Claude is no regular joe

The man wore a cashmere sweater and slacks and shoes adorning his lower torso. He wore his hair in his signature look, a strand of hair falling on his brow. Being breathtakingly gorgeous left aside, was she that distracted to hear him walk in? Cody is very dangerous....

"Is this a bad time?" He threw the question at Kareena who was secretly wishing for the ground to open up and swallow her.

"Not at all, come on in", May answered in high spirits and ushered him in. "Make yourself at home. You're up quite early. Did you sleep well? Did you sleep at all?" 

Kareena's lips spasmed at May's thick skin. When did she make herself the house owner?

"Yes", Claude answered as he walked further into the room. His gaze never left Kareena, an intense emotion reflecting in his eyes. "Good morning."

Her brows slightly rose from shock but she composed herself in the next second. Her heart was no longer acting out, but his gaze alone easily left her feeling tingly. What a player!!

"Morning", she answered. "I understand you want to be part of the investigation."

"Yes..." His eyes slightly narrowed. "Will that be a problem?"

"No." She walked over, bridging the distance and stopped a few feet away from him. She retrieved the tiny plastic case to reveal the earpieces. "You'll need this."

The corners of his lips lifted into a smirk, his eyes shining with an excited emotion before he took one. She took the remainder and insterted in her ear. She tapped on it twice to activate and he mimicked her actions.

"Flame?" Kareena called out.

"Right here boss!" Her voice echoed in her ear.

"Alright. Mr. Walker-"

"Stick to my first name. I think that's more.... comfortable."

The name Yves was right at the tip of her tongue but she could not say it for obvious reasons. And she did not want to say the name Claude either. It annoyingly reminded her of the fact that she had been played by him. 

"Mister. Walker", she pushed, more coldly. Does he look amused or is she imagining things? "We need to get a few questions out of the way concerning last night."

If there really was amusement, it was gone in the next second. She pushed her negative feelings aside and began the questioning. 

"Do you have anyone you can think of that has ill intentions towards you?"

"Hm.... I'm not sure about that. This is my first time in the country after fourteen years."

"You don't live here?" May jumped in, she too assuming a serious demeanor.

"No. But I can't say the same about my father."

May and Kareena exchanged a look. He was not wrong about that. The man was onto his second term in the Whitehouse that was looking up as successful as the first one. Enemies were not out of the question. Thus, there was a high chance that politics played a hand in this case. 

"Was it your plan to leak your attendance for the Met Gala to the media?" May continued.

"Uh... More or less.."

"And you think that wasn't careless?" Kareena was disturbed by this. He knew his father's position and what attention of that magnitude could bring yet he still did it. 

Amusement flashed in the man's eyes. His lips curled in a sexy smirk. "Are you..... scolding me, Miss Blackrose?"

"Mr. Walker, if you're going to be like this, then I'll have to exclude you from this investigation. Be serious." He wanted scolding, she gave him one, her tone curt. 

To her displeasure, the man seemed to fight back a smile, his amusement only growing. "I apologise, Miss Blackrose." The gentleness in his voice sounding as though he was placating a lover. 

Kareena felt her heart skip a bit when he continued more seriously. "What I mean to say is, I did plan to make my presence known, but the matter itself blowing up was beyond my control."

Actually it was, he just chose not to do anything about it. Kareena did not need to know that, lest she scolds him again. The man pursed his lips an attempt to suppress a smile.

"Why would you do that?" May found herself asking. Don't people usually shy away from such? Did he like attention that much?

"Personal", he started with looking at May, then diverting his piercing gaze to Kareena. "Reasons." 

The girl felt her stomach flip. Why did it feel like that was directed at her? And why is her body reacting when the man has not even lifted a finger? It was enough for one person to infuriate her, now her own self was doing it too. 

"Right", she suppressed those feelings. "And the route you chose, was it communicated prior to your departure from the Gala which route you would use when going home?"

"No, that was decided as we were leaving." Surprise flashed on his features. "The road being empty wasn't a coincidence, was it?"

"No, it seems not. No other cars used that route except for yours and the culprits, even at least an hour before both of you appeared. Almost..... deliberate."

"Actually boss", Flame's voice resounded in their ears. "It wasn't just that route."

The screen on the wall turned on and security footage taken from three different roads were shown. The time line syncing with that from the route Claude took.

"There were four possible routes to take from the venue. The one Mr. Walker took, and these three you can see", Flame explained.

"And they were cleared too", May pointed out. "I have to give it to them, they were very determined."

"Hm..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes mixed with anger. "This is confusing. They seemed like amateurs when they shot at us with mediocre aims and bare faces at that. But the fact that they have someone powerful enough to stop traffic on four different roads just to trap me.... I'm not sure what to make of this."

"You noticed all that? Even in the middle of the chaos?" Frankie's voice was full of awe. Was he cool or simply just frightening? He was no regular joe, that's for sure.