"My heels are getting painful from all this standing," Lonnex grumbled, making a show of taking off one of his shoes, standing on one leg, and moaning as he massaged one of his heels. "I should have picked a location that had chairs."
Aslan stood still with his hands clenched around his gun handles, a muscle in his jaw ticking. He just dropped valuable information and all of a sudden his heels were painful?
He was about to take off his other shoe when Aslan snapped, "I'll fucking shoot your hand before you could take that shoe off."
Lennox paused midway to his shoe, then he raised his hands slowly, an unhinged smile on his face. "You're giving me a boner here, pretty boy. You don't look so fragile when you're scowling."
"Fra–"
Aslan was stunned. Fragile? Him? He was stunned and he was pissed. And so just to prove a point, he withdrew a dagger slowly from his suit sleeve and he was standing in front of Lennox before he could even blink, the dagger pressed on a pulse in his neck.
Lennox stared at him with his eyes wide, for once speechless, his lips parted.
"I would have cut that pulse open before you could have been able to say a word." He couldn't help the smug smile that spread on his face. "How's that for fragile?"
Lennox swallowed, his eyes heated. When he spoke, his voice was rough. "Impressive. Forgive me for judging a book by its cover."
Aslan pulled away from him, going back to where he was standing. The smile was off his face but he still felt smug that he could make Kade Lennox speechless.
Lennox looked away from him, adjusting his trousers. Aslan's eyes couldn't help but fall at a particular spot and he looked away quickly, his face heating, once again disgusted at the both of them.
Lennox cleared his throat. "Efe Arslan hired Seth to kill your father," he began, and Aslan straightened, all amusement gone. "He and your father fell out from a business deal gone wrong a year ago. Efe was probably losing sleep over how to slowly kill your father for the past year. And then this war started and he saw an opportunity. But Efe won't stop there. He's a sick fuck that stands heavy on the crimes of the father is the crimes of his son." Lennox pointed at Aslan to empathize. "He's coming for you, pretty boy. And as a man who has worked with sick men, and lived in their minds, I can tell you that he wouldn't make your death as quick as your father's."
Aslan forced down a shudder that wanted to take over him. He wasn't going to show weakness in front of a man that he hadn't concluded yet if he was his enemy or not.
Something twisted in Aslan's guts. His father had told him that even in war, men have rules. Lines they wouldn't cross. It seems for once, his father had been wrong. But if Efe Arslan didn't care for rules…
"How do I get ahead of them?" he asked, pushing down the unease that wanted to crawl up his spine.
Lennox snapped a finger, his eyes gleaming. "Now you're asking the right questions." He crossed his arms, tapping his finger on his bicep. "You need allies, men loyal to you, not your father's ghost. And you need to move quickly, sharply. No sleeping on a bicycle. Because you would be dead before you could lift a finger."
Aslan exhaled slowly. He had spent his life preparing to take over The Black Veil, but he had imagined a different war. One fought with strategy, not blind destruction. Now he was standing on a battlefield he hadn't even known existed.
Why would his father keep something so important like this away from him?
Lennox clapped, grinning. "So? What's it going to be, pretty boy? Are you going to die playing the game? Or are you going to die pretending it doesn't exist?"
Aslan already knew the answer. Lennox knew it. He looked him dead in the eyes. "I'm going to win."
Lennox's grin widened. "No beautiful words have ever been spoken." He paused, also looking at Aslan straight in the eyes. "And in this war, I'll be your commander disguised as your prisoner."
"What?" Aslan asked, confused.
"Come on, don't act like those words are not turning you on right now." Aslan just gave him a flat look and he sighed. "Look, I told you I needed Seth, didn't I? He's working with Efe now. He's under him. So if we get Efe, we get Seth. You're going to help me and I'm going to help you. And here is where me being a prisoner comes in. You need allies, you need to solidify your rule to make your men loyal to you. And you need your father's killer. I shall be your father's killer till further notice. So I'll be your prisoner. Tell your men it'll be stupid to kill me when you could use me in this war, and they'll look the other way. So I'll be your prisoner." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Your dirty little secret. Though, I'm nothing close to little."
Aslan fought the urge to press his temple. "You're disgusting."
"But at least I'm handsome."
Aslan ignored him as he went into thinking. What even the hell was he thinking about? He had wanted Lennox to work for him, now the opportunity was standing there and presenting itself to him. What's there to think about?
"Alright," he said to Lennox.
He clapped once. "Lovely decision, pretty boy. There are rules and conditions, of course. But that shall be established when I've sat down. I can't take any more standing. Now, shoot me in the leg."
Aslan's eyes grew wide. "What?"
"Aww, he cares about me."
Aslan's face twisted. "I. Do. Not."
"Sure. Shoot me in the leg so when you take me to your men, my capture will be believable. Come on, you think you can catch Kade Lennox when he's at his full strength? His prime?" He scoffs. "No, you cannot. So shoot me in the goddam legs and let me punch you in the face. We need to make this believable. Nothing must go wrong." His expression darkened a little. "Nothing."
Aslan didn't even need to think about it. All night, he had fought the urge to put a bullet into him. And now that the moment has raised, why should he hesitate?
He raised his gun and shot Lennox on the side of his lower leg without warning, the sound of the gunshot echoing too loud for this quiet place.
Lennox roared, going down on the ground, hard, pressing his hand over the wound, looking at Aslan with murder burning in his eyes.
"You're a fucking bastard," he growled, breathing heavily. "That felt good, didn't it?"
"Immensely," Aslan answered, smiling down at the great assassin on the ground.
"Good." Lennox grunted as he stood up, limping, as he tried not to put pressure on his injured leg. "Now come here so I can punch you in the face."
Aslan inhaled and walked to Lennox. He didn't waste a single time to land a hard blow on Aslan's cheek. They both groaned, Aslan staggered back, holding his cheek. His hand came out red.
"Now we're even," Lennox said, smiling.
Aslan nodded and walked outside. The rain had stopped entirely, just little drops.
"Where is your car?" Lennox asked, limping to meet up with Aslan.
"Parked a few blocks away."
"Nope. I'm not going to make that walk. My car, pretty boy. Nobody would bat an eyelash if you bring the assassin his car."
Aslan said nothing and just walked to Lennox's car. They both got in and Aslan started the car, the engine roaring to life. He put the car in reverse and drove out of the warehouse and into the streets.
Aslan barely had time to adjust to the quiet before the first bullet shattered the back windshield.