Chapter 340: Let the Games Begin
Jasmine was not the only one who had heard Alex’s tales of wild and drunken antics throughout the years. In fact, her father was listening to the conversation via the wire she was wearing beneath her dress. After all, only a fool would fully trust the piss poor excuse Alex had made to get out of Iranian Intelligence’s investigation.
But the more Alex spoke to Jasmine about his past, the more it began to appear like the man really wasn’t the slightest bit connected with the enemies of Iran. In fact, the General was starting to suspect that the man was a bit of an idiot. A charming idiot, but an idiot, to be sure.
He could only sigh and shake his head after listening to Alex’s long-winded tales of drunken exploits, and his many conquests of women from around the globe. This man was truly completely and utterly shameless, and after listening to such a conversation, Jasmine’s father could no longer endure it, stepping outside of his surveillance van and having a long and quiet smoke.
Alex suspected that he was still being monitored and thus he said something to Jasmine after his long tales of hedonism that shocked her.
“So, is your old man still listening in? Or has he finally had enough?”
Jasmine was drinking from her glass when Alex said this, causing her to damn near spit out the water in her mouth as she tried to deny that allegations she had made towards him.
“My father? What? I’m sorry… Umm… What are you talking about?”
Alex sighed and shook his head before lecturing the woman on daring to play dumb around him.
The moment Jasmine knew that the jig was up, her expression sank from playful to outright disgusted as she ripped the wire out from under her dress and placed it on the table. Perhaps she did not want her father to hear what she had to say, even if he was no longer listening.
“You’re smarter than you act. I genuinely thought you were a stupid and frivolous playboy. Yet you already knew you were being monitored, and even knew that I had a wire on me. I’m afraid to say this just makes you all the more suspicious!”
Alex, however, did not react the way which Jasmine expected him to, and instead sank back in his chair and smirked. She hated him, just like she did in the past life. She may not be in the negatives of affection, but her affection had not risen in the slightest despite the grand tales which he regaled her with.
It still stood firmly at 1/100. And because of this, Alex knew her opinion of him was quite low. Thus, he decided to be completely honest with the woman as he spoke to her with a tone that showed he simply didn’t care.
“Stupid? No, I mean sure I’m not the brightest bulb in the box, and I tend to make a lot of foolish mistakes, not necessarily out of stupidity, but more so as a result of my own refusal to think before I act. As for the frivolous playboy thing, that much is true. I am a playboy, I love women, well… I love their bodies.
If I’m being honest, most women make me want to put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger. I mean, have you ever heard the way you all speak? Utterly devoid of thought. For the most part, that is. But there is a rare breed of women who offer more than just their bodies, and lip service. And those are the women I’m truly interested in.
So… Jasmine Behzadi… How about you and I get to know each other for real? None of the fluff, none of the bullshit. Sit here and have a genuine conversation with me, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you what your father is demanding of you…”
Jasmine was startled by Alex’s shameless admission. She thought that perhaps her father’s men would force their way into the restaurant and arrest the man on the spot. But they never came. Instead she simply looked around the room repeatedly until she was brought back to reality by Alex’s arrogant voice.
“Well, Ms. Behzadi? What do you say?”
Seeing that something had clearly happened causing her father to miss this particular display of arrogance on Alex’s part, Jasmine grit her teeth, and though about Alex’s offer for a few moments before finally sitting back down in her seat where she crossed her arms, and sighed heavily before agreeing to Alex’s demands.
“Fine… One conversation, no lies, no bullshit. You tell me who you really are, and I will tell you the same. In the end, you let me know how you really escaped from Tehran without our notice. Deal?”
The smirk on Alex’s face was wide, and was indeed one that Jasmine found to be utterly annoying as he shocked the woman by pulling a bottle of wine out from his coat pocket, where he poured it into their glasses.
How he had managed to conceal such a thing on his person, let along smuggled it into the country Jasmine did not know, and she was just about to ask how he had done it, when Alex posed a question of his own.
“Come now Jasmine, that can’t really be what you want to ask me for your first question? I mean, the two of us only have a limited amount of time to get to know one another properly before your father and his men get back from their smoke break….”
As much as Jasmine hated to admit it, Alex was right. That was not at all what she wanted to know from the man. So, she took a deep breath and calmed her nerves before announcing the beginning of their little game.
“Alright, fine, I’ll start. Who are you really? And no bullshit. What exactly is your connection to Los Zetas and La Madre?”
