255: Irreplaceable

Irreplaceable

Damien was perfectly aware that she was trying to be careful about what she could tell him. Who's "they" and why were they after her? Who were these people with her? Where had she been all this time?1

He was about to go crazy with all the questions in his head. He just didn't know where and how to start asking—that is if she was even going to tell him the truth. 

Katherine's phone rang again and this time, Falcon urged her, "Answer it."

Seeing that she was still hesitant, Styles snatched the phone from her, pressed the green button and put it on speaker. 

Katherine was stunned by his actions. "No, wait—"

"My… You had me worried for a second there. I thought you were dead." Chris's low and crisp voice sounded from the speaker.

Katherine's jaw tensed and her brows knitted as she listened to him, her eyes fixed on her phone that was in Styles's hand. "Trust me. It takes more than a bomb to kill me."

"Oh, Sweetie… You know I never intended to kill you. Which is why I'm disappointed that you and your 2-men army with Styles couldn't even disarm a small one. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it went off. Tsk tsk tsk… You've gotten rusty, Queen."

Her stare shifted to Styles and then Falcon, glancing briefly at Damien whose gaze was locked at her face. She looked at her phone again and was thankful that Chris didn't know that Falcon was part of their team.

"Too bad, I don't feel the same way. I very much intended to kill you," she replied under gritted teeth.

Chris softly chuckled. "How cute. My neck stings a little by the way, thank you very much. But I never believed that I would die by having my throat sliced. Especially not in your hands."

"Ah. Then I'll just have to prove you wrong then." Katherine let out a shallow sigh. "What do you want, Chris?"

"Impatient as always. You know, Katherine… You're stupid to think that with your little duo, you can face Parker by yourselves." Chris clicked his tongue. "You know very well how capable he is. And with your condition, I strongly advise you to stay away. Heed my warning, my dear. You declared a war where you're sure to fail—you should start running. I can only do so much for you. If you continue to be stubborn, expect what's coming."

She was right. This was a warning for her, but there was no way that she was going to back out. "You listen to me, Chris, you may have gotten away this time, but I won't be as forgiving the next time I get my hands on you." 

Another chuckle escaped from Chris's lips, amused by her threat. "Looking forward to it, Babe."

Katherine's hand balled into a fist, extremely irritated by Chris's words.

"Oh, and Styles… Good to know you're alive," he added.

The line went dead and Styles tentatively returned the phone back to Katherine. It was really amazing how Chris planned everything under their noses despite their preparation. Even knowing Styles was alive without talking to him. Styles felt a strange throb in his heart, hearing his senior call him. 

Despite their current situation, he knew that Chris was really only looking out for them. Even that bomb incident, it was no doubt that Chris knew they'd be able to handle it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately left a tracker to allow them to find the bomb. What a strange way to show his 'care'.

*Crack*

Their heads snapped towards Katherine who had stepped on her phone with the heel of her shoe, shattering the device, surprised at what she just did.

There was no way she could use that phone anymore now that it had been compromised.

Hearing the whole conversation, Damien didn't know what to think about this 'Chris' guy. The way he held Katherine earlier as they danced and the way he called her dearly got on his nerves — the two of them obviously were close back then. As to what happened, he still had no clue. This was definitely a side of Katherine that he wanted to know more about.

This time, it was Damien's phone that rang and he answered it after a few rings.

"Hi, Eve. I apologize for disappearing. I'll be back soon," he said over the phone, pausing for a few seconds to listen before ending the call.

Putting his phone away, he noticed Katherine looking at him. He was about to speak when she turned away and went back to ignoring him.

...

Katherine went to change to another red evening gown inside the trailer that was still parked near the side entrance of the hotel. It still had a high slit but it wasn't as high as the previous one though it was enough for her tattoo to peep. She fixed herself up again, looking pretty with a touch of makeup on—good thing she didn't have any injuries apart from a few bruises that were easily covered up.

When she got out of the trailer, Damien was waiting for her outside. She thought that he had already left — she should have known he would wait for her. Of course, he would.

"Ready to head back?" he probed.

Katherine had difficulties looking at him straight in the eye. Breathing in, she started, "Listen… about tonight—"

"You don't have to tell me right now. I know you're dealing with a lot of things that I don't know about. Honestly, I have a lot of questions but I know you can't answer them yet. I just hope that we could sit down and talk when you're ready."

Hearing him being so calm about this was making it even harder for her. She briefly closed her eyes to compose herself before responding, "Thank you. And um… Sorry about your car."

Damien ran a hand down his face and chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. His luxury car certainly wasn't cheap and it was one of his favorites. But… it was just another one of Katherine's damages added to the list of his properties that she had so gracefully destroyed. What was she going to wreck next? A house?

Despite his thoughts, he didn't really care. "I already told you, don't worry about it. Cars are replaceable. But you aren't."

Just then, the door to the trailer swung open and out came Falcon who was still cautious about looking at Damien's way. The two of them hadn't seen eye to eye yet and she didn't want to give him a chance to doubt who she was.

"Here. You forgot this." Falcon gave Katherine her weapon strap and walked away. "I'll go back inside first."

Receiving it, Katherine strapped it back on her thigh right away, a little lower than before to avoid the bruised area.

"Do you really have to carry that?" Damien questioned.

Straightening her gown, she shrugged answering him, "You never know when you'll need it. Who knows who else will piss me off me tonight?"

He gulped. "I'm not… You're not... mad at me, right?"

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