Chapter Seven
It was Valentine's Day and Nine woke up in the arms of bliss. He was smitten by Mandy and her elegance, grace, and stamina. She was an intelligent, beautiful, and most magical woman Nine had ever been with. And Nine had been with a lot of women. He always used protection though and got tested quite often, so he was in the safe zone. He just couldn't believe this amazing angel was capable of such evil.
"I'll make us some breakfast." Mandy kissed Nine on the cheek and got out of bed still naked. Mittens was barking from downstairs. Mandy walked to the balcony door and let Mittens out. She then walked to the kitchen and put on an apron, and started to prepare breakfast.
Nine, still torn, wasn't sure now what to do, but decided it was his duty to ask Mandy about the business contracts. He got dressed and went to join her.
"Orange juice?" Mandy smiled at Nine and playfully rubbed her butt against him.
"Coffee." Nine smiled at her gesture and went over to the coffee maker to make himself a cup. "I have to ask you something."
"What is it?" she asked as she broke a couple eggs into the skillet and turned on the oven. She then tossed the shells into the garbage and began scrambling the eggs with a spoon.
"You don't cook much do you?" asked Nine.
"Only on special occasions." she replied.
Nine moved to stand behind her and she pressed her booty against him. He liked the attention and her nude body excited him. He moved his arms from the top of her back to the side of her hips down to her thighs. Mandy put the spoon down, moved to the countertop, and jumped to sit on it. She spread her legs apart and pulled on Nine's shirt, getting him to move closer to her, then she wrapped her legs around his body.
"Breakfast?" she smiled at him and brushed his hair with her hands.
"Wow." Nine tried his best to fight the temptation. "Can I ask you about the business contracts that you took from the criminals and made yourself the head of the monsters?" he blurted out.
"You really know how to ruin the moment." Mandy pushed Nine away and jumped down from the counter. She walked to the stove and turned it off. "Grab whatever you want." she then walked to the bathroom to take a shower.
Nine took that opportunity to snoop through a pile of folders on her desk. He shuffled through her papers and found a large folder that was labeled 'Criminal's Contracts' on it. He took the folder and walked out of Mandy's loft. Closing the door behind him, he felt guilty. A part of him still wanted to go back and eat some breakfast, a double entendre. He had to remain composed and complete his duty.
Nine ran out of the building and dialed Strawberry on his watch.
"I got the files!" he told her.
"How? Did you kill her?" asked Strawberry.
"No. I just went up to her desk and took 'em." he said.
"Well that was easy, considering you dealt with someone who bought out all the criminal leaders. Your ship is on its way. Wait there at the central park." Strawberry cut their transmission and Nine ran to the park.
He then spotted his ship approaching closer to him and landing by a park bench. Nine hopped inside it and walked up to the scanner on the dashboard. He then opened the folder and scanned the files through to headquarters. At the same time he programmed the ship for lift off.
"Wow, most of these files include new projects that have yet to be executed by drug cartels. Some of these are extremely expensive." Strawberry came online on Nine's watch as he continued to scan the contracts through to her, page by page.
"She must've promised to fund them." Nine told her. "She has the money to do so. Maybe that was the incentive."
"We must send these to our organization and put our agents into action and destroy these plans before they begin." Strawberry replied.
"You can't!" Nine protested. "They will kill Mandy! They'll know she gave them away."
"We have no choice Nine." Strawberry replied.
"We always have choices Christine. We can't destroy them. We have to take them down agreed, but not in a way that will put Mandy in danger."
"She got to you didn't she."
"She might have yes." Nine admitted.
"You realize it would either be her or you on the criminal's most wanted list." Strawberry's words pinched Nine into reality and the dilemma he was facing slapped him across the face metaphorically.
"Give me some time, I'll figure this out." Nine asked.
"I'm sorry Tatum. I have an oath to uphold. It's my duty to this organization and we will proceed shutting these plans down. These projects must go! I will have Natalie get the president to sign off on half of them. That way we can assassinate him in the process, and get rid of our ties with these criminals once and for all."
"Sebastian really screwed us didn't he?" Nine asked.
"He might have." Strawberry replied.
"Alright, I guess you are sending my new mission over to me?" Nine asked.
"Yes, it should reach you in a day. Luckily Natalie is having dinner with the president tonight. She is very versatile isn't she?" Strawberry asked.
"Sebastian was smart to hire an agent within the white house staff." Nine agreed. "I'll wait for your word." Nine ended their transmission and laid down on the floor of the ship. He still felt guilty about Mandy and wished he could've kept her to himself somehow. That day of romance started off great, but it ended tragically.
This is why I should never fall in love. Nine thought to himself as he struggled with the thought of Mandy being tortured and killed by drug cartels and war criminals. He then got up and pulled himself together. He went through his entire ship, pulling out gadgets, ropes, weapons, and various electronic gears from bins, closed cupboards, and even under the seats. He started to polish and clean some of the weapons to get his mind off Mandy.