CHAPTER 347: THE NEW DRIVER

"Athena, you are not going with them? I thought..." Rodney’s words dried up in his mouth when he was met with unfriendly glares from both Aiden and Ewan.

What had he done wrong now? He checked himself, his words.

Firstly, he had been left like a destitute while the others had flocked into a phone booth he had watched, wide-eyed, transporting them downwards... to an underground facility? He wasn’t sure.

Seeing the sophisticated attires and weapons most of the men had adorned, he knew he had walked into some complicated nonsense. Only the amount of money Aiden had proposed as his monthly salary; after bombarding him with questions, after giving him the details of his job—just drive her!—had kept him rooted in the madness.

If not, why would he be involved with gangsters and whatnot?

He loved his life! And maybe... he loved his boss.

Although he didn’t think that was enough to sacrifice his life and ambitions. Not with those men looking at him as if he had farted.

Were they her husbands? He hoped not.

He was curious about his boss, whom he had read about—after the phone call that he could see now was beginning to change his life—she was a doctor and a businesswoman. And now something else, from what he could see; no way were all these bulky fellows government-approved.

Rodney however hoped that these men wouldn’t stop his quest. He raised an eyebrow daringly when they refused to look away, when Athena remained silent, watching the others who were transporting cartons of things he wasn’t aware of—things he prayed were not drugs or illegal—into vans.

He bit his lip, getting annoyed when a fellow next to Ewan scoffed. Who was that?

The fellow had sat beside him in the car that had brought them here, but the male had never said a word to him, not even when Aiden was bombarding him with questions. So why the hell was he scoffing?!

"If you have something to say, get it out!" Rodney finally lost it.

This time, he got Athena’s attention—Athena, who had been lost in her own thoughts, unaware of the tension going on between the men.

"What’s going on here?" She asked, darting her gaze between them, eyes centering on Zane because he seemed to be the latest obsession of her new driver.

"They don’t like me." Rodney answered curtly, frowning when Athena chuckled.

What was wrong with these people? Rodney began to doubt his wisdom of accepting this job, no matter the bogus salary that had been offered him; an amount he wouldn’t have made in that dark, primitive excuse for a town.

"Zane hardly hates anyone." Athena said, hissing softly when Zane winked at her.

Rodney committed the name to memory. He would be doing a lot of research later, on the whole lot of them, once he was done with his share of the job today. After all, the job came with better accommodation and utilities, enough time and resources to unwind.

"But really... why are you scaring my new driver?" Athena asked Aiden, avoiding Ewan’s gaze—the memory of his devotion-filled eyes for her, haunting her.

"I think it’s because he addressed you informally, considering his position." Florence answered, a smile in her voice, her hand wound around Old Mr. Thorne’s waist.

"Oh..." And Athena turned to Rodney. "Do you have a problem addressing me formally?"

A curious question, void of any sinister or mocking tone.

Rodney inhaled and exhaled deeply. "No. You are my boss, after all, ma’am," he said.

He understood the sharp glares now, but couldn’t they have just spoken to him without glaring?

"You have to forgive these macho men... they just haven’t seen a reason to trust you," Athena pointed out then, sensitive to Rodney’s thoughts from the myriad of emotions flickering across his face and expressive brown eyes.

"I see. I will have to prove myself worthy of the hire then." A small smile resting on his lips, so ready for the challenge. Oh, he would prove himself quite alright.

"So, aren’t you going with them, ma’am?" The vans were already leaving one by one to a location no one had thought to tell him about.

"No, that wouldn’t be a wise decision. I still have the tracker within me. Going there will alert the enemy to the new location of my lab." Athena explained.

Rodney didn’t exactly understand what she was talking about, but he understood why he was on the receiving end of another bout of glares. Still, he wasn’t alone in this. This time, Athena was also receiving her own share.

But she laughed in response.

"You all should get down from your high horses. Rodney is to be trusted. He’s not Jake..."

A dry pause.

"Dax, I mean. I’m sure he will do his job. And if he fails..."

"I won’t fail." Rodney hurriedly added, noticing the thickening tension and the threatening tilt to Athena’s voice. He’d watched enough gun movies to know what went down when someone betrayed a gang, and he would rather cut out his own tongue than become a snitch.

"You see..." Athena chuckled, looking at her male friends. "He won’t betray us. He’s a good man."

And then she turned her attention back to Rodney. "You will be driving me to the hospital. Aiden has given you a rundown, right?"

If "giving a rundown" meant threatening alongside commands, then yes, the big fellow had done that. Rodney thought, nodding.

"Good. Let’s go then. I have a surgery to do."

Doctor Athena Caddels. Rodney couldn’t believe he was now working for the influential doctor.

He stepped back when Ewan’s shoulder almost hit him, as the latter paused beside him, while Athena moved toward the beautiful car that shone with newness.

"Don’t get too close." Ewan warned, then continued walking.

Rodney let out the sigh he’d been holding. Don’t get too close. Was that literal, or did it mean something else—like emotionally?

He sighed again. This job really was going to be more tasking than he’d assumed, more than just driving, with all the expectations being heaped on him.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t be losing his life anytime soon—his mother would cry a river.