Duck.
I saw the swing coming but remained frozen. The impact swung my head to the side, and I groaned. I touched my bruised lip and stared at the blood on my finger. It sent such a rush through me, my lips parted into a
smile.
Pain.
It was all I needed to feel. I couldn't accept the strange feelings Damon Walker's presence brought to me. It felt unfamiliar.
Weird.
But pain? I was all too familiar with it. It was all I had felt from the moment my mother died, making Dimitri, my stepfather my sole
guardian. It reminded me of the times his boots met with my face, or when he'd force me to serve his friends drinks as they groped me while laughing. I shut my eyes to block the painful memories and glared at my sparring partner.
"Come on," I raised my fists.
"Mia," Sam called, his eyebrows scrunched in worry.
"Raise your fists and hit like a man!" I yelled.
He hesitated as he watched me silently. I groaned and rushed towards him. He raised his hands in defense to block my attack, but I faked a right, crouched low and hit him on the stomach with every strength I could
muster. The impact sent him flying a few feet away as he grunted in pain.
I needed to feel more.
I needed pain.
It was the only thing that could triumph the heartbreak.
Wes was being laid to rest, and I couldn't even attend the ceremony, all because of fucking Alan River. The same man I was having dinner with in a few hours. I couldn't say my goodbyes to Wes and tell him how proud I was of the man he was becoming. I wouldn't get to see that dimpled smile any longer. I wouldn't hear his voice or his laughter anymore. As if that wasn't enough, I was beginning to develop feelings.
Feelings I should neither have nor grow for the man whose father killed Wes. The
pain tore through me like an arrow.
"I surrender," Sam wheezed.
I yelled in frustration and glanced at the girl walking past. "Hey, wanna spar?"
She glanced at Sam's hunched figure and shook her head. "I'm good."
"Ugh, bunch of pussies."
"You're only mad cause nobody's insane enough to get in a ring with you," Tara said.
I turned to her. "What?"
"You know it's true."
I pointed at Sam. "He did."
She rolled her eyes. "That's cause he likes sleeping with you."
She held out a towel to me and smiled. I grabbed it and walked out of the ring.
She passed me a bottle of water. "Here."
I chugged it down just as Sam walked over. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," I snapped.
He ignored the jab and smiled. "I know what will make you feel better," his finger trailed up my arm.
Sex had always worked when I was in a bad mood. It was the perfect distraction and wouldn't remind me that Wes' body was entering the ground at that moment. It couldn't come at a better time. Besides, if I didn't take care of it soon, my sexual frustration might be the very thing that sent me over the edge.
Was that why I felt butterflies with Damon? Because I was sexually frustrated?
It was a logical reason. I had not been intimate with anyone since Damon became my mission, which made it three weeks since I had sex. A personal record. All I needed was sex. Sam was the perfect person. But for some reason, it didn't feel right.
I couldn't... get it up.
"I'm good," I brushed his hand away.
He looked offended and took a step back. I wasn't in the mood to apologize, nor did I want to.
"Fine," his tone was sharp. Cold.
"What was that?" Tara asked when he was out of earshot.
"What?" I feigned innocence.
She paused to stare at me.
"I'm not just in the mood," I shrugged.
"Is this about you having dinner with Alan?" she asked.
The phone recording showed exactly what Damon said. Alan had threatened Lily's life to get Damon to come to dinner. I knew dinner was a trap, I just wasn't sure if it was meant for Damon or me.
"Maybe."
Tara touched my shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay. I'm sure Alan's home is crawling with cameras. I'll be your eyes and your ears."
She paused. "You'll be safe."
I scoffed gently. "It's not me I'm worried about. I'm scared I won't be able to stop myself from killing him."
She raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Why would you want to kill Alan? He's not your target."
Wes' death and Alan being his murderer was kept under the wraps still,so Tara didn't know why I had so much hostility towards him.
I couldn't say too much without exposing sensitive details.She was good at catching crumbs. A slip up and she would know the real mission. Tony wouldn't like that.
"It's nothing," I smiled. "I guess I'm just sexually frustrated."
She pointed in the direction Sam had disappeared. "Hello?"
"Sam's not-," I paused. "Quite my taste anymore."
"Ooh," she teased. "Who's got your attention?"
Damon Walker.
"Stevens Killiard? Bill Hammock? Paul McVough?" she rambled off names.
"Who are they?"
"Guys who are your type. Tall, brown eyed blondes."
I'm more interested in a tall, black-haired, blue-eyed gorgeous man.
Tara gasped. "Oh my gosh, there's someone else!"
"No, there's not," I said too quickly, confirming her thoughts and I cussed under my breath.
"There is someone else. Who's he?" she jumped in excitement.
I trusted Tara with my life, but I knew it would endanger her if she knew I was attracted to my target. I trusted her to keep it a secret,
but it could cost her life. I couldn't let that happen.
I grabbed her neck and pulled her to me. She gasped at the sudden closeness, and blood rushed to her cheeks as she blinked rapidly.
"You," I said in a low voice. My eyes searched hers and I tried to rein the laughter in when I saw how flustered she was.
"Mia," she said softly.
My eyes trailed to her lips. "Yes?"
"I am way above your league," she smiled and pushed me away.
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you've never wondered," I teased.
"Not even if you're the last woman on earth," she grabbed her tablet. "Besides I don't swing that way."
It worked. I was able to distract her, but I knew it could come up again in the future so I needed to be careful. Tara was smart. Too smart. If she figured there was something wrong, she would do everything she could to get to the bottom of it.
My phone pinged and I peered at it.
My office.
"I have to go see Tony."
My heart thumped loudly with each step I took towards his office. I couldn't possibly know what Tony was thinking or what exactly his plan was, but I knew it wasn't good. It most likely would end with one person
dead, at the very least.
I smiled at Tony's assistant and knocked gently on his door.
"Come in."
He had on a black suit as he stared out the window, sipping
his whisky.
"How was the funeral?" I asked.
He'd picked up Wes' body a few days ago and had the funeral just hours ago. I could not attend because it could compromise identity. Losing Wes had been hard on Tony. The man wasn't one to smile much before the incident, but he had grown much worse.
"I heard about dinner," he turned.
I had prepared every excuse at my disposal on why I accepted Alan's dinner invitation, but seeing the look on Tony's face, I came up blank. There were not enough excuses in the world to justify my mistake.
I lowered my head. "I'm sorry."
He chugged the whiskey and stared at me. "Why are you sorry?"
I raised my head slowly and met his gaze.
He was smiling. I might not be in touch with my emotions like a normal human, but I knew smiling wasn't the appropriate emotion one showed mere hours after burying one's son.
"Huh?"
"I think it's great. It couldn't have come at a perfect time."
"What do you mean?" I was genuinely confused.
"It's killing two birds with one stone," he dropped his glass and crossed his legs.
I wasn't sure if that was supposed to clear things up.
"You're losing me here Tony."
"How many times do you get invited to a mafia lord's house?" he asked.
"I don't know cause I've never been to one," I said.
"Exactly," he dropped his glass and leaned closer. "Do whatever it takes to find his weakness, bug his house, plant a bomb, I don't care."
I smelled the alcohol on his breath. He had been drinking. A lot.
"Find what I can use against him to cripple his kingdom."
Bugging a mafia's house didn't come without its dangers. If I was caught, I would be killed on the spot. No explanations, just death. He wasn't thinking straight.
"Tony, you know how dangerous that is. If I'm caught-."
"You just have to make sure you aren't caught then," he smiled. "I'd hate to lose my best agent."
"Tony, I-," I gasped when he grabbed my arms tightly.
"Wes was my son!" he yelled. He saw the terror on my face and released me.
"He was your family too. You're not gonna let his murderer walk about unpunished, are you?"
I shook my head. "Of course not."
"Then, you know what to do."
I stood up. "Why do you want me to stay close to Damon?"
He turned away, ignoring my question.
"What's your plan?" I needed information. Anything at all.
Tony wasn't one to do anything without a plan. He suddenly insisted I keep Damon alive and stay by his side until he gave the orders to kill him. I knew something was up at the sudden change in plan.
"You'll see it soon enough," he glanced at me. "Right now, all you need to do is follow my orders."
"Find Alan's weakness."
I stared at his bloodshot eyes. "When last did you get a goodnight sleep?"
He turned away. "I'll sleep after Alan River is dead."
New mission— enter the lion's den, have dinner, bug his house and find his weakness. All without getting caught. Should be easy.