Chapter 145.

Already off-balance from trying to step back and avoid her, I was pulled down along with her. She expertly cushioned her fall by using me to decrease her velocity.

Avoiding an injury was clearly what she'd intended, but there was something else I was certain she never anticipated. Although she successfully avoided any injury...

The pair of lips joined together coupled together in addition to the scenario that looked like I'd violently slammed her against the ground and forced myself on her; I was certain those two factors were outside of her original plan.

I immediately broke out into a cold sweat. Would I be sued for this? This situation definitely wasn't my intention, I swear! I wanted to avoid this sort of stereotypical rubbish event by avoiding her, not recreate it.

Thankfully, Val didn't see the precarious position we found ourselves in since we fell inside the bathroom. My only saving grace was the wall that fully blocked off her line of sight from on top of the bed. I got up quickly without a word; far from a gentleman, I didn't bother to offer a hand to help her up, rather, I immediately returned to the sofa chair beside the bed in the corner of the room. I calmly sat down across from Val like nothing happened to avoid rousing her suspicions.

I didn't want to make a scene of it. I only wanted to check inside the bathroom to make sure no one else was hidden. I never wanted to experience a forced lucky pervert event like that. Rather than call this lucky, this was absolutely terrifying. Val was a former hired killer, this wasn't a woman who'd cry and run out of the room if someone she was interested in kissed another woman. It was a woman who would slit your throat if you crossed her bottom line. What if her friend later hired her to kill me? I know she said she wasn't in that line of business anymore, but still.

"Dio, what happened just now? It sounded like someone fell." For some reason, Val didn't address me the way she normally did. Somehow I felt scared.

"No such ridiculous event transpired." My voice was an octave higher than intended as a result of my on edge nerves.

"Are you sure? It kind of feels like you're lying to me."

The woman, similar to me, exited the bathroom and stated, "He's telling the truth, nothing happened."

"Is that really true?"

"Yes, it's really the truth..."

It seemed Val's friend intended to also keep what happened a secret between the two of us. It was likely from embarrassment, but she had her face angled to the side; to the point that I couldn't quite see her lips when she'd spoken just now. It was almost as if she was hiding them from me.

"Why is it that I'm finding it hard to believe that nothing happened then? Are you certain what you've said is the full truth?"

Val's friend didn't answer this time, instead, she wordlessly nodded her head. She didn't look at either of us directly when she did which made it even more suspicious.

"Mr. Genovese, the two of you are hiding something, right?"

"Why is this suddenly about me hiding something? Shouldn't I be the one more suspicious that you're hiding something instead? Don't try and redirect the finger pointing at me."

"What would I have to hide, Mr. Genovese?"

"Then let's continue where we left off; truth or dare?" I abruptly derailed the matter and directed her thoughts toward a completely different direction. If I was a certain socially awkward blue-haired basketball player, I'd be proud of how I expertly utilized the art of misdirection.

Val crossed her legs daringly, squinted her eyes, and leaned forward on the edge of the bed as she confidently stated, "Dare."

I hadn't thought about it before, but I suddenly realized this was actually a perfect opportunity. If I gave her a dare so outrageous that she was forced to pick truth... I could probably obtain valuable information I've always wanted to know from her.

"Hold on! You're just going to ignore me and treat me like air now!"

The two of us looked back at her when we realized we'd gotten a bit ahead of ourselves.

Ugh. Don't interrupt my spontaneous master plan to extract valuable intel. "... you're right... sorry... we haven't even introduced ourselves and we almost went off on our own just now. My name is Diogenes Genovese. It's… a pleasure to meet you." I couldn't bring myself to say my real thoughts after the little incident in the bathroom so I fumbled out a few awkward lines.

"Ah, I already learned your name from Rose. I'm the only one that actually needs to introduce myself here."

Rose? Did that mean she didn't know Val's real name and instead only knew her alias?

"Don't be confused, she knows my real name but she just likes to call me Rose for some reason."

"Because I like roses, I prefer to call you by that nickname."

"I've told you many times to just call me Val, it's troubling for me that you never listen."

I'm sure it is considering how it's the alias you went by when you took up contracts to kill people.

"My name is Reine Krovavyy."

For some reason, she peaked at me with an expression that suggested she was slightly worried about something.

"It's a pretty unique sounding name. Rain Crovavy, was it?"

"Yeah... It is. Haha."

"Was something worrying you? You look a bit nervous, Ms. Crovavy."

Was that awkward mishap in the bathroom bothering her that much?

"Please just call me Rain. It feels really weird being referred to as Ms. Krovavyy."

Truly though, Val and Rain's personalities were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I was a bit surprised that my overly aggressive boss had a meek friend like this.

I still had my suspicions, but because of how different she was from the person I'd expected, I inadvertently lowered my guard before I even realized it.

"Rain, I'm still a bit amazed and I'm still finding this a bit inconceivable, but you're really friends with this penny-pinching boss of mine?"

"Mr. Genovese, were you trying to give me more reasons to dock your pay?"

"Sorry, it was a joke of course. She's actually the most magnanimous boss who knows no bounds with her giving nature. She's a true role model for all women across the globe." At how to be a cheapskate and dock your pay that is.

"Good, that sounds much closer to reality, Mr. Genovese."

Yeah, the part I didn't say out loud, right?

"Rose, why do you stiffly refer to him as Mr. Genovese?"

"I used to find it a bit stiff as well, but after a while, I grew more fond of addressing him that way. In a way, it's a secretly intimate form of address for him as his boss."

"Intimate?"

"Yes, very intimate. It goes far beyond the level of those shallow nicknames that people think they're close for calling them by."

"Since you're here Reine, why don't we play truth or dare with Mr. Genovese? You wanted to meet him, right?"

Rain reservedly nodded her head again. Was she just naturally shy or was I overthinking things?

"Then… Mr. Genovese... truth or dare?"

"Me? Why me? Val already accepted a dare, we should start with her before we get to me."

"Mr. Genovese, don't you know it's common courtesy to let your guest go first?"

"Guest? We're in a hotel, we're all guests here."

"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?"

"I'm a strong advocate for equality. Whether you're a man or woman I couldn't care less, so don't pull out that ladies first crap with me."

"It's too bad logic doesn't work with women. We have the majority here. Seeing as we live in a democratic society where majority rules, you can only bend your head in defeat and accept that you're going first."

Ugh. It was only a matter of time.

I just need to get it over with and I can go after her. It's only delaying the inevitable by a bit. As long as I keep my cool for a little longer I'll be able to interrogate Val. I'll finally find out everything I want to know from her as long as I make her change her mind and pick truth instead of dare.