❝You want them but you shouldn't have them.❞

☀︎︎

HARRY'S EYES WIDENED. "If it isn't little miss bitch of the elevator," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I honestly can't say that it is a pleasure."

But it was a lie. He knew he was glad to see her but he would never say it out loud. It had been quite a while since someone had spoken up to him. And he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy every bit of it.

Anna stood still, taking longer than she usually took to recover. She knew he was liking the effect he had on her. She knew she had to snap out of it. She knew she wanted to slap that smug smile of his annoying devilish face. But she couldn't. For all she knew, this was just a bad coincidence.

"I am really not here for you to have the pleasure of meeting me. Your companion sounds a lot better than you anyway," she said, her heading tilting towards Mark. Harry saw the colour rise up in Mark's neck and he felt a sudden pang of annoyance. He looked directly at Anna, his eyes taking her in.

"So, you two know each other?" Mark said, in an obvious attempt to break the awkward silence.

"No," Anna said, too quickly.

"Yes," Harry spoke up at the same time and he saw Anna sigh, exaggeratedly. "You know what, we haven't, she's right. What's your name?"

"Annabeth Curtis. Bermuda Curtis," she said, without skipping a beat.

"Okay, Bermuda, you are hired. There'll be me, Mark, you, and three others. One woman and two men. You'll meet them soon," Harry said and turned back to face the screens on the wall. Mark gasped beside Anna and immediately stalked towards Harry.

Not wasting a second, Mark started addressing Harry in hushed but frantic tones. "This is unacceptable! You didn't ask her a question and neither did you explain the job to her. She didn't even talk for more than two seconds, Harry, what the fuck?" Mark stared at him, disbelief colouring his eyes a shade darker.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, cracked his knuckles and turned back to Anna. "Ask me a question."

Mark whipped his head back to stare at Harry, his face all scrunched up with confusion. Anna looked shocked, not expecting him to turn the tables. Her mind started churning and the she blurted out the first question that came to her mind, "Are you Florian?"

Harry's usually light golden eyes turned stormy, as if the sun were hidden by dark clouds, at the mention of the name. His fingers clenched into a fist and a vein popped on his neck. He turned away from Anna and went back to his console, typing away. Mark clicked his tongue, oblivious to the change in mood and said, "Actually, he isn't going to-"

Harry cut in between, still not looking behind, "He is our leader. I am Harry, this is Mark. We work for him. All this is his doing and you will never see his face because he is an asshole. That's all you need to know about Florian."

Anna narrowed her eyes at him. It was a simple question and yet, his whole demeanor had changed. Mark just stood beside him, stunned at the sharpness in Harry's tone.

Anna shrugged. This wasn't really her place. She wasn't here to fix relationships or wipe out whatever bad blood they had between them. She just needed to slap handcuffs onto Florian's wrists and never look back again.

She stepped forward and lightly touched Harry's arm. A jolt of electricity ran through her and she pulled her hand away. Harry looked up to see her shivering and his smile was back again.

"Don't tell me you are cold," he said, laughing. He let go of the console, walked into a room behind one of the dark archways and came back, shawl in hand. "Here, this should help. Pull up a chair from the back and sit down. I'll explain everything to you."

"So, I am actually hired? You don't need to know that I am a Harvard paralegal and that my parents died when I was young? Or why I am here?"

Harry chuckled. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't ready to break the law. Being here, standing here, is a crime in itself, sweetheart."

"I see. What've you got for me?" Anna pushed a chair near Harry and sat down. Mark stood beside her chair while Harry leaned back on the console.

"Do you know what the world's most expensive item is?" Harry asked, picking up a pointer.

"A child's smile?" Anna smiled a little, waiting for someone to laugh. Instead Harry looked at her, horrified.

"No, children are crazy, what the f-" Harry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Never mind. The world's most expensive item is the Agapi Mou necklace. Can you guess where it is? You'd be dumb if you didn't," he smiled, his long fingers twirling the pointer.

Anna rolled her eyes and said, tiredly, "Here."

Harry's eyes twinkled with suppressed laughter but he continued, "Good. The Agapi Mou necklace has been part of Ostraria's legacy for centuries.

It belonged to Queen Sabiana and it was gifted to her by her lover, a European, Henry Furon as a last attempt to convince her to run away with him. She never did because she placed her duty above him and he died of love and longing.

The necklace is placed in Genesis Financial Corp., one of Ostraria's most protected banks with CIA level security. There are barbed wires, ten inches thick, surrounding the whole perimeter. Armed guards are stationed around the bank at every entry point.

The necklace itself is placed 40 feet underground, in a vault which would take years to decode. The owner of the bank is the only one who can enter the vault by a fingerprint scanner. There's a simpler way of course.

Every year, the Genesis Corp., holds a charity gala where the Agapi Mou is the centre of attraction. The necklace is placed in an open glass case for the patrons to admire and yearn for. But why wait?

We cross the wires, dodge the guards, travel 40 feet underground, unlock the vault and voila, the Agapi Mou is ours for the taking and no one is none the wiser," Harry finished with a triumphant smile, flourishing his hands wide.

"Are you out of your mind? Cross, dodge, travel? No way in hell is that a sensible plan," Anna raised her hands up in an expression of futility. "With that plan, you are going to be carried away in handcuffs and not very elegantly, might I add."

"You? Not we?" Harry looked at her with a precarious curiosity which made her feel butterflies at the pit of her stomach.

Anna realized her slip up and she knew she had to cover it up. "Of course, you. I don't intend on following you through that plan."

Harry chuckled. "Prove it to us, then."

"Prove what?"

"Your loyalty to us. Florian won't take it lightly if you say shit like that. Draft a plan. Tell me. If yours is better, we'll go forward with that. Take the credit for it so that if things go downhill, you take that fall. I am obviously not going to tell you all our plans in one go." He moved aside and threw the pointer to Anna.

He pressed a few keys and a huge blueprint of the bank flashed on the screen. Harry walked close to Anna and whispered in her ear, "I was not born yesterday, sweetheart."

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