My eyes slowly flutter open and I sit up, rubbing my eyes. Why the fuck do I have a headache? Don't tell me I got drunk yesterday.

Scanning the room, I realise it's not mine then flashes of last night hit me. Oh, fuckity fuck. First, the Russians. Then I go to Kylian's house. Seriously?

How did I even know where his house is? Courtesy of Isiah for telling me when he was researching him, I guess.

I get up and walk out of the room. As soon as I do, I hear a familiar voice yelling in Italian.

Maybe I should have listened to Duolingo's threats about going back to learn the bloody language because now I have no idea what he's talking about.

I follow his voice and it takes me in front of a door. Should I knock? Nah. I open the door, walk in, and plop onto his couch.

"Ouch," I hiss, clutching onto my shoulder. Maybe jumping onto the couch was a mistake.

"Ivory," he scoffs, ending the call, "you need to rest. You know rest? R-E-S-T?" Did he really just spell rest for me?

"I'm fine, don't worry," I assure him, sitting up. If I say it enough, I'll convince myself that it's true. I got shot twice, obviously, I'm not fine.

"No, you're not," he runs his hands through his hair. How is he going to tell me if i'm fine or not? I mean, he's right but still.

"Can I plait your hair?" I blurt out. Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that. Well, he has very nice hair.

"There's a mission soon, but you're hurt. I don't know if you can tag along," he mumbles as he stands up.

I laugh at his words. "Oh, I'm tagging along. Funny joke, Kylian." He better be joking. There's no way I'm missing this.

He glances at me with uncertainty. "Are you sure you're alright enough to join, Ivory? We need you on your best."

"Yes, Kylian," I groan, standing up, "I'm fine. Besides, the mission is soon, not today. I'll be even better by the time we have to go on the mission."

"Whatever you say, Rory," he shrugs and sits beside me on the couch. He opens his mouth to talk but two people barge into the room.

Kylo and a girl with two purple strands in her blonde hair. Whoever that is, is my next wife.

"Kylo, I'm going to kill you," Kylian groans, throwing his head back. "Shush, you love me," he smirks, taking a seat in front of us.

"I'm Isabella, but people call me Bella. You can call me Bella. Nice to meet you," she says quickly, bringing a smile to my face.

"Ivory but you can call me Ivy," I chuckle. "Quick question, are you single?" I jokingly ask.

"Mhm, when's our wedding?" she stifles her laughter and I open my mouth to talk but Kylo interrupts me. "Uh, she's mine," he huffs.

Kylo has a girlfriend? Is he paying her or something? Because if he is, how much? I feel bad for her to be honest. Sorry not sorry, Kylo.

"I can be her secret mistress," I shrug and Kylo looks at Bella to see what she says. "She's right, Kylo," she dramatically sighs.

"Am I invited to the wedding?" Kylian asks, looking between us. Why is that even a question? Absolutely not. "No," both Bella and I say at the same time.

"I'm shooting the wedding up then," he scoffs. "Jealous much? Sorry I stole your girl, Kylian, but she's mine now," she shrugs.

"She's not my girl," "I'm not his girl," Kylian and I say in sync. I don't want to be and the thought of me being his girl makes me want to throw up.

"You told me to kiss you last night," he mumbles under his breath as if I can't hear. "You did what?" Kylo bursts out in laughter.

"You cheated on me?" Bella dramatically gasps. "In my defence, my high ass thought he was Kylian Mbappé," I grumble.

Kylian is amazing, cool, kind, funny, and fine. Mbappé, not De Luca.

"Besides the point, I came here to tell you something, Kylian, but don't get mad," Kylo mutters barely over a whisper.

"Yeah?" Kylian scoffs, "And what did you need to tell me?" I bet Kylo is shitting his pants right now.

"You tell him," he whispers to Bella and I cover my mouth to stop my laughter. "Hell no, don't be a pussy, Kylo," she retorts.

"Uh," he rubs the back of his neck, "well, the mission has to be tomorrow." Wait- what? Why did I have to get shot, for God's sake?

"The fuck. Why?" Kylian instantly asks. "You tell him this time," Kylo huffs, giving Bella a little nudge.

"For some reason, the Russians are going to sail their crate ship tomorrow," she says, "You know, the one filled with their guns and mags shipment?"

If the mission is tomorrow, then I'm going. I don't care about my gunshot wound. The Russians want to kill me for a stupid ass reason.

I'm just too amazing that I intimidate them I guess.

"Kylo, set a meeting up now. I want everyone there, including you, Bella," Kylian orders, standing up.

He kinda looks hot all bossy.

Not saying I like him. I don't. But I'm not wrong.

"Sure thing, boss," Kylo says as if he's a soldier. Ayo, I do that as well. I wonder if he watches the same shows as me.

"You gotta stop doing that, darling," Bella says disappointedly, patting his shoulder. Welp, sorry, Bella aka fiancé. Shit, I've really got to plan our wedding.

I also stand up and Kylian chuckles at my action. "Oh, you're not coming, Ivory," he states.

"That's what she said," Bella and I say at the same time. I tried not to say it. That's a lie, I didn't even try.

"See, that's why you're not com- tagging along," he scoffs before turning to Bella. "You're not helping, you know that, right?"

"Yep," she sends him a mocking smile and walks out. I like her.

"Why are you looking at me for?" Kylo asks, his words aimed at Kylian, and also leaves. I like him too.

Kylian tries to walk out as well but I grab his hand and pull him back, our faces inches away.

"Why am I not allowed to tag along?" I scoff. "You're hurt, Rory, go rest or some shit," he mumbles before walking out.

Rest or some shit? Really? I think sitting in a meeting room is a pretty good rest.

I quickly catch up with him. "Well, what am I supposed to do while you're gone? I won't have anyone to annoy."

"Give yourself a tour, love, because you're going to be staying with me now," he says rather than asks. Wait- since bloody when?

"Why are you acting like my father?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. He is and it's annoying. Now I have the urge to kick him in the dick.

"I'm not," he denies simply, towering over me that he has to look down to meet my eyes. Gosh, he's tall.

It only makes him even more hotter, which only makes me want to kick him ten times harder. I'm seriously thinking of doing it. Is that a bad thing? Eh, whatever.

"Why are you acting like you care about me?" I narrow my eyes at him skeptically. "I don't," he shrugs.

"Then let me go," I roll my eyes, clearly annoyed. "No," he bluntly replies and walks off. The fuck?

I try to catch up with him after realising I'm just standing there like an idiot but once I do, he's out the door and the guards are standing in front of it. Great.

"I don't like you," I make known to a guard. He's always around Kylian. I think he's his lead guard or some shit.

"I don't like myself either," he says, sending me a fake smile. "Fair enough," I shrug, turn around, and walk away. I might as well give myself a tour now.

***

It's midnight and I'm sitting on my bed after taking a shower. I also stole some of Kylian's clothes since I don't have mine. I'm sure he won't mind, right?

I'm also reading with a bunch of books scattered around me. Who knew Kylian had a large library with a moving ladder?

Now, I may or may not have stolen a lot of his books? You know what, there's no point denying it. I did.

"That's where you are," Kylian chuckles, walking into the room. "Looking for me, huh?" I tease.

He rolls his eyes and leans against the doorframe. "Stealing my books, huh?" he copies my words, glancing at the many books.

Okay, maybe I should deny it. "Nope, I did some magic shit and it appeared." I'm like Wanda 2.0.

"Really?" he pokes his cheek with the tip of his tongue, trying to hold back his smile as he walks towards me.

"Mhm," I hum, nodding my head. Maybe if I say it enough, he'll agree? Yeah, no. He's dumb but not that dumb.

He starts moving the books to the end of the bed. "So did you give yourself a tour?"

"Yes, and I have to say, your house is pretty good, I might steal it for myself." Just like your mafia. Damn.

"I'd like to see you try," he shakes his head, letting out a slight chuckle.

"Wanna watch a movie?" I ask randomly.

"You want to watch a movie with me?" he says as if it's the most unbelievable thing in the world.

I may plan on taking his mafia but I might as well have a little bit of fun with him.

"Bad Boys one?" I ask as I reach for the remote.

He hesitates as if he's debating something. "Sorry, Rory, but I've got to go," he shrugs.

"All you do is work but whatever. It's not like I care that much."

"I don't just work." Ah, look at him getting all defensive.

"Then sit and watch the movie." Is he really falling for this trick?

"Fine," he grumbles and sits down beside me. "I'm not doing this because you asked by the way."

"Whatever you say, Kylian." I'm tired as fuck so maybe watching a movie isn't the best idea but why not? It's Bad Boys, everyone loves that movie.

I play the movie and lean back onto the headboard. The movie starts playing and we stay in silence. Okay, that's a lie. We made jokes all the time.

Over halfway through, my eyes start to close and I rest my head on his shoulder. I'm too tired to move. That's it.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep on me?" he laughs and I can feel his body vibrating. "I'm not, I'm just resting my eyes," I mutter.

"Sure," he mumbles, pulling me closer to him. What? I'm definitely not lying.



sorry it's short, it's just a quick filler chapter bc the next chap is the mission

tbh i don't think the book is gonna be that long, maybe like 35 chapters 🤷‍♀️

word count | 1878