The Lion's Den

Adelaide

---

"I don't like you, Adelaide." He stated before turning to leave the room.

The room was engulfed in silence for a few moments causing me to let out a deep sigh and slump into the chair, taking a long drink of my coffee.

"So, Jamie, what's our exit strategy?"

---

As everyone slowly filtered out of the stuffy meeting room I hung back, too mentally exhausted from not only the constant planning but from the lack of sleep I had experienced in this household.

When living in MI6 headquarters I often had a hard time sleeping but never to this extent. At one point it was so bad that I had pleaded for an iPod so that I could listen to music and fall asleep, to no avail. Even then, it was never this hauntingly terrifying.

I curled up on the leather sofa and looked at the bottom of my empty mug that was previously filled to the brim with steaming coffee, now drained to dregs.

"You have him wrapped around your finger," Malcolm stated, leaning against the wall opposite the sofa.

He hadn't left.

I looked at him quizzically. If he was talking about Romano, then he was sorely mistaken. He had just admitted that I hadn't proven myself enough to him and the team, not only insulting me but my skills of which I held in high regard.

"Both Jamie and Romano, I mean," he clarified, making me lean forward slightly in shock and interest with what was coming out of his mouth.

"How so?"

His icy blue eyes drilled into my green ones as a sly smile curved his lips upwards.

"You gave computer boy a shit ton of work to do and he didn't even bat an eyelash." He stated flippantly.

When I didn't reply he continued to speak,

"Then, you had Romano agree to a plan he didn't like with just your words." His gaze travelled across my face, slowly taking in my features.

I didn't know how to reply to his various observations. Everything that he had said was true but that didn't mean that I had them wrapped around my finger, did it? Being in Romano's household gave me more freedom to explore who I was and in response, different sides of me were coming up. Sides that I hadn't had the chance to see and experience in MI6.

It was natural, really.

I contemplated how I should respond. He surely knew that I didn't actually trust him, right? That I was just using him so that I didn't have to get close to a gun?

"You don't trust me but yet you gave me such a big part in your scheme." His cool voice declared, raising his gaze to meet my eyes again.

"Do you often make obvious statements based on pointless observations?" I challenged him, my voice steely and demanding respect.

His laughter was an unexpected but a sight that I graciously welcomed. It was a deep rumbling chuckle which complimented his outward demeanour to the tee.

Gazing at him from the chair, I was able to take in his appearance. He was tall and his broad shoulders gave the impression that he was bigger than he actually was. Where Romano had bulging muscles, his were leaner and more sculpted. Almost as if he was a statue created by the most talented sculptor in the world. Though, I still doubt that they would've been able to capture his subtle but graceful beauty.

His brown hair had small soft curls that fell onto the top of his forehead. He had an oddly petite nose, peppered with light freckles that ventured only as far as his cheeks until they fizzled out, met instead with silky smooth pale skin.

He smirked when he caught me staring but I didn't shy away.I could appreciate a good looking guy when I saw one.

Plus, he was exactly my type.

"Like what you see, peaches?" He joked, getting a small quirk of my lips and a lethal glare.

"Peaches?"

He nodded, a childish grin spreading on his face making me smile a little in return. His playfulness was infectious.

"So," I started to question him, "you're uncontracted?"

He nodded again, his grin never faltering.

"What do you do then?" I prodded further, not put off by his inability to reply to my previous statement.

He sighed a little, his grin growing slightly smaller.

"I do this and that, y 'know the works."

My eyebrows furrowed at his answer. He was being vague and he knew it. I instinctually leaned further forward, wanting to know everything about his life and how it worked.

Being uncontracted, what a thought.

I wanted to be free just like he was and deep down, I knew that my dream may be hopeless, but that didn't deter me.

"How'd Romano get his grubby hands on you?" He asked, venom laced in his words though his smile never wavered.

I raised my eyebrows in alarm. I was under the impression that the two knew each other, why was there so much underlying hate in his words?

"I thought you and Romano knew each other?"

"We do, but that doesn't mean I have to like him." I nodded in response. I knew the feeling of not liking those you worked for.

Silence engulfed the room as we were both sucked into our own thoughts and I leaned back into the leathery seat, closing my eyes in the process.

"I would be careful if I were you, Romano is not a man to settle."

His thinly veiled warnings forced me to open my eyes and peer at him through my lashes. What did he mean by settling?

"Romano is my boss," I stated, trying to clear the air.

He chuckled softly before speaking again,

"That's never stopped him before," he paused, "pray tell, has he told you about Clarence or Sophie or even Olivia?" His eyes were directed to the ceiling, an amused grin still playing on his lips.

It wasn't my business what Romano did before I stepped foot on to the mansion, I told myself and yet, I still found my heart sinking to my stomach.

"Did he take you to The Lion's Den? The room with the view and all that shit. When the deer goes into The Lion's Den, they usually get devoured."

I stared at the wall beside Malcolm's head as my body stiff and my eyes narrow.

The Lion's Den.

My silence served as my answer to his question. My mind processed what Malcolm had just confessed about Romano. Clarence. Sophie. Olivia. Probably more, too.

Would the room be set up permanently for the date, the table never being moved, the windows never being fully shut and the two creaky wooden chairs stationed close together?

I shot up from my seat and stormed out of the room, making a beeline to the starlit room I had held close to my heart.

I slammed the door open and was met with the table, chairs, and windows in the exact space where they had been when I was there. Unmoved.

I shouldn't be angry.

He was a grown man, he should be able to do whatever he wanted, but it still hurt knowing that I was just one of many girls that he had brought into this room. A night that was so special to me was just another Monday for him.

Was I just a deer in the headlights here?

"You should be careful whom you trust, this whole place is crawling with traitors." Malcolm's sweet voice whispered in my ear, his hot breath dancing and tickling my ear.

I sharply turned my head to face him and was shocked by our height difference. So close to him, I was crudely reminded of my height. He could've been taller than Romano if that was even possible.

He was right, I had already told Romano too much for my liking. As much as I didn't want to admit it, he was growing on me and I couldn't have pesky feelings if I ever wanted to leave this mansion.

"You included?"

He smirked, leaning forward ever so slightly.

"That's for you to decide."

I peered into his eyes for any sign of malice but was met with a mischievous glint and an array of freckles.

Something about his abrupt presence in the household was odd. He himself had admitted that he and Romano weren't on good terms and yet, he was invited to come alongside Matteo. This wasn't any usual invitation either, Malcolm now had information that could send any one of us to jail.

He was quick to throw Romano under the bus, spilling his secrets to me as if we were middle school girls and implied that he himself couldn't be trusted alongside anybody else in this household. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

That there was much more going on here than a few hits.

"I'm no deer." I sneered at him breathlessly, still trying to process the small betrayal I had just faced.

I didn't stop when I heard Malcolm's voice shout after me but that didn't mean that his words didn't follow me throughout the day, making sure that I couldn't concentrate on anything else.

Even when I laid in bed that night, hopelessly trying to slip into a rousing sleep, his words rang over and over in my head like a broken record.

"They're watching."

---