The Assassin
Echoes of voices greeted me as I walked through the front door of our current apartment.
I left early this morning to go hiking. Wandering through nature always helped whenever I needed to clear my head or file through some of the harder thoughts going through it. Since the other night was a bust, I used the time to brainstorm other ways to take care of my feisty little agent.
I’d come in prepared to discuss some of my ideas with Maria, but the foreign sound threw me off. I was used to coming home to one of three things: the muffled sounds of the television, music from behind the doors of Maria’s bedroom or the scuffle of her feet if she was cleaning or cooking.
None of the others contacted me about stopping by. They knew better than to drop in out of the blue.
So, who the fuck was in our safe house?
My hands immediately went to the gun tucked into my waistband. As I pulled it from its place, I pressed my back against the wall and blended into the shadows I knew all too well. I slowly crept down the hall, keeping my footsteps light.
The closer I got to the doorway, the clearer the voices were. One was filled with a bass that carried it through the air while the other was softer, quieter. It wasn’t as easy for me to hear even with the closer proximity.
As I reached the edge of the doorway, I peeked around the corner to assess the situation.
The first thing I noticed was the mountain of curls piled atop Maria’s head.
Her petite body was pinned between the counter and another body looming over her.
Hands were placed on either side of her, like a barrier keeping her from going anywhere.
Alarms went off in my head at the slightest notion that she was trapped - that she was in danger.
I abandoned my post at the edge of the door and stormed into the room. I cracked the intruder across the head with the butt of my gun, then shoved him with all my strength, sending me straight onto the floor.
“Oh my God!” I heard her frail, jagged voice say.
Ignoring her, I held my gun up at the man now sprawled on the ground. I would’ve pulled the trigger if it weren’t for the sudden clutch of Maria’s fingers around my arm.
“No, Mateo!” She exclaimed as loud as her injured vocal chords would let her. “Don’t shoot him!”
Her words pierced through my learned instinct, flipping the switch on the kill button inside my head. Blinking, I returned to reality and reassessed my target who now sat on the floor with his hands raised in surrender.
I quickly recognized the man’s chestnut brown skin, wiry figure, and low-cut fade. It was the hacker Maria’s been fucking.
“Jesus, Mateo,” Maria muttered, pushing past me towards her fallen beau. She fell to her knees and examined the fresh cut on his temple. “Are you alright, Miles?”
I couldn’t help but raise a brow. This was the most I’ve ever heard Maria talk. Hell, I didn’t know she could even speak this much without excruciating pain. Hearing her say so much was impressive, but I wondered what it was about this guy that brought it out of her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, offering me a nervous smile. “She told me you wouldn’t approve of this, but I-“
Maria put her hand over his mouth. She shook her head. “Don’t cover for me,” she said, her voice weaker than before. Grasping his hands, she helped him to his feet. Hallway, she signed as she turned to me. Now.
Rolling my eyes, I turned on my heels and went back out into the hall.
“What the hell is he doing in here?” I asked once we were in the living room and out of Miles’s earshot.
I invited him, she replied, adding a shrug.
“Why the fuck would you do that? No one is supposed to know about this place!”
Miles isn’t going to tell anyone.
“How do you know? You’ve only been fucking him for five seconds!”
Her lips dipped into a frown. He’s worked for the Ruiz’s cartel for years. They trust him.
“And what is their word supposed to mean to me?”
“I trust him,” she said, finally offering her voice to me. What does my word mean to you?
“You know it’s among the ones I value the most.”
Her brows creased, breaking all the hardness in her face. I invited him here tonight, so you could formally meet him. I thought having dinner altogether would be a nice way to break the ice.
“I think I’ve already broken that.”
She shook her head as she stepped closer. He’s a good person. Give him a chance. Please.
She added a smile to the end of her plea. One with a tilt of her head and subtle jut of her chin. One I couldn’t say no to even if I tried.
I sighed. “Fine. But if you’re gonna start bringing him around, you’ve gotta give me a heads up. Next time, he might actually end up with a bullet in his skull.”
I will. She gently shoved my arm. Now go wash up and we’ll try this again.
Nodding, I turned on my heel and headed down the hall towards the bathroom. There, I washed all the forest grime off of my skin and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
Again, I kept my feet light on the wooden floors as I returned to the kitchen. I peeked around the doorway, curious for a glimpse of whatever Maria had going on with Miles.
They were back at the counter again, Maria cutting up a head of lettuce, Miles behind her with his arms locked around her waist and his chin resting on the top of her head. His voice was lost between the harsh sound of the knife on the cutting board for me, but Maria was following it just fine.
Her relaxed shoulders and soft giggles were usually rare and short occurrences. Yet, since the moment I stepped in, I’ve yet to see any tension dare to touch her. Interesting that a man with as little muscle as Miles would be the one protecting her from all her demons.
Miles noticed me hovering in the shadows and immediately released Maria. Offering me a smile, he walked towards me with an outstretched hand. “I wanted to formally introduce myself,” he explained. “I’m Miles.”
I had half a mind to ignore his hand and give him the “break her heart and I’ll break every bone in your body” speech, but the sharp look Maria shot from behind him advised otherwise. Feigning a smile of my own, I shook his hand. “Mateo,” I replied.
Maria walked up to us and started shooing us with her hands. Go play video games or something while I finish cooking, she signed.
Despite Miles’ nervous chuckle and the shake of my head, we obeyed her command and walked into the living room.
“What do you play?” Miles asked as I booted up the video game console underneath the television.
“I don’t, actually. The consoles were Maria’s idea.” I handed him one of the controllers. “I don’t know what games she has on this thing.”
Raising a brow, he clicked a few buttons on the controller, easily navigating through the plethora of tiny icons on the screen. “You’ve never played with her?”
“No. I’ll watch sometimes, but…” I shrugged. “It’s not really my thing.”
He nodded. “Understandable. My best friend sucks at video games too.”
“I never said I sucked.”
“No offense, but you didn’t have to.”
I almost laughed. This guy was getting comfortable already. Maybe Maria was right. Maybe he was trustworthy.
He clicked on one of the military-themed games. “Let’s start with Call of Duty. First-person shooter games are easy. Then, when Maria is finished in the kitchen, she can show off her skills. She’s a badass in general, but in this game: whew, she can tear some shit up.”
“I believe it,” I said between my chuckles.
The evening with the two of them went better than I expected. Miles filled in the silence Maria and I usually lived comfortably in with conversation about video games, the tech he’s been tinkering with, and any other musings that crossed his mind.
I enjoyed talking to him more than I wanted to admit.
In the little interactions I’ve had with him when I’ve done work with the Ruiz cartel, he was always sitting at his desk and clacking away at his keyboard, half-listening to the conversation at hand.
It was nice to get to know the one hiding in the background.
Watching Maria’s body language was a treat as well. She sat inches too close to him at the dinner table. Her eyes, practically swelling with hearts, were almost always on him. And a tiny smile was stuck on her face like a golden sticker.
I’ve never seen her like this with anyone - not even the handful of men she decided were worth more than a few nights of her time.
A part of me was happy she found someone she really liked. The other half hoped I wouldn’t have to break him in half if she ever stopped.
After dinner, I gave them some privacy and retired to my room.
I sank down in the chair in front of my computer and booted it up. At this hour, I doubted there’d be anything important on there, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t check.
A notification from Simone’s security system popped up on the screen; it read “Camera Connected. Footage Stream Now Available.”
“Cameras?” I muttered, my brow raising. I closed the notification button and went onto the control system for her alarm system. To my pleasant surprise, there was an option for a view of the live streaming video footage.
My cursor raced over to it, but hovered when it got there. Hacking into her security system was one thing, but invading a woman’s privacy and watching her without her consent was another. Luckily, I wasn’t someone with a code of ethics to upkeep.
With one click, a grid displaying nearly every inch of Simone’s house covered my computer screen. My eyes bounced through each frame, searching for the woman I’ve been hunting.
I found her in the bedroom, tugging pajama pants on. Her bare back was to the camera, giving me a perfect view of the dip of her hips and curve of her spine. The stream wasn’t in color, but her skin still managed to give off a freshly moisturized shine.
A visible shiver ran up her spine, and she froze for a moment. Her head spun back and forth, checking either side of her, before shaking altogether.
She pulled on a tee shirt and gathered her long braids into a bonnet. She flicked the lights off before climbing into bed.
Her eyes rose to the camera, practically meeting mine behind the lens. She stared at it for a moment, her brows threatening to stitch together. Her chest rose and fell with a sigh before she lay down and curled up under the covers.
She must’ve thought having an eye in the sky would deter me from my pursuit. Little did she know, she just gave me a front row seat.