The bartender returned with her drink, placing it in front of her. As she thanked him and went to pick it up, she felt eyes watching her. She glanced to her right, towards the end of the bar.
A man was watching her, leaning against the bar. He was very well dressed, she noted the expensive watch on his wrist and two gentleman who stood a little way back from him. This guy was a big deal. It was the Viscount.
She gave him a half smile as she lifted her drink to her lips, taking a demure sip and turning to look away.
It didn't take long until she could feel someone standing beside her, or in his case, smell him, he was doused in cologne and it was hurting her nose a little. 'Ciao, Bella,' she heard a deep voice with a thick Italian accent speak from her right.
She turned her head slightly and found that the man had moved to her side. 'Oh, ciao, signora. How are you?' she asked sweetly.
'Very well, now, thank you, Bella,' he said, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. She raised an eyebrow, but smiled sweetly as he continued to stare at her. 'And what brings you to the party?'
She sighed, trying to appear nonchalant. 'I'm here with my partner, it's kind of a working holiday, I guess you could say. He's working, I'm holidaying.' She smiled cheekily, and noted that even at the mention of a boyfriend he didn't remove his hand from hers.
'Oh, and where is this boyfriend of yours?' he asked curiously, although his eyes never left her and he didn't really sound like he cared.
'Oh, I don't know, probably networking somewhere, I'm sure,' she said with a sigh. 'Who are you here with?'
'Me? Oh, nobody in particular, this is my party, you know?'
She feigned surprise. 'Oh, my goodness! Viscount Fiori! My apologies, for not recognising you sooner, how extremely rude of me!' She brushed her spare hand over his that held hers, the delight evident on the Viscount's face to hear that she was familiar with him.
'Oh, Bella, it is fine. I am far more interested in you, and why it is you are alone,' he ran his finger along her knuckles. She was well aware of what he was trying to do, but continued feigning ignorance.
'Oh, well, like I said, we are really here so my partner can network.'
'And what is it he does?' the Viscount asked with great interest, his fingers now drifting further up her arm.
'He owns a rather large building company in the US,' she responded proudly, doing her best not to shudder at his hand touching her skin. She could see his bodyguards standing close by with their backs to them, so she needed to be sure that she behaved in what would be deemed normal for a woman dealing with the Viscount.
'Impressive, I'm sure,' the viscount replied sounding completely disinterested as he looked her up and down. 'Please, won't you join me in my private corner over here?' He began leading her away before she could even answer.
She gave up a half hearted fight, but allowed him to lead her away, although she did look around, trying to see if she could spot Bucky somewhere. She had no luck in the busy ball room. She was sure he would have eyes on her, regardless, so wouldn't panic.
The Viscount led her to a corner of the ball room where a section was partitioned off by a red velvet rope and tall greenery. He offered her a seat on a red velvet settee, as a waitress hurried forward with drinks. He took one, handing it to Vielka. She accepted it graciously.
'So, Viscount, to what is the purpose of this party?' she asked, before taking a sip of her champagne. The Viscount moved closer to her, and Vielka itched to shove him away, but smiled sweetly and stayed where she was.
'I'm Italian, we don't need a reason to party!' he guffawed and Vielka giggled, before taking another drink. She was going to need more to just survive this arrogant man. 'So, beautiful lady, tell me, what is it you do?'
'I own my own make up business, we are quite big in the US and Australia, but we are yet to hit the big time here in Europe. Perhaps you can help me with that?' she joked, giggling.
'Ooohh, Bella, if it would mean I could see more of you, then I would indeed,' he said, leering at her as his eyes roved her body and he put a hand on her exposed leg. She giggled again, before looking back out the entrance to the closed off area. She could really use a rescue right now, or she was going to knock his block off.
She turned back to look at the Viscount, smiling sweetly, and was about to ask him about what business he was in when one of his bodyguards came and spoke quietly into his ear.
The Viscount looked serious, nodding before turning back to Vielka. 'Apologies, my beautiful lady, but I have business I must attend to, please, enjoy your evening. Perhaps we will meet again.' He leaned forward, kissing her hand again, before a bodyguard motioned for her to follow him.
She slowly stood and followed him, looking back over her shoulder once more before she walked out from the cordoned area. It was then that she saw a secret door open in the wall, a familiar face appearing in the shadows within the door.
Crossbones.
There were other people within the shadows of the room, but she couldn't quite make out their faces. Crossbones turned to look towards her, but she was quick to turn and duck her head as she stepped out of the cordoned off area.
The bodyguard ushered her away, leading her back to the bar. She thanked him politely, smiling sweetly. He gave an awkward smile back, his cheeks reddening slightly, before turning and hurrying away.
When she was sure he was gone, she turned and began to look for Bucky. She had barely taken a few steps from the bar when she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pull her backwards. She jumped slightly until she was overcome with a familiar scent. It was Bucky. 'You okay?' he asked, spinning her around and holding her in his arms, as he swayed to the soft music that filled the ballroom.
'I am now.' He raised his eyebrows. 'Not like that,' she said rolling her eyes, before moving her face closer to his as she put her arms around his neck to add to the illusion that they were joining the crowd of dancing couples. 'Crossbones is here,' she whispered. She felt Bucky's arms stiffen slightly. 'He's meeting with the Viscount right now.'
'Well, that confirms who his connection is here. Do you think the Viscount is involved in weapons here?'
'He is a genius in the field of computers and programming. He would be a valuable asset to have around. If he is involved, though, I can't imagine he's the brains.' She shuddered remembering him leering at her body.
Bucky felt her shudder in his arms, but it was clear she was thinking back to something the Viscount did. It concerned him, but obviously it was not something she wanted to talk about as she sighed and looked around them before speaking again. 'How'd you fair?' she asked, still keeping her face close to his.
'I met a lovely young lady, named Verushka,' he whispered, leaning his face closer to her, so her hair just brushed against his face. 'She said she was an assistant to the Viscount.' Vielka leaned back with a curious look on her face. 'She was saying that after a business meeting here in Lake Como, they're moving on to Austria.'
He looked back down at Vielka, who appeared thoughtful, pursing her lips. 'We need to find out what's in Austria.' Bucky nodded in agreement, he had tried to ply the information from the young Russian woman, but he had no luck.
As they glided slowly in the ballroom, he felt Vielka stiffen in his arms again. He looked down expectantly to see her staring off to one side of the room. He turned to look for himself but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back at Vielka, she was still looking in that direction, but seemed confused and unsure.
'Are you alright?' he asked, pulling her closer and turning her away from the direction she was staring.
'Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I recognised someone.' She relaxed slightly in his arms, but she was definitely still on edge. They danced for a few more minutes before Bucky decided there was definitely something wrong with Vielka.
'I think it's time we got out of here,' he murmured, sensing the tension she was now carrying. Something had gotte
n into her and she no longer had her mind on their task. They had enough information for now. She looked up at him in mild surprise as he dropped his hands from her waist.
He stepped back, and her hands dropped to his chest. 'No, I'm sure we could probably find out some more information,' she began to argue, but he moved closer, dropping his face close to her ear.
'If Crossbones is here, I'm pretty certain he could recognise either of us. Plus the alcohol is free, no one is going to be coherent soon enough,' he reasoned with her, putting his right hand over her hands on his chest.
'Depends who you are,' she scoffed lightly, but gave a small nod, removing her hands from his chest. He took her hand in his and led her outside.
There was a cool chill in the air so he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his right arm around her waist. She stiffened slightly but didn't argue, or shy away. He knew he had to make their facade look real, and so did she.
He handed his ticket to the valet, and they waited while he disappeared to retrieve the car. 'Who did you think you saw?' he finally asked, trying to make conversation.
'No one special,' she replied curtly, but he felt a distinct shudder from her, as the car pulled around the corner. It certainly didn't seem like no one special, she was tense all over and concern was written all over her pretty Asian features. He raised an eyebrow but didn't press the matter. Just being able to converse civilly was an achievement, he didn't want to push the friendship.
The car stopped before them, and Bucky opened the door for Vielka, helping her lower herself into the car and then assisting her to make sure her dress was completely in as well. As he tried to gather the long gown together, he heard her giggle and looked up. She quickly pursed her lips, looking apologetic. He smiled coyly at her, before shutting the door carefully and taking the keys from the valet.
As they drove home, she was very quiet and stared out her window. 'Are you sure you're okay?' he asked, as he slowed to pull into the hotel.
'Hmm? Yes, of course, I'm fine,' she answered curtly. He had barely pulled to a stop when she undid her seat belt and opened her own door. She was already at the lift by the time he was able to receive his ticket from the valet. He hurried to catch up, giving a small smile to the receptionist who was watching in concern.
'Lian, you didn't wait for me,' he hissed, stopping beside her. She didn't look at him, waiting for the lift bell to ding. 'What's wrong?'
'I'm tired.'
He raised his eyebrows, if he didn't know any better, he would think something had rattled her to her core. Then again, he didn't know any better, he knew nothing about her.
They made their way upstairs and she let them into their room. 'I'm going to get out of this dress,' she said bluntly, without even looking at him and hurrying to the bathroom.
Bucky watched her disappear in concern, whatever she had thought she saw, had definitely spooked her but he hoped that it wasn't going to compromise their cover.
She soon returned, clean faced and wearing sweats again. her eyes back to their usually golden-brown colour, carrying a tablet. He detected a distinct air of worry about Vielka as she walked by him, he could just see it in the way she held herself, she wasn't herself. 'Ok, I'll send through the intel to Natasha.' She sat down at the table, crossing her legs on the dining room chair and started to type on the tablet. She was acting as if there was nothing wrong, but he could tell, she had something pressing on her mind.
He stood from the lounge and walked towards her, stopping before her and peering at her face. She looked up at him expectantly. 'You need to tell me plainly, are you compromised?'
She looked perturbed by his question and shook her head fiercely. 'Of course not.'
'You will tell me if you are, won't you?' he demanded. She narrowed her eyes at him but gave him a curt nod before ignoring him again. He sighed before going to shower and change.Vielka typed up their intel and sent it with a heavy encryption to Natasha. While she did so, she couldn't push what bothered her from her mind. She wasn't even sure she had seen him, yet she was on edge.
If her mind was playing tricks on her, why would it be playing them on her now? At the end of the day, as far as she knew, she wasn't compromised because if even if she did see HIM, it seemed far-fetched that he had anything to do with Crossbones. He was the highest bidder kind of mercenary now.
Bucky soon returned from his shower, his hair now loose and dripping wet, he wore sweat pants and no shirt and his titanium arm was now exposed.
She cringed slightly, seeing him without a shirt, looking away as he opened the bar fridge and grabbed himself a drink of water. 'How'd you go?'
'All done. How are you feeling? Freedom?' she asked, earning herself a look of confusion. She motioned to his hair.
He chuckled before nodding. 'Really good.'
'Okay, I'll lock the door and put the sign up and then I'm going to bed. You want to go and grab yourself a pillow and blanket since you refuse to take watches?' she exaggerated her last words as she stood.
'You're probably more used to comfortable beds than I am, anyway,' Bucky replied as he disappeared into the bedroom. She clenched her jaw slightly, as she opened the door slightly to slide the door tag onto the door handle. He really had no idea, but she wasn't going to enlighten him either.
She turned in time to see him exiting the bedroom with a blanket and pillow. 'That going to be enough for you?'
'I'll be fine,' he replied, throwing the pillow onto the lounge before making himself comfortable.
'Ok, goodnight.'
An explosion. Screaming. Gun fire. Orders being shouted, followed by more screaming. Gun fire. Rapid gunfire. Pleas for help. Laughter.
'She's going to be my prize catch.'
Then there was the sound of a drill, a grinder, the sound of a grinder cutting through bone. So much pain.
Yelling followed pain. More yelling. More pain. Don't complain, it will only make it worse. Push on. Fight, fight hard. Can't be weak. Don't cry. No emotions.
Faces, so many familiar faces. These faces mean different things. Friend? Foe? Victim... more victims. Friend ... turned foe.
There was screaming, metal hitting metal and metal hitting bone. Metal hitting bone had a unique sound, it wasn't something you could easily forget.
Information overload. Command does not compute. Command does not compute. Error. Fight it... fight it... fight!
'Vielka? Vielka!' Who is that? Wait, is that me? Was that me? Yes...
'Vielka!' Her eyes shot open and she fought against strong arms. Her body felt hot and the room was dark. 'Calm down!' A cold grip pinned her to the bed and a light was turned on. She found herself pinned to the bed by Bucky's titanium arm, and he now peered down at her with great concern. 'You were having a nightmare.'
She was breathing heavily, staring off into space as he pinned her to the bed. Her strength had proved difficult to overcome in her slumber induced terror, but he managed to pin her for long enough to flick on the bed side lamp.
He looked down at her, kneeling by the bed as she got her bearings again, she looked at him, confused and scared. 'It's okay, Vielka, no one here is going to hurt you.'
She finally relaxed under his grip and he released her, sitting on the side of the bed beside her. 'Are you okay?'
She licked her lips, placing a hand on her forehead and closing her eyes again. 'Yeah...'
'What happened?' he asked, curious as to what had her fighting in her sleep so furiously.
'You don't want to know,' she answered bluntly, sitting up and resting her arms on her knees. Her face was still pale and she looked troubled. He felt the urge to comfort her, but thought better of it. She would probably just tell him off, if not punch him.
'Well, if you want to talk about it, you know where I am,' he said simply, moving to leave.
'Hey,' she called as he was about to walk out of the bedroom. He turned back to see her propped back on her elbows and her cheeks a faint pink. '
Thank you, Bucky.'
That surprised him, but he waved off her thanks. 'You do it for me.' With that he left her alone.
The next day, they received an encrypted call from Natasha. 'The Viscount is throwing another party. This time it's a pool party, and it's being held tomorrow.'
Vielka pressed her lips together and looked sideways at Bucky. There was no way they could have him there. If the cloaking device got wet, Bucky's arm would be exposed. She looked back at the screen. 'So I'm on my own then?' she asked. Bucky balked and looked at her incredulously, but she ignored him.
'In a manner of speaking. Bucky would most likely be close by, but I can't think of any way that we can actually get him into the party without a high amount of risk of him being exposed.'
Eminent Silence Page 8
