Ten

"All I'm saying," Britt says, watching me hit the punching ball, "is that you should have sliced her throat for real."

I shake my head, glancing at her a second before I focus again.

"I'm not sure Mr. Neil would have appreciated," I mumble, hitting the punching bag again and again.

"I don't like her," she crosses her arms before she stands in front of me, on the other side of the punching bag.

I clench my jaw and don't answer. I thought I would be alone here. Turned out Britt somehow knows about what happened this morning and there she is.

The truth is that I really don't want to think about Nova or anything related to her. Like her boyfriend, huh?

I hit harder this time and Britt steps back in surprise. Her dark eyes narrow, analyzing me and I hate it. I take a deep breath, looking down a few seconds.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, okay?" I finally say, hoping she'll agree and leave me alone.

I'm getting better at this, I realize. Pushing people away.

Britt nods. "All right."

She doesn't move from where she is.

I talked too soon.

Ignoring her, although it's kinda hard since she's right in front of me, I continue to hit and kick the punching bag. I just needed to hit something, like always after days like these. But the need to do that was worse after what happened today.

There are other agents in the training room but they don't stand too close to me. A few moments pass until Britt speaks again.

"Does she know that you and Brandon used to..." she doesn't finish her sentence but I already understood.

I stop the punching bag before it swings back in my face and give Britt a hard look.

"No," I say slowly, making sure she listens. But Britt always listens. "And she can't know. Never."

I step back, mumbling under my breath. "I don't want to wake up dead in my bed."

"I'm not sure you'll be able to wake up if she kills you, but all right," Britt concludes, ignoring my deadpanned look.

"You know what I mean," I mutter, looking at my knuckles.

"What I know is that someone is coming over here," Britt announces, glancing over my shoulder.

I already regret the moment I glance behind me. Seeing Brandon there, in a grey t-shirt and black jeans, his hands in his pocket, leaning against the wall and staring at me, makes the anger resurfacing in quick waves. I clench my fists and turn towards Britt.

"You don't move from where you are," I say with a pointed look.

She tilts her head and narrows her eyes before she suddenly smirks.

"That's the first time you beg me to stay with you," she gasps and I glare at her.

"I'm not begging you."

"Hmm," she hums under her breath before she claps her hands together. "Anyway, I gotta go. Have some stuff to do."

"Britt!"

"I'll definitely see you later," she says with a smile and I groan, hitting my head against the punching ball.

Not wanting to have a conversation with the guy I decided to avoid at all cost, I continue to train with the punching ball again.

However, it's not long until I can feel his presence behind me.

Go away.

"I thought you guys weren't friends anymore," Brandon says, crossing his arms, showing his biceps. "I was wrong."

Clenching my jaw, I ignore him and keep hitting the punching bag.

"You're okay? After this morning?" he continues, standing beside me and watching me hit again and again.

I don't answer. Maybe he'll understand and finally leave.

He sighs. Then,

"Sweetheart."

My move is so quick I don't even see it myself when it happens. My arm turns and my fist goes for him instead, but he quickly catches my wrist before I can hit his face. Angry, I try with my left fist. The same thing happens.

"Do not call me sweetheart," I say coldly, glaring at him.

"Got what I wanted," he murmurs, raising an eyebrow. "A reaction."

"Don't call me this again," I repeat, staring straight into his eyes.

"Why?" he asks curiously, tilting his head. "It's just a simple word."

I stare at him in disbelief, not sure of how I should feel now. Angry? Confused? What's next?

I push him away, shaking my head. I position myself, ready for a fight, and he understands quickly. With a little smirk, he steps back and gets ready.

"You're actually enjoying this," I state slowly, shaking my head.

He tries to punch me. I dodge, grab his arm and try to flip him on the ground. He's faster than me and I'm the one who goes to the ground after one of his fucking ninja move that always used to annoy me.

"I wasn't at first, but your anger starts to be a little bit exaggerated. You're really that mad?"

I stand up from the floor, my fist hitting his target this time. Satisfied to hear his grumble, I continue.

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"Yes," he says, dodging my next move with a clenched jaw.

For fuck's sake.

"You used to call me this and you lost that right a long time ago, goddammit," I mutter under my breath, going for a roundhouse kick.

It's not enough to make him K.O. I could never win against him, anyway. Because we trained together and helped each other with everything.

Stop thinking about the damn past.

"I know," he finally nods, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry."

We both stopped to fight and I just stare at him for a while, my eyebrows furrowed. He seems to wait for me to say something and I finally run a hand through my loosened ponytail, sighing loudly.

"That game that you're playing... I don't know what it is, but this is dangerous."

Brandon frowns, slowly shaking his head. "I'm not playing any games."

"Are you sure?" I ask, grabbing my water bottle. "Because I'm confused and I'm never confused like that."

I turn around.

"Sophia—"

"I told you, Brandon," I cut him off and glance at him over my shoulder, shaking my head. "We can't be friends. So stop trying whatever you are trying to do. Because it's not going to work."

He swallows and looks down. I turn around again and this time, I leave.

I don't know what it is that I feel at that moment, but I don't like it.

*

Standing in the same room as Nova, waiting for Mr. Neil to tell us what is going to be our mission tonight is awkward.

At least, she hasn't looked at me and I'm perfectly fine with that. Maybe she understood my message this morning.

This day was exhausted, let's say it. And it wasn't even the end.

"New mission," Mr. Neil begins, stepping aside so we can see what is on the screen.

I can't help though to notice something else a little bit further behind him. A board where we can see: | BIRD | CIRCLE | ??? | MASTER |

That's all we got from the last mission Brandon and I was together. A week passed and we did other missions, but this one seemed important for the agency and Mr. Neil.

"Earth to Sophia?" I blink rapidly and look at Andrew with a questioned look, then realize that everyone is looking at me.

"Sorry," I apologize and look at Mr. Neil.

Andrew rolls his eyes and turns back towards Garry with his bored expression. I give him a glare and cross my arms, now listening to Mr. Neil. I feel someone's gaze burning the side of my head and I keep my eyes in front of me.

*

"Stop looking at him," I mutter harshly to Nova, glaring at her. "You'll blow up our cover."

Shaking my head, I can't help but wonder how the hell she is an agent. How did she do a single mission when she's so jealous and unfocused?

Nova ignores me and keeps watching Brandon on the other side of the bar/restaurant of this hotel, who is currently flirting with our victim of the night. I clench my jaw and catches Andrew's eyes. He just shakes his head and continues to play the role of a waiter.

"Miller, stop looking at your boyfriend," Andrew says hardly in our earpiece and from where I am, I can see Brandon's body tensing.

Nova finally looks away, letting out a small scoff.

"I don't get why he has to do this," she mutters with disgust, turning in her seat. "This woman is twice his age and she's not even pretty."

Oh, my God. Who gives a fuck?

I had to remind her two times to focus tonight, that Brandon was only doing a part of his job. He had to flirt with this woman. Nova kept muttering why it couldn't be Andrew who could do it. I had to stop myself from saying that Brandon is much more handsome than him. Only my opinion.

I remember in the past when he had to flirt during the missions. He would always talk to me after, making sure I didn't feel uncomfortable or anything. I found this sweet. After all, he was like that. Sweet, but arrogant. And gentle, funny, smart, but sometimes stupid.

That's what I used to think.

And you need to stop thinking about this right now.

I have to admit it worked, in the past. It really did. We were a great team, we were young and in love, but we were always serious in mission and focused.

But nothing lasts forever. We should have known it would be the end of us. I should have known that love would kill us. Kill him.

Even if he's not dead anymore. But somehow, I did die on that night, too.

Something died inside of me.

Blinking, I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I should have never thought about any of this. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Can I offer a drink to a beautiful woman like you?" the man on my left asks and I already smile, knowing it worked.

While Brandon is distracting his wife, I can start the next step. It was either me or Nova. I guess the man chose me.

I turn my head, smiling shyly. "I already have a drink."

The man in a suit smiles, showing his yellowish teeth. As if to prove my thoughts, he takes out a cigarette from his pocket, still smiling at me. I resist the urge to grimace and laughs awkwardly, edging closer to him.

"But it would be rude to say no," I add, watching how his eyes stop on my chest.

"This dress is too tight," I mutter under my breath, not thinking anyone actually hears me.

Brandon's presence in my back startles me. I look at him and frown. "What?"

"I don't know," he keeps his voice low. "You have always been confident. What changed?"

I can't help but let out a laugh.

"Me."

That was one hour ago.

I'm clenching my jaw so hard but I don't think the man notices it. Too busy looking somewhere else, anyway.

"I have a better idea," the man murmurs, looking up at me. "Want to go somewhere private?"

Go to his room. Find a computer, a USB key, anything you can find. We believe this man stole important private documents.

This is easier than I thought it would be.

Smiling at the man, I nod and stand up close to him.

"Lead the way," I whisper, winking at him.

Before I leave, I glance at Nova. She watches us walking away, her expression blank. Don't do anything stupid or I'll kill you.

We take the elevator and stop to the fifteenth floor. As we walk, I fidget with my purse and look around me. We walk past a couple, but then it's just the two of us. The man places his hand in my lower back and I try my hardest not to move away.

Finally, he stops in front of a door and unlocks it. Opening it, he glances at me and waves his hand for me to enter first.

I do, carefully. The bedroom is plain beige, with a huge kingsize bed, a beige sofa and beige curtains. The only things not beige are the two nightstands and the desk, where I can see a laptop laying on it. Good.

"Wine?" the man asks from the other side of the room.

"Sure," I answer sweetly, glancing towards the desk.

USB key. Find a USB key.

I glance carefully around me first, looking for cameras. Nothing. Perfect.

He walks over to me, handing me one glass. He raises his own and watches me closely, waiting for me to take a sip.

I make a move to drink some wine when he does, and turn my head at the last second so he doesn't see me not drinking it.

No way I will be that stupid.

"You know, you look familiar," he says, edging closer to me. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," I answer carefully, my instinct telling me something is wrong in that.

How could I look familiar to him?

The man smiles, his breath in my face. Cigarette and alcohol. I keep my fake smile on. He makes a move even closer and when I understand where this is going, I almost step back.

Distract him.

I don't even need to do that when his phone suddenly rings. He steps back and I release a breath.

Winking at me, he answers his phone.

Slowly, I start to walk away a little bit, closer to that desk. I look around me as if I'm just contemplating the beauty of the room when I feel his eyes on me.

"I'm busy right now," the man says, glancing at me over his shoulder. I smile.

God, I've never smiled so much in one night.

Find something, Sophia. USB key.

When I'm close enough to the desk, I look at the laptop. Some papers, pens and other stuff are gathering on the desk. Taking a quick look at the man to be sure he doesn't see me, I start looking carefully at everything on the desk.

"Master doesn't need me tonight," the man murmurs in a low voice, but I hear it.

Master.

I heard this before.

Then it slowly clicks.

You look familiar. Have we met before?

I frown, glancing at the man. Is he very keeping important stolen documents or something else? What if this mission is somehow linked with the last one we did?

Master.

"Let Matthew do it, then!" I hear him say as I keep looking for something, something...

And then, I find it. The USB key.

I quickly put it in my purse just as the man hangs up, turning to face me. His eyes narrow the slightest when he notices me that far away and I start walking towards him.

"You made me wait a long time. I'm starting to get bored," I say in a seductive voice, biting my lip.

The man instantly forgets about what he just saw and lust replaces the doubt in his eyes. At the same time, Andrew's voice interrupts us in my ear.

"Sophia, abort everything. Nova made a stupid mistake by going to talk to Brandon and now the man's wife got bored. She's coming to the room, Sophia. Get out."

I knew something would go wrong tonight.

*

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