Page 3 of Assassin: Part 1

Oh, well, that piques my interest. “Politician? Lawyer? Gang banger? What? Come on, sweet cheeks, I saved your life, and if I’m about to head into a problem, I need to know about it. Jail time is not on my bingo card for tonight.” Or ever.

She sighs. “No, nothing like any of that. My father, he’s …” When I glance in the rearview mirror, she’s biting her lip. “Okay, fine, but if I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I use a different last name at school so people don’t make the connection easily, and he made me promise I would never say anything unless I absolutely had to or my life is in danger.” The plea in her voice has my mind spinning.

Damn. Things just got even more interesting. “Your life isn’t in danger anymore, but let’s face it, I just killed a man, and you and I, we have some secrets we need the other to keep. So you don’t tell mine, and I don’t tell yours, how’s that?”

She thinks it over before nodding. “Okay. My father is Zakhar Romanov,” she rushes out.

Yeah, I did not expect that, and my night just got a hell of a lot more complicated. Interesting, but complicated.

Her father is the brother to the Pakhan of one of the largest Russian Bratva organizations on this side of the country. Which means they have people looking for this girl.

Of all days not to wear a disguise other than changing my eye color and keeping my hair tied back. I haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with these particular Russians, but I’ve been hired to take people out in their organization. If they figure out who I am, a lot of people are going to have to die.

Why did it have to be fucking Russians?

I sigh and pull out my phone. I’m going to dispose of it and get a new SIM after this anyway, so what’s the harm? It’s not going to be traced back to me. I send a quick text to my contact, setting things in motion so I won’t be caught on camera before I hand it back to the girl. “Call him and tell him to meet us at the abandoned diner on Highway Fifty. You know the one?”

She nods and takes the phone. Then she gives me a wry smile. “I think my uncle uses it as a meetup for one of his businesses, so yeah, I know it.”

I nod, but I already know all about it. There isn’t much about Ilya Romanov I don’t already know. I just have to decide if I’m going to let him live past tonight. Things just might be getting a hell of a lot messier than I planned.

I really want to go back and kill that fucker Harold all over again. He took a Pakhan’s niece? Stupid. And now it’s causing me a giant headache. Good thing my acting skills are second to none. I just have to convince a preteen girl I don’t know anything about her family other than the superficial.

“Don’t tell me anymore, sweet cheeks,” I caution. “There’s probably a lot of stuff your uncle doesn’t want me to know.”

“Papa,” she says. Yelling comes from the other end, but I can’t make it out. “I’m all right. A woman helped me get away. Ah, I don’t know her name, but she told me to tell you that she can take me to the old diner on Highway Fifty and for you to meet us there.” Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “I don’t know her name. No, I didn’t ask. Because she was saving me, that’s why,” she snaps.

I chuckle softly. The girl has some balls and an inner strength few possess. Something tells me, even with everything that happened, she’s going to be okay.

“Papa, just meet us there. I promise I’m okay, and she helped me. She gave me fresh clothes, and she said she’ll stay with me until you get there. She’s not involved.” She lets out a low growl. “I know because the bastard that took me was alone and a perverted old fat fucker,” she barks at him. “Are you going to meet us there?” Silence as she listens. “Fine. We’ll see you there in twenty minutes.”

I glance at the clock. We’ll be there in ten, so it gives me time to plan my exit.

She hands me my phone, and I set it aside. It’s already being tracked, so no point in making a situation worse if it disappears after she’s hung up. Ilya Romanov has some of the best hackers in the country on his payroll. Too bad for him, I have much better contacts to ensure he’ll get nothing. “You know, I have to give you some props for yelling at your father like that. Especially considering his position and who he works for.” I grin. She’s going to give her father hell by the time she turns thirteen.

She sighs. “My life is about to be over now after this. Between my father and uncle, they’re going to be so overbearing I’ll be lucky to get a boyfriend before I’m thirty. He’ll probably try to ship me off to an all-girl’s private school. And I yell at him all the time, so he’s used to it.”

“Fathers and their daughters often don’t get along at your age.” At least that’s what I’ve heard. It’s not like I had a normal childhood. Or a childhood at all, really.

“My uncle is just as bad.” She groans. “And since he’s the boss, well, what he says, goes. But I can sometimes reason with him, so maybe if I just agree to his bodyguards and rules, he’ll be okay and let me at least have a bit of a social life.”

I bite back a snort. Kid is delusional, but I’m not a total bitch, so I won’t crush her fantasy. Her father and uncle will do that well enough on their own.

My lights flash over the two waiting black SUVs at the back of the empty diner parking lot. I’m already calculating how quickly and easily I can disarm the men in them and get the hell out of here.

The girl groans and sighs. “Guess Dad is twenty minutes away, but not my uncle.”

“How likely is it that I’m going to be allowed to just drop you off and drive away?” I ask, though I already know the answer.

“Not very. But I’ll tell him that you’re not involved, and it’ll be fine.”

I bite back a laugh. The girl is delusional. Ilya Romanov has no plan on letting me just walk away. Especially since when I stop the car twenty feet away, all the doors of the SUV open and six large men pour out, one of whom I recognize instantly.

The question is, is he going to recognize me? I have to play this smart and careful. Good thing I’m excellent at improvising. After all, what good is an assassin if they can’t hide in plain sight? Especially one who got her name from being able to turn herself into anyone she needs to, to get the job done?

2

LANE