The Royal Assassin

Chapter Thirty two - Sleepy smiles

My eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light flooding in through the doorway. For a second, I didn't know where I was. But I took in my surroundings and realised I had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor.

There was a blanket draped over my lower waist and legs. I was about to stand up and see where Victoria was, when I realised, she was sleeping right next to me.

Her legs were entwined with mine, and her head rested on my shoulder. I stared at her for what felt like forever.

God, she was gorgeous.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from her. She looked so peaceful, so calm. I didn't want this moment to end, ever. Never ever.

Unfortunately, we had things to do, and I'm almost 100% sure this floor is not comfortable at all.

I poked her cheek with my finger a couple times.

"Vi? Toriaaa...wake up!" I brought a second finger up to her other cheek and squeezed.

She stirred and mumbled something under her breath before her eyes shot open.

"Ace?"

"That's me." I said with a small smile.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she swatted my hands away from her face.

"Better after I saw you drooling on my shoulder. It was a wonderful sight to wake up too."

Kai still lingered in my thoughts, but it was true. After seeing Victoria, my mood lightened up. I didn't want her to suffer because of my suffering either.

She gasped and put a hand on her chest, "I do not drool!"

"The wetness on my shoulder says otherwise sweetheart." I smirked and pointed at my shoulder. 

"Yeah well, your breath stinks." She gave me a sleepy smile and flicked my nose.

"Mm, I'm sure it does. Now, go get ready, we have a lot to do today." I stood up and heaved her up with me. She groaned as I did so and then she trudged out of the bathroom, leaving me to brush my teeth and wash my face. I pushed our blanket away from the counter and picked up my toothbrush.

Once I was done, I made my way out as she made her way into the bathroom. She was already bundled up in layers of clothing.

"You look like a kid who's about to go on a ski trip." I said.

"Humph, well you gotta do what you gotta do when your basically a vigilante and the King wants your head at his doorstep."

I chuckled and grabbed a couple layers of clothing out from the closet.

"Not to mention, it's freezing. I don't want to be rushed to the emergency room because of frostbite or some other weird disease caused by the cold." Her sentence was muffled and disorientated because she was brushing her teeth while saying this.

"Yeah, yeah whatever you smart alec."

I pulled on my jumper and tied my shoelaces. I glanced at the clock; it was eight in the morning.

"Where to first?" Victoria said when she strolled out of the bathroom.

"Well, I thought about what you said and," I quickly pulled out the desk drawer and picked up a couple photos, "and, I think it's time we look deeper into this. Get what I'm saying?"

"No clue, please evaluate."

"You said that this could be some sort of riddle, something we can't necessarily see. What if the abductors didn't mean the colour of the warehouse, but rather a company name or what that said warehouse holds."

Victoria clicked her tongue and then grabbed a couple photos from the drawer.

"You're right. We've probably been looking at it wrong, I mean a kidnapper isn't going to just tell you where they've taken their victim. I kept asking myself, 'what sort of company would need ten grand?' Then I thought about new companies, how they are barely just starting and may need a bit of money to boost their corporation."

My eyebrows knitted together. It made perfect sense.

"I mean, if I was a manager and had just developed something spectacular and wanted to share it with Elisora, I would make an establishment for said development. But, if this development isn't very... popular, wouldn't I need some money to promote it, and use the money help out with other things like employment, bills, etcetera?" She took a seat next to me and pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket.

"You're a genius Victoria! Genius!" I stood up and threw the photos on the desk. I grabbed her hand, dragged her out of our room and toward our car.

"Ace! Slow down! What's wrong?" She yanked her hand back and stopped in her tracks. We were standing in the middle of the parking lot on a chilly Saturday morning, with snowflakes falling all around us.

"I just thought about a huge company that just made themselves public a couple days ago. They aren't doing well at all, so maybe they are the culprits."

"Are you sure? I mean I can call Davina and Elijah to ask them about-"

I cut her off and said, "I'm sure, if this isn't the one, we can come back and ring them. But for now, let's just see, okay?" I snatched her hand back, craving the warmth that radiated off her.

"Okay... okay!" She rushed to my side, still gripping my hand firmly and we ran toward the car just as the snowflakes started falling faster.