New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 899 One Loss, One Victory

Alex looked Elise in the eyes. His eyes had already turned black and red as his instincts kicked in. He had felt the genuine threat to his life and turned without wanting to.

Now, he was holding Elise by her throat, air barely flowing through it, as her eyes had widened in fear.

"What the hell are you?" she asked, struggling to utter the words.

Alex raised his left hand, sliding it against his chin, and wiped away blood. He looked at the black blood on his fingers and locked eyes with her again.

"Had I not tilted back, you would have cut my throat open… Did you intend to kill me?" he asked, his voice quivering in anger.

She shook her head as best she could.

"No… I knew you would move out of the way. I just wanted to land the hit. I win…" she muttered, her face slowly turning blueish.

Alex's eyes narrowed.

With a sigh, he released her throat, as she collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, and he turned back to human.

"What if I hadn't moved out of the way?" he asked, crouching beside her.

She massaged her neck as she grinned at him.

"Do you think I'm so inexperienced as not to be able to control my strikes? I would have given you a nice shave, but you wouldn't be in life-threatening danger," she declared, clearing her throat a few times along the way.

Alex still wasn't convinced.

She sighed.

"Look. You came at me with clear killing intent on that first strike. I still felt it even if you didn't strike a killing blow. I only responded in kind. Don't you think your reaction is a little hypocritical?"

Alex looked her in the eyes, trying to sense if she was lying. But there was no malice in her gaze.

Only determination.

"Fine. You win. You drew blood, and I didn't. I guess I'll be paying for that lunch," Alex said, getting back to his feet.

He offered his hand to her, helping her get back on her's and walked toward the front wall, where he rested the Shinai he had picked back up.

Elise looked at his back as he walked to the exit, putting his shoes back on, and a shiver went down her spine.

'He was ready to kill me. No hesitation. There was no fluctuation in his emotions. This was not his first time… This man is dangerous…' she thought.

She wasn't sure she should even consider anything he would ask her in the following half hour. A man so ready to kill was terrible news with a capital N.

Associating with him could be bad for her image and, eventually, bad for her safety.

Alex stopped at the door, looking back at her.

"Are you coming, or what? I'm sure you don't have all day."

"Ah… Yes," she replied, stepping toward the exit as well.

'I at least owe it to eat the meal he so graciously is paying for, right?' she mused, grinning at the thought of the feast that awaited them next door.

As they sat back down on the terrace, Anthony saw them and dashed to the kitchen.

He soon returned with a rolling cart, with platters on three different shelves, and started unloading them on their table.

The boy even pulled a second table next to them to put the rest of the food, and he looked at Alexander.

"I'm sorry for you, sir. I tried warning you…" he said, with a regretful tone.

"Stop bothering the clients, son!" a gruff voice came from behind him.

A beast of a man walked behind him, overshadowing him, as he towered at least two heads above the kid, and grinned at Alex.

"Thank you for your patronage, good sir. I hope everything is to your liking, and that you consider returning when you crave authentic Mexican food. I'm the best place in town!" he claimed, balling up his fists in a victorious pose.

Alex chuckled at the display and smiled at him.

"Well, everything looks and smells divine. Once I've eaten my fill, I will personally come and tell you what I thought of it. In the meantime, how about I pay you and your cooks a round of beers? It's hot outside today, and I can't begin to imagine how hot it is in the kitchen."

The man's grin widened up to his ears.

"Now that's the kind of man I like, Senor! I will tell the boys to take five and enjoy a cold one for you! I'm sure they will be thrilled!" the man said, slapping Alex on the shoulder like they were best friends.

He frowned a little when Alex barely budged and the inside of his hand started stinging, but he quickly returned to smiling and guffawing as he left toward the kitchen.

Alex heard the yips of joy coming from the kitchen, as the cooks were told to take five, and he saw them rushing to the front, amassing around the bar fridge, before each taking a cold Corona from it, and rushing back into the kitchen.

Alex knew they were going out back to enjoy their well-deserved break, and he chuckled as he looked back at the food.

To no surprise, Elise had already started shoving food down her gullet, without waiting on him, and she looked ravenous.

"That good, huh?" he asked, chuckling.

"Shu' up an' ea'," she responded, pointing at the food in front of him with a dumb smile.

Alex shook his head at her lack of care for class, and he dug into the food himself.

She was entirely right to scarf down the food so voraciously, though. Alex's palate almost exploded when the first bite hit his tongue.

The flavours were like a gut punch from Mike Tyson, assaulting him with the power of fifteen suns. The spiciness immediately attacked his tongue.

But the sweetness of the vegetables, the tanginess of the salsa and sour cream, and the savouriness of the meat tamed it.

If the Nachos had already been good, this was in a whole other dimension.

"Holy shit…" he muttered, as he swallowed the first bite.

"Righ'?!" the woman before him replied, almost spitting out some food toward him.

Alex looked at her side of the table, and a quarter of her portion had already disappeared.

If he wanted to enjoy the food and taste everything, he would need to kick into gear.

It suddenly became a contest to see who could eat the fastest, enjoying everything before the other chomped it away. It was like watching two cavemen fighting for the last piece of mammoth steak.

From afar, Anthony shook his head with a smile.

"Animals, both of them," he chuckled.

But, from the kitchen windows, his father was grinning madly.

He knew the comments would be good, from the expression on the young man's face alone.

Elise and Alex fought for the last bite, growling at each other like rabid dogs, before Alex eventually yanked on it with more strength than Elise and grinned as he shoved the last piece of Cochinita Pibil in his mouth, the juices dripping down his chin.

Elise made a disappointed whine, but a loud burp and a sigh of fulfillment quickly replaced it.

"Hoooo! I haven't eaten that much in a while. This was sooooo gooooood!" she exclaimed, forgetting Alex was here to talk to her about something.

Alex took a wet cloth that Anthony had brought when he started taking away the empty plates and washed his mouth and hands.

"This was indeed quite the exquisite meal… I wonder how such a place has stayed under the radar. It seems to me like a place like this should be crawling with dinners…" he said, looking around in confusion.

There were barely any people on the terrace, and the inside wasn't much more garnished with clientele.

As a matter of fact, he noticed that the entire street had been quite empty all this time.

"Yeah… Ever since that incident with the gangs nearby, this part of town has been like a ghost town…" Elise said, her face turning sad.

"Gangs?" Alex asked, his eyebrow rising.

He hadn't been following regular news for a while now, and he knew nothing of what she was talking about.

"Yeah. A gang set up shop in a neighbouring street, and they've been terrorizing the people. People are scared to leave their houses for leisure, anymore. A kid's already been caught in the crossfire between them and a rival gang car, and he's still in the ICU…"

With how her expression hardened at the mention of that, Alex could only assume she knew the kid in question.

"And the police aren't doing anything?" he asked, his gaze hardening.

He saw her fists clench and already knew the answer.

"No. Their cowards. All of them!" she spat.

Alex looked at her, and he already knew what to do to win her over. It might be a bit of a crooked way to curry favour, but he would be killing two birds with one stone.

Taking care of trash and getting a powerful ally. Who didn't like win-win deals, right?

"I have an offer for you. One that I insist you listen to in full before refusing. Because I'm sure you will want me to go through with it."

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