Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

16: of warmth and shivers

(Prepare yourself, love. This chapter will be quite a ride. :P)

— Rio —

Sissy all but jumped from her seat. The cord from her name tag caught in the microscope's lens, almost toppling it over and into a plasmetallic box labeled "the cell playground."

When the microscope stopped swaying, and Rio saw he wouldn't lose the past three years of his cell culture, he let out a sigh of relief and relaxed in his seat. Sissy didn't even notice the almost-accident.

"Is it Yule?" She placed her clipboard on the table and walked around it to stand at Rio's side. "Is it him? Answer, Gregorio."

"Yep." Rio took the cigarette from her hands, got up from his seat, and only then handed her the phone. "But the connection is bad. See if you can understand anything."

"Oh, I will." She pressed the phone to her ear. "Yuyu? Yule? Can you hear me, hubby?"

Under her glare, Rio mashed the cancer-in-a-tube on an ashtray. Sissy really needed to start following lab safety protocols.

"Take as much time as you need," Rio whispered, patting her bony shoulder. He grabbed the mortal remains of his wac-burger, crumpled them into a bacon-scented ball, and threw it on the bin under his desk, where last month's pizza box and a spoiled box of synthetic sashimi awaited.

The lines softened on Sissy's face, and she slumped on Rio's chair. "Hmm... really, Yule? You can't think of any other excuse?" She let out a teary chuckle. "Oh. Uh-huh.... As if, you pig." She laughed, rubbing her welling up eyes. "Don't be absurd, honey. Of course I was worried, but Cae sent Jackal a message, saying he had found you.... Yeah.... Mhm...." She smiled. "I miss you too, baby. Are you eating properly? ...What?"

Rio shook his head, his lips curling into a warm smile. He caressed Sissy's long red hair and jerked a finger towards the small office-slash-bedroom of their lab. When Sissy nodded, Rio walked away.

His right hand was cold inside his pocket as Rio closed the door at his back. Phillip didn't know, but Rio had found the hidden promise rings in his underwear drawer. Once Phillip left for Old Continent, all Rio had to do was break into his apartment and steal one of them.

No, he only collected what was already his.

He took his hand off of his pocket and stared at the delicate white gold filaments around his ring finger. Gregorio spun the ring with his thumb, watching as the little diamond in the center glimmered under the weak light in the office. Phillip had bought it one size too big, that dork—but he'd be damned if he didn't confess how much he liked it. Thick, but delicate. Strong, but with underlying frailty.

Like Phillip.

"Don't fall in love with your mark, they said. Did I fucking listen? No," he mumbled, furrowing his brows. Six damned years preparing for this job, and he had to play Dom fucking Juan.

Literally.

Rio huffed and fell on his makeshift bed, kicking his feet up. And why? Why did he like Phillip so much, anyway? The sex wasn't even that good—Rio had to teach Phillip everything about what entails a good foreplay—so where did these weird feelings come from?

"Disgusting stuff," Rio muttered, rolling to the side and hiding his face on Sissy's floral-scented pillow.

Phillip was so dumb. So self-centered, rude, and so attached to his mother. Not that the last one was a terrible trait, but... Rio just didn't have a mother. He didn't know how to deal with one. Also, Phillip's relationship with his money was always funny, to say the least. He liked fancy stuff and spared no expense to get it, even with a now almost-empty bank account.