Chapter Twenty: La Salvaje (The Wild).

Damien's POV ♣️.

" Mia wake up." I said tapping her gently.

She mumbled some incoherent words in response and I sighed.

" Mia come on get up, we have a new mission."

" Five more minutes." She said snuggling the blanket.

Cute!

I would have left her to sleep but it was urgent.

" You leave me no choice."

I ripped the blanket off her body and she sat up glaring at me. Her hair was a tangled mess sticking out in different directions and she had drool at the corner of her mouth. I chuckled and she scowled.

" What?!"

" You have a little something here." I said pointing to the corner of my mouth. She wiped it off and pouted grumpily.

" So what mission is so important that you had to wake me up at the crack of dawn?!"

" It's past 7:00am." I replied.

" 7:00am?!, You know what, it's way too early and my brain can not process all this. Wake me up by 10:00am." She said lying down to resume her sleep.

" Mia!"

She groaned and sat up again.

" Okay!, Brief me so that I can go back to sleep."

" Oh no!, We're doing the briefing downstairs."

" Why?!"

" Because if we do it here, you'll probably fall asleep again." I said and she shrugged.

" Downstairs, now!"

" Fine!, But if I fall down the stairs and die it's on you. Just know that my ghost will haunt you."

" I wouldn't have it any other way." I replied walking out of the room.

" Now that wasn't so hard was it?" I asked as she walked down the stairs and she flipped me off.

She sat on the sofa across me and glared. My eye wandered down her body and stopped at her tanned legs that was left uncovered by robe. She seemed to have noticed this and she crossed her legs smirking.

Fuck!

I took a large gulp of my coffee relishing the burn as the hot liquid scalded my tongue.

" Shall we begin?" She asked smiling mischievously and I cleared my throat.

I placed a file on the table and slid it over to her.

" Lorenzo Gustavo. A 43 year old con artist. He has defrauded over a hundred thousand people all over the world. And that includes some of the biggest names in the drug dealing world. Lorenzo just conned Mario Ramos one of the biggest drug dealers in Cuba. Unfortunately for Lorenzo, he can't leave the country because Mario is on the hunt for him and he has eyes everywhere.

But like everyone else, Lorenzo has a weakness. And his unfortunately is gambling. But he is undeniably terrible at it. Lorenzo's going to be attending a game at La Salvaje tonight. La Salvaje is an hotel know for its elite club and stake poker games."

" And where do I fit in all of this?" She asked and I smiled.

" I'm glad you asked." I took another gulp of coffee and passed her the other file.

" You will be going undercover as Isabella Romanov. A Russian supermodel and actress here on vacation in Havana. No one has ever heard of her but the fact that she was allowed into the club and is allowed to play will be enough evidence for them."

" So what am I supposed to do once I'm in?"

" You have to get close to him. See what he knows. Rumour has it that the main reason Mario is after him is because he was able to get his hands on some very valuable documents that could be very helpful to us."

" And how do you suggest I get close to him?"

" You have to get his attention. You can do that by failing miserably or being incredibly good at poker. It depends. How good are you at playing poker?"

" I don't know, I've never played before. But I work with cards all the time it should be easy."

" Kimia, there's a huge difference between card tricks and card games."

" Hmmm not really. They both involve cards, they just have different rules. Besides I'm an illusionist. I'll be fine." She winked and I sighed.

" So what will you be doing?"

" I'll also be undercover, but as a bartender."

" You?, A bartender? Aren't bartenders meant to have an outgoing personality?, You know funny and charismatic?"

" Hey!" I exclaimed defensively.

" I happen to have a great personality." I replied and she raised her hands in mock surrender.

" So when does the mission start?" She asked toying with the end of her robe revealing more of her smooth bronze skin.

I brought my mug to my lips only to find it empty and I gulped.

Damn!

" 8:30pm." I replied huskily.

She nodded then furrowed her eyebrows. She turned to look at the clock and scoffed.

" Would it have killed you to wake me up by 10 for the briefing?!, We have roughly about 13 hours left!"

" I don't regret it. At least now you have enough time to brush up on your poker skills and your Russian accent." I replied winking.

She flipped me off and scoffed.

I could see the wheels in her head turning, trying to decide whether to kill me or to go back to bed.

She finally decided that I wasn't worth it and went back to bed leaving me smiling like a fool.

***

" I've got to get going." I said picking up my backpack.

" Bye." Kimia mumbled staring at the TV.

" Oh and by the way, Carlos will be here soon to help you prep for the mission." I said smiling.

She turned to look at me so fast that I was sure she would have gotten a whiplash.

" Why?!, I don't need his help. I've prepped for my previous missions successfully by myself!"

" Mia relax."

" Don't tell me to relax!, I still have nightmares from the first time he helped me prep for a mission. I have scars to prove it!, Scars Damien! Scars!"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her theatrics.

" Kimia you're being overdramatic."

The door bell rang and I went to open it.

" Don't you dare open that door!" She warned but I opened it anyway.

" Damien!" Carlos greeted and I smiled.

" Hey Carlos!, How are you?"

" I'm wonderful thanks for asking."

His assistants trooped in with different boxes and clothe racks.

" Kim!" He exclaimed hugging Kimia.

" Hey Carlos." She greeted akwardly.

" You look breathtaking!, The Havana sun has really been doing wonders to your skin. You are basically glowing!"

Kimia looked at me with panicked eyes and my smile widened

This is payback for insulting my amazing personality.

" Hurry along Damien so that I can get to work on my muse, my canvas." He said and I raised my hands in mock surrender.

" Bye Mia!"

" I'm gonna get you back" She mouthed as I closed the door.

***

" One Virgin mojito please." Lorenzo ordered over the loud music of the club.

" Are you sure you don't want something stronger sir?" I asked smiling.

" Maybe later. I don't want to drink too much. I'm a light weight." He replied and I smirked.

Interesting.

" Coming right up." I replied and started preparing his drink.

" Here you go sir."

" Thank you." He said taking a sip of his mocktail as he scanned the crowd.

" Damn!" He let out a low wolf whistle and I turned to look at him cleaning a class with my towel.

" Isn't she hot?" He asked and I smiled.

" She is but do you know who's hotter?" I asked and he looked at me expectantly waiting for an answer

" Her." I replied pointing to a random girl.

" She's okay."

Kimia chose that moment to walk in.

She wore a black jumpsuit with cape sleeves and golden accessories. Her usually wavy hair was now pin straight.

I silently thanked Miguel for not making her way a dress because there was no way I would have survived the night without punching a guy for making crude remarks about her.

She walked towards the bar with grace and elegance. Her head up high like she was a goddess and we were mere mortals.

" She is definitely the hottest." I said to Lorenzo and he nodded in agreement.

" One cranberry vodka Martini. Extra vodka." She ordered sitting on the bar stool and placing her clutch on the counter.

I was impressed by how real her accent sounded and smirked.

" Coming right up ma'am."

She winked discreetly and I smiled shaking my head. I replaced the vodka in the recipe with Arkay.

There's no way I was letting her get drunk tonight.

One of the agents we planted approached her and she rolled her eyes.

" Hey beautiful. Well I'm here, what are your two other wishes?" He said but she ignored him taking a sip out of her cocktail.

" Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?"

" Would you mind moving, you're contaminating my air supply." She replied and Lorenzo winced.

" Are you French?, Because Eiffel for you."

" Do I sound French?" She retorted and I held back my laughter.

" Aside from being sexy, what else do you do for a living?"

Kimia finally had enough and then spoke again.

" Pick-up lines, really?! What are you 13?"

" 23 actually." The agent corrected.

" But age is just a number."

" Hmmm not in my world." She retorted.

" I see you're playing hard to get." He said winking and she laughed.

" The only thing that seems hard for you to get is a proper cologne. So please refrain from talking to me or any other lady in this club as the smell of your cologne might actually choke someone to death."

She stood up with her drink in one hand, picked her clutch and walked over to an empty booth across the bar.

" Savage huh?" I said to Lorenzo as I cleaned the counter.

" Who is she?"

" Isabella Romanov. Supermodel and actress. She's a regular here whenever she's in Havana. Loves poker."

" She good at it?"

" I don't know. She never lets her emotions show. Whether she wins or loses, same blank face. She has the perfect definition of a poker face." I said and he pondered over it.

***

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We made it to the 20th chapter💃💃.

I'm not exactly sure how many chapters we have left but there should be a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40.

Writing is not easy guys😔, please let me know what you think of my book.

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Bye!!