EMIL
Babysitting Lev and Misha wasn’t as terrible as I imagined it might be. After the excitement from the wedding, both boys crashed and slept well.
For the duration of that night, I was preoccupied with thinking about that agent. The short, sexy, raven-haired woman at the airports.
Then over the next few days, when I stayed in New York and helped Ivan and Raisa move their things into their new home, I was kept busy. My mind wasn’t idle, so I didn’t think back to my mystery woman who had been so obviously following me.
When all that domestic and family stuff was done, though, and I was staying over at my father’s home, the big mansion where we often all met up, the slight loneliness crept in. It wasn’t feasible tobelonely among my family members, but because I was a bachelor, without a child like Alexsei, I was alone. Consequently, I was annoyed and short-tempered. Most of all, I was irritated that my thoughts kept circling back to that agent.
Why her?
Why now?
At breakfast, I rubbed my face and groaned at a lousy night of sleep.
“Don’t you ever get tired of jumping from one place to another?” my father asked as he poured another cup of rich, dark, black coffee for himself. He paired his question with a stern, yet almost dryly amused, look.
“Who says I am?” I replied as Raisa and Ivan joined us, just finished with dropping off Lev and Misha at their school.
My father chuckled. “You can’t sit still, like you can’t wait to take off again. I never realized you were this much of a wandering soul.”
I gave him a droll look right back. “It comes with the job.”
The job he gave me.
He nodded, not at all bothered by the fact that I was his prized killer. He was proud of me, likely overly glad to have such a strong son and solid asset to the organization. We had other assassins, but I was the most skilled. Something in his expression suggested he wasn’t as pleased with my nomadic personality, though. He was my father, not just a boss. Maybe since Gabriella had baby Andre, he was going a little soft, perhaps wanting me to stick around and not just focus on work.
“Yes, but sometimes there is more to life than a job,” he replied, confirming my suspicions about his shifting attitude.
More to life than working a job.
I refrained from scowling.
His commentstruck a nerve.
Especially when Ivan and Raisa shared a secret smile and kissed each other on the other side of the table.
Fuck.
They were even more sickening than my father and Gabby. So in love. So settled. So… normal.
“You can say that again,” Ivan agreed. “There is much more to life than working all the time.”
“Oh, shut up, you lovebird,” I drawled jokingly. “Of course you’d say that.” I was happy for them, but come on. Did he have to rub it in?
“You seem so restless without somewhere to go,” my father said.
He was right. And wrong. The truth of the matter was that woman. I was restless because I kept thinking about that agent. She starred in my dreams, like a faint figment suspended between my imagination and memories. Over the handful of times I’d noticed her, she’d stuck, her short, black hair, always so glossy and shiny, catching my attention and making me wonder if it was as soft as it looked. Those bright blue eyes, like glittering diamonds that I couldn’t help but notice.
I didn’t know her name. No one had been tasked to look her up yet. I just had enough of an intuition to know that she had to be a federal agent of some kind. They all had a tell. They carried the same vibe of veiled authority and viewing the world too calculatingly. It was almost as if a magnetic force of antagonism was projected from them to me so I could be clued in that they had to be my opponent. My adversary.
My “secret” agent was on my mind, and I was antsy and restless to see her again. I wanted to learn more about her.
And yeah, being home and around these happy couples was getting on my nerves.
“Well, do you have a new job for me?” I asked instead of remarking on what he’d said.
My father knew better than to push when I hedged answering him. He’d play the long game and wait me out until I explained myself. My father was a fierce ruler, an excellent boss, and an understanding man.
