After a relaxing journey, the pilot announces we’ll be landing soon, so I get up and open the right drawer of the cabinet opposite the bed. I pull out the sleek black case and open it using fingerprint ID. Nestled safely inside is my old reliable Wilson Combat EDC X9. I love this gun. My father still maintains his gun of choice is far better, but whatever. This is the gun for me. 9mm calibre, 7.6” length with a 4” barrel and a beautifully ornate G10 starburst grip and beavertail that houses the grip safety. Weighing at 2.38lb with a 15+1 capacity, it’s definitely my gun of choice.
I take out my beauty and start loading it. Once ready to go. I strap my gun holster to my thigh and strap in my gun. I grab Crimson who is now clean as a whistle and strap her on the other side of the holster, then adjust my skirt. I place the burner phones in my black handbag, and I am ready for action.
“That’s what you’re wearing?” Marcel asks with a concerned frown.
“Yes. What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I ask curiously as I look myself over.
“Nothing, it’s just so pretty and you’re probably going to ruin it with blood stains,” he says disappointedly making me shake my head and laugh.
“They’re just clothes, Marcel, I can buy new ones,” I say with amusement. Another reason why I love this man. I’m off to go kill people and he’s worried about stains on my clothes. How priceless is that?
It’s 10 pm when we land, and as soon as I’m off the jet I order myself a cab and have it take me to a dilapidated warehouse, in Cologne. I enter the filthy wide-open space and the first smell that hits my nose is wet earth. I already scouted this place a week ago. The windows are twenty-three feet off the ground and the only high access point was the fire escape which just so happened to have a terrible collapse a week ago. Whoopsie. All other exits of the building I welded shut while I was here, so the only way in or out is through the front door. If these men show up alone as instructed then all my precautions will have been unnecessary, which I don’t mind. I’d much rather be prepared than caught by surprise. That’s how I got the scar on my left calf.
While waiting, I remove my gun from its holster and tuck it into the back of my skirt and take the safety off. I wait patiently facing the door when fifteen minutes later I hear a car pull up outside and see its headlights shining through the high windows of this dark and dank building. I listen to the sound of a car door closing and then the sound of another car pulling up. The silence is filled with anticipation as another car door closes, and I hear voices filter in from outside as they converse in German, which I happen to understand just fine.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Says a man’s deep voice in confusion.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” says the voice of another man who sounds like he smokes two packs a day. I smirk to myself and then quickly compose my face into its usual icy mask. Show time.
Both men walk in looking at each other in suspicion. They glance around the open space until their eyes land on me and shock and confusion flitter across their faces. Elmar and Jannik Schröder: smugglers who specialise in drugs and electronics. Elmar is forty-two with dark brown skin, dark brown eyes and black hair that is long at the top of his head coming down to his eyes and then the rest of his head is shaved. He’s 6’3” and scrawny as hell, but he hides his lack of physique in loose-fitted navy blue jeans, golden brown Brogues, a tan-brown suede button-down t-shirt and a dark brown bomber jacket. He dresses pretty casual for a smuggler.
Jannik, on the other hand, is forty-four with greasy dark blonde hair that reaches below his ears. Does he ever wash his hair? It sure doesn’t look like it. He has dark blue eyes, a thick blonde moustache, is 6’1” and he likes to dress semi-casual. He’s wearing a deep plumb pinstripe long-sleeve button down, light blue skinny jeans and black sneakers. He has the first couple buttons undone to show off his silver chain necklace, which isn’t at all impressive.
“Gentleman. Glad you could make it,” I greet them impassively in German.
“What the fuck is this? The whole point of me hiring you was so I wouldn’t have to be involved,” says Jannik in irritation causing Elmar to look at him wide-eyed.
“I’ll admit having you both reach out to me for contracts wasn’t shocking. Having you both reach out for contracts on each other, however… well, now that was an amusing surprise,” I inform them with no hint of amusement in my voice. But believe me, I’m laughing on the inside. Marcel is going to love this. Elmar and Jannik turn to each other in absolute shock and fury and immediately reach for their guns, but I’m a step ahead. I pull out my gun from behind me and point it at them. “Hands where I can see them, or you both get a bullet in the head,” I threaten them calmly. They each hesitate and hold up their hands in surrender.
“You put a hit on me? You fucking filthy traitor,” spits Jannik.
“Me?! You put a hit on me too you fucking low life!” Yells Elmar.
“You were shit at this business; you would have ruined us. I had to do it. But why the fuck did you put a hit out on me?” Questions Jannik. Really? He’s arguing whose hit is more valid?
“You screwed my fiancée!” Shouts Elmar. I’m so glad I have perfected my cold exterior because I so badly want to erupt into a fit of laughter. These two are pathetic.
“I did you a favour. She wasn’t any good for you, and she was lousy in bed,” Jannik excuses.
“Favour? My own cousin screwing the woman I love is not doing me a favour you jackass!” Elmar says fuming.
“As entertaining as this is, gentleman, I do have a flight to catch. So if you would both be kind enough to hand over your guns I would appreciate that,” I instruct them apathetically. They hesitate, so I glare at each of them which prompts them to remove the guns from their waistbands and put them on the ground. “Good. Now take five steps back.” Not taking their eyes off each other they both take five steps backwards. I walk over and tuck my gun back into my skirt and pick up their guns. Taking one gun in each hand, I stand between them and with quick speed raise the guns and shoot each of them in their left lung. They both fall back, bleeding from their respective wounds as they struggle to breathe as blood slowly fills their lungs. I step back so I have a clear view of them both. “Now you understand why I made sure you both paid me in advance. Consider both contracts completed.”
“Fu… cking b… itch,” Jannik stutters as he spits up blood. I watch them struggle and even try to crawl away with little success, then wait patiently as the light leaves their eyes, death finally taking them as they drown in their own blood. I was hardly going to pick one contract over the other, it made more sense to just accept both. Plus it will make for one hell of a story at the dinner table.
Grabbing a cloth from my handbag I clean my prints off Elmar’s gun and walk over and place the gun in his hand firmly placing his prints on his gun. I then repeat the process with Jannik’s gun. I check both their pockets and remove the burner phones I gave them and place them in my handbag. I secure my gun back into its thigh holster with the safety on and call for a cab to take me back to my jet. While I stand outside the warehouse I pat myself on the back for another job well done. Now I can finally go home and see my family.
The drive home from the airstrip is peaceful. Just me and the low music coming from the car’s speakers to keep me company. As I’m driving I’m taking in the Moldovan landscape as it brings a sense of calm to my body. It’s so good to be home. I haven’t been home in four months. I have properties all over the world and if I’m not staying in a location where I happen to have property then I stay at a hotel, but when I come back here I always stay with my parents. One could say I never technically moved out, but I’m travelling most of the year so when I’m back home, naturally I want to be with my family. I’m driving down the familiar winding road through the lush green forests, where the occasional vibrant wildflower pokes its head out and I know I’m nearly home. My parent’s house is located a short distance from Saharna Monastery, and we have a private airstrip a thirty-minute drive away, which I really appreciate, otherwise it would be an almost two-hour drive to get home from Chișinău
“Where is my little Blackheart?!” Comes my grandfather’s deep but silky voice, and my face breaks out into a huge grin as he enters the room. “Grandpa!” I shout and leap at him. He catches me in his strong arms and holds me to him as he chuckles, “Did you get more tattoos? There won’t be any unmarked skin left soon,” he teases. “Very funny,” I say, kissing his cheek. Gosh, I haven’t seen Grandpa Titus in months. I’ve missed him like crazy. I’m telling you my family doesn’t age. Grandpa Titus is the definition of a silver fox. He’s 6’3” and at the age of seventy-nine is still as buff and muscular as my dad. He has some crow’s feet around his blueish-grey eyes and some wrinkling on his forehead, but besides that, his skin doesn’t show much sign of aging, except maybe his hands. He has shoulder-length wavey salt-and-pepper hair and a short salt-and-pepper beard with a moustache. His long-pointed nose is slightly crooked due to breaking it so many times, but it just makes him look tou
My peaceful sleep is disrupted by a sharp sting across my backside and the sound of skin meeting skin. What the fuck? “Up you get,” comes my dad’s voice. Is he freaking kidding me? I’m on holiday. Since I’m lying face down I ignore him and pull my pillow over my head and attempt to go back to sleep. “It’s time to get up and train, let’s go,” he commands. “Fuck off,” I mumble tiredly. I just want to go back to sleep. “What did you just say to me?” My dad asks in a menacing tone, but I don’t even flinch. I just shift my hand to rest on top of the pillow on top of my head and give him the finger. “ALINA ISTRATI GET THE FUCK OUT OF THAT BED RIGHT NOW!” My dad yells in a deadly voice. If we had neighbours that would have woken them up. I still continue to ignore him hoping he’ll go away, but no such luck. Suddenly I feel air and the wind is knocked out of me a little when my body connects with something solid. I open my eyes and they lock with my dad’s back. He has me slung over his s
Walking back into my room I give myself a quick stretch, trying to loosen up all the muscles I worked out fighting with my dad. Just looking at me this is not what you’d expect my room to look like. I won’t lie, opulent is a good word to describe my bedroom. It’s massive. A wall sections off a third of the room and the floor is mostly tan wood, but under the bed is a gorgeous champagne-coloured carpet. A king-size bed against the sectioning wall with sheets of gold and beige facing two full-length windows. Brown nightstands flank the bed adorned with touch lamps and a large white storage ottoman sits at the foot of the bed. I have all the basics one would need. Chest of drawers, a sofa, coffee table, mirror, and 52” plasma TV. In the corner by the door I even have a small office area. A stunning desk and chair face the centre of the room, but the part of the room that truly screams opulence is the stunning crystal blue and gold chandelier. On the left side of the sectioning wall is m
Pulling up to Il Segreto, I pull down my visor and check my makeup. When it comes to meetings I always dress to impress. Impress myself that is. It would be stupid to show up at one of the best restaurants in the city in attire that screams ‘I’m here to kill someone’, so dressing for the occasion is important. Tonight I’ve gone for the vamp look. Plum smokey eye with defined wings and deep plum lipstick. It compliments my pale skin and makes my green eyes pop. My hair is neatly back in a chignon, and I’ve dressed in a red full-sleeve mermaid evening gown with an open back. The dress is skin-tight, and I love how the fabric just flows out like water from the knees. Aside from my back, I’m completely covered. Sometimes having all the tattoos tucked away makes more of a statement than having them on display. I grab my black clutch purse and step out of the car being mindful to not get my black suede pointy-toe stilettos caught in my dress. I hand the keys to my black Jaguar XJ to the va
I make my way to the back of the restaurant and up a staircase that leads to a private dining room that resides on the top floor of the restaurant. Stepping inside the room is rather dark, almost intimate. An entirely black room with small white and gold marble tables mirroring each other on either side of the room, with each holding a large black vase filled with birds of paradise and orange orchids that give a pop of colour to this dark room. The lighting is very minimal and strategically placed. It’s placed in a manner so that it’s easy to see all the features of my guest who will sit opposite me, whereas my features will be somewhat obscured by shadow. I’m not trying to be invisible, but it does intimidate people and make it a little harder to remember someone’s features when they aren’t on full display. Sitting in the middle of the room is a single round table with a black cloth over it with gold trimming. The table is set for two and my guest is already seated waiting for me wit
I’m awoken by the irritating sound of my alarm. I reach over hitting the snooze button with more force than is necessary as if I’m taking out a vendetta on the alarm. Which in a way, I am. I hate alarms. They are unnatural. We should wake up when our body is ready to and no sooner, but I have work to do. Forcing myself to sit up I give myself a good stretch waking my muscles up.My New York apartment is pretty basic, far more on the simplistic side compared to my home in Moldova. My bedroom just consists of an emerald satin king-size bed, navy blue walls, one black nightstand, a floor-to-ceiling window hidden by a forest green curtain and a simple black double-door wardrobe.Getting up I step out and walk past the laundry and straight into my bathroom. I take off my nightshirt and slip into the shower turning the water to warm. Today I start looking into everything I need and don’t need to know about Alec Lowell and even Peyton Grigoras. It’s going to be tedious but necessary, so I ne
Yesterday’s research was useless and maddening. Sure, everything was detailed but nothing interesting stood out and when dealing with two criminals, trust me when I say, there are always some interesting secrets or skeletons to be found. But these guys had none, which I find suspicious. So today I’ve decided to go right to the source. I’m sitting in my car outside Lowell’s apartment building waiting for him to come out. I just need him to leave for a few minutes so I can go in and have a look around. I’m sitting in my car for two boring hours when thankfully I see him step out of the building. I was worried I’d have to sit here for a day or two waiting. Even from across the street and through tinted windows this man looks delicious. He’s 6’3” - so he’d tower over me - he’s wearing a grey sweatshirt with a hoodie; navy blue jeans and sneakers and his eyes are glued to his phone. Nothing about him screams criminal and something about his posture seems… anxious? Even though he’s covered