[b][center][h2]Paige Kennedy & [color=f26522]Milo Ventri[/color][/h2][/center][/b]


“StarBank, Millenium, First National…” Paige crossed her arms and looked at the markers on the screen of her laptop. She’d said the names of Sol’s three largest banks to herself so many times that they just flowed together in her mind like a song. “All on the same side of the river…” She continued. “And this Friday will be the first time in three months that the there will be a truck run on all three in the same day.” She looked on at the screen resting her chin into her palm as she ran the scenarios over and over again through her head. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she would be potentially making the biggest score of her career in the cold and dark winter of Sol City. 

“Why don’t they just go for the trucks?” Milo asked. He tossed another cut log into the small wood fireplace in his shop. Despite how much he had restored the rest of his place into a modern living-space, Paige always gravitated back to the workshop, back to the same table where they lured the gangster, Jackie Costa, into a trap. 

“The cash is laced with dye-packs.” Paige said tapping a few keys and moving the map around. “Guards have Uzi’s, it’s just like the old days.”

Milo snorted a little in amusement and sipped a little at the small glass of high-end scotch that Siobhan had managed to liberate from the Olympus family at the Art Showing. Paige’s custom of simply taking whatever she wanted, [i]wherever[/i] she wanted, seemed to be rubbing off some on the younger redhead. Though he still wasn’t consuming like he’d been before the assassin’s attempt against him, he accepted the bottle a little curious how the girl had managed to acquire such exotic tastes in spirits at such a young age. Out of habit, the glass rolled slowly in his hand as he watched Paige and thought of the night that the bottle was claimed while another sip slowly burned down. He was officially done with the Romus/Olympus clan. Without a word, Paige had allowed them to prove her right and he had to give her credit for keeping quiet when he knew she was burning to tell them what she thought. Looking at her wearing one of his HEMA t-shirts that she had cut-out to hang loosely off one shoulder only further confirmed that he had made the right decision, but a slightly serious expression drew across his face at the thought. Seeing the ferocity of determination in her face reminded him that she would do anything to get back to Florida and he knew she believed taking down Nikki would be a step in that direction. For him, it was only a step into the past, he had no desire to return to Delta City and had put it all behind him. It was the only unsaid thing between them. 

Paige relaxed some and leaned back in her chair resting one arm behind her and sensing his gaze. Unlike him, she could never become immune to the scent of molten metal and gun cleaner that hung in the air within his workshop and was glad of it. The smell was intoxicating. She locked her eyes with his as the fire snapped across the dried wood behind him. Her green orbs searched into him. It was the same look he’d given a few moments after she told him about Ana coming to Sol City and she still couldn’t believe the naivete that she allowed within herself. In her mind she tried to think that things would be the same as they had always been between the three of them, but in her heart she knew that would never again be the case and in those dark echoes she knew that if he still loved Ana, she would never be able to compete. The moment passed without a word and she turned back to the screen and small coffee cup he poured for her. 

“The distraction is the wildcard…” Paige said breaking the silence that followed.

“It’ll be on the westside,” Milo said. He walked over to his work bench and examined his rifle in a state of partial deconstruction and cleaning. “They’ll want to use the bridge traffic as a barrier.” He truly didn’t know what she had in mind for him, like she had just put aside the fact that he wasn’t a cop or a soldier he was just a man. He looked at his hands steadily working, thinking about what he’d done with the man who’d tried to kill him. Sure, it was good to talk about it with her and she was probably right that it would get easier with time though he wondered if she really was proud of her body count. “What do you think they’ll hit?”

Paige brushed some of her hair aside; by the end of the day of the day much of it hung loosely from her regular braid and covered much of her exposed shoulder. “Probably just blow up a car or something, it’s the oldest trick in the book.” She shook her head. “It just seems [i]too[/i] simple though, it’s not their style.” She sighed and found his hand suddenly resting on her collarbone massaging the back of her neck with his thumb. She let her head fall over as his touch took some of the tension away feeling the roughness of his hand against her skin. Her exhaustion was evident, but she picked up her phone and started typing out a few messages as her eyes were heavy. Milo watched not saying a word as the screen was clearly visible.

[hider=Text to Marlin]

[b][i]Are you working with the helicopter this Friday?[/i][/b]
[/hider]

[hider=Text to Dustynn]
[b][i]Has your boss received any more offers on the Club that you know of?[/i][/b]
[/hider]

[@MissCapnCrunch][@PrinceAlexus][@RoccanIronclad][@Almalthia]