VAL•💖✨

Your boss trusted you to get hold of a confident of one of the most dangerous men in the city tonight, and you weren’t going to let a random stranger, or your shaking knees, ruin your chance.

Exhaling sharply, you looked at your phone. Your boss gave you instructions and a description of your target. It was an easy task. – Chat the man up, put the tranquilizer in his drink, bring him back to the headquarters in one piece.

The man arrived right on time. He nervously looked around the alley before hurriedly walking inside. You waited a moment longer, hesitating only for a few seconds.

You took another deep breath and walked out of the alley and inside the bar to arrest the man, hoping he’ll rat his boss out, and make your case even more important.

Inside, you tried to ignore the music blaring or that you didn’t feel comfortable in your too-short and too-tight dress.

You made your way through the crowd, keeping an eye on the target as he was ordering a drink. Your target was standing near the bar, his face now nearly covered by his baseball cap.

He was glancing your way when you slowly stepped toward the bar to order a drink. You took the chance and added the little pill to his drink when another woman was chatting him up. Your target soon chased her away to glance your way again.

It was only a matter of time before the man started to sway. You were quick to offer help and guide him out of the bar to get fresh air. Your target ended, just as planned, in the trunk of your car, handcuffed and gagged.

Steven Grant Rogers is untouchable. No one, not even the toughest agents, dared to go against him. His name was only mentioned in a hushed tone. The walls had ears, telling Rogers everything he needed to know.

He believed that his reputation and power were enough to keep people from messing with him. No such luck.

The moment he opened his eyes and tried to move, he found himself restrained to a chair.

He laughed. It was almost comical. The feared mafia boss was restrained to a chair after a girl knocked him out, spiking his drink.

Steve closed his eyes and sighed deeply. For one night, Steve wanted to go out without bodyguards, a hidden gun, and the usual aura telling everyone to back off.

 “You can come out now,” he said, amusement in his tone. “I know you are watching me. Don’t be a creep, woman.”

“It’s agent,” you snapped at the man. “And you will tell me everything about Steve Rogers, his organization, and his accomplices. Or else…”

Steve dipped his head to get a better look at you. “Or else, doll?” He rasped. His mouth curved upward when you stepped closer to look at him. “You want me to rat myself out?”

You swallowed thickly. Back at the bar, you were in such a hurry you didn’t double-check on the target.

“What? How can it be you?” You faced Steve Rogers, the man your boss wanted to take down, realizing you were truly fucked.

Your boss Nick Fowler wasn’t a forgiving man. If he found out that you kidnapped Steve Rogers, not one of his accomplices, you were done for. You just ruined any chance to bring the mafia boss’s organization down. Even worse, you told him about your plans.

Steve smirked. He looked at you, searching for insecurities. “You have two options.” He said, taking control of the situation even though he was still handcuffed to a chair.

His eyes never left your face as you nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

“Options,” you murmured, afraid to even listen to the options Steve offered.

“One,” Steve continued, leaning back as far as the cuffs allowed, “you call your boss and explain that you kidnapped the most wanted man in the city.” He smirked darkly when your jaw clenched. “Or two, you unlock these cuffs and follow me out of this shady hideout.”

You winced because he sounded reasonable. And you hated that he sounded entertained, like your career ending in real time was the best thing to happen to him all week.

“There is a third option,” you said, forcing your voice not to shake. You lifted your chin and crossed your arms over your chest. He didn’t need to know that your heart was thundering in your chest. “I keep you here until I figure out how to fix this.”

Steve’s smile widened. He looked damn proud, and you hated him even more.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Act like you’re the one in control.” You stepped closer, pointing one finger at him. “You are my prisoner.”

Steve’s gaze dropped to the finger hovering inches from his chest, then slowly lifted back to your face. “And yet you’re the one peeing their pants.”

“That’s it,” you huffed. “I’m going to call my boss, and he will…” Nothing. Fowler would do nothing for you. He hated you. And he was an arrogant asshole.

“You think Fowler will help you?” Steve laughed in your face.

“Fowler will ruin you,” you snapped at Steve, forgetting for a moment that he was, in fact, a deadly and feared man.

“Sweetness, he will ask for more money from me and let you disappear. Do you know why a sweet little desk mouse like you got the assignment? He wanted two things to happen. Fowler wanted you to fail, and to extort me.”

“What? No!” Your legs were about to give in when you looked into Steve’s eyes. There was no arrogance or a trace of a lie in his eyes. Only the ugly truth.

“You!!!” You lunged forward before thinking it through, grabbing the front of his shirt with both hands. “You are enjoying this way too much, Mr. Rogers. Do you think my life is a joke?”

Steve looked down at your fists in his shirt and then back up at you. His smirk only deepened.

“I’m enjoying that you are still trying to find a way out of this situation,” he said quietly. “Most people would have started crying by now or begging.”

“Stop complimenting me,” you hissed, releasing his shirt and stepping away. “I’m not interested in the game you are playing. I know how men like you hurt people like me.”

“This isn’t a game, doll. It’s survival.” Steve shifted in the chair, the metal cuffs clinking against the frame. “Your boss sent you into that bar with false information and no backup. That means either he wanted you gone, or he wanted to fuck with me.”

You shuddered. Fowler never liked you. You hated that Steve’s words made sense.

Steve waited for you to decide on your fate when your phone buzzed in your pocket.

You fished it out of your pocket, glancing at the name flashed across the screen.

“Let me guess, it’s Fowler,” Steve concluded. “If you want to survive the night, don’t answer it.”

“You’re not my boss.” You looked at the phone, letting it ring. “Stop telling me what to do.”

“If you pick up, Fowler will know you’re alive. If he knows you’re alive, he’ll send men here.” Steve’s voice lowered. “And they won’t come to save you, doll.”

You swallowed hard. “What shall I do then, huh?”

Steve looked at you, still smirking. “Open the handcuffs and let me handle this. If Fowler wants to play dirty, he will pay for it.”

For a second, you could only stare at him. Steve was right. The protocol said there should’ve been backup. Especially because this was your first mission. If there was backup, they knew you grabbed the wrong man.

“If you lie, I will bring you down myself,” you said, grabbing the keys to unlock the handcuffs with shaking fingers.

Steve slowly rose from his seat. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck before he looked at you again.

You backed away when he lifted one tattooed hand to cup your chin.

“Good. Now let’s get out of here before Fowler finds us, doll…”