Delicious Scent

Friday came very fast.

After doing yoga, she took a shower and started preparing for her mission.

The walk-in closet in Katherine's apartment was huge and was mostly made out of glass. There were rows of formal wear in different colors on the right and pairs of shoes that ranged from casual to formal, also in different colors on the opposite side.

Her wardrobe was always up to date and was packed with designer or luxury items — all of which were, of course, courtesy of Shadow.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and gave herself a thorough check. She was wearing a black soft satin dress that covered her shoulders halfway which flowed down into an elegant halter neckline. It's a snug fit which accentuated her breasts, but it did so in an elegant manner.

Katherine applied a light make-up on her face and put on a bright red lipstick. When she was satisfied dolling herself up, she glanced at the time and saw that it was already six in the evening.

Just in time, her phone rang. "Queen," she answered as she placed a Bluetooth earpiece in her ear, then she grabbed her purse and walked out of her apartment.

"I'm sending you further information about the target for tonight. His name is Mr. Nang," Styles said and soon after, Katherine heard a beep on her phone. She checked it while she was in the elevator going to the basement parking.

"Got it."

"This man is the financial consultant of Mr. Cook. He will be present in tonight's event as a guest and your mission is to retrieve a ledger file from him."

"A ledger?" Katherine asked. She took her keys out when she reached the basement parking and pressed the key fob, a black Chevy Corvette from the corner blinked and beeped.

"Mhmm. You need to get that file tonight before he releases it out in the open. We received intel that he planned to use the crowd for tonight's event."

"What am I going to look for?"

"It should be an external flash drive."

Knowing her place, Katherine was not to ask any further questions and just do as she was told. Her mission was to go there and get that file, that's it — and that's exactly what she was going to do.

"There's an ice cream van on the west side of the hotel. Go there and get your invitation."

She got inside her car and turned on the engine. "Alright." 

Soon, Katherine arrived at the location. "One vanilla ice cream please," she told the man attending the ice cream truck.

The man inside the truck bent over to the window and gave her ice cream in a cone, along with a white envelope. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Katherine received the items and as soon as she did, she walked away. She opened the envelope and took out a small dark earpiece and placed it in her ear. She licked the ice cream once and threw it in the bin before she headed straight to the entrance of the hotel. "What a waste," she muttered to herself.

"Tch. Now, I want ice cream too," Styles said over the comms.

"Me too and it's your turn to buy me one."

"Fine," he sighed.

Katherine flashed a flirtatious wink when she sashayed her way in, making the security guard smile and feel good about himself. He did not even bother to look at the invitation that she gave and just let her pass through without questions.

Styles started checking through the CCTV cameras around the room while Katherine familiarized herself with the area.

The event hall was full of people in their lavish formal attire. It was apparently the launch of a new company and everyone who was anyone was invited.

Her target, Mr. Nang, was a close confidant of one of the major investors, Mr. Cook, that's why he was supposedly going to be present there that evening.

After scanning the room and not finding her target, Katherine slowly walked towards the bar and got herself a drink.

"Queen, the subject has just entered the hall. He's by the door," Styles informed.

Calmly, Katherine turned her head towards the door and sure enough, she saw Mr. Nang. The subject was in his early thirties and was looking dapper in his grey suit with a beauty next to him.

He was on his way to the dance floor with his lady and then the two of them swayed to the music in the middle of other pairs who were also enjoying the evening.

She downed the remnants of her glass and got off the high stool. Turning to the first man that she saw next to her, she tapped his shoulder, "Do you know how to dance?"

The man turned and smiled, his teeth were yellowish brown and he looked very creepy with his bloodshot eyes; not to mention, his breath stank! "Why yes, lady!"

It gave Katherine the heebie-jeebies and backed away. "Eh, sorry. I thought you were someone I know. My bad."

"Oops." She bumped her back against a hard chest and when she turned, she quickly scanned his face. He wasn't bad looking at all, so she instantly improvised. "There you are! Come let's dance!" She grabbed his hand and headed towards the middle of the dance floor.

The man was bewildered but he didn't seem to mind what was happening, so he allowed her to drag him away.

"Boss..." mumbled the other man who was with him.

Katherine did not pay attention to the man in tow and when they reached the dance floor, she readily planted his hand on her back and held his other hand—all without taking her eyes off of Mr. Nang.

"You should focus on your dancing partner instead of looking at others." The man whispered in her ear and pulled her against his body so abruptly that Katherine yelped in surprise. "Ah!"

She instantly straightened her back and her posture because of the way he held her. 'What is with this guy?' she wondered as she slowly looked up at the man, but what she saw made her brain go fuzzy. He had the sexiest jawline that she had ever seen. She pursed her lips when her eyes focused on that curve and traced her gaze towards his lips. How could a man have such perfect lips?

She began to marvel as she lifted her stare upwards and met his eyes that were also gazing down at her. Her heart skipped a beat, seeing his pair of dark eyes that seemed to be pulling her in.

She inhaled and her nose caught something nice, making her swallow. 'Oh my god... He even smells so good! There's citrus, pear... *sniff*... is that vanilla? *sniff*... ooh and spicy too!' She couldn't help but be seduced by his delicious scent.

A smile slowly appeared on the man's face when he saw the way the interesting woman's face was slowly closing in on him. Was she sniffing?

"He's heading towards the backstage," Styles said in her ear, drawing her back to the mission.

Styles's voice broke her trance and Katherine's head snapped to the side just in time. It looked like Mr. Nang was heading towards the small operator room of the hall.

She immediately let go of the man she was dancing with and pushed herself out of his embrace. "Thanks for the dance," she said casually without looking at him and walked away to follow the subject.

"You're just gonna go?" the man she danced with asked, but Katherine no longer heard him.

"Where is he?" Katherine lost sight of Mr. Nang.

"Ten o'clock."

As soon as she turned in that direction, Mr. Nang saw her. They did not know each other but in his gut, he knew that she was there to stop him. Without thinking twice, Mr. Nang turned on his heel and ran towards the exit.

She sucked in air and excused herself through the crowd. "Stupid heels," she muttered to herself, regretting that she chose a pair of sexy high heeled pumps. What could she have done? It went with her dress really well!