With all the commotion that went down in the past few days, the last thing that Roman expected was to see Cinder in his new place one week within the failure of his assignment. Roman was prepared to drop everything and gush with apologies, but Cinder just raised her flattened hand and said, "Save it."
When Roman asked why she was here, she tilted her head to the side and pouted, "Something strong would be a good start."
Only half sarcastic, Roman thought about strangling her and asking her if that satisfied her, but he restrained himself, and looked through his collection of alcohol to find something that might suit her. Something skinny but bitter as hell should do the trick.
Roman groaned, settling on white wine, and poured a decent amount of liquid into a glass that seemed better suited for hard liquor. His arm extended out to her, offering up the glass as something of an olive branch even though he neglected to put an olive in the drink itself. Crossing her legs, she leaned forward and wrapped her carefully delicate fingers around his, taking the glass in her hands before Roman dropped it completely out of revulsion and nearly let it crash on the counter.
Cinder set it gently on the countertop, but traced her fingers along the edge. Not that Cinder really bothered him, but she really knew how to set his nerves ablaze, and that's probably what he hated the most about her presence. She knew that an excellent way to sharpen his senses was to creep him out, which felt strange—Roman was usually the one who manipulated others.
But Cinder always had her own agenda in mind, so if Cinder is going to come in with an offensive front, she was trying to put him on the defensive to prepare him for whatever happened next.
Cinder retracted her hand and set it on her lap. "What, no quips this morning?"
"It's early." Roman turned to the shelves and grabbed a large glass made to handle lighter beverages.
"I can see that," Cinder cooed. Roman turned and glared at her, doing nothing to deter her behavior. "I guess I should get to the point."
"Wonderful idea," Roman muttered, chasing right up on the end of Cinder's sentence.
She quirked an eyebrow, but Roman shrugged his shoulders and poured himself a heavy amount of vodka.
"After sorting through your report, I have deemed that your failure to complete the mission was not due to your own inability to do it."
"How charming," Roman mocked. "So why are you here, then? Do I need to rephrase something for your convenience?"
Cinder squinted. "Like you said, it's early. It's best not to test my thinning patience."
Rolling his eyes, Roman tipped his glass back.
Cinder sighed and straightened her back. "I wanted to ask you about the restaurant."
Roman's neck tensed, but he tried not to show anything on his face that would give him away. "What is it?"
"I watched your debriefing. And you seemed a little—hmm, what's the word—agitated," Cinder paused to look into Roman's eyes. He didn't move. "when we asked you about what happened."
Roman took a moment before responding, thinking where he would drive this conversation. "I nearly bled out. What do you expect?"
Cinder leaned forward and oriented her elbow on her knee. "But how did you get out? Just as the police are saying, you must have had an accomplice to get you out."
Roman opened his mouth to retort, but he shut it quickly. Cinder raised her eyebrows. Bitch.
"Neo was there. Did you read any of the mission protocols I gave you?" Roman crossed his arms.
Cinder frowned. No, she never reads the mission protocols. And Cinder knows that Roman knew that already. Roman couldn't help but smirk.
Clearing her throat, Cinder responded, "I trusted that you had the situation under control. And as you know, I am a very busy woman."
"If that's true," Roman thought out loud, "then why are you here?"
With a sardonic smile that made Roman's skin crawl, Cinder whispered, "What do you think?"
Roman didn't even want to consider the implications of that statement. Either Cinder was keeping an eye on his sorry ass, or Cinder was keeping an eye on his sorry ass. He knew which one she actually meant, but the idea still creeped him out.
Hoping to pull the same trick she was using, Roman slurred, "Anything else you wanted?" and let his gaze fall to her lips for a moment.
She abruptly leaned back but maintained her elegant poise as she shifted her weight off the chair. "By the way, how is your shoulder?"
Roman glanced at it. When he rolled it, he winced, but the pain wasn't so significant that it could distract him from his surroundings. "It's healing pretty quickly."
"Do you think you'll be able to continue work for me soon?" Cinder batted her lashes.
"If you have anything on you, I'll get started immediately."
"No files. That's what I'm hoping you'll help me with."
What? Cinder wants Roman to investigate? Man, he must have really been benched. "Research? Don't you have a team for that?"
Cinder's head lulled to the side. "Yes, but this one is a special case."
"What is it?" Roman carried his drink to the couch and grabbed his laptop from the coffee table.
"Who is she, rather."
Roman turned to look over his shoulder, saying nothing but showing his impatience in his eyes.
Cinder blinked. "I want everything you can find on that girl who interrupted your robbery a few months back."
Wait, Red? What does she want with her? Or worse, what does she already know? "Anything you want in particular?"
"Any anomalies or things that make her stand out in a lineup. I don't want any surprises, and I've encountered her on more than a few occasions."
Roman threw his arm over the edge of the couch. "All right. Shouldn't be too difficult. Anything else?"
Cinder raised her chin. "No. Just find whatever you can on her. I'm sure you'll come up with something."
And with that, Cinder sauntered to the door and let herself out.
Well, there was one bright side to Cinder's visit: she asked him to do what he had already done yesterday. Quite extensively, actually. All he had to do now was figure out what to include and what to leave out.
