Josh's POV:
" What?" I ask in pure shock.
" His name," She replies. " You asked what his name was and that was it, Lucas Friar."
And just like that it all made sense, this wasn't Lucas's first trip to Ukraine. A few years ago before he and Riley got together, Lucas went on a mission in Ukraine, by himself without anyone. Lucas had gone in deep and was on the mission for two years tracking some killer until they finally found him. It all fit, he met Missy here in Ukraine, fell in love and then married her in just enough time before she left him and then he came back to the agency.
" Lance, are you okay?" She asks me with concern in her eyes.
" Yeah," I say snapping out of my daze. " I just, um, listen I gotta go."
" What, why, did I do something wrong?"
" Oh, no of course not," I reply looking into her eyes. " In fact, I had a really good time tonight."
" Me too," She murmurs.
" Maybe we could do it again some time?"
" I'd love that," She says. " You know, I'm always here, at this very casino, every night waiting for guys like you to come along."
Back at the hotel.
I walk into our hotel room, fuming and furious. In the room I find Riley and Maya sitting on the large couch in the corner of the room cuddling and whispering to each other.
" Where the hell is Lucas?" I ask in a harsh venomous tone.
" I'm over here, buddy." He answers stepping out of the storage closet and walks over to me.
When I saw him all I could think of was what a liar he was, and how he didn't deserve our trust. And then I did something that I couldn't help, something that came naturally to me. I swung at him and hit him right in the face.
" You lying piece of shit!" I snap at him and hit him again.
" What the hell, dude?" He yells at me.
" She told me everything!" I yell back. " You can't hide it anymore, Lucas."
He stayed silent. " Lucas, what is he talking about?" Riley asks.
" Tell them." I say dryly. Silence. " TELL THEM!" I scream at him.
And so he did, he told them everything, how they meet, when they got married, the note that she left behind when she left him, everything.
" How could you not tell us? I can't even trust you anymore!" Riley yells.
" Yeah," Maya adds. " What were you thinking?"
" And in case you weren't aware spy's can't take fucking sick days on missions, you idiot!" Riley continues.
" Don't, Riley," Lucas growls in a dark voice that was almost frightening. " Didn't it cross your mind, just once, that the reason that I didn't go to meet Missy with you, was for your own benefit? Huh? Of course not, because you're you, you're Riley the self righteous one who knows all and everyone just listens to you. Look, I wasn't trying to hide it from you guys, and I was eventually going to say something, but, tonight I knew that if I went to talk to her I would forget who's side I was on, I would get lost in her just like I used to, and I would be going against everything for her all over again."
" You still love her don't you?" Riley whispers in awe. She gets up from the couch and quickly speeds through the room and exits.
" Riley, wait, I didn't mean it like that!'' He chases after her, so it was just Maya and I.
" Maya," I begin. " About tonight, I just wanted to say, that I'm sorry. I wanted to comfort you and say all of the right things but I just couldn't think of anything, I completely blanked out, you know?"
" Look, Josh, you don't have to be sorry about anything. I might have overreacted about the situation just a tad, but I meant what I said. I love you, in every way shape and form. That's a given no matter what, but just do me a favor."
" Anything," I reply.
" Never look at me like how you did in that casino, like I was crazy, like I was some kind of thing that you didn't understand." She says in a pained whisper.
" Maya," I say. " You're not crazy and I do understand you, I just don't know how to talk to you about things like this. Its like everything is so clear for you, but for me everything is in vibrant color, not just black and white, you know? I can't give you answer right now, Maya, and I don't expect you to wait for one. I'm sorry."
" It's alright, Josh," She replies. " And do you wan't to know why? Because someday, somehow you and I are going to be together, it's going to be great, and we're going to be happy. I'm going to make you happy."
" You already make me happy, Maya," I whisper. " I'm just confused right now."
" Are you worried about them?" She asks. " Riley and Lucas?"
" Lucas more than Riley," I answer. " Riley will pull through, and push aside her relationship for work. Lucas is different though, the damn bastard needs to decide who's side he's really on."
" And you?" She asks with caution. " Do you know what side you're on?"
I look at her, long and hard until my look almost turns into a glare. And finally I realized she wasn't being over protective or clingy, she just cared, and that's enough for me. It's more than I could say about any of my other girlfriends. None of them would take a bullet for me, or watch me make out with other women, just so I can do my job on my terms.
" Christ," I growl at her. "Maya, I'm on whatever side you're on."
I push her against the wall and attack her lips with my own. She immediately latches onto me, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me closer. Our hands roamed on each others bodies, and I felt new sensations and urges that I didn't even know existed. She brought her legs to my waist and I lifted her up gently. I brought her into the master bedroom and shut out the light, knowing that what lied ahead was meant to be done in darkness.
3 hours later:
And just like that the purity between us was gone. So, as I looked at her lying beside me, fast asleep, I came to find that what we had just done had not only brought us together but it added to the long list of things that made our situation more complicated than it needed to be.
