Chapter 3

“Cough cough…”

“Are you okay?” Cyrrus offered her a cup of water, his expression looking genuinely worried. “Here, drink this.”

“Th— Cough, thanks.” Aria took a few big gulps, belatedly taking note of two things. One, there was no poison in the water, though there was a slice of lemon. Two, this was Cyrrus’ own cup.

The CEO really had low defenses.

Filing away that information for now, Aria caught her breath and returned the cup to Cyrrus. “I’m good now. Sorry about that.”

“Not at all. I should be the one apologizing.” Cyrrus looked sheepish. “I scared you, didn’t I?”

“Huh? No.” Nothing about you is scary at all. But Aria didn’t say that out loud. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I was moving too quickly.” Cyrrus cleared his throat. “I suppose it was… inappropriate for me to invite myself over to a girl’s house on the second date. That was rude, sorry.”

Oh yeah, she was a girl. Aria was so occupied with the tools of her trade piling up in her hallway that she completely forgot about that. But she could use this!

“Y-Yeah, you’re right.” Her mind went into overdrive. “Actually, I know a place. It’s my friend’s, so we can get a discount…”

It was then that Aria heard herself and realized how ridiculous she sounded. Was she really offering to bring a billionaire to her friend’s back-alley bar?

“Sure, sounds like a plan! Shall we meet at the lobby after work, or do you want to head home first? I can pick you up.”

Staring at Cyrrus’ excited grin, Aria began wondering for the first time if she wasn’t the only weird one here.

*

“No way.” The bartender stared at Aria as though she had grown two heads. “You can’t be serious.”

“Jason, this is Cyrrus Lied.” Aria squirmed under her friend’s piercing glare. “Cyrrus, this is my friend, Jason Stone.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Cyrrus cheerfully offered Jason a handshake. The bartender hastily threw aside the dirty rag he was using to wipe glasses and rubbed his hands down on his apron. 

“You’re kidding. Are you really the Cyrrus Lied?” Jason gushed, shaking Cyrrus’ hand a bit too vigorously. “Aria, where did you even find someone like him?”

“He’s the CEO of my compa—”

“Our mutual friends introduced us,” Cyrrus interrupted, his tone breezy. “I love the vibe of this place.”

Jason and Aria both fell silent at that. The bar was pounding with last decade’s second-rate EDMs, and it sounded like someone was already picking a drunken fight at the creaky old pool table with only half a set of cues. 

As Cyrrus continued to smile at them, one of the thugs snapped one of the remaining cues in half over his mate’s head.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to borrow the washroom. We came here straight from the office, and there was a bit of rush hour traffic.”

Jason wordlessly pointed Cyrrus to the toilets at the back.

After Cyrrus left, the bartender rounded down on Aria.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Spider?!” he hissed. “Is that really the Cyrrus Lied?! Your fucking target?! And you brought him here?!!”

“Chill, Tyto.” Aria tried to calm him down, though she couldn’t quite meet his gaze. Even she knew this was a bad idea. “I wasn’t thinking, okay? He wanted me to bring him out on a date, and this is the only place I knew.”

“You brought. Your assassination target. To one of our fucking intel centers.” Jason, codename Tyto, slammed the glass down on the counter so hard it made Aria wince. She was certain she saw the yellowed glass crack. “Are you trying to blow our cover?!”

“He doesn’t know.” Aria was reassuring herself as she was Jason. “As far as he’s concerned, this is just another rundown bar.”

“Oh my god, you’re serious.” Jason held his head. “I don’t get it. Why the hell did the Madam assign this job to you? We should’ve known. You were never cut out for this job, Spider. All you’re good at is smashing heads together, not subterfuge.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with trying to diversify?” Aria said defensively. Nevertheless, being here in front of her childhood friend from Black Dahlia’s home pressured her to perform at her best. Even as she argued with Jason, she kept an eye on the direction of the washroom.

When she saw Cyrrus approaching the counter, she maintained the same tone of conversation so he wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

“Yeah, so maybe this job is new to me, but I’m learning! My colleagues at work have been really helpful to.” Phoebe in particular.

“Hmph.” Jason remained unconvinced, but he knew this was not the time to get on her case. “Don’t hesitate to fire her if she messes up too hard, Mr. Lied. She’s tough enough to take it.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Cyrrus laughed, rejoining them at the counter and taking a seat on one of the worn stools. “A house brew for me, please. You two seem close.”

“We’re old friends.” The best lies always contained a hint of the truth. Jason knew that better than Aria, and he lied as smoothly as he slid the mug down the counter. “But don’t you worry about me, Mr. CEO. Aria’s like a sister to me, the type who used to push me down the stairs as a prank. If you want her, she’s all yours. 

“Though I don’t know why anyone would ever want her…”

“Jason!” Aria protested, accepting a tall glass full of her usual drink. It was spiked with a little something to keep her alert and awake, plus she liked the way it tingled on her tongue.

“Is this where I ask for her embarrassing childhood stories?” Cyrrus leaned in. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself despite the ruckus in the background, and he had even downed more than half of his mug already.

Jason shot Aria a look, while the latter shrugged.

“Do your worst, Jason. I have nothing to hide.”

“Oh, really? Well, what about the time you pulled out my hair because I ate your dessert…?”

Jason continued to refill their cups as they chatted, but Aria could sense that he was as confused as she was. Cyrrus was way too defenseless.

To the point that it was almost suspicious.

Aria was well aware that she didn’t have Jason’s experience when it came to dealing with people, but she did have a natural sense for foul play. The kids at the home used to call it her “animal instincts”. 

And her instincts were telling her that there was something off about this rich, well-bred billionaire.

He really was too trusting, too gullible… too enthusiastic. Yes, Aria was the one who reached out first by having Phoebe introduce them, but even she could tell that it was strange how eager Cyrrus seemed to be to push their relationship forward. 

She glanced at Jason. It wasn’t because of her natural charisma, was it? Maybe she was just that charming.

Jason rolled his eyes. “You know, Mr. Lied, me and her friends were all convinced she would die single and alone. She must have been really lucky to meet you.”

“No, no.” There was already a tipsy edge to Cyrrus’ smile. “I’m the lucky one here. I don’t usually believe in love at first sight, but…”

He took another chug. Behind his mug, Jason and Aria exchanged a look of alarm.

Was he serious? Aria was stunned to realize that she couldn’t tell, and Jason looked just as stumped as she was.

This was worrying… Aria bit her lip. There was only one way to find out. It was a little risky this early on in the mission, but she had to address this uncertainty.

The argument behind them had escalated into a full-on brawl. While Jason kept Cyrrus occupied, Aria took another sip of her drink, coughed to bring her hand to her mouth, and then flicked the chunk of ice she had slipped into her fingers behind her.

It hit one of the thugs smack in the back of the head.

“The fuck was that?!” the man roared, swirling around. 

Aria “accidentally” met his gaze and then quickly looked away. Just as she expected, that was provocation enough.

“What are you looking at, bitch?” The man stormed toward her, getting everyone’s attention. The second Cyrrus turned around, she “instinctively” leaned closer toward him, bringing the thug’s focus to him. “Hey, you! Keep a leash on your broad.”

Cyrrus frowned, while Aria watched his every reaction closely.

Time to see if he meant what he said about loving her… and if he was truly as defenseless as he seemed to be.