2. Elena
2
ELENA
“ T his feels like a date, Dimitri,” I say, staring out the window of the Michelin-star restaurant on top of the Eiffel Tower, the glittering lights of Paris beneath us. This would be the perfect spot for a proposal if I were a normal woman.
“Maybe it is,” he says with a grin as he reaches out, grabs my hand, and kisses it softly.
I raise an arched brow at this public display of affection between us. Usually, we keep what is happening with us between the sheets, and he is anything but gentle when we are together.
“What do you want?” I ask, confused by his sudden romantic gesture. We both know what this is, a bit of fun when we are together, a scratch of an itch, nothing more. Neither one of us are faithful to the other, he has a long line of women constantly around him, wanting him, and I seduce men to kill them, it’s a shame when I must kill one that knows how to fuck. They are hard to come by. Usually, I wait a little longer with them, we both might as well get something out of the short time we have together. I don’t have sex with all the men I kill, but more often than not I do.
That’s why what Dimitri and I have together is nice. If he is going to get weird and demand more from me, it’s going to be a real shame to break up what is going on between us.
“I want nothing from you, Elena,” he says smoothly, his pale blue eyes sparkling with happiness.
A strange feeling inside my chest hits me so suddenly that it almost winds me.
“Are you okay?” Dimitri asks, his brows pulled together, looking over me as if he can find the ache currently filling my chest.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m surprised, that’s all.”
“Surprised?” he asks.
“Yes, by all this,” I say, waving my hand around at the restaurant’s opulence.
“Do you not think you’re worth all this?”
“You know I’m worth it,” I joke with him, which makes him chuckle. “It’s not us, that’s all.”
“What if I want it to be us?” he asks seriously.
I still. Does Dimitri want more with me? He knows I can’t give him more. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”
Dimitri chuckles. “Kind of.”
“Dimitri, you know I can’t offer you monogamy, not with my job.”
“It’s just a job.”
“Are you asking me to quit? You know they would never allow it.”
“I know, it’s just … I need to know that you’re mine,” he says in a rush, his words tumbling out quickly.
“You know the Bratva owns me. The life we live, Dimitri …”
Dimitri reaches out and touches my chest. “In here, I need to know in there I’m yours and no one else’s.”
Oh.
That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.
“You mean everything to me, Elena. And I know that what we have isn’t conventional, especially in this world. But when it’s just the two of us, I feel like we are living a different life together. There’s no threat of our enemies killing us or Interpol breathing down our necks. There’s no one trying to double-cross us to get further up the ranks. You give me peace. And I’ve never had peace before in my life.” Dimitri then turns over his wrist and shows me his new tattoo.
Елена
My name is written in Russian across his wrist. It’s entwined in roses and guns. I’m shocked that he would do something like that.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, running my finger over his skin.
“I need to know that when it’s the two of us together, you’re mine.”
“Only when we are together?” I question him.
He nods. “I’m never going to lie to you, babe. Monogamy is not in my veins. This is as close as I can get to something more.”
“And you’re okay with me sleeping with other people if I say yes?” I ask, needing him to clarify.
“You’re a beautiful woman. I cannot stop men from wanting you. I also know it is your job. I don’t need to know about it, just like you don’t need to know about the women I’m sleeping with.”
This is true.
“I want us to promise that we won’t bring anything that is happening in our world into the bedroom. When we are together, I want it to be just us,” he asks.
“I can do that,” I agree.
“You’ve shone light into my dark heart, and I never want to disappear beneath the shadows again. You’re my only solace in this fucked up world, Elena,” he declares.
“Shit.” I wake up with a start as I try to force my eyes open, pulling me from my nightmare. It felt like Dimitri was right here with me in bed. As if I could feel his hand on my chest and his skin underneath my fingers. I give myself a good shake, trying to get rid of the last lingering thoughts of Dimitri.
Sitting up, I stare out across the unfamiliar bedroom and let out a heavy sigh.
I’m alive.
Maxim is alive.
And he and Grace are together again.
Everything is the way it should be. Except you keep thinking about the monster you left behind. My mind’s broken, missing him for a microsecond is messed up. At least the fucker had the decency to shed a tear when he found out I was dead, in the privacy of his home, while staring at my photo beside his bed as I watched the surveillance footage.
I flop back against the bed, stare at the white ceiling, and watch the fan’s blades slowly move around. My mind wanders back to last night and the intensity of our rebirth. The champagne was flowing, and the laughter, tears, and hugs came in abundance from Grace’s family. It was a lovingly domesticated affair except for the two back from the dead guests. No one dared go to bed, worried that if they did, they would wake from this dream and the bleak reality of how they thought the day was going to turn out would return.
The crack of a branch has me jumping from my bed. I press my back against the whitewashed walls, trying to get the best vantage point to see who is out there. Sliding along the wall, I’m able to peer through the window to see if it is a friend or foe coming through. It’s Damon and Brooks. What the hell are they doing here?
Opening the door before they even knock surprises them.
“Good morning,” I answer breezily.
“Told you we couldn’t surprise her,” Damon nudges Brooks, who gives me a scowl.
“You already underestimating me, Brooks? You wouldn’t be the first,” I say lightly.
“Can we come in and talk?” Brooks asks gruffly.
I open the door and let them in. I look around the garden to double-check that no one followed them before closing the door.
“What can I do for you both?” I ask.
“We need to talk,” Damon responds.
“I think we’ve established that by your early morning appearance at my door,” I answer, folding my arms.
Brooks glares at me. “Thought it would be best if we ran through the story about your reappearance to the Clark family. You know they will have questions.”
“You mean your girlfriend will have questions?” I bite back.
Brooks gives me another grumpy glare. Damon tries to hide the snigger that falls from his lips.
“If you mean Sophie, she is a good friend and colleague. She is like a dog with a bone. If she sniffs something is wrong, she won’t let it go,” he warns.
“That’s sweet that you think Sophie will break me. I’m going to forgive you for thinking like that as you’re new to the team. I’m not some dumb girl with a gun.”
Brooks grinds his teeth at my comment. “I’m aware of your reputation as Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, as they like to refer to you.”
Pretty cool nickname if I do say so myself. I’ve heard the rumors.
“Do not underestimate Sophie either. There’s a reason she took on the Bratva like she did,” Brooks states.
“Which was utterly foolish. So, I will take on board your warnings about Sophie. Please know this, my talent is blending in with a group of people and becoming what they want me to be. I’m a chameleon, and my latest character is Ellie Clark,” I explain to him as I twirl my long blonde hair and give him an American accent.
Damon and Brooks' eyes widen as I settle into my new body.
“Freaky,” Damon mumbles.
“I will not have you playing with those people in that house. They have been through enough. This isn’t a game for them. This is their life,” Brooks argues.
“You think all this is a game?” I ask, waving my hand all over me. “You think I chose this life for myself? That I woke up one morning and thought, ‘Oh goodie, I’m going to be a murderer and a prostitute’,” I argue back.
“That’s not what he’s saying.” Damon tries to defuse the tension between Brooks and me.
“There was no option for me to be anything else once the CIA got their claws into me. The choice was to send my family to jail or help them put bad people away. I gave up my dream of becoming a ballerina for them. So don’t you lecture me on playing fucking games,” I say, pointing my manicured finger at him.
“You’re right. You didn’t ask for any of this,” he says.
This surprises me. I wasn’t expecting him to apologize. I should have guessed it, his profile says he’s an honorable man.
“But neither did those people inside. They were thrust into situations they were not equipped for. At least you had skills to defend yourself.”
My stomach turns at the thought of what those two and all the other jewels had to go through. I should have protected them better. A tear catches me off-guard and slides down my cheek. I brush it away, embarrassed that they saw that.
“I didn’t know at the time. They were not my mission.”
“I understand …” Brooks says, nodding at me, “… but Zoe and Grace don’t, and I think you need to talk to them about why you were there and didn’t help them. It might go a long way in healing Grace and Zoe’s wounds and will stop Sophie’s attitude toward you. They already know you’re CIA because of Moscow. They were listening right along with us.”
He’s right. I owe them that. We have a lot of things to piece together.
“It’s only day one. We can go slow,” Damon adds.
Brooks turns and raises a brow at his friend. “You think Sophie is going to go slow?”
“Sophie might need to learn it’s not all about her,” I pipe up.
“Well damn,” Damon states.
Brooks bursts out laughing. “You two are either going to become the best of friends or kill each other.”
Can’t see us being friends but killing each other? Yeah, that seems more like the two of us.
“We’re sisters now and sisters fight, or so I’m told,” I say with a shrug.
“The agency won’t allow you to kill someone because they’re asking too many questions, or that they are annoying the hell out of you. Just so we’re clear,” Damon adds.
My eyes narrow on Damon, and he shrinks under my glare at his comment. “Now that’s sorted, was there anything else you need to fill me in on?”
Damon clears his throat. “Other than Dimitri believes you are both truly dead. That is all for the moment. And they have advised me to give you both time to recover before joining the team.”
Recover? I don’t need to recover. I need to find my best friend Anna. “Never had a holiday before. What does one do when they are away from the office?”
Brooks' eyes narrow on me. And Damon’s brows pull together, unsure if I’m joking or not.
“As if I’m going to sit back and relax. Five years of living with a gun permanently aimed at my temple doesn’t afford me a lot of time to relax,” I explain to them.
“Maybe you should, it might help,” Damon adds.
“You think I’m the kind of girl that is going to sit around a pool drinking Pina Coladas and getting massages?”
“Wouldn’t hurt to try?” Damon suggests.
“Does this place have a gun range?” I turn and ask Brooks.
He shakes his head.
“Where the hell do you practice?”
“Give it a week, Elena …” Brooks starts before I cut him off.
“It’s Ellie now,” I say, shaking my blonde locks.
Brooks rolls his eyes at my theatrics and lets out a huff. “You’re safe here, I assure you. Have at least one week of being normal before you return to being the best female assassin in Europe.”
“Only Europe? Gee, I think I’m slipping.”
Again, Brooks grinds his teeth, irritated with me.
“Ellie, stand the hell down and take the week off to sit by the pool, drink Pina Coladas, and bond with your new fricken family. You’ve earned it, okay?” Brooks growls at me.
Oh.
Daddy Brooks has come out using his military command voice. That’s hot. Don’t think Sophie would like you to think like that. True, she already hates me, flirting with her man will not go down well.
“What if I don’t know how?” I ask softly, hating that I’m showing even the smallest of vulnerabilities to these guys. I can still kill them in two seconds, by the time they realize it’s already too late.
The guys stare at me as if I have sprouted a second head.
“Looks like you’re learning a new skill this week,” Brooks says with a grin before he turns and storms out of my cabin with Damon hot on his heels.