? as-sas-sIN’S
LOVE ?
CHAPTER 6
The next day, Montse convinced me to let her go out with me so we could go buy groceries.
Even though I didn’t see it as s-en-sible, I didn’t want her to feel like I was controlling her life.
“Did you see how she was starting at me?” Montse asked, looking at me incredulously as we got out of the car and set to go into the house after returning from our shopping. “If looks could kill, you wouldn’t even get my ashes to keep. And you’re telling me you don’t know why?”
“Why don’t you tell me why?” I said.
I was holding the bag of groceries we’d just bought in both my hands so I indicated for Montserrat to fetch the keys from my pocket. She did.
“Isn’t it obvious.” She asked as she inser-ted the key and unlocked the door. “She’s jealous!”
“Yeah sure.” I said wryly, following her into the house.
“Seriously! Are you sure she’s not your ex-girlfriend?”
“Very.”
I’d only ever seen that woman two times, today being the second time. The first time had been three weeks ago when I’d gone to her grocery sto-re to get some fresh ground coffee.
She’d flir-ted a whole lite me with. I’d fv¢ked her in her washroom, leaving the sto-re totally unattended.
So yeah, I guess she was a one time fling, but Montse didn’t have to know that.
“Well, she looked like she wanted to cry when I hvgged your arm.”
“So you did that deliberately.” I said, looking at her in amusement.
“Why would I do that?” Annoyed lashes batted at me.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
I stepped closer to her, and she backed away. I didn’t st©p, and her back was soon tou-ching the wall. I knew I was crowding her personal space, but I was enjoying this.
I placed my hands on either side of her and looked into her eyes. They were the bluest I’d ever seen, and they burned with so much innocence.
“Uh, what are you doing?” She asked shakily.
God, herl-ips looked so pink and soft. So damn k!ssable.
I leaned down, my thoughts clouded with the nee-d to taste her mouth. Then she wi-de-ned her eyes in alarm. That snapped me out of my trance.
I pu-ll-ed back before I could follow throu-gh with my urges. I deliberately flashed her a sm-irk to make it look like I was just messing with her.
She glared at me before stepping away. I could see her che-st was still rising and falling easily.
What the hell had I been about to do?
“Okay, so what are you ma-king us for lunch?” I asked, hoping to dissipate the tension in the air.
We entered the kitchen and I set the groceries on the counter.
“You mean what you are going to prepare for lunch. I wanna check out your culinary skills.”
I snorted. “You’re joking.”
“What?” She looked at me in confusion. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to cook?”
When I didn’t say anything, her eyes wi-de-ned. “No wonder the cooking appliances looked like they hadn’t been used in ten years.”
“Hey, I know how to prepare coffee.” I said defensively.
“Of course, you’re so good at it that the last you boiled the water, it ended up being burnt.”
And then she bur-st out laughing.
I glared at her. “Very funny.” I said sarcastically even as I found my gaze fixed dazedly on her. Her laugh was dazzling.
“I know right. Being funny is my forte.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how to cook. So what?”
“So it’s pathetic! You live all by yourself and it’s pathetic you don’t know how to cook. But that’s going to change this afternoon.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going to help you to cook!” She said, jumping up and down excitedly.
“Only if you want us to end up ordering for food anyways.” I laughed dryly.
Ten minutes later, I was crying. Literally. Damnit, I hadn’t cried in over a decade and what finally managed to make me cry?
Onions.
fv¢k you, onions!
I sniffed as I continued chopping the onions which I knew I was doing a horrible job at.
“What am I seeing?” Montserrat stepped in front of me, eyes wi-de-ned in exaggeration. “Mr. Granite is crying? Oh my God, I’m going to give these onion a freaking award!”
I glared at her. At least I tried to. Not very easy to do when you have onion water burning your eyes and ma-king focusing them a torturous task.
“Just shut up if you have no help to offer.” I growl.
Montse chuckled as she added water to the flour she’d poured in a bowl. Then she st©pped and looked at me.
“Okay, fine. Come knead the flour, and I’ll cut the onions.”
I was too eager to switch positions. But there was a problem: I had no freaking idea on how to knead flour. I only realized that when I saw the bowl of flour.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to do even that?” Monster gaped at me.
I shrugged. She walked up to where I was standing. “You’re so unbelievable!”
She scooped some floor from the bulk container and without warning, threw it on my black shi-t.
Then she froze. Her eyes wi-de-ned in alarm like she didn’t know how I would react.
The look on her face was so damn hilarious that I did something that I hadn’t done in years;
I laughed.
It had been such a very long time, but damn it felt so good to finally let my b©dy flow with it.
When my mirth subsided, I looked to find Montse gazing at me in awe.
“I never thought a day like this would come where I would see you laughing. Oh God, your laugh is so nice. plea-se laugh more often.”
If only she knew the number of times I’d had to stifle my smiles and my laughter around her back in high school. Even then she’d been so funny despite being so irritating.
To d@t£, she was the only who could dispel the gloom that always clouded my thoughts, even if for a few minutes.
Fisting some of the flour, I exacted my revenge, throwing it all over her dress. She g@sped and looked at me in horror.
“I can’t believe you did that!”
Then we began our battle with the flour. By the time our flour battle c@m£ to an end, flour p@rticles were hanging all around as in the air, decorating the kitchen floor and counter as well as our whole bodies.
“We’re so childish!” She exclaimed.
We both bur-st out laughing. I didn’t remember laughing this long in forever. We managed to prepare the rest of the meal without any more childish pla-ys.
By the time we were done, I had never had this much fun in my life.
*****
I was going crazy.
No, more like Montserrat was driving me crazy.
Before, once I had a target set, I always went for the kill. Now, with Montserrat here, I found myself procrastinating most of my missions just so I could spend time with her.
Even when she made me cook sometimes. Even when she f0rç£d me to sit with her throu-gh the sappy ro-mantic movies I hated with a pas-sion.
The more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to continue spending with her, to have her in my arms.
Emotions that were so unwelcome. As an as-sas-sin who wasn’t p@rt of a mafia gang, I couldn’t afford to feel this much affection for anyone, most especially a woman.
She would become my weakness, a way for my enemies to get to me. The last thing I nee-ded was an Achilles’s heel.
That was why I nee-ded to st©p feeling this way. That was why I nee-ded to rip her out of my system.
For the next few days, it felt like we were pla-ying hide and seek. I would wake up extremely early and leave before Montse could wake up, then return home only when I knew she would be asleep.
Accepting more deals, taking out more bad guys. I bought all necessities for her but never gave them to her personally.
I tried to avoid her at all cost because I didn’t want to continue feeling the emotions being with her made me feel.
Am I falling in love with her?
TBC….