Moreau 8

[zee_zeemagee]

Embarrassment:

Words: 780

 

Damien Moreau was not a happy camper. He spent his entire life building a fearless empire. He’d seen every con imaginable. He’d even been defeated by the only thing he didn’t see coming. He learned from his mistakes. He took his enemies and crushed them before they could undo him. He even showed know leniency in his first few years as leader of the criminal world. He knew deceit because that was the rule he lived by.

Then he met… her.

It was an embarrassment. He knew it the moment he met her. She was so beautiful and so simple in her beauty. She didn’t even wear that much make-up. She just beamed beauty. She was just so beautiful he had to have her. So he told her how beautiful she was and ignored the ring on her finger. If anything that only seemed to make her more irresistible and thus more desirable. He asked her for coffee and she politely declined.

It was such an obvious con but at the time he was hooked. She denied him so naturally he had to have her even more. He began looking for her everywhere. He discovered her favorite coffee shop and happened upon her the very next morning. He found her alone and upset in her favorite restaurant. That had only been slightly intentional. He planned on running into her and her husband at the restaurant. He’d paid someone to tell him if they had a reservation and where. He did not expect the husband to be such an idiot.

So he sat across from her and told her to order whatever she liked. He would pay and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He rarely got to play the white knight card so he enjoyed it just a little too much. He should have seen through her act then. She just allowed him to do it and they shared quite a few laughs over a lovely wine.

He knew he was in trouble the moment he looked forward to their discussions. That’s how it started. They didn’t sleep together immediately. She wouldn’t have been so appealing if they had. She kept to her vows and they spent time building a relationship based on friendship. He thought he was conning her with that one. He always used the just friends card to get the pretty, married ones.

Now, after weeks of cultivating and finally getting what he wanted he was stuck. She had him exactly where she wanted him and he let her do it. He shouldn’t have been so upset over her phone call. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t experienced before. But he was so willing to believe her words, he easy lie to cover up all of those things she said. He wouldn’t lie if he said he didn’t consider killing her over the phone. He wanted to use her as a message to all those agencies looking to cage him all over again.

But the moment he drew his gun he knew he was undone. She just stared back at him defiantly. There was no fear on her features. She clearly knew how this business went. She was more than willing to die if that was what he wanted. He even felt proud of her for it. She didn’t plea for her life. She didn’t even try to bargain with him. She just sat there and glared at the gun in his hands.

“If you’re going to shoot me, you better do it now,” she said, “It’s what I deserve and we both know it.”

“Who do you work for?” He asked. He didn’t even know why he wanted to know. He didn’t really care. He could guess at which agencies and hurt them for this later. But he needed an excuse, a reason to keep her alive. He couldn’t have word getting out that he had gone soft. That would be embarrassing.

She refused to tell him on principle. So he threw her into the basement. Then he left her alone for a day. Now he was debating what to do next. That was what was such an embarrassment. He used to be better than this. He used to take spies and kill them slowly right in front of their families. He used to herald men who could slice people open and laugh about it. But that woman down stairs had him contemplating life itself and he couldn’t stand it.

So he came up with a plan. He would string her along for a few more weeks. If she bent to his will he would reward her. After all, brainwashing worked just as well as hitting.