Assassin by Day

by Tessa Robertson

  Veering into oncoming traffic, I take a sharp left turn and urge the engine faster. My new destination isn’t far, but it’s not sanctioned by the skhodka or the agency either. This one is on me. I need to silence Eddie while I have the chance.

  If Nickolas finds out what I’m about to do, he’s either going to be pissed or joyous. I don’t give a damn which path he chooses. It should be rather easy to frighten Eddie away. All I have to do is show him my genuine self. Easy peasy.

  Slowing the bike, I park her in an open spot and wrench the helmet from my head. I shrug at the blood residue on my pants and abhorrent hair. It’s the perfect combination to set terror into Eddie.

  My booted heels click on the sidewalk as I walk up to Eddie’s favorite hole in the wall pub. The serene neon light catapults my gut to the past, but this time I won’t be making out until last call.

  As a patron leaves, I slip through the door. Hard rock music greets me and I scan the murky room until I find him. Good ol’ Edward is in his usual spot, the darkest corner, and looks to be nursing a beer. Figures. I half expect some tramp to cling to him, but it’s not Eddie’s style.

  I lift my finger to the bartender. “Vodka on the rocks,” I order, placing cash on the bar.

  The bald and tattooed thirty-something guy pours my drink. He slips the cash into his pocket as he walks away. I recognize the row of ‘x’s’ tattooed on the barkeep’s hand and smirk. The skhodka is everywhere.

  “Oh, goody.”

  Leaning against the bar, I observe the place where Eddie feels most comfortable. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been here. It’s no wonder my fiancé planted someone here. Covering the bases is Alexei’s prerogative.

  Taking a sip of the vodka, I review the room. Body shots are occurring at one end of the bar. Classy. A young couple is having what I assume is their first fight. Great location for that. A lesbian couple is making out hardcore against a back wall. Sexy stuff. And then there’s a group of frat boys taking shots like it’s their business. “You will work.”

  Swallowing the remainder of my drink, I slide the glass across the table and watch it teeter on the edge. I walk away before it crashes to the floor.

  Strutting to the table of college kids, I plop onto the biggest guy’s lap. His ball cap is turned backwards and the attempt at a goatee is adorable. “Hey, there, hot stuff,” I croon, propping my legs up on the drunk friend beside him.

  “Hey, yourself.” His slurred response makes me grin. Another guy who can’t handle his booze.

  “So, I’m going to need a favor from you,” I begin, lowering my voice. Leaning closer to him, I whisper in his ear. “In about five minutes, I want you to follow me over there.” I point to Eddie’s secluded spot. “Then I want you to grab me and make out with me.”

  The frat boy’s face lights up like fireworks. “Uh, yeah, I can do that.”

  His eyes slide over my skin-tight black shirt which shows off just a little too much boob. Hey, a girl has to kill in seductive style. You never know when cleavage will be useful.

  “Great, thanks.” I press a kiss on his cheek, smearing red lipstick as I move away from him. The eruption of manly giggles launches me in Eddie’s direction.

  Stealing another vodka from the bartender, I casually slide into the chair opposite my ex. “What’s a girl gotta do to make you stop hounding her?”

  Eddie’s head whips up and his flawless blue eyes secure me to my spot. “Rory? What’re you doing here?”

  Ignoring the warm sensations his voice spreads throughout my stomach, I sip the poor excuse for Russian cuisine. “I came to tell you to stop trying to get me back. It’s not happening. We’re over. Finito. Done.”

  “I don’t believe you.” He pushes his glass away and reaches for my hands. When I pull them out of his reach, he frowns. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know this isn’t you. The girl I love would never jump from one guy to another.”

  “Ha!” I scoff. “You don’t know me then.”

  “No, I do.” Eddie manages to find my fingers and lace them within his. “You were different when you were with me.” He rubs his lips together. “Tell me what happened”

  Maintaining his gaze is dangerous. It causes me to feel things again. Suddenly, I want to tell him everything. To spill my guts and let the word vomit paralyse him.

  Instead, I’m transported back to every time we were together. The nervous way my stomach flipped when we went to our first movie theater together. How sinful his body felt against mine when we made out in the parking lot after the damn movie.

  I peruse the bar then swivel my eyes to meet his. I hold in a frustrated groan. He’s right. I’m not the girl who easily comes unraveled at his touch. I’m a hardened version of her. One who’s been through the ringer too many times.

  I stare at our hands meshed in intimacy. “This is me, Eddie. This is me when I’m not in love with you.”

  An unfamiliar expression scribbles on his handsome, yet scruffy, face. I don’t like lying to him, but I have no other alternative.

  Eddie leans across the table and lowers his voice. “Don’t lie to me, Rory. Your eyebrow twitches when you lie.”

  Without thinking, I reach up to my brow. Dear God, is the five minutes up yet? I need the drunk dumbass to save me. I smirk. Save me from the person I never want to be saved from.

  “I also know you bribed the boys over there to come rescue you from me.” His eyes flick to the table of fraternity boys gone mellow. “I told them to ignore any attractive woman tonight.” I set my jaw and my nostrils flare. “It’s a wonder what a couple of hundred bucks can do for broke kids.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I take a drink, hoping it settles the nerves Eddie manufactures. It doesn’t.

  He drops his hold and chuckles. Leaning back, he takes a sip of the frothy beer. Bud Light, if I recall correctly. “You’re easy to predict, doll. You enter the room like a hurricane and own it more than any woman I’ve ever met.”

  “I can’t help that I’m awesome,” I respond and he shoots me an uncertain glance.

  “Then you push away the only person you care to talk to. You do it all the time. You might think you’re coy about it, but you’re not.”

  He finishes his beer and orders another. “I’ve watched you do it for seven years.” He holds up his finger. “Wait, no, I think it’s eight.”

  If the bar’s occupants weren’t trickling in, I’d slap him, but it wouldn’t get me anywhere. “Eight sounds right.”

  “You push away from someone when they get too close.” To prove his point, he moves to the other side of the table and sits beside me. As an instinct, I lean towards the wall. “See? You did it again.”

  “Maybe I have a personal bubble and you like to poke holes in it,” I hurl back, wedging myself further to the wall. My ploys are foolhardy as Eddie continues to back me into the corner.

  “Or you’re afraid of what’ll happen if I burst your bubble,” Eddie remits in a hushed tone.

  Fuck. Am I truly so easy to read? It’s true. All of it. He might as well live in my brain the way he knows me. I’m scared to death of what would happen if I let him, or any man for that matter, into my inner sanctuary. I’ve been burned too many times to entertain the possibility of loving without bounds.

  I shove at his shoulders, but he doesn’t move. I can’t handle this. I can’t handle him and the soft way he rips open my bedrock façade and worms into my soul. “And I think you’re drunk.”

  Eddie sighs and shakes his head. “If only. It wouldn’t help what I feel.” He takes a drink. “Or what you feel.”

  “Goddammit, Eddie! You weren’t supposed to wallow in us. You were supposed to move on.”

  I pound the rest of my drink and wipe my mouth. My lipstick smudges and I grunt in anger. “So much for looking like a siren.” I grab my lipstick out of my pocket.

  “How the fuck do you even fit that in those pants?” He wonders aloud, watching my every movement.
“They’re so tight.”

  “I like it tight,” I respond, applying the red magic to my lips.

  “Me too.”

  I slide my eyes sideways at him and see his lips curl in a smile. “Seriously?”

  He ignores my sarcastic question and skootches close. “Oh, yeah, definitely serious about that.”

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Romeo.”

  Eddie tucks my hair behind my ear and leans close. His eyes study my disgruntled face and frizzy braid, sending shivers skidding on my skin.

  “I don’t think so. I remember every slippery slope of yours.” His teeth nip at my earlobe. “And I will happily ride this ride.” His tongue dips to my neck. “For the rest of my days no matter how many others had admittance.”

  Fuck! Do you see why I fell in love with him? He’s a freaking saint compared to my demonic nature.

  “Eddie, you know I’m with—”

  “No, you’re not.” He pulls my chair until it bumps into his. “And even if you were, I don’t give a damn. You’re not his. You’re mine.”

  Breathing is too difficult when he adds, “You always have been and you always will be mine, Rory. Don’t ever forget.”

  I gasp for air like a fish out of water. The room is closing in faster than I can comprehend how idyllic his lips are on my throat. The badass Russian assassin has checked out for the evening. The real me replaced her somewhere between vodka and musical chairs.

  Turning my face to his, I rub my lips together. “How could I forget when you’re always haunting my memory?”

  That’s all it takes for Eddie to close the minimal distance to my ruby reds. The force of his kiss catches me off guard. His lips swallow me whole, and I clasp his head. Eddie shoves my back against the wall, causing a gasp. He’s never been rough with me before. Dammit, I love it rough with a side of tender. Eddie owns that unlike any other man.

  “Run away with me,” he pleads, breaking free.

  Though disappointed at his absence, I rejoin, “I can’t. You know that.” My eyes filter over his pained face.

  “And you don’t love me either, right?” Eddie nips my lower lip. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me.”

  Grazing my fingernails over his scalp, I slowly meet his gaze. “I wish I could.” Eddie smiles his relief, and I hate myself a little bit more. “But we can’t be together. There are things about me you don’t know.” I trace his jaw. “Things I never want you to know. And those are the reasons we can’t be together.”

  “I’ll love you no matter the reason.” He cups my face, and I want to drown in his eyes.

  I shake my head. “No, you won’t.” My hands fall from his body. “And that’s okay. If you’re safe, I’m happy.”

  Eddie’s brows knit together. “What do you mean? I’m safe when I’m with you. It’s when you’re not with me that I feel vulnerable.”

  God, he needs to stop his incessant loving nature. It makes it harder to thrust him to the farthest end of the earth. Summoning whatever courage remaining, I lean over and press a kiss to his forehead as I stand.

  “No. We’re safe apart, not together. Remind yourself that anytime you have the stupid notion to find me.”

  “Rory, don’t do this,” he pleads, grasping for my hand.

  Taking a step towards the exit, I add, “Goodbye, Eddie.”

  My boots click on the sticky floor and I hear his heavy sigh.

  Snapping my fingers, I retrace my steps and murmur into his ear, “Oh, and happy birthday.”

  Yeah, I’m a bitch. One who’s in love with the wrong guy.

  ***

  “What’re you thinking meeting with him?” Nickolas grits out, carting me off the elevator faster than I can take a step.

  Aw, he’s jealous. “Hello to you too, Nick,” I manage as he strings me to my bedroom. Apparently, Alexei wasn’t the only one to follow my late-night exchange with Eddie. Nothing happened. All right, that’s a lie but he doesn’t need to know about the tonsil tango.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I see the normal bodyguards are nowhere in sight. “What’d you do to the guard dogs?”

  Nickolas pries open the bedroom door and shoves us inside. “They’re dead,” he informs, turning the lock. “And we will be too if Alexei finds out.” My valiant lover switches from Russian to English, forcing my frown. “They’re following the trail of blood, Mishka. They know it’s you.”

  “Oh, shit!” I prop my arms on my hips. “Definitely not good.”

  Nickolas paces the floor. It was smart of him to get rid of the bodyguards, but it doesn’t mean we’re safe.

  “This changes everything.”

  Nickolas steps towards me. “This changes nothing. We’ll leave. It’s all we can do.”

  “I can’t leave. The agency will blow me up if I do.” I tap my hip. “They’re tracking my every movement. If I veer off course once, they’ll know.”

  Squinting his marvelous eyes, Nickolas grabs one of the knives from my bed stand. Of course, I keep one by me when I sleep. Also, there may or may not be one under my pillow, the mattress, and in each dresser drawer.

  “I can cut it out,” he suggests, wielding the knife and pulling up my shirt.

  “Uh, no. It’s a bomb.” I shove my shirt down and shake my head. “It needs to be disarmed before you start hacking.”

  “They didn’t put one in me,” he points out, chucking the knife towards the door. It sticks in straight, wobbling as we watch it.

  I retrieve the blade and toss it to the bed. “You’re an informant whereas I’m the killer.”

  Running my fingers through my hair, worry sets in. If my comrades figured out I’ve been murdering their kin, I am as good as dead. “What should I do?”

  Nickolas eases onto the bed, pulling me along. We sit in silence, the fan oscillating above us the sole noise. “We need to get out of town.”

  “We can’t.”

  Turning to me, he grips my face between his expansive hands. “Mishka, they’ll kill you. Slowly, painfully, and more grotesquely than even you’re capable.” His blue eyes flitter across my face and land on my lips. “I can’t allow it.”

  “Why? Because you’ll be out a whore?”

  “Because I’m in love with you, that’s why,” he admits in a quiet tone. “I know I shouldn’t, but I do.”

  I swallow hard at his words. Never had Alexei ever uttered those words to me. Hell, only one man ever has and he was stupid to do so in the first place. But Nickolas? I kinda like those words fumbling from his lips, but I’m not in any place to reciprocate love now or ever.

  “Nick, I—”

  His lips cut off my protest. Damn him for reading my thoughts. I never should’ve fucked him. Now, as he kisses me, my heart throbs. This is wrong. So very wrong. I can’t feel anything for him. He’s as good as dead if I do.

  Prying from his mouth, I shake my head. “It’s suicide.”

  Nickolas fingers the dangling earring on my left ear. “I know, but you should know my feelings before you disappear.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Oh, yes, you are,” another voice booms from the door that’s now open. How the hell did that happen without us hearing? Oh, right. Kissing. Yep, that’ll do it.

  Moving away from Nickolas, I unsheathe my knives. They don’t protect me from the inevitable click of the gun, though.

  “Alexei, wait,” I begin, but he narrows his murderous eyes.

  “I should’ve known you would fall in love with the help.” Alexei starts, waving his gun for us to follow.

  I exchange a glance with Nickolas before trailing him. “I’m not in love with anyone.”

  “What about Edward Harper?” he asks as we reach the living room. A handful of his men await our arrival.

  “Eddie is my past, Alexei.” I see he doesn’t believe me. Well, I wouldn’t either.

  “But he isn’t.” Alexei shifts his gaze to the elevator then to me. “If you’re telling the truth then prove it.
”

  The doors spring open and two mobsters hold Eddie’s motionless body between them. It takes every ounce of will to refrain my adrenaline’s wish to stab them both.

  “Bringing a civilian into our quarrel isn’t smart, Alexei.”

  He’s studying me for a response to his surprise, but I clench my teeth to resist the urge. He doesn’t deserve to see my inner turmoil. Eddie isn’t supposed to be a part of this, but Alexei warned me to stay away. Now, I reap the benefits of disobeying with skhodka bravura.

  One of Alexei’s men grabs Nickolas while another stabs a knife in his side. “Love will kill one of them. Make a choice.”

  My mind shrieks at my immobility as I watch blood seep out of the man who professed his love moments earlier.

  Alexei takes a satisfying breath and offers me a demonic grin. “Decision time, Mishka. Either save Nickolas or Eddie. You can’t have all three of us.”

  My blood is both boiling and freezing at the same time. Alexei toys with my humanity for a decision. I’m not ready to take it on. I barely contain Pandora’s Box and he wants me to fling it open like a strip tease.

  I calculate my options, but don’t like the odds. Even though I have plenty of weapons on hand, I can’t save both. Either Eddie or Nickolas will die today.

  Inhaling through my nose, I close my eyes and hone my ears to the drops of blood leaking from Nickolas’s torso. I shouldn’t care if either man lives, but dammit, I do.

  Without giving it another thought, I whip my eyes open and grab the first blade as I make my move. It’s a blur. A bloody blur. My hands flick daggers faster than I can comprehend. Necks crack in sickening unison. Manly grunts falter as they stumble backwards. My blood bath is going smooth until I hear the cock of a gun. It all goes silent after that.

  Chapter Seven

  Creaking floorboards wake me some time later. When I open my eyes, it’s dark. Only the overhead lights break through the night’s haze. I timidly sit up and my skull screams at me for the act. Wincing, I manage to make it to my knees.