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Talia shook her head vehemently as the thug across from her held up the bottle of red. At his insistence, she crossed her arms over her chest, and I read the word “no” on her crimson painted lips. However, it didn’t stop her guest from pouring her an extra cup. Pushing it toward her, he signaled for another bottle.
Talia didn’t move, and something warm flashed through my chest to see it. I had to flex my hands to keep from doing something stupid. To distract myself, I examined the strange emotions fueling my anger. I felt a streak of protectiveness toward Talia, the very creature who was plotting my demise. But this emotion made absolute sense because Talia wasmyproblem. She was presented with a challenge, and it was I who would step up to face it.
The waiter appeared with my water and a hardcover booklet that had the wordkrasíetched into the red leather with gold ink. Hoping there was more than a wine list inside, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the official menu.
Three men out back. None in the front. Six inside at these tables.
There was also a little sketch of the restaurant. This waiter was thorough. I pulled the bill from the table and took another three from my pocket and placed them all in the leather booklet.
“Thank you. That will be all.” I returned the wine booklet to him.
The waiter’s face was glowing. But he hesitated before leaving. Voice dropping to the barest of whispers, the young man said, “Thank you, sir. Please, be very careful. Strapenopilis is a dangerous man. They call him the bear because of his brutality and his penchant for shredding his enemies.”
And I was the motherfucking butcher. It was time to prepare this bear for slaughter. “Understood.”
The waiter left, and I waited. Breaking the seal, I considered my bottle of water. My gut clenched, paranoia setting in. I put the bottle back on the table without tasting so much as a drop. Being a top assassin, I saw ghosts everywhere. While it was unlikely this was a trap, I wasn’t thirsty enough to risk it.
Talia still hadn’t touched her food. Her guest gabbed on, talking around the food in his mouth. She didn’t respond, not even a shake of her head. The tables of thugs were drinking heavily; a stroke in my favor. When a third bottle was delivered to the boss, Talia set her napkin down and gracefully rose.
Strapenopilis stood, gripping the table’s edge. Talia held up a hand. I couldn’t read my wife’s lips, but her body language was commanding the fool to stay seated. My muscles tensed, and I forced myself to sit still.
Talia scooted out to the hall marked ‘WC.’ I knew exactly what she was doing by disappearing to the bathroom. So did the gangster. He let his prey think she had a head start. I left my table and headed innocently enough to the back hall, meanwhile furiously texting Francis to go outside and cover the front. Talia disappeared through the staff entrance as I stepped into the shadows. There were words in the kitchen, but Talia was forging ahead.
Hearing the heavy tread of footfalls behind me, I slipped into the heavily scented bathroom. The urinal cakes were thick to cover unpleasant smells; it was nauseating. A quick search proved I was alone. Returning to the door, I caught the straggle of thugs leaving. Only three men followed their boss.
Although my pulse increased and my gut wanted me to give chase, I waited a beat longer. Only when I was certain no other thugs were coming did I leave the bathroom.
At this point, the kitchen staff shot me a collective look and busied themselves with their work. They knew there was something afoot and wisely ignored us. At the back door, which was propped open for the breeze, I heard the boss giving orders. Apparently, Talia was running down the alley, and the gangsters were in no hurry to give chase.
Why didn’t she order the car to pick her up?I ground my teeth. But maybe there hadn’t been time. She could be scrambling to do just that right now. I tapped out another message, ordering Francis to stay and watch out for the three remaining pricks in the restaurant no matter if he received a message from Talia or not. I would handle the rest.
“You two, fan out on your motor bikes and trap her. We can’t let her get to her car,” the boss lisped.
The roar of the bikes sounded in the night. As the noise retreated, I approached the threshold and peered out. Strapenopilis walked in the direction Talia had taken. Alone.
I paused. There were still street soldiers inside the restaurant and here outside.Talia has no way of knowing I would be here tonight.My sixth sense told me this was a legitimate crisis. Removing my handgun, I emerged onto the street and moved forward, keeping close to the building.
The hoarse laughs around the edge of the building alerted me to the presence of the thugs. Once I screwed my silencer in place, I burst around the side of the building. In the narrow space between the side path, I popped four rounds into the soldiers. The hits were precise, and they all fell to the ground. Not one had the chance to reach for their weapons.
I drew a deep breath and shifted my shoulders, feeling a small jolt of delicious serotonin spike in my veins. This was what I did; I thrived on kills. I trailed through the dark, stalking the boss. He was effectively separated from his cronies, and if I moved quickly enough, we could escape without the others finding us.
Three minutes later, I closed in on the mobster, who was now exchanging words with my wife about twenty paces away. Talia wasn’t raising her voice during the confrontation. In fact, she sounded damn near seductive as she spoke with the head thug. Words, drunken and vicious, spilled from his lips in return. Unfortunately, this needed to be a clean kill. Otherwise, I would have had a delightful night making the bastard pay for bothering Talia. But I needed to hurry as tonight’s work loomed over my head. I raised my gun, ready to make fast work of the gangster.
It was at that moment that he lunged for Talia—who stepped into him.
Before my finger squeezed the trigger, there was a shout from the man, followed by a squelching sound. Only the slick stab of a blade into flesh made that noise.
The thug groaned and dropped to his knees. Talia moved aside but quickly struck again, plunging the blade between his ribs. It was a beautifully accurate blow, the killing strike of a trained master. This was the woman I’d married? The deadly seductress who now appeared to be more than she seemed.
She moved back, still squatting, and stared hard at the dying man. Every fiber of my being wanted to rush her, gather her in my arms, and kiss her. But as the spike of adrenaline wore down, I could see that Talia was reeling at what she’d done. There was a tremble in her hands. I wanted to help her.
“Well done, Talia.” I stepped from the shadows, making her jump back several feet. “Pull the blade free. He’ll bleed out, and we’ll dispose of it.”
“I impaled his heart. He’s dead; there’s no need to make him bleed,” she said, breathing hard.
“Yes, it was an expert kill. But we’re not leaving the weapon at the scene.” I slid the pistol into the waistband of my pants. “Where did you learn that?”
“Self-defense.”
