arresting all the bad guys." I explain, eventually reverting my blue-green eyes onto his brown ones.

Rio doesn't tear his attentive gaze from me. And I glance down to the floor momentarily, before walking past him.

"Don't worry, you're not one of them." I say quietly, going to stack up the few files on my desk neatly.

My organized office soon overflows with a deafening silence. And I don't know whether the gang leader is staring in my direction again or if he returned his focus onto the Rescue Wall again, from the current avoidance of eye contact I pull; as I keep my gaze peered down to the belongings on my desk.

But the curiosity yet burns like wildfire within me, and I'm forcing back the question I already asked once before, when I stepped past that door just moments ago.

Why is he here?

Rio clears his throat suddenly, across the room, causing my attention to jolt back at him again. He's now flipping through a confidential file, in front of my file cabinet.
He looks as though he's deeply intrigued by whatever it is - most likely one of Richmond's critical homicide reports.