MTLNOVEL Chapter 18: A dangerous allure
Patricia's heart raced as she gazed deeply into Isaac's eyes, her lips lightly touching his. The moment felt surreal, almost dreamy, and her stomach fluttered with tiny butterflies. This was a new sensation for her, something she'd never experienced, not even with her first boyfriend Richard or with Jonathan. Although this wasn't quite a kiss, it felt like a first kiss, and she found herself surprisingly enjoying it. She even began to imagine what it would feel like if it were a real kiss, their lips moving in sync, their tongues exploring each other's mouths. How sweet would it taste?
Patricia was jolted out of her thoughts by a chuckle from Isaac. His mischievous eyes and smirk made her heart skip a beat as he whispered against her lips, "Wow...I guess I didn't need to use my charms after all. Ms. Milton, it seems you've already fallen for this handsome knight. Too bad...I don't like women who are easily gullible and swayed by swine in cool suits and shades. That's a dangerous sign. It means they're too easygoing and too trusting. I expected more from you. Tsk...too bad..."
His words felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her. 'Me? Gullible? Easygoing? Too trusting? Is he calling me dumb and naive? Dumb and naive!!' "Aaaah!!!" Isaac yelped as Patricia suddenly sat up and hit his chest hard. "Oww...damn, Sweeches, stop hitting your handsome knight...what kind of princess are you?"
"The kind that is not dumb and naive! If you think that just because you saved me, I will be swooning all over you, think again, Mr. Agent! I'm not interested in you! I've already had my fill of disgusting swine, so I'm well-versed in that department, thank you very much! If you think you can sweep me off my feet because you're some kind of hero, guess again. I am not easily gullible or swayed by macho muscles with brains the size of peanuts. So try to lure me all you want, but I am not interested," Patricia declared.
She moved out of the car and stood with her back to Isaac to hide the embarrassed blush on her face. She knew that what she had just said was nonsense, and that she was indeed starting to feel something for this man, something dangerous and yet alluring. But the man had just called her feelings dumb and naive. 'Who does he think he is? Anyway, let me forget about it and throw him out of my mind. I cannot have any distractions right now; I need to concentrate on my mission, and this man is a sure distraction. Just ignore him, Patricia, and focus on what you need to do. Since he has been following me, he must know something...and that is not good. I don't want a nosy agent poking his nose into my business, or this entire mission will crumble before it even begins. I must find out what he knows and try to lure him away, for both his sake and mine,' Patricia thought. Then she turned around and faced Isaac, who was watching her with a piercing gaze. She quickly averted her eyes and cleared her throat before asking, "What do you want from me? I thought we agreed to stay out of each other's business. So why are you still spying on me?"
Isaac shook his head and sighed. "Do you like milkshakes?"
Patricia looked at him, baffled by his question. Isaac didn't reply but gave her a dashing smile.
...
"Here are your orders. One chocolate milkshake and one strawberry ice cream. Please enjoy," said a waiter as he placed their order on the table in a café a few miles away from Jethro's auction house. Patricia thanked the waiter and took hold of her ice cream bowl. She dipped her spoon, scooped some, and savored it. The taste was heavenly, and she subconsciously let out a moan of satisfaction as she licked the spoon clean.
She opened her eyes and saw Isaac looking at her intently. Realizing what she had done, she blushed slightly and said, "What? Why are you looking at me like that? I haven't had ice cream in a long time, and I truly missed it." She pouted cutely and started swirling the spoon around the ice cream bowl. Isaac looked at her in disbelief before bursting out laughing. Patricia glared at him, feeling a little embarrassed, then pouted her lips in anger and turned to gaze out the window.
Isaac stopped laughing and said, "Wow...I swear I've never met someone so cute and adorable. Let me tell you something, Sweeches." He took a long sip of his milkshake and continued, "If you use that as a weapon, those disgusting swine won't know what hit them. I have to say, I'm impressed. Guess you're not that dumb and naive after all...owwww!" He was interrupted by a firm kick from Patricia.
"Call me dumb and naive one more time, and I swear the next kick will be at your 'tree of life.' Got that?" Patricia said in a low, angry voice as her eyes bored holes into Isaac's forehead.
Isaac gulped, liking the fire inside Patricia. His little Sweeches wasn't so gullible, dumb, and naive after all. Although he knew it, he wanted to test her by pushing her buttons. He wanted her to understand that the game she was playing was not a video game but a real game where people got hurt and killed without extra lives. If you were done for, you were done for, with no turning back. So he felt it right to protect his little lamb even when she thought she didn't need him.
Isaac rubbed his leg, chuckled, shook his head, and raised his hand in defeat. He took another sip of his milkshake and remained quiet. Patricia softened her gaze and went back to enjoying her ice cream. After a while, she said, "Please don't get involved. I know what I'm doing, and I don't need anyone else to be involved. Just focus on your own investigations and stay out of mine."
Isaac remained silent for a while, drinking his milkshake. Then he said, "I am doing my investigations, Sweeches, and you just happen to be a part of them."
He looked outside and continued, "For years, I've been going after the notorious drug-dealing and human trafficking cartels, but the devils always find a way to slip out of my hands. Every time, I'm brought back to square one, and those bastards are still running free. Free to cause harm and havoc in the world by killing and exploiting innocent lives for their pleasure. I've lost a lot of good men and women fighting these bastards, and the situation keeps getting worse. It pains me that, even with the power to stop it, I can't. I'm rendered useless by those bastards." He slammed the table in anger, took a deep breath, and continued.
"I had lost all hope in the sense of justice, especially in the corrupt systems that govern our world. I was ready to take matters into my own hands and finish this cat-and-mouse game once and for all. So I started going undercover at some of the illegal underground clubs as a customer to get a glimpse of their world and see their plans and shady activities. For months, I went home empty-handed until one night...something unusual happened..."
Patricia's ears perked up at his words. Isaac looked at her and said, "I went to one of the illegal underground clubs in the city, where my sources told me Mr. X would be. I saw him enter the club, and after a while, a guy showed up who I knew must be one of Mr. X's contacts. As I was about to approach him, a waitress did first, and they were soon caught up in a conversation. Before I could speak to him, another guy took the man and the waitress to another part of the club, meant for the exclusives, so I couldn't follow them. I felt sorry for the waitress. With all my years investigating Mr. X, I knew that girl wasn't going to come out alive or without a missing persons report. But to my utmost surprise, I saw the waitress return to her duties. I was shocked she was alive but still not confident because I had a hunch Mr. X wanted to deal with her outside the club. I followed her, and surprisingly, nothing happened as I imagined. So I got interested and discovered she was an invaluable asset... and here we are."
Patricia remained silent for a few moments, then sighed and said, "So it wasn't a coincidence you showed up to my rescue that night at the cemetery. You were actually following me...I should have known," she said, sounding a little disappointed.
"Anyway, I'm still not going to involve you in anything. This is my fight, and I don't want anyone else involved. Your involvement will put me at great risk. These people know you and know you're after them, so you'll jeopardize my mission. But to repay you for saving my life, I can promise to provide you with information and evidence when I get my hands on it. But I don't want you involved, so please don't make things difficult for me."
Then Patricia saw some men getting out of a car, and she immediately recognized them as the men Alisha had shown her when she was being discharged from the hospital. They were the men Jethro had asked to keep an eye on her. She saw them roaming around the area, probably looking for her. When she saw them about to approach the café, she immediately grabbed Isaac's hand and ducked under the table.
Then she surveyed the room and saw another exit from the café on the other side. So as she saw the men about to enter the café. She immediately dragged Isaac and ran to the other exit and they exited the café. They went and hid behind a car in order not be seen through the window.
"Who are they? And why are we running?" asked Isaac.
"Shhhh!! They will hear us!" Patricia whisper-shouted as she watched the men roaming inside the café. When she saw them looking away from the window, she quickly dashed with Isaac in tow towards her car parked on the other side of the street. As they were about to enter the car, she saw them exiting the café and roaming the area again. They quickly ducked so they wouldn't be seen. All the while, Patricia was still holding Isaac's hand.
Isaac felt a warm feeling engulf him as he looked at Patricia trying to protect him. It seemed they both had the same noble feeling of protection for each other. They both wanted to keep each other safe despite their differences.
Patricia saw the men moving away to look at another area. She released a sigh of relief and said, "They are gone... Those were Jethro's men. He assigned them to keep an eye on me. Now you see why I don't want you to get involved..."
Patricia's words got stuck in her throat the moment she turned her head and faced Isaac. She saw him staring beamingly at her with his blue eyes holding a lot of unexplainable emotions. Isaac looked deep into Patricia's eyes and tightened his hold on her hand.
After he saved her from the hole all those years ago, he felt an uncontrollable connection towards her. At first, he thought it was a sense of duty to protect her, but as the years went on, it slowly turned into something more. However, he was a coward to confront his feelings and confess them to the girl who had captured his heart all those years ago. So instead, he always watched her from the sidelines as she grew up to become the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
Unbeknownst to Patricia, Isaac even went to the same schools she attended from kindergarten to high school and would always watch her from the sidelines, sometimes even protecting her from danger. But he never had the courage to face her and confess his feelings. When he was drunk one day after attending a friend's party, he suddenly got the courage to confess to her and make himself known. But when he arrived at her home, he found nothing except a ghost house with no living soul inside except for dust and mice.
Isaac looked at Patricia, his heart beating fast with yearning. Now that she was finally in his life again, he was never planning on letting her go...never again.