Three

I lean against the cold surface of the table behind me, crossing my arms. A picture of a well-looking man appears on the screen in front of me, with the information written just beside the picture. Name, age, description. Everything we need to know.

Mr. Neil steps forward, turning to face Andrew and I, currently waiting to know what our mission will be.

"See that man? His name is Daniel Hudson, a wealthy businessman that had too many mistresses in the last five years." Garry shakes his head and I let out a scoff.

Daniel Hudson is fifty-five years old and is currently married to Caroline Hudson. The woman looks like plastic surgeries are all she's known for the past couple of years while Mr. Hudson looks like he's been an attractive man in his young years, having all the girls waiting at his door. He has deep green eyes with dark but salty hair curling on top. With strong features and dark skin caused by probably a lot of sun over the years, it is hard to tell if he still works his way with women.

Apparently, he does.

"Anyway, he's organizing a Masquerade Ball tonight for a charity cause."

I raise my eyebrows. "So what do we have to do? Kill him? Hurt him? Who is he, really?"

Mr. Neil smiles, walking in front of the screen.

"No, none of these things, Agent Montgomery," Garry says, shaking his head. "He's not the real enemy here. We have reasons to believe that a group of people will go there tonight to kill him. Your mission is not only to protect Mr. Hudson, but to find them and figure out if that's what they really are planning, and eventually, stop them."

I take a deep breath. Well, okay.

I nod. "Sounds easy."

Noticing Andrew beside me, shifting on his feet, I finally remember what I have to tolerate and sigh.

"Can I do this mission alone?" I ask, earning myself a glare from the boy next to me.

Garry tilts his head, giving me a serious look.

"You know it's not a possibility, Sophia. Especially for a mission like tonight. You can't do everything alone."

I grit my teeth. He has a point.

I let out a sigh. Andrew is smart, sure. Behind a computer, that is. On the field, he is annoying as hell. He always wants to do things by himself, not thinking about me, his partner. One mistake and it could affect the other.

He doesn't think about this when this is all I do. I know what can really happen if you don't have enough trust in your partner, or if one of you make one mistake, or if one of you choose not to listen to the other.

I glance at him. Once he catches my gaze, I make sure to give him a look that clearly says everything.

If you do anything stupid tonight, I will fucking kill you myself. Behave yourself.

For once, I don't see him roll his eyes. He clearly tightens his jaw though, and once he gets my message, I turn around and walk out of the computers area.

"Be ready at five," Mr. Neil says before I leave.

"I know," I mutter, not thinking about any courtesy.

Not like he would care. Okay, maybe he does care. But Mr. Neil knows me enough to understand any of my reaction.

*

I'm ready at five.

A perfect dress for tonight was waiting for me in my door room. The long black dress with a sweetheart neckline fits my body perfectly, and the lace gives an elegant touch to the dress. It's comfortable and doesn't catch much attention. My weapons are perfectly hidden underneath it.

For my hair, I curl them slightly and leave them falling on my shoulders. I give my blue-gray eyes a touch of eyeshadow and mascara.

I roll my eyes. So much makeup for nothing. This will probably not even stay in place tonight.

When the final touch is done, I take the black lacy mask waiting for me on my bed. I won't lie, I like the mysterious vibe of all of this.

The only problem is, everyone will probably look the same tonight. Women will wear expensive dresses, and men expensive black suits, as well with black masks covering their faces.

Finding out who the enemies are tonight will probably be harder than usual.

Let's hope everything goes well.

Taking a last look at myself in the mirror, I nod.

"Let's do this, Sophia," I mutter for myself, grabbing my small purse.

I head to the second floor, finding Andrew, Mr. Neil and a couple of people in the weapons area. I walk over there, my heels clicking on the ground, catching their attention.

Andrew wears a black and white tuxedo, his blonde hair styled back with some hair gel. He hasn't put his mask on yet. He takes a look at me, not saying anything. I do the same, then turn towards Garry.

"So remember," he starts, facing Andrew, "you are Nicolas Williams for tonight. And as for you—"

"Adele Williams, twenty-five-year-old, daughter of the great businessman Jack Stewart, who unfortunately passed away last year. Lung cancer. The man smoked a lot," I finish for Garry, adjusting my earpiece.

Garry smiles slightly.

"Put on a sad face if you ever need to say that," he jokes, and because it's him, I smile back.

"Do not worry. My acting skills are on point."

"Are we ready to go?" Andrew interjects with a bored expression, looking at us.

I roll my eyes before I nod.

"Good luck," Mr. Neil says as we start making our way outside.

"I don't need it," I return with a small nod nonetheless, before we head to the charity ball.

Little do I know how wrong I am.

*

"Ready?" Andrew asks as the limousine stops in front of the building where the ball takes place.

Rich couples already climb up the few stairs covered with a red carpet, talking loudly or posing for some photographers who want to take pictures of them.

Something feels familiar when I hear Andrew's question. This is a simple question, three stupid words, but it still makes me stop a moment before I shake my head.

Focus.

I turn my gaze towards Andrew, raising an eyebrow. "Are you?"

Ignoring me, he just turns on his side to open the door.

"Let's go, darling," he says in a sweet, fake voice that makes me wanna throw up.

I make a face and look up at him as I step out of the limo, then glare at the hand he offers me.

"No. Don't ever call me that again," I mutter before placing my hand in his reluctantly, already putting on my fake smile, now acting as Adele Williams.

"Or?" he asks, smiling as he looks around him. People—mostly women, eye him with hunger.

Disgusting.

"Or I will make sure you won't ever be able to have kids one day," I reply, giving a look down, just there.

He knows I'm serious, with the way his eyes quickly avoid mine.

We start walking and I look around me. Like I was expecting it, everyone looks the same. All wearing dresses, suits, or jewelry that scream: 'Bitch, I'm rich. What you gonna do?'

Anyway, I'm not here tonight to judge those people.

We give our fake invitations to the woman at the door and she smiles, her bright teeth showing with her red-tinted full lips.

"Mr. and Mrs. Williams," she nods, still smiling. "Thank you for being here! Have a great night!"

I smile. "We will."

Or not. Depends.

A huge chandelier hung above us, the diamonds reflecting the light in a dazzling way. I notice a couple of them as we walk further until we arrive in the huge ballroom.

I take a deep breath and already narrow my eyes, looking carefully around me. A woman who drinks her champagne, her red dress fitting her thin, perfect body. A man in an expensive suit, talking business with two others. Women whispering among themselves, staring at something—or someone on their right. I follow their gaze until I see a familiar man in a grey suit.

"I found our man," I say, turning as Andrew hands me a glass of champagne. I eye it before directing my attention back to Daniel Hudson.

Women couldn't help but stay close to him, talking loudly and giggling all along. I roll my eyes. Caroline Hudson is nowhere around.

Andrew nods, raising his glass of champagne towards his mouth.

"Don't drink that," I stop him, my hand resting on his arm. He furrows his eyebrows. "...yet. I need to find our enemies first."

I ignore the roll of his eyes and focus on my surrounding, still making sure he doesn't drink.

"Let's split," he proposes, placing down his glass on an empty table.

I nod, not even glancing his way before I walk towards my new target.

She seems to be in her twenties. Her long purple dress shows a part of her leg and her lacy mask is a bright purple as well. Her blonde hair is long and straight, reaching her waist. She looks bored but annoyed about something, and she can't help but reach each time for another drink.

I place myself beside her, turning to face the ballroom.

"I was expecting something way better," I sigh, catching her attention.

I raise my glass to my mouth, waiting.

"You're not here for business or this charity thing either, right?" the woman lets out a small chuckle, shaking her head.

I turn my face, giving her a bright smile.

"Obviously not. My father was a great one, though. Businessman, I mean," I add at the end, earning myself a curious look.

She looks at me from head to toe, glancing all the way back until her bright green eyes meet mine again. She smiles, giving me her hand to shake.

"Leïla Hudson," she says, and I fake my surprise when I hear her full name. "And you are?"

"Adele Williams," I smile before I nod towards Daniel Hudson. "So he is your father? I'm surprised."

Not really.

She raises an eyebrow. I add quickly, "I didn't know he has a daughter."

She lets out a scoff, nodding.

"I prefer it this way, sometimes," Leïla gives a small smile before she finishes in one sip her glass of champagne. The third one, I realize.

"You don't like the attention you receive?" I ask although it sounds more like a statement.

She blinks, turning to face me.

"You noticed?" Leïla says slowly, waving a hand around to show how women, but mainly men, stare at her.

I give a shrug, smiling sadly. "Who wouldn't?"

Most of the people here.

She crosses her arms, now not having any glasses in her hands and lets out a sigh.

"Ugh. Can he stop looking at me?" she mutters under her breath, turning her head to the side.

My heart skips a beat and I stare at her.

"Who?" I ask, and when she's about to open her mouth, someone appears on the big scene at the back of the room and talks in a microphone, now having the attention of everyone here.

Not giving a fuck whatever the speech is about, I face Leïla again, ready to ask my question again. But no need for that.

She stares directly at someone, and my eyes follow.

A man stands a bit in retreat from the crowd, looking at the woman beside me. His black suit fits his strong and definitely builded body and I narrow my eyes. The black mask hides his face and from where I am, I can't tell the color of his eyes. The man has dark hair combed back.

That's all I can tell from where I am, and that's all I can notice until the man's eyes fall on me.

I blink, waiting for my senses to tell me if I should run after him or wait. Something shifts in his composure. His eyes narrow slightly before he turns away from us, and only then I realize a woman is with him.

He whispers something in her ear and she nods. The woman turns to face us and meets my eyes.

That's enough.

I turn towards Leïla and smile.

"It was really great to meet you, Leïla," I say and before she can open her mouth, I add, "you should stand more for yourself in the future, alright? Do what you like."

I walk away before she can add something.

"Drake, I found them," I say, waiting to hear him through my earpiece.

A few seconds pass before he appears beside me instead and frowns.

"Where?"

I turn to where the man and the woman were, but my eyes meet the wall.

They're gone.

Looking frantically around, I see Daniel Hudson near the scene. I let out a sigh of relief.

"They were two, a woman and a man. Pretty much young. I don't know if there are more of them," I shake my head, glancing around me.

Andrew stays quiet a moment, staring at Daniel Hudson.

"Okay, here's what we do. You find them and I keep an eye on him," he says, watching as Mr. Hudson laughs with an older man.

I narrow my eyes slightly, tilting my head.

"Are you sure—"

Andrew glares at me. "Go. I'm sure you'll be fine on your own."

"Oh, I'm sure about me," I reply bitterly. "It's you that I don't trust."

He narrows his eyes at me and tightens his jaw.

"I don't trust you either but we're stuck together. Now go," he says, turning to head towards the man.

Don't fucking give me orders.

But I can't waste any more time. I turn around and make my way out of the ballroom, exploring the building.

Now, I sound pretty much like Dora but let's say my mission is way more important and dangerous. By exploring, I don't know what or who I can meet in my way.

In the reception hall, I stop and take a look around me. There are just a few people here and as I walk past a woman, I feel eyes staring at me, boring holes at the back of my head.

I whirl around. The mysterious guy in a black suit has his back towards me, walking away, but I can recognize him just by his broad shoulders.

I frown as I accelerate. That's weird, but I don't question myself.

I grit my teeth when I lose him a fraction of second. Fucking heels.

Then, I see a door closing just as I turn the corner. I slowly take out my gun, opening the door with my other hand.

It's large inside, a long corridor facing me. And it's dark.

I smirk. Oh, alright. Let's play, now.

Slowly, I start walking. The floor is covered by a large carpet, thank God. No need for my heels to betray me.

I take a look over my shoulder, then keep moving forward, listening for any noises. I aim my gun towards the stairs, wondering if I should go there without backup.

I don't even need to think twice about that.

Of course, I'm going. I need nobody.

I start making my way up the stairs. Still taking quick glances over my shoulder, on my right, on my left.

As I keep moving, the voice of Andrew almost startles me in my ear.

"Hudson's still in my view, the bidding is about to start soon."

Now I'm slightly reassured. Whoever is there tonight have some changes of plan. Either that or they just aren't planning to do anything yet. Or I scared them.

I'm still thinking about this when my eyes catch something on the floor. I narrow my eyes and bend down.

Cufflink.

I reach out with my hand to take it when my back suddenly stiffens.

Someone is right behind me and I know it.

Slowly, I reach for my hidden knife. I wait for a second or two before I react.

When I hear movements, I quickly whirl my body around and throw the knife towards the man in the black suit. He's quick to avoid it and the knife misses his shoulder by two centimeters.

I sigh. Fine.

The man is already right in front of me and I stand up, already throwing a few punches and kicks. With a strength that takes me by surprise, he grabs my arm and avoids all my jabs.

I already know that whoever he is, he's strong. And well trained.

The man takes my surprise for his advantage and throws me a few punches and kicks that I barely can't avoid.

He may be well trained, but I am too.

With a growl, I do a roundhouse kick and hit his jaw with my heel. Then I kick him in the stomach, and he falls backwards right on a glass table, the impact breaking it into million pieces.

I'm already walking towards him, raising my gun in his direction, but in less than a second, my gun flies away when he throws a knife at my hand, leaving a scratch on it.

What the fuck?

I didn't realize he was already up again, and this time I'm the one who hit the wall behind me when his punch in my stomach knocks me backward and for a moment, I can't breathe. Then, his fist meets my jaw.

His hand encircles my neck and I gasp for air.

"Wanna continue like this?" the man voices for the first time, his voice low, deep and angry.

My feet don't touch the floor underneath me anymore and I look up at the guy. It's too dark to see properly, and the lack of air in my lungs don't help.

"Why do you... wanna k—kill Daniel Hudson?" I try to say, glaring at the man.

I don't know why but his grip loosens a little bit. For a moment, I think he'll release me. Blinking, I try to see properly and can notice the troubled expression on his face. Just the slightest second, it's there.

Then his grip tightens again.

"You're not her," he murmurs quietly for himself, before banging my head against the wall behind me.

I let out a strangled sound, seeing black spots in my vision.

You could get out of his grip. You can, Sophia. What the fuck are you doing?

How did this happen?

Shaking my head, I finally react. I raise my feet and hit him blindly in the dark and when I hear him hiss, I use my elbow to finish the work. He finally lets go of my neck and I take a deep breath before I grip his arm angrily and twist it behind his back.

As I massage my neck with one hand, he turns around and throws his fist towards me. I avoid. Then he takes out his gun and aims.

I quickly jump and hide behind a huge pillar. He keeps shooting and I grumble under my breath. I didn't want to use my gun because it would probably catch the attention of some people, but oh well.

He wants to play like that? Then let's play, son of a bitch.

I find my gun laying not so far away on my right. Quickly, I roll over there and grab my gun, then shoot two times towards him. He avoids and hides behind a wall.

I grit my teeth.

"The gun makes too much sounds, don't you think?" I say as I wait for his next move.

The man shows himself for a second, aiming his gun at me and shoots. The bullet meets the wall behind me and I move away. He keeps shooting as I hide back behind the pillar.

And suddenly, it's silent.

I'm breathing heavily, my throat still hurt and I wince when I touch my neck. This son of a bitch probably left bruises.

It never took me so long to get rid of my enemy before. And it annoys me.

I need to kill him.

I wait a minute and indeed, there's no sound. No bullets, nothing.

I slowly walk away from the pillar, my gun raised towards his direction.

"Wrong move," someone whispers behind me and I turn around quickly, ready to shoot.

He grabs my arm which makes me shoot on the wall instead. His grip on my wrist tightens until I have no choice to drop the gun with a low grumble.

"Do I kill you now or I wait till my partner finishes what she has to do?" he continues, making me glare at him.

"Kill me," I reply with a punch.

"Fucking bitch," he growls back before we, again, start fighting.

I'm so done.

"Okay, listen. I really wanna – punch –go home now, so let me – kick, avoid, – just kill you and then I'll find your little friend – kick, punch, – from earlier and give her the choice. How about that?" I finish, just as he throws another punch at me.

Somehow, I can notice that this asshole smirks in the dark.

Glad he finds that funny. My enemies don't always find me entertaining. Certainly not when I break a couple of their bones, or when I shoot them in the head.

Suddenly, I'm very close to him. Now standing right next to a window, the soft light from the moon reflects on us, on this guy, and I can see him better.

My heart skips a beat as I meet his eyes.

Those eyes...

What the fuck?

No, no. Focus, Sophia.

Kill the man.

Now.

I take too long to react. He hits my head with his own and I let out a scream before he kicks me in the stomach. I fall and slide until my back hits the wall. Something heavy falls right on me.

Blinking, I wince and I try to sit up. I have cuts everywhere and my whole body aches.

I try to see where the guy is but he suddenly disappeared.

Andrew's voice makes me wince.

"Sophia? You're good on your side?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Good?" I let out exasperated, before trying to stand up again.

"What happened?" he asks, although he doesn't even sound concerned.

"Oh, nothing. Just got beat up by that guy," I shake my head as I slowly walk and take my gun from the floor. "What is this shit? Who is he? Nobody can win against me!"

There's a slight pause.

"Alright, I've never heard you swear that much in one night."

I roll my eyes and start running.

"I think he may have gone on the roof," I say as I look at another staircase. "I'm going."

"Wait, I'm coming—"

"I'm not waiting, I need to finish this," I cut him off. "They probably never planned to kill Hudson. This is all bullshit, they were there tonight for another reason."

Andrew says something else but I'm now not listening as I arrive on the roof, the wind making my hair swirls behind my shoulders. Two figures stand not so far away and I raise my gun.

"Stay where you are!" I yell and they both turn around, their guns pointed at me.

The woman finally joined the game. Great.

I slowly start walking towards them. Maybe I should wait for Andrew, after all. I'm alone against these two, and from what I've seen earlier, the man knows how to fight. I take a look at the woman. She must know her way, too.

As I keep walking, I hear the woman talking.

"What are you waiting for? Just kill her already," she rolls her eyes at her partner, before glancing back at me.

Then she smiles. "Or do you want me to do it?"

Now I'm the one who rolls my eyes.

Just fucking do it, woman. I dare you. But we don't have all the night.

The man starts walking towards me and I tighten my grip on the gun. Then, I pull the trigger.

But no bullet comes out from my gun.

I take a deep breath when I realize.

The man smirks.

See, you weren't focused enough tonight, Sophia. That's what happens when you don't focus.

"You shouldn't have followed," he narrows his eyes, giving my whole body a look. "Now I need to kill you."

"Then what are you waiting for?" I raise an eyebrow.

His eyes meet mine again.

And just like earlier, I lose my breath.

I don't like it at all, to find myself breathing faster, to have my heart beating faster, to find myself walking quickly towards the man so I can have a proper look at him. He doesn't stop me, doesn't move. He seems glued to the ground, his eyes hard, but his expression unsure, just like mine.

Blue eyes, just like ice.

That should have been enough of a clue.

"Take off your mask," I hear myself murmuring, my own trembling voice not fitting myself.

He lowers his gun the slightest when I'm in front of him but keeps staring at me with doubt.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps behind me and I already raise my hand.

"Do not shoot!" I warn him, keeping my eyes on the man in front of me.

Andrew's voice is filled with disbelief.

"What the hell? Why not?"

I swallow and take another step towards him, my eyes hard.

"Take off your damn mask!" I ask again, now screaming.

I'm about to lose my shit.

And then, slowly, the man in front of me drops his gun and takes off his black mask.

The strangled sound that comes out from my mouth scares me.

"No... no," I whisper, taking a step back as he stares at me with an expression I can't decipher.

Slowly, he gets closer to me and his fingers go behind my head, unlacing my own mask.

Maybe I hallucinate when I hear him whisper something that sounds like my name.

I can't help but whisper back,

"...Brandon."

*

Well, well, well.

The story can finally begin. 😏

This is my longest chapter, hope it was good enough! ♥️

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