Top Assassins Call Me The Lady Boss-Chapter 117: Games they could play

Chapter Hundred and Seventeen

Cole sat on the edge of the stiff-backed chair, his arms crossed, and jaw set tight. The guards flanked the doorway, quiet but expectant.

He had told them he wanted to speak to Ahmet. Now he waited, rehearsing lines in his head... not lies exactly, but they were not truths either.

He was going to play a game.

He had not seen the thread. A chuckle left his lips. Asli was so smart. And his trick from years back came in handy today.

She wanted him to stay.

He knew what that meant. He must play along. Be what they expected him to be. Do what was required of him. He hated the idea of being anyone’s pawn, even hers but he owed her his life. Though her action earlier has broken that deal.

But, once a family, always a family.

And right now, this was the only way to resume work. He didn’t even know where he was going for the vacation. This should be more fun.

The door opened, smooth and slow like the tension that crept into the room with Ahmet’s presence. The man was not in a rush.

He never seemed to be. He had an aura of a king and Cole would not lie about that or deny it.

He looked at Cole the way a man might regard a locked briefcase. He was curious but cautious.

"You asked to see me," Ahmet said, his voice low and calm as always.

"I will stay," Cole said before he could second-guess it. "I will stay and be a member of this family." it must have taken every inch of him not to show any distaste on his face. The words tasted bitter.

He could never be a part of this family. But this was a game.

Ahmet’s brow lifted, just slightly. "Oh?" He folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "What changed? Last I checked, you were foaming at the mouth to leave."

Cole sat back in the chair, running a hand through his hair and adding just enough grit to his voice. "Markus just told me nobody gave a damn I was gone. That I could rot in a ditch and not one person in that Villa would blink."

He did not have to fake the sting. He just had to let a few old wounds surface. Pain always played better when it was real.

"I have been loyal," Cole went on, shaking his head like the thought still stung. "Maybe not perfect, but loyal. And she just... tossed me aside." Truthfully, she did. She had accused him and asked him to leave.

But he wasn’t angry at her. He was angry at whoever gave her the idea he was a mole and when the time came, he was going to fry the person alive.

Ahmet did not say anything at first. His eyes stayed on Cole, weighing him, like a man considering the authenticity of a gold handed to him in a back alley.

Finally, he gave a short nod. "Alright. My men would help you settle in. Orders will come when you are ready."

Cole stood, but Ahmet held up a hand.

"Don’t get too comfortable," he added, a hint of something. Was it meant to be a warning or sarcasm? "Comfort makes men soft."

Then he turned and left.

Right. Cole watched where he had stood. Ahmet was considered to be just as brutal as Asli. He was even considered to be born from a monster.

Yet he kidnapped him and didn’t even lay one finger on him. He had resisted since he got here.

’Maybe it’s one of his tricks.’ Cole ended up telling himself and brushed the thoughts away.

The guards entered and exchanged a look and gestured for Cole to follow.

They took him down the hallway and he noticed how the walls were too clean, and the silence too intentional. Unlike where he came from, everyone and the group had their own suite.

However, the groups’ suites were not as quiet or clean as they looked. Though they always cleaned after them and had people who thoroughly did them, this place seemed too clean.

Then came the room. It has Mahogany doors and a high ceiling. A bed that looked like it belonged in a designer catalog. And a small fridge. A television. Even a velvet chair in the corner. It looked like a hotel suite.

Cole narrowed his eyes. No Mafia needed a television in his bedroom. If they needed to watch the news, they all went to the hall.

They hardly even needed that. They had someone who studied the news for them. Asli’s suite had a television because of Matilda, her mum, and her aunt.

No rooms had a television. He knew what this television was about. It couldn’t be that Ahmet’s Villa had the time to watch it. They were always on the road.

’This television has a camera in it.’ he told himself. They didn’t trust him, he knew that. Well, he wasn’t expecting them to do that easily.

"This a joke?" he asked, eyeing the guards.

"No," one replied, clearly bored. "It’s yours. Stay or don’t. But the door locks from the outside."

They left without waiting for a thank-you. He wasn’t even going to give them any. He could’ve beaten them and found his way out. He was no longer cuffed after all.

Cole stepped inside and stood in the middle of the plush carpet, and took it all in. He would have laughed. Because in this room, it didn’t look like it belonged to anyone.

The Mafia life, where you could be held prisoner with expensive cotton sheets and a stocked minibar. He could understand a little bit.

But the soft bed? That wasn’t for him. He sat on the floor instead, back against the bed frame, and exhaled slowly.

’What exactly do you need me to do, Asli?’ he thought as he sighed heavily.

**

Somewhere across the Villa, Ahmet sat with Markus. They had tea between them, untouched. The silence stretched, brittle and taut as if thinking about something really important.

"He said yes?" Markus asked.

Ahmet nodded once.

Markus leaned back, lips curling with doubt. "There is no way. He was so on about leaving this place. He even threatened to tell everyone that I was trying to betray you.."

Ahmet did not argue. "I don’t buy it either. I know he’s playing nice. That is worth something."

"You think Asli bruised his ego?" Markus asked. "Is that what he said?"

Ahmet snorted. "He would not be the first man to break over that woman."

’That woman.’ Did he just refer to her as that woman? Markus did not push.

They both knew Cole was not some lovesick fool. If he stayed, it was for something else. Revenge, maybe. Or a deeper game.

"We did not bring him here because we wanted him," Ahmet reminded. "We brought him here to protect her. Which nobody needed to know. If he is choosing to stay. Let him." It was the point. Either he stayed with them or went back to Asli.

Markus’s eyes narrowed, skeptical. "And if he’s here to spy?" They both knew that could be the only reason he decided to stay.

"And if that is true. It means, someone told him something. Asli has a spy in here." Ahmet added.

"We know that. We also have one there but who is it? Also, I doubt that. Nobody knew Cole was here until they decided to parade him down the hall this morning." Markus told him.

Ahmet sighed. "Well, I told Asli last night. And I had ordered them to parade him. I thought she was going to act out. If no one knew Cole was here, they’d question how she got to know and there’d be suspicion among our most trusted men who were keeping him hostage."

"Huh. You are fcked." Markus’ playful tone was kicking in. Ahmet needed that.

"Trust me, it’s been longer than you thought." He joked back.

"Are you saying it lasted for long or it’s been long since it happened." Markus continued to joke and Ahmet, playfully, almost threw the cup at him.

"Look at us, drinking tea like we do not know how to go the hard way." Markus would not stop joking once he started.

"Shut up." Ahmet laughed.

---

Back in his new room, Cole stared at the ceiling.

He replayed every move he had made, every word he had said. Ahmet had not asked questions. But he was sure he suspected him.

However, ’Markus is... stupid. That is good.’ he thought.

He probably had not even noticed the thread. And he was likely to think he was staying. The man was going to die before he even sat on a higher throne.

Cole scoffed.

He had to stay sharp around Ahmet. He was the wisest. One slip and it was over for him and Asli.