A Debt Owed

Chapter 3

Some movement was returning to the hand he had freed yet his other hand remained at my waist. His strong fingers occasionally digging into my side, tangling in my shirt, sometimes making contact with bare skin as he held me against him. If I wasn’t preoccupied with mad men trying to kill me it would have bothered me. I was more afraid of them than I was him; call it foolish if you will.

My breathing returned to normal, and I felt him do the same as the train continued its journey across the city. We were locked in this awkward embrace, neither speaking, as the people left and boarded. Some of the buildings I recognised, we were heading back the same way we came although I had no idea of our destination or if we were going to remain on this train till the morning. What I really wanted to do was ask him why he didn’t draw his gun in retaliation back on the train platform. He had at least three weapons on him that I knew of, most of them mine. Pretty skittish of an assassin in my opinion.

“This is where we get off.” Was his rough, heavy accented whisper in my ear.

The sudden sound startled me. I reeled in my thoughts, opting to say nothing as he ushered me out. His hand once again clamped around mine. Guess he just assumed I was going to follow. Well truthfully if I wanted to see my money I was going to have to. I stole a quick glance at the clock tower across the plaza. It began to chine midnight. We had been on that train for two hours. My legs hurt, my body ached and my brain was fried. We were going around in circles till the coast was clear. Made sense. Exhausting but logical. He knew what he was doing after all, I hoped.

People were still milling about the streets it seemed Berlin was a city that never sleeps, it made hiding easier. At least we stopped running. We were back in the city centre. The concierge nodded at him as we entered the hotel, Kirill responded with a light nod, the employee just grinned at me. Guess he assumed I was some date the Russian just happened to pick up for the night. Lucky me. I scowled back at him not in the mood for being polite. I was tired and hungry having spent most of the day in my car staking out the restaurant. Confronting my quarry I was then dragged around the city on a train ride to a down town hotel with strangers shooting at me and this … this money owing Assassin.

Without being too obvious I scanned the lobby. No fuss furniture, seemed to be authentic antique, wood panelled walls, neutral coloured furnishings decorated with brassy gold accented accessories. Even the doormen were in uniforms and the front desk staff were dressed in top of the line designer suits. Maybe Prada, maybe Armani, it was difficult to tell as he rushed me into the vacant waiting elevator. The doors closed and we were alone standing with our backs against the far wall, his eyes focussed straight ahead and the hand not attached to mine reached into his coat pocket. Probably resting on the gun there just in case.

“Do you think we were followed?” I whispered. Speaking normally seemed to deafening in that confined a space.

There was a long pause as he looked directly at me, it made me uneasy, his expression remained neutral. “No.”

I never spoke after that.

The lift finally stopped and he scoped out the corridor before stepping out. It was eerily empty. He moved cautiously maybe due to nerves, seriously doubted that, or just a well trained habit his hand still touched the gun. I remained behind him, no complaints there; if anything was going down he was at the most the larger target. Cowardly I know but instincts just as those have kept me alive so far. He even scoped out the room as we entered, before finally relaxing. I decided to stand not sure what I should do next, me being stuck in a hotel in a city I despise with a man I wasn’t sure I cared to like let alone tolerate. Kirill removed his coat, and slung it over the nearby chair, watching me ponder my options before disappearing into the bathroom. He didn’t even bother closing the door. “You should be safe here for now.”

I heard the sound of running water, this was my chance to retrieve my weapons and regain control again. I went to the coat and searched the pockets finding them empty. Damn. I hadn’t even seen him take out the guns and knife. Double Damn. He was that quick. I collapsed in the other chair by the table; I had to seriously rethink this whole thing. I greatly underestimated him, big mistake on my part. Kirill emerged from the bathroom pressing the hand towel to the bleeding would on his temple that I inflicted and leaned against the doorway. Gone was the dark tie he wore, the first couple of buttons on the immaculate light blue shirt, which complimented the perfectly pressed dark dress pants, were undone. Must have been a really special date I interrupted tonight.

“I see you decided not to make a jail break.”

I forced myself to look at his eyes, I needed to focus. “Well I don’t know if those maniacs were after you or me. Either way I lose.”

He smirked. He really was relaxed that was the first sign of any emotion I’d seen since we met. It was almost a smile; he probably had a very nice smile.

“So where’s my money Kirill?” Focus girl, just focus.

“One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money.”

“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars, that includes six months of interest for late payment.” I flatly stated.

Now he smiled no doubt at my impatience and to answer my previous question … he had a great smile. Mischievous. Wonderful. “Fair enough Madison but I don’t have it on me or in this room. It is in a secure place. You’ll get it.”

This night was dragging on and on. I sighed, “Well do you at least have something to drink?”

He stood retrieving two glasses and a bottle, “Vodka.”

“Good enough.” Guess it was time to settle in for the night.

I shrugged out of my own jacket tossing it over the back of my chair along with my empty shoulder holster a he poured the drinks before sitting to attend the cut. More droplets had decorated his shirt, head wounds always bled profusely. I took the offered glass disposing of its contents in one gulp. Gee I needed that. He reached across the table with ease to refill my glass; I stood snatching both the bottle and the towel from him, searching it for a clean spot before soaking it in the alcohol. He steadily watched me do this hissing in a breath as I held the towel to the open wound applying some pressure. Suddenly I was painfully aware of how close I was standing as the side of my thigh brushed his arm. Those cool green eyes never left me. I ignored them.

“That should stop the bleeding, although there may be some bruising.” I sat back down and we just looked at each other, perhaps for a lot longer than we intended to.

His dark hair was longer than I last saw but still short, no fuss. The heavy stubble was also there made it easier to make the face unrecognisable. To the untrained eye he could have easily been in a mainstream occupation; doctor, banker even construction worker. Yet I knew better. He may have been somewhat relaxed up to this point but he sat in the chair as if ready to pounce any moment. Always a little on edge, slightly paranoid. He was trained killer after all. Several years of military service before joining the secret police. He knew his job. Usually I would have never entered the lion’s den but I needed that money.

“Sorry about hitting you that hard.” It was me again that broke the silence. “I was angry and figured that if it was a half arsed effort on my part you would’ve taken me out. Cold.”

“It was quite a punch.” His voice monotone. “I was going to pay you the money.”

“Time ran out for me Kirill.”

He motioned towards the door. “Are you running from those men we met tonight?”

“Can’t be certain. How about you, who are you avoiding beside me. A Government agency. A jealous husband. Or former employer?”

He flinched at my last suggestion, not noticeably but I saw it. “Some people in this city don’t like the way I dress.”

“Ah, my money’s on the jealous husband or is it a jilted lover?” I ferreted for an answer, didn’t really need one but needed to know how far I could push the personal questions. It amused me.

He was intrigued. “Why a scorned lover?

“Well you drove a Mercedes to the restaurant, you wanted to be noticed tonight and you wore that designer suit. You were aiming to impress someone.”

The banter continued to my surprise as we sized each other up. Getting some idea of who we were dealing with. In all honesty I didn’t know he was this much of a talker. His English was quite good.

“Quite a story Madison. Who was I impressing, male or female?”

“I have no idea, you tell me.” Damn if he was gay then it would be such a terrible waste of a fine looking man.

His voice lowered. “Would my answer worry you?”

Playfulness, wasn’t expecting that either. He was messing with me. I held up my hands. “Hey which ever which way you swing is none of my business. Answer or don’t answer.”

He smiled briefly. Twice in one night, strangely it must be my lucky day.

“I was picking up a payment. Money which was to cover the debt I owe you.”

He was going for honesty, gee he was over flowing with the surprises. “Damn if I knew that I would’ve waited till you left the restaurant to slug you.”

“Well if you did then we would not have been enjoying the evening as we have. The scenic drive, the train ride, then ending up in this luxury hotel.” He emphasised the grandeur of the room by extending his arms.

“You make it sound like we were on a date.”

“Some of my dates have ended the same way.”

“My condolences to your dates.” I smiled and still did even when he frowned at me. “Hard to imagine you date.”

He look directly at me now. “If it is important I find the time.”

Another chasm of silence opened up. I looked away from his gaze, my nerves coming into play. “So when do I get my money?”

“Soon.” He was still looking at me.

“When exactly?” My gaze wondered the room. I hadn’t noticed before how neat it was. No piles of clothes scattered anywhere, no damp towels hanging from the door handles, no suitcases flung open. Had housekeeping been just before we arrived or had it always been this tidy. This ordered.

“Very soon.” He answered.

I made my eyes meet his. I was all business. “Then can I get my guns back?”

“No.”

“My knife then?”

“No.”

“How about you just let me leave and I’ll drop by tomorrow for my payment.”

“No.”

“Worth a shot at least.” I shrugged. “How about some room service than. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“That I can do. I was interrupted from my dinner also.” He handed me the menu on his way to the phone. “You can order for the both of us.”

I watched him move across the room with that controlled effortless ease that some men naturally have without even trying. An image of those muscles moving underneath that shirt flooded my mind and I knew I was blushing. Hell my brain was all over the place, what was wrong with me? I had to get a handle on the situation and fast.