MIMI

About a quarter of an hour later, he had read through two weeks" worth of work. Looking up at the time, he wasn"t surprised to see that is was now late in the evening. Tobias was preparing to make a phone call to Juno to make adjustments in some of the doc.u.ments when he heard his doorbell ring.

Tobias sighed and rubbed his eyebrows with some irritation. He sets his work to the side and stood up to answer the door. When he opened the door, he was. .h.i.t with a wave of déjà vu.

Tobias gaped. He stuttered a little as he asked, "Mi...Mimi, what—"

"You said I could use you, right? Did you mean it?" Mimi asked sternly.

Cracks started appearing in Tobias"s frozen expression as he processed what was going on. He recalled the words he said to her the night she slept over his house.

Silently, he nodded his head.

Mimi kept her eyes fixed on him, not willing to miss the tiniest change of expression on his face.

She clenched the hems of her jacket sleeves tightly before asking, "Then, can I use you now?"

Tobias didn"t reply to her. He simply stood in front of the door and stared down at the girl with intense, dark eyes. Mimi stared up into his face as he stared back at her emotionlessly. His gaze was impa.s.sive, giving nothing away.

That"s when she noticed those dark eyes of his softening, the icy mask of his slowly melting away.

"What do you need?"

…

The bar curves into the room, dark in the barely lit room. Through the windows, the diamonds of lead panes trickle the pale light of street-lamps. A permeating smell of cigarette smoke held an addition of stale beer and body odor.

A group of men shouted in frustration as they stared at the forty-two-inch screen over the bar. The players on the screen have just dinged the puck against the goal post, squandering their chance to score.

"They f.u.c.king blew it!" A man barked, slamming down a fifty-dollar bill on the counter.

The bartender snorted, scooping up the bill before tucking it in his pocket.

"Sorry, but that"s three out of five now."

The man scoffed and glared. "It was just dumb luck!"

The bartender chuckled and began polishing gla.s.ses. The man rolled his eyes and sipped his beer. The sting of alcohol attacked his throat, causing him to let out a series of coughs. Simultaneously, the bell to the bar door jangled.

The man jerked his head slowly to his right to see two figures walking in.

His brows raised.

The smoke within the bar twisted in its artistic way, forming curls in the gloom, illuminated only by the age-speckled bar lights. Through the smoke, he could make out the figure of a pet.i.te girl. While she seemed no older than a teenager, her eyes were beyond those of a naive, timid youth.

The girl"s silk-like skin was white and tender, glowing a healthy color, and her big, violet eyes were her most powerful weapon. She instantly captured not just his attention, but everyone within the bar.

They were all too distracted by the presence of the girl, to notice the tall, imposing man behind her. When the man suddenly felt a p.r.i.c.kly chill run across his skin, he looked up and was stunned.

The tall man"s eyes that were jet black were like two swords, and they p.r.i.c.ked him all over. Those eyes looked like they wanted to rip him apart. The man couldn"t help but feel intimated and glanced away from the duo, nervously drinking his beer.

The bartender glanced up and frowned slightly.

"Little girl, read the sign. People under twenty-one can"t enter, go home."

Without as much of a glance at the bartender, Mimi stepped into the direction of the group of men. Her glowing eyes fixed on them like a tiger who found its prey. Realizing the girl was walking toward them, the men grew quiet and stared at the girl with raised brows.

She calmly hoisted herself on a stool, her clear gaze staring at the group of men, and there was not the slightest bit of panic in her eyes.

"Which one of you is Monty?" Mimi said as she slowly lifted her eyes, the icy gaze sweeping over the group of men one by one, a chill shooting right through their entire bodies from those words.

At that moment, a dark-skinned man leaning against the booth meets her gaze with a smile. He lights up a cigarette to add to the hazy cloud, lingering and stagnant air.

"Who"s asking, sweetheart?"

The man"s eyes couldn"t help but wander to the girl"s figure. Up close, she was even more attractive. Like a porcelain doll.

Such a white, delicate and fragile neck. It made him want to reach out and touch to see if it was as delicate or fragile as he imagined. It looked like it would break if he touched it once.

At the same, he felt a chill run down his spine. He coolly glanced at the man behind the girl, and he unexpectedly confronted a pair of dark, chilling eyes. The dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes before looking back at the girl.

"What do you want?" His tone grew colder.

Mimi"s expression remained calm as she asked, "I want you to tell me about your partnership with Shen Jue. What are his connections?"

The man"s eyes darkened, but he concealed it very well.

"Sweetheart, I don"t know who you are, but I would recommend you go back home."

Just as the man was about to stand up, Mimi suddenly grabbed onto his arm. At that moment, the room fell silent. The group of men"s aura darkened, their eyes landing on the girl"s hand as if it was on fire.

The man froze and coldly looked at the girl. His gaze was ruthless with an exceptionally dangerous undertone.

"We"re not done until I say so," Mimi said coldly.

"Oh?" The man laughed sinisterly. "Sweetheart, I don"t know if you"re stupid or just that d.a.m.n brave, but I like it."

His eyes glanced over to the bartender who suddenly nodded. Tobias noticed their exchange and the look in his eyes darkened.

"You want to know about Shen Jue, correct?"

Mimi nodded.

The corner of the man"s lips curled. He looked at the bartender and grabbed the pair of cards from him. "Then play five rounds with me. If you win against me three times, I"ll tell you whatever you want. If you lose…"

Mimi could feel the man"s gaze lingering on her. She could already predict what he wanted.

"If you lose, then, I want you to spend the night with me." He glanced at Tobias behind her and smiled. "That handsome fellow behind you too."

Mimi was stunned, and Tobias raised an eyebrow with an expression darkening by the minute. Unable to maintain her calm composure, Mimi frowned. She stole a glance at the stone-faced Tobias and clenched her fists.

She had asked Tobias to help her find connections to the underworld, however, she didn"t want to drag him into it. While she played a few rounds with Grace and Alec before, Mimi wasn"t too confident she could win.

She was hoping she could exploit Tobias"s connections to intimidate the man. But who would have thought before she could even mention it, the man had already arranged something.

Although she wanted to find information on Shen Jue, she didn"t want it at Tobias"s expense. The moment Mimi opened her mouth to cancel the bet; an icy voice sounded from behind her.

"I"ll do it."

Mimi was stunned. She abruptly raised her head, and her eyes met with Tobias"s calm gaze.

"Tobias don"t…"

Tobias looked down at her. His expression was as cool as ever, like an icy mountain, and his tone was calm as he said: "It"ll be all right."

For the first time, she could not believe Tobias"s words. She wanted to, but when she thought of the possible outcome if they lost, she grew more uneasy.

"We can find another way. You don"t have to do this." She said in a voice only he could hear.

Tobias looked at her for quite a while, then gently said, "Let me make it up to you."

Surprise leaked out from Mimi"s gaze. She hadn"t expected his response to be so absurd.

Forget about making it up to her! The man was gambling his innocence for her! Was he stupid?

"Tobias…" Mimi"s voice cracked a little.

Tobias"s gaze softened. He let out a light sigh and stroked her head.

"Trust me. Okay?" He asked softly.

Mimi stiffened. It had been a while since she felt the warmth of his hand on her head. It felt so comforting. So safe. Mimi hesitated slightly and then her gaze turned resolute again. Her next words were full of sincerity, a beaming smile on her face.

"Mm, I trust you."

Tobias smiled in return and caressed her head once more before looking up at the group of men – the previous warmth gone.

"I"ll agree to play. However, if I lose, she"s out of the bet." Tobias instructed in a dull tone.

The dark-skinned man raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mimi standing closely behind Tobias. When he met Tobias"s cold eyes once more, he let out a defeated sigh.

"Fine. Then it"ll just be you and me then." He smiled and licked his lips. "Let"s play."