Chapter 5 Emil
EMIL
From Prague, I went to Cozumel.
All the destinations I went to were adventures, but when I didn’t spot “my” agent at either of the airports, everything seemed a little duller.
How twisted was it that I, the hunter, wanted to be hunted?
Maybe I need a vacation.
That was how Ivan reacted to my father marrying Gabriella.
Seeing someone else getting married—and my father was the first one to marry in a long time—triggered him to mope and miss Raisa more deeply.
But then after he and I flew to Milan for a little break, he came home to find her at my father’s mansion.
It was kismet, maybe, that they’d make their way back to each other.
As for me, I wasn’t sure that this stranger who wasn’t as stealthy as she thought she was could be a lasting presence in my life.
After I checked into a resort in Cozumel, I strolled the beach for a while, merging in with the rest of the touristy area. Music reached me from many bars along the waves, but nothing enticed me to venture closer for a good time. Smells of food carried on the breeze, but I wasn’t hungry.
That damn restlessness was back.
I dragged my hand over my face before stopping and turning to face the waves. Orange and pink streaks filled the sky as the sun set. The orb of light touched the horizon as I stared blankly.
It was gorgeous. A picture worth painting.
And it didn’t break through this dullness taking over me.
My phone buzzed, and I sighed at the thought of having to talk to anyone. If it was my father or cousins, I didn’t want to have to pretend that I was fine being the odd man out anymore.
It wasn’t. Simon was calling, and I knew better than to miss a message from him. With how skilled he was at uncovering information and how quickly things could change, I needed to always have the latest and most up-to-date intel. Not doing so could get me killed.
“The hit has been canceled.”
I furrowed my brow at his greeting. We never bothered with them, actually. He was my most-trusted and relied-upon member of the Dubinin organization, and I learned early on that pleasantries were wasted on the taciturn and serious computer genius.
“Huh.” It was all I could care to say for a reply. “Any specific reason?”
It happened. Hits could be called off. Or they could be expedited.
I took jobs for money, adding to the Dubinin wealth, but I also had to follow the assignments my father gave me, the jobs where I was required to kill someone bothering our family.
Sergei Romanoff was an example of a family job.
But this banker I’d followed here to Cozumel was just a random hit.
It’d pay well, but it wasn’t like we needed the money.
Sometimes, I took these contracted hits just to stay sharp and busy.
“His wife decided to forgive him.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sounds messy.”
“Sounds like she's an idiot.”
I grunted a laugh. “Too true.” If he cheated once and badly enough to make his wife wish him dead, the odds were high that he’d stray again. Some thrills were irresistible and tempting. I’d know. I felt like that with the extreme adrenaline rush of killing someone.
“Thanks, Simon.”
“You’re welcome, Boss.”
I wished he’d stop calling me that. My father was our boss, but in a way, I was his supervisor too.
“Need anything else?”
I opened and closed my mouth. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to look into this agent who’d been following me.
As I conjured her in my mind, I imagined her short, glossy black hair, those bright blue eyes that suggested she was stubborn, not sweet.
Her short little body, athletic with just the right curves.
“Emil?” he asked, breaking his teasing habit of calling me Boss when I didn’t immediately speak.
“Um.”
I hesitated, unsure about putting him to the task of getting me a name for this woman who’d been following me, mostly at airports.
If I told him, she wouldn’t be mine anymore. Not my secret. Not my little mouse and unwilling participant in this game we were playing. I supposed I was supposed to be her prey as she searched for me. It was too much fun taunting her and throwing her off my trail, though.
“Nah. Nothing else.”
“Are you coming back home, then? Since the job is canceled?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see. “I might hang out around here for a while.”
“Just be aware that a tropical storm is expected to make landfall near your location in about four days.”
I smiled, amused at how informative he was about everything like that. This man was worth his weight in gold, and I always made sure to reward him handsomely for his hard work—besides the fact that he had a nice income for just doing his job.
“Thanks, Simon.”
We disconnected the call shortly after, and I resumed strolling down the beach. When I arrived, I’d planned to chill for the night, to move and stretch after two flights so close together. My stomach growled from hunger, so I found a nice restaurant and got dinner.
It didn’t make me really feel full. Not deep down.
Then I meandered past a beachfront bar that wasn’t blasting obnoxious clubbing music. I ordered a drink.
And it didn’t take the edge off anything. Not really.
With a heavy sigh, I went to my resort and headed to my suite. The second I flopped down on the plush king-size bed, I closed my eyes.
No rest came. I couldn’t sleep worth a damn, and I regretted being this possessive about that agent. I should’ve told Simon to look her up. I could give him the barest and vaguest clues, like for him to search through security cameras at the last airport I’d seen her in, and he’d find me a name.
But I didn’t want to share that someone had captured my attention like that. I wasn’t prepared to admit that it felt good to be hunted.
All night, I tossed and turned. In the morning, I decided I’d be funky and miserable no matter where I was on this planet. I didn’t relish going home and being near the rest of my family who were all so happy and content and settled. But this sucked.
Once more, I headed to the airport. A few texts with Simon took care of the matter of a flight. I’d take off in three hours, but I bet I’d pass time people-watching and not dozing off.
And there she was.
Just as I found a seat near my terminal, stretching my arms out before folding my hands behind my head so I could comfortably extend my legs out in front of me, she was there.
The same short, neat black hair, shining under the sunlight blaring in through the windows.
Those same electric blue eyes, sharp and observant as she scanned her surroundings.
Sure, she tried to blend in, to look casual. To anyone else, she would’ve passed.
But not with me.
I’d noticed her once, and I was drawn to picking up on her presence now.
A slow smile lifted my lips. My heart beat that much faster. An inkling of excitement spread through me, making my nerves light up with the promise of a challenge.
Looking for me, little agent?
I watched her go through the expected steps of not being too obvious. She was trained. She was good. But I could still pick up on how she wasn’t merely glancing around but hunting. Spying. Searching.
For me.
The second she noticed me, I knew it. I couldn’t have missed it because I had yet to take my eyes off her. Suspended in this strange pull to her, almost like an invisible tether locked me to her position, I didn’t flinch or try to break eye contact.
Her eyes opened a little wider.
Her head lifted a bit higher.
But fuck me, when her pink lips parted ever so slightly like she was surprised to actually find me, I wanted to get up, close the distance between us, and kiss that shock off her face.
She’d found me. I stared right back, letting her appreciate my smirking smile.
Found me.
But the instant she lowered her gaze, as if recalling that she wasn’t supposed to be noticed, I shot out of my seat and left the area. A long line of athletes and coaches trudging toward their gate blocked me from her line of sight.
I moved to the side, leaning against a column to watch her glance back in the direction of where I was. She noticed I was gone. And reading her lips, I watched her curse to herself.
How about some hide-and-seek, little agent?
She left her spot near the café she had been standing by.
The barista called after her, holding up the drink she must have ordered as a prop.
Dressed like a tourist and looking like no one special, she didn’t even turn around to tell the person she no longer needed the order.
Instead, she scanned the terminal for me.
I strolled past her when she pretended to check flight ETAs and departure statuses on the huge wall of monitors.
When she flinched, whipping around to track me, I smiled wider.
After weaving through another crowd, I slowed down so she could follow me near a luggage store.
Then behind a pile of suitcases on display, I made sure to brush past her as she looked the wrong way.
I heard her curse that time as I maneuvered on the other side of a people mover, once more blocked from her view.
For an hour, I led her on a wild goose chase through the airport. Staying close but not so much that she could reach me, I teased her, taunted her to hunt for me.
But when she didn’t appear and I feared I’d lost her, I realized it was time to change up the rules of this game we were playing.
Because I hadn’t had this much fun in a long, long time, I jumped on the impulsive idea to finally help myself to learn more about her. Toying with an agent wasn’t wise. But it wasn’t necessarily foolhardy, either.
I didn’t intend to just play chase like this.
As I wondered what it’d be like to do more than brush against her or piss her off with how stealthily I moved, I wanted to know what it was like to really feel her.
To experience the heat of her anger sparkling in her eyes up close.
With those plump lips twisted into a scowl when she was within my reach, inches from me so I could kiss her.
Fuck.
I was getting hard just thinking about having her at all. It’d been a while since I’d cared to fuck a woman.
And right now, she was the only one I desired.
A couple of quick texts to Simon secured me a rental car. While keeping an eye on my agent, I moved closer to exiting. Like I expected, she followed. She trailed after me at what I bet she thought was a safe distance, near enough not to lose me but not right behind me.
I went to the registration to sign in for my car like it was any other ordinary day.
Then I strolled toward the parking lot to pick it up.
As soon as I heard her footsteps gaining in speed, the patter of her shoes smacking on the pavement as she hurried toward me, I reacted. I ducked as another man pushed a dolly of luggage, blocking me from her sight.
Tucking low next to the car I’d rented, I watched her stop and spin around.
“What the actual fuck?” she whispered hotly to herself. “Is he a freaking apparition?”
Smiling widely with the anticipation of how much fun this would be, I launched up and grabbed her.
She tensed, her lungs bracing to scream, but I covered her mouth with my hand.
Ignoring how she tried to bite, I turned my hand sideways and wedged it further in to prevent her from being able to use her jaw well.
Still, she drew blood.
I winced as I carried her to the car. Simon came through with hacking into the parking garage next to us, triggering the fire alarm. The pandemonium of that alert gave me the cover to haul my agent toward the car.
She fought. She bucked. She resisted. And dammit, she almost got away. If she were any taller, she might have succeeded.
But she didn’t.
I wrestled with her, opening the door and shoving her in.
Or I tried to. That was the plan.
She was skilled, though, twisting and fighting so much that she nearly pulled me into the backseat with her.
All right, little agent. I see you’re playing hardball.
Even though she was being difficult, I had to admire her tenacity to get free. That took guts. Determination. Spirit.
None of those were any match for the syringe of a sedative I still had in my pocket, the one I intended to use on the banker I wasn’t supposed to kill any longer.
She grunted against my hand as I jabbed the needle into her thigh.
As she began to go lax, closing her lids and preventing me from staring into those light-blue eyes that were even more dazzling and mesmerizing this close, I sighed and loosened my hold on her.
“Gotcha,” I teased before she was out.
I tucked her fully into the backseat and grinned, wondering where this side quest of kidnapping the agent expected to capture me would take us.