Chapter 200 - Gambling His Innocence (1/2)

That day Tobias ate breakfast, then entered his study to read over next week's work. In just a few glances, he acc.u.mulated the information in his mind and moved on to the next doc.u.ment.

About a quarter of an hour later, he had read through two weeks' worth of work. Looking up at the time, he wasn't surprised to see that is was now late in the evening. Tobias was preparing to make a phone call to Juno to make adjustments in some of the doc.u.ments when he heard his doorbell ring.

Tobias sighed and rubbed his eyebrows with some irritation. He sets his work to the side and stood up to answer the door. When he opened the door, he was hit with a wave of déjà vu.

Tobias gaped. He stuttered a little as he asked, ”Mi...Mimi, what—”

”You said I could use you, right? Did you mean it?” Mimi asked sternly.

Cracks started appearing in Tobias's frozen expression as he processed what was going on. He recalled the words he said to her the night she slept over his house.

Silently, he nodded his head.

Mimi kept her eyes fixed on him, not willing to miss the tiniest change of expression on his face.

She clenched the hems of her jacket sleeves tightly before asking, ”Then, can I use you now?”

Tobias didn't reply to her. He simply stood in front of the door and stared down at the girl with intense, dark eyes. Mimi stared up into his face as he stared back at her emotionlessly. His gaze was impassive, giving nothing away.

That's when she noticed those dark eyes of his softening, the icy mask of his slowly melting away.

”What do you need?”

…

The bar curves into the room, dark in the barely lit room. Through the windows, the diamonds of lead panes trickle the pale light of street-lamps. A permeating smell of cigarette smoke held an addition of stale beer and body odor.

A group of men shouted in frustration as they stared at the forty-two-inch screen over the bar. The players on the screen have just dinged the puck against the goal post, squandering their chance to score.

”They f.u.c.k.i.n.g blew it!” A man barked, slamming down a fifty-dollar bill on the counter.

The bartender snorted, scooping up the bill before tucking it in his pocket.

”Sorry, but that's three out of five now.”

The man scoffed and glared. ”It was just dumb luck!”

The bartender chuckled and began polishing glasses. The man rolled his eyes and sipped his beer. The sting of alcohol attacked his throat, causing him to let out a series of coughs. Simultaneously, the bell to the bar door jangled.

The man jerked his head slowly to his right to see two figures walking in.

His brows raised.

The smoke within the bar twisted in its artistic way, forming curls in the gloom, illuminated only by the age-speckled bar lights. Through the smoke, he could make out the figure of a petite girl. While she seemed no older than a teenager, her eyes were beyond those of a naive, timid youth.

The girl's silk-like skin was white and tender, glowing a healthy color, and her big, violet eyes were her most powerful weapon. She instantly captured not just his attention, but everyone within the bar.

They were all too distracted by the presence of the girl, to notice the tall, imposing man behind her. When the man suddenly felt a prickly chill run across his skin, he looked up and was stunned.

The tall man's eyes that were jet black were like two swords, and they pricked him all over. Those eyes looked like they wanted to rip him apart. The man couldn't help but feel intimated and glanced away from the duo, nervously drinking his beer.

The bartender glanced up and frowned slightly.

”Little girl, read the sign. People under twenty-one can't enter, go home.”

Without as much of a glance at the bartender, Mimi stepped into the direction of the group of men. Her glowing eyes fixed on them like a tiger who found its prey. Realizing the girl was walking toward them, the men grew quiet and stared at the girl with raised brows.

She calmly hoisted herself on a stool, her clear gaze staring at the group of men, and there was not the slightest bit of panic in her eyes.

”Which one of you is Monty?” Mimi said as she slowly lifted her eyes, the icy gaze sweeping over the group of men one by one, a chill shooting right through their entire bodies from those words.

At that moment, a dark-skinned man leaning against the booth meets her gaze with a smile. He lights up a cigarette to add to the hazy cloud, lingering and stagnant air.

”Who's asking, sweetheart?”

The man's eyes couldn't help but wander to the girl's figure. Up close, she was even more attractive. Like a porcelain doll.

Such a white, delicate and fragile neck. It made him want to reach out and touch to see if it was as delicate or fragile as he imagined. It looked like it would break if he touched it once.

At the same, he felt a chill run down his spine. He coolly glanced at the man behind the girl, and he unexpectedly confronted a pair of dark, chilling eyes. The dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes before looking back at the girl.