When a Hitman Gets Haunted by a Ghost
Chapter 58: Locked In

Chapter 58: Locked In

Gabriel stepped away, bumping against the edge of his desk. "Hold on! This is a misunderstanding."

"Your father told me you’d say that," she murmured, stepping closer. "That you’d play hard to get."

Before he could move further away, her hands gripped his shoulders, and her lips pressed against his.

Gabriel froze for a second, stunned. The pressure of her mouth on his was unbearable, like a weight he couldn’t shove off fast enough.

He yanked his head back, shoving her away disgracefully. "What the fuck!"

The woman staggered slightly, her smile turning bewildered.

"What the...?" she repeated but stopped before the third word, looking like she had just witnessed a cockroach skittering across the marble floor of a million-dollar mansion.

Gabriel’s chest heaved as he tried to wrap his head around the reality. He ran his hands through his hair to regain his composure. "What did my father tell you exactly?"

"That you’re... confused," Natasha said hesitantly, smoothing out her dress with unsure motions. "That you just needed a push in the right direction."

"A push?" Gabriel echoed, frowning. The sickly sweet perfume wafting off her made him feel nauseous, and he took a big step away.

The woman chuckled softly, trying to ease the situation so she could do her job. "It’s okay to feel nervous. First times can be like that."

Gabriel shook his head, going through his drawers to find the spare key to unlock the door. "No, I don’t want this. At all."

The key had been taken. Of course. He sighed and sank into his chair, head in hands.

"I see..." Natasha murmured, sitting back down on his bed.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, then Gabriel remembered about the snacks and went to get his bag. He shuffled through, pulling out a bag of lollipops.

"Um, do you want one?"

Natasha reluctantly picked an orange-flavored candy. "...Thank you."

Gabriel nodded stiffly, unwrapping one for himself. He bit the candy with a loud crunch and tapped his fingers on his desk restlessly, unsure where to look or what to say.

"This is awkward," he mumbled.

"A little," Natasha replied, plucking at the wrapping with no intention to eat the candy.

Gabriel finally looked at her. "How long will it take until the door’s unlocked?"

"About an hour."

More than an hour of agonizing silence passed before a maid unlocked the door.

Natasha left, but Gabriel didn’t come down for dinner. He didn’t even show to greet his father that day, yet, nobody seemed to care.

The week went by in the usual routine.

On Friday, the incident seemed forgotten. They were having dinner as usual, with small, useless talk. Until that question.

"Have you gone to get checked out at the doctor’s?"

Gabriel lifted his head to look at him, confused. "The doctor’s? Why?"

"Perhaps it can be fixed," his father said, glancing at Gabriel over his glasses. "Or if it’s a psychological issue, I can find you a good therapist."

Gabriel paused mid-chew, suppressing the urge to spit out the food. He swallowed bitterly. "...I don’t need a doctor."

William leaned forward, his voice taking on a concerned edge. "Gabriel, I want you to live a good life. To settle down eventually, marry a nice girl and extend our family line."

"And what if I don’t want to do that?"

"Think about how it could impact the business."

Gabriel’s mouth went dry. "Business?" He couldn’t sit still. The chair screeched with a high-pitched cry as he sprang up. "What does my personal life have to do with your business?"

William straightened in his seat. "We have a reputation to uphold. You’re a part of it. While you’re young, a misstep like this can be covered, but the older you get, the more difficult it will be."

"Thanks for the dinner," Gabriel muttered and left.

His father said something else, but he didn’t hear any of it.

For another week, it was peaceful. No unnecessary questions, no demands from his father. But just when Gabriel thought he had left it alone, it happened again.

Late in the evening, as he sat by his desk in his room, studying, there was a soft knock on the door.

Gabriel thought it was the maid. "Come in."

A woman he’d never seen before entered. A blonde with a dress shorter than Natasha’s. Her lips were painted red, so were her nails.

Gabriel’s stomach dropped and he jumped up from his seat. But the lock clicked before he could make a run for it. Fuck.

"Hello, Gabriel," the woman purred, leaning against his desk suggestively.

"God, no, not again. I’m not doing this!" Gabriel walked around his bed, keeping distance.

"Don’t be like this," she said gently, climbing over the bed to reach him. "I won’t hurt you. Unless you ask."

He grabbed a pillow to use as a shield. "Listen! I don’t want to sleep with you!"

The woman paused and tilted her head, a flicker of something—annoyance, confusion or doubt—breaking her practiced smile.

"Why not?"

Gabriel hesitated. "You’re not my type."

"Type?" she repeated, the word sticking on her tongue like an unfamiliar taste. "What is your type then?"

"Someone with... black hair. Brown eyes. Tall. And aloof." Gabriel listed traits that had nothing to do with her.

Her lips curved into an amused smirk. "So, you like dark and mysterious? I can be mysterious too." She reached out again, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead.

Gabriel recoiled, pushing the pillow into her face before it could lean in too close. "Ugh, no! Ew!"

The woman fell back with an irritated scoff. Her eyes flitted to the pillow, where her makeup had left a stain.

Humiliated and infuriated, she avoided going anywhere near him until the door opened. In the end, he didn’t even catch her name.

The third time, it was a shy woman named Emily with shoulder-length ebony hair. She stood a respectful distance away, watching Gabriel with doe eyes.

"Mr. Everett insisted I go through with it. I don’t really do this often, but could you cooperate? It would be easier for the both of us."

Gabriel exhaled, rubbing his forehead.

She watched him quietly, which gave an opening for bargaining.

"What if we just tell him we did it?" he suggested. "That everything happened? He doesn’t need to know anything else. Right?"