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It’s something people are used to seeing. Something that isn’t interesting. So common and mundane, people’s eyes will rove over us without really looking. Our faces will fade and be impossible to recall.
Faucher lives in one of those massive apartment buildings that feels more like a resort than a place where people live. Even with its extravagance, it feels like an odd choice for an assassin. I’m sure it goes a long way in staying inconspicuous, I guess. There are so many residents here, it’s impossible to know all of your neighbors.
We walk into the building, not slowing even a little bit. Rachel and Alec both let me lead and I move with confidence, giving the appearance that we all know exactly where we’re going. As if we’ve been here a thousand times before.
We bypass the elevator and choose to take the stairs to Faucher’s floor.
With the mistakes he made just last night, it’s easy to see that he believes he’s untouchable. There’s a reason he’s not well renowned though. Hell, I’d never heard of the guy before today. I know everyone worth knowing.
Romano must be getting desperate trying to find people actually willing to take us out. More well known assassins would know better than to come after us.
Finding his apartment is so easy, it should be illegal. I mean, I guess it is. But still. It’s always disappointing when it’s this easy.
Alec moves forward before I have the chance to, picking the lock with ease, any passerby would assume he had a key. Hmm. I tilt my head to give him my acknowledgment.
That was impressive. I wonder if he’s even better than Kade. I need to remember to plant that seed later so we can test it out. They’re both so competitive, they won’t be able to walk away from the challenge.
We stay silent as we ease our way into the apartment. The sound of a blaring television can be heard from the front door, coming from the back room. I nod for the others to check the rooms on the other side. Rachel narrows her eyes at me, but Alec pushes her along.
While they begin clearing out rooms to make sure we are alone, I take the other side. There aren’t as many doors on this side of the apartment. A closet, doorway to a small laundry room, if you can even call it that, and finally the door that leads to the master bedroom.
I keep my back close to the wall as I move into his room. Any sounds that I could possibly make are covered by his unnecessarily loud television. Like fuck. Why does it need to be so loud? Has all the gunshots ruptured his ear drums or something?
He’s passed out on the bed, food laying on the table next to him only half eaten. Ew. That’s disgusting. This man gets worse with every passing second.
I move silently across the room, my favorite knife already in my hand. Before I even reach the side of the bed, he jerks awake. There we go. These are the types of instincts I expect from an assassin.
His eyes widen as he stares at me. He lunges under his pillow and comes back with a knife in hand. I’ve never really understood the concept of sleeping with a knife. Seems like you'd be more likely to cut yourself than defend yourself. But that’s just me.
“Who are you?” he demands. He holds the knife in front of him, pointing it at me as if it were a sword. I yawn. What terrible form. Wasn't expecting this to be so boring.
He tries to back away from me, but where is he headed? The window? We’re too far up for that to be a feasible escape plan. Guess we will never find out.
I lunge toward him quickly, I use my left hand to grab his hand with the knife and yank him towards me. I use the leverage to get behind him, still holding him hostage in my grip. I tighten my fingers around my own knife as I kick him in the back of the knees. As he crashes to the floor, I bend with him, bringing my knife around and stab it into his sternum.
I shake my head as I hear Rachel and Alec headed this way. They need to work on moving more stealthily. There’s no way it’s been long enough for them to actually clear the other side of the apartment thoroughly.
I drag my knife down, cutting him open from sternum to naval, replicating one of the kills that started the whole back and forth with Rachel. I smile as I drop his body to the floor and his organs start to spill out. I wonder if she will understand the reference.
I turn to meet her eyes, but it’s not Rachel or Alec standing in the doorway. Fuck. I totally let my guard down. The man in the door is much faster than his counterpart. I kick the body at my feet away and jump to the side as he throws a knife at me. It catches me in the thigh but doesn’t slow me as I throw my own.
His hands clutch at his stomach where I hit him, but he seems as determined as I am to not slow down. I pull another knife out of my ankle holster and get ready to lunge at him when Rachel appears behind him and slashes her knife across his throat.
I drop out of my stance and murmur my thanks.
“Ha!” she exclaims as Alec comes in behind her. “I knew it was you!” She’s pointing at Faucher’s dead body at my feet and slaps Alec’s chest as he comes up behind her.
Her reaction makes me grin. I had a feeling she would understand exactly why I chose to do it this way. Sure, there were easier, more obvious choices, but boring.
I grimace as I look down at the knife sticking out of my leg. Declan is not going to be happy with me. At least it’s just in the fleshy part of my leg. Nothing vital and should heal fairly quickly.
She makes a face as she realizes where my attention is located. “Looks painful,” she remarks.
“Dammit, Scar,” Alec curses. “Do you realize how much shit Kade is going to give me for this?”
“You think your punishment is gonna be bad,” I mutter under my breath. Rachel rolls her lips back to keep from smiling and I know she heard me.
Fuck. It isn’t like I can walk out of here with a knife sticking out of my leg. I grab a dark flannel out of Faucher’s closet and use my knife to help me tear a strip off of it. I use the rest of the shirt to wrap around the knife’s blade where it meets my skin.
