Chapter 2: A Blessing or A Curse
Castle
Katherine arrived at Shadow's underground base which was situated in Cona, Florida. After going through a series of security measures, the elevator opened and she entered the lobby of their headquarters.
There were quite a lot of agents walking around leisurely like the place was their home—it was the same for Katherine, Shadow became her home for six years now.
"There she is, my seductress Tiffany Stone." Styles draped his hand over Katherine's shoulder. "I liked that name… it sounds so… slutty." He danced his brows up and down.
Styles was a hot nerd. He wore wayfarer glasses that sat on his sharp nose and contrary to most, he knows how to dress up nicely. The button-down shirt paired with grey pants fit him perfectly.
She smiled at him and handed him a brown paper bag with cronuts inside. "Here," she said.
A huge grin appeared on his face as he excitedly took the pastry from her. "See, this is why I love you!" He smacked a kiss on her temple before he walked away, already eating the cronuts and entered the IT station, Styles' own kingdom. "Alright, nerds! Time to flex those fingers, show me what you got."
Katherine shook her head and chuckled. She loved Styles but she only saw him like a brother not a lover. Turning to her left, she hurriedly went to the next floor going down where Chris' office was located. As her handler for years, Chris became her immediate boss.
On her way, she bumped into Alicia. Katherine hated this woman. Alicia seduced everyone and anyone. Alicia looked at her from head to toe and a nasty chuckle escaped from her lips as she walked past her.
Katherine rolled her eyes, seemingly annoyed by her, as usual.
Before entering Chris's office, she quickly fixed her hair, checked her reflection on the glass wall beside her and knocked.
"Come in."
Opening the door to his office, Katherine saw Chris's side profile. He was looking over the glass window, watching the dozens of agents during their daily training.
Chris was also an agent until he got his spot in the senior officials. Tall, broad shoulders, soft blonde hair and he has clear blue eyes. The color of the suit he wore matched his eyes impeccably. She sighed when she thought that she could never have this man before her.
Noticing that the person who just entered did not move from her spot, Chris turned his head and flashed his gorgeous smile. "Why are you just standing there?" He asked as he walked over to her. "How was your mission?"
Katherine swallowed when she saw him nearing. His perfume wafted in her nose, making her heart beat a little faster than normal.
She cleared her throat and composed herself as she handed him her report. Then she briefed him about her mission that night. She was proud of her work and she knew that she did a great job.
Receiving the file, Chris scanned her face and saw the small wound on the corner of her mouth which she got from the slap that Mrs. Koh gave her earlier. He reached and gently touched her cheek, his thumb lightly grazing the area around the bruise, worried that she was hurt. "Why did you let her slap you like that?"
Katherine felt a chill down her spine when his fingers touched her. His hand was warm and she fought the urge to place her hand over his. 'No, Kath. You can't give in. This is ridiculous, he is your savior and your boss. You should not have these feelings,' she told herself.
Averting her head away and walking towards the glass window, she shrugged. "Don't worry about it. This is nothing."
Chris nodded. "You have a new mission." He was already on his chair whe he tossed a folder with the word 'Confidential' marked on the cover onto the table. Every mission she had was confidential, she already knew that.
She turned to retrieve the folder and immediately skimmed through the paper. "This isn't connected to the Money Laundering case?"
"No. You did a great job on that mission. However, Alicia is going to cover the next one related to that."
'That cunning little—! No wonder she looked at me like that!' she cursed inwardly. "So she stole my mission."
A smile appeared on Chris' face. He stood up and walked towards her, stopping just a foot away. He placed his warm hand on her shoulder and patted it lightly. "This is your new mission. I need you to do this for me. I trust no one else."
And with that, Katherine did not have any choice. After Chris told her that he would forward more details later, she excused herself to go home.
"You should get that checked. Stop by at the infirmary on your way out," Chris said, referring to the small wound on her mouth.
She gave him a sweet smile before closing the door to his office. As soon as she got out, she let out a long exhale and fanned her face with the folder in her hand.
"You, missy, are in trouble." Styles clicked his tongue, teasing Katherine as he walked closer. He knew that Katherine and Chris liked each other but it was obviously not going anywhere.
She looked at him, ready to shut him up, but she could only roll her eyes. "I'm heading home. Goodnight, Styles."
"Sleep tight," he replied before entering Chris' office.
…
Katherine's apartment...
Her place took the entire 18th floor of an apartment building. It had glass walls around the area, brightening the entire space. The place was styled with a modern minimalist vibe, which she decorated herself.
Amidst the tranquility, there's a feeling of darkness looming over the bedroom.
Beads of sweat covered Katherine's forehead. She had been dreaming the same dream for years over and over again. In her dream, she heard gunshots firing in all directions. Footsteps and screams filled the place while she was hiding in her bedroom. Her dream was about that night many years ago when she lost her parents.
She was so scared that time and she had been reliving the same scenario in her dreams—a nightmare that happened for real. She fought so hard to wake up, yet a part of her wanted to stay asleep... because that was the last night that she ever saw her parents. She wanted to see them again.
"Ahhh!" Katherine gasped for air when her teary eyes shot up open. She panted and noticed that she was clutching the thick white blanket on her, just as usual. Her hands relaxed and saw the clock beside her bed; it was three o'clock in the morning.
Reluctantly, she got out of bed and changed into a hoodie, leggings and running shoes before she headed out on the street to run. She did not like the feeling lingering within her and the only way she knew how to get rid of it was to exercise. But after running for twenty minutes, the cold air outside still did not help her at all, so she turned and went back home.
As soon as she stepped inside her apartment, her phone beeped. It was a message from Chris.
[Chris: Friday at 7pm. Formal. Crown Hotel and Casino.]
After reading, she tossed her phone on the counter and headed straight to the gym room where she beat the hell out of a punching bag—only then did she feel better. She took a shower before going back to bed.
She slept through the whole day and only woke up in the middle of the afternoon. Sighing, she strolled across her large apartment with her bare foot. Reaching the kitchen, she opened the bottom freezer of her double door refrigerator, and like usual, she took out a pint of icecream and brought it to the living room.
Katherine flopped on the comfy sofa, turned on the TV showing her favorite cartoon Spongebob, and ate her ice cream in silence.
She had been like this for as long as she could remember as she had always been alone. So most of the time, she chose to stay at home whenever she did not have any missions.
Surviving that tragic night, she did not know if it was a blessing or a curse.
Chapter 3: Delicious Scent
Friday came very fast.
After doing yoga, she took a shower and started preparing for her mission.
The walk-in closet in Katherine's apartment was huge and was mostly made out of glass. There were rows of formal wear in different colors on the right and pairs of shoes that ranged from casual to formal, also in different colors on the opposite side.
Her wardrobe was always up to date and was packed with designer or luxury items — all of which were, of course, courtesy of Shadow.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and gave herself a thorough check. She was wearing a black soft satin dress that covered her shoulders halfway which flowed down into an elegant halter neckline. It's a snug fit which accentuated her breasts, but it did so in an elegant manner.
Katherine applied a light make-up on her face and put on a bright red lipstick. When she was satisfied dolling herself up, she glanced at the time and saw that it was already six in the evening.
Just in time, her phone rang. "Queen," she answered as she placed a Bluetooth earpiece in her ear, then she grabbed her purse and walked out of her apartment.
"I'm sending you further information about the target for tonight. His name is Mr. Nang," Styles said and soon after, Katherine heard a beep on her phone. She checked it while she was in the elevator going to the basement parking.
"Got it."
"This man is the financial consultant of Mr. Cook. He will be present in tonight's event as a guest and your mission is to retrieve a ledger file from him."
"A ledger?" Katherine asked. She took her keys out when she reached the basement parking and pressed the key fob, a black Chevy Corvette from the corner blinked and beeped.
"Mhmm. You need to get that file tonight before he releases it out in the open. We received intel that he planned to use the crowd for tonight's event."
"What am I going to look for?"
"It should be an external flash drive."
Knowing her place, Katherine was not to ask any further questions and just do as she was told. Her mission was to go there and get that file, that's it — and that's exactly what she was going to do.
"There's an ice cream van on the west side of the hotel. Go there and get your invitation."
She got inside her car and turned on the engine. "Alright."
Soon, Katherine arrived at the location. "One vanilla ice cream please," she told the man attending the ice cream truck.
The man inside the truck bent over to the window and gave her ice cream in a cone, along with a white envelope. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Katherine received the items and as soon as she did, she walked away. She opened the envelope and took out a small dark earpiece and placed it in her ear. She licked the ice cream once and threw it in the bin before she headed straight to the entrance of the hotel. "What a waste," she muttered to herself.
"Tch. Now, I want ice cream too," Styles said over the comms.
"Me too and it's your turn to buy me one."
"Fine," he sighed.
Katherine flashed a flirtatious wink when she sashayed her way in, making the security guard smile and feel good about himself. He did not even bother to look at the invitation that she gave and just let her pass through without questions.
Styles started checking through the CCTV cameras around the room while Katherine familiarized herself with the area.
The event hall was full of people in their lavish formal attire. It was apparently the launch of a new company and everyone who was anyone was invited.
Her target, Mr. Nang, was a close confidant of one of the major investors, Mr. Cook, that's why he was supposedly going to be present there that evening.
After scanning the room and not finding her target, Katherine slowly walked towards the bar and got herself a drink.
"Queen, the subject has just entered the hall. He's by the door," Styles informed.
Calmly, Katherine turned her head towards the door and sure enough, she saw Mr. Nang. The subject was in his early thirties and was looking dapper in his grey suit with a beauty next to him.
He was on his way to the dance floor with his lady and then the two of them swayed to the music in the middle of other pairs who were also enjoying the evening.
She downed the remnants of her glass and got off the high stool. Turning to the first man that she saw next to her, she tapped his shoulder, "Do you know how to dance?"
The man turned and smiled, his teeth were yellowish brown and he looked very creepy with his bloodshot eyes; not to mention, his breath stank! "Why yes, lady!"
It gave Katherine the heebie-jeebies and backed away. "Eh, sorry. I thought you were someone I know. My bad."
"Oops." She bumped her back against a hard chest and when she turned, she quickly scanned his face. He wasn't bad looking at all, so she instantly improvised. "There you are! Come let's dance!" She grabbed his hand and headed towards the middle of the dance floor.
The man was bewildered but he didn't seem to mind what was happening, so he allowed her to drag him away.
"Boss..." mumbled the other man who was with him.
Katherine did not pay attention to the man in tow and when they reached the dance floor, she readily planted his hand on her back and held his other hand—all without taking her eyes off of Mr. Nang.
"You should focus on your dancing partner instead of looking at others." The man whispered in her ear and pulled her against his body so abruptly that Katherine yelped in surprise. "Ah!"
She instantly straightened her back and her posture because of the way he held her. 'What is with this guy?' she wondered as she slowly looked up at the man, but what she saw made her brain go fuzzy. He had the sexiest jawline that she had ever seen. She pursed her lips when her eyes focused on that curve and traced her gaze towards his lips. How could a man have such perfect lips?
She began to marvel as she lifted her stare upwards and met his eyes that were also gazing down at her. Her heart skipped a beat, seeing his pair of dark eyes that seemed to be pulling her in.
She inhaled and her nose caught something nice, making her swallow. 'Oh my god... He even smells so good! There's citrus, pear... *sniff*... is that vanilla? *sniff*... ooh and spicy too!' She couldn't help but be seduced by his delicious scent.
A smile slowly appeared on the man's face when he saw the way the interesting woman's face was slowly closing in on him. Was she sniffing?
"He's heading towards the backstage," Styles said in her ear, drawing her back to the mission.
Styles's voice broke her trance and Katherine's head snapped to the side just in time. It looked like Mr. Nang was heading towards the small operator room of the hall.
She immediately let go of the man she was dancing with and pushed herself out of his embrace. "Thanks for the dance," she said casually without looking at him and walked away to follow the subject.
"You're just gonna go?" the man she danced with asked, but Katherine no longer heard him.
"Where is he?" Katherine lost sight of Mr. Nang.
"Ten o'clock."
As soon as she turned in that direction, Mr. Nang saw her. They did not know each other but in his gut, he knew that she was there to stop him. Without thinking twice, Mr. Nang turned on his heel and ran towards the exit.
She sucked in air and excused herself through the crowd. "Stupid heels," she muttered to herself, regretting that she chose a pair of sexy high heeled pumps. What could she have done? It went with her dress really well!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment