A. Gold was a man of taste and refinement, his suits were Italian and his watch was Swiss. His weapons were the finest to be had on five continents, and he knew how to use them. For the librarian he selected a simple garrote- silence was the rule after all. He couldn't imagine why someone was willing to pay his exorbitant fee to take the woman out, but it wasn't his place to ask questions.
He used his customary blend of outrage and vulnerability to lure the young woman into the stacks. He could sense her irritation at his rudeness warring against her pity for his crippled leg. As Gold predicted his victim set her annoyance aside to help locate his research materials.
Gold's eyes drank her in as she zeroed in on the obscure anthology he requested. He'd watched her all afternoon as he waited for an opportune moment. Her loveliness was wasted in the caverns of the city's largest library. Gold appreciated quality and considered the task ahead to be a colossal waste. Still, he accepted the contract. Deals were made to be honored no matter how blue the librarian's eyes were.
Gold prepared himself to strike , but was taken aback by a sudden quip from the librarian. Something about the leather binding being made from the pelts of children. Gold nearly dropped his cane he laughed so hard. It was rare to find a woman with a sense of humor as dark as his own. She earned herself a temporary reprieve, he would go pretend to read and set up a repeat performance in an hour or so.
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Their next foray into the stacks was no better. His clandestine observation of her over the pages of the anthology she found him proved to be sweet torture. The librarian was bewitching with her soft smile and creamy skin. He wanted to run his hands through her mahogany curls and kiss her breathless. So that's just what he did.
"Let me take you to dinner," he gasped before rational thought returned to him.
"My shift ends at seven," she answered tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.
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Gold was absolutely torn as he loitered in the parking garage. Should he strangle her before an evening of fine dining and conversation or after? He rarely ever indulged in women and he had never felt as recklessly attracted to one in his entire life. 'Before,' he decided. A contract was a contract after all, and he was too attached already. She wouldn't be interested in the real him anyway, only the hard-bitten academic facade he wore for the afternoon.
He made his move on the pretext of helping her into his Cadillac. He imagined himself draping diamonds around her neck as he moved the wire garrote into place. A round house kick had him flat on his back before he could even think about tightening it.
"I was wondering when you would strike, Mr. Gold." She had a small pistol trained on him, it was a porcelain curiosity with a blue floral pattern- she might have been holding a tea cup. "I could kill you. Or you can take me to dinner and we could discuss a new contract. It seems my past is catching up with me."
Gold blinked, truly seeing Belle French for the first time. He was falling in love.