Susan arrived at Rotry park the following evening at exactly 4pm. She had taken care not to be late, so she'd hurried up at the office and closed early after speaking to her boss. Having no idea what part of the park to stay, she ended up wandering for about two minutes. Looking around and finding neither Leo or any of his men, she settled at a quiet part of the park that didn't have a lot of people around. She felt guilty, and ashamed, knowing that whatever a man like Leo wanted her to do was going to be bad. Samuel was unaware of the fact that she she'd met with Leo and if he did he'd be furious with her, but she was trying to help him, and this was the only way she knew how to without getting him in trouble.
She sat and waited for thirty long minutes, and just as she began to wonder if Leo was actually going to show up, he did. Dressed in jeans and a black hoodie. Typical bad guy outfit, she thought. Asher was with him, but he stood several paces behind while Leo came to join her at the small bench where she sat.
"You're late," Susan reprimanded him, not caring to hide her disapproval. She hated being kept waiting, and it annoyed her even more that he didn't care to apologize or at least acknowledge that he'd arrived late.
"Yeah, I got caught up," came his reply.
Another annoying vague reply, Susan thought, although she didn't mention his late coming again. What did she expect from a man like him anyways? He was obviously used to giving orders, and everyone hurrying to do his bidding. People were scared of him. No one questioned him, so why would he care that he was late to their meeting.
"So," he continued, "I must admit I was almost sure you'd change your mind, Barbie,"
Susan risked a glance in his direction. In the open she was finally able to see his eyes clearly. They were brown…Almost black even. He had a tattoo right behind his ear. It went down his neck and into the hoodie, but Susan could concentrate well enough to see what was written. She wondered if he had more tattoos… She was sure he probably did. His nose was pointed, and the lips surrounded by that neatly trimmed beard was….
Susan looked away and forced herself to concentrate. She wasn't here to ogle the big, bad man. Hell, she was yet to know why she was here, but first of all…
"My name is not Barbie," she told him, "It's Suzy… that's Susan to you. And why did you think I was going to change my mind?"
He shrugged, "Like I said yesterday. Guts…But you're here now so let's see what you can do,"
"It's not like you gave me or my brother a choice," said Susan.
He smirked, but he didn't reply, and Susan fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"I need you to make a delivery for me," he said, going straight to the point.
Susan swallowed hard, and tried to ignore the sudden increase in her heartbeat, "What am I delivering?" she'd be a fool not to ask, although she had a feeling he wouldn't tell her.
She was right.
"That's none of your business," Leo replied, angling his head to one side, "All you should be concerned about is the where and the when. You show up, drop off the package, and then you leave. No questions asked,"
He looked back at Asher, gave him a small nod, and Susan watched as Asher headed across the road to a car she didn't even notice or realize belonged to them. In silence they waited for Asher to return, and while Susan didn't exactly look in his direction, she made good use of her peripheral vision, observing the long, toned legs stretched before him and the majestic body that seemed to crowd the small bench. Weren't bad guys supposed to look terrible? For some reason in her head, she'd always imagined crime bosses to look ugly with scars, scary and maybe dress and smell horribly. But not Leo Spencer. He was a complete opposite of all that, and it infuriated her that she noticed.
Eventually Asher returned, and in his hand he held a sealed brown box. Leo took it and placed it between them on the bench, then he reached into his pockets and pulled out a small white paper and placed it on top of the box.
"The time and place for delivery," he explained as his eyes roamed her face, as if looking for signs that she was going to back out, "It has my number too. Just in case something goes wrong and you run into a little trouble, but I don't have to worry about that, do I, Barbie?"
All Susan could think about was the contents of the box. What was it? Drugs? Stolen money perhaps? Human parts? Maybe a finger or a toe to send a message to someone? And she was delivering it… Oh God! Her thoughts were running away with her, and she fought to keep herself under control.
"What's in the box?" she asked again, unable to stop herself.
"That's none of your business,"
"It is if I'm going to be delivering it." Susan shot back, "It's obviously nothing good if you are making me deliver it. What? Are you worried about getting into trouble so you make a novice like me do your dirty work?"
Leo obviously didn't like being questioned, because his countenance changed immediately. "I don't seem to recall bringing you into this. You requested for it so you could help your brother, remember? Now one thing you should know about me, Barbie, is that I do not like to repeat myself. That's lesson one if this is going to work between us. Now I'm going to ask again just because you didn't know that already. I don't have to worry about you getting into any trouble, do I?"
Susan didn't like that rule, and she hated his condescending tone even more. "No, you don't," she finally replied after a pause, and hoped she sounded as confident as she'd have liked to.
Leo smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, "Good. Then we are done here,"
Without giving her a chance to say any other thing he was on his feet and began walking away with Asher, leaving Susan seated on the bench, wondering what kind of turn her life was taking.
It was a turn for the worse, she was sure of it. But there was no going back now.