The spy (16)

As I open the door, my jaw drops immediately. I mean, I knew I was in a better house than the cabin, but no one prepared me for the grandeur before me. The hallways are long and decorated with manly artistic stuff such as bow collections, weapons, and other collectibles I can never see myself picking up from a shelf. That is a clear indication that it is very unlikely that I will find another female in the vicinity.

Two turns and I’m already lost. I take the new phone with me and turn it on. There is no password required, not that that would have been a problem for me, and I scroll to the contacts where I find three numbers saved. One of them is the butler, and the other two are Boris and Ivan, which I assume are those guys’ names. Embarrassment washes over me, knowing I have never bothered to find out their real names. And I blush even more when I think of how they would react when they find out the nicknames.

“Hello?” a deep, slightly husky voice belonging to the butler interrupts my thoughts.

“Aha, yes,” I stammer, immediately unsure what to say, “I’m the new girl, um, around here, I guess…” Okay, that was stupid. I clear my throat, straighten, and start again. “They told me I could call you when I need something.”

“Oh, hmm,” that’s all he says, and I almost thought he hung up on me. I pull the phone out of my ear and check, but we are still connected. “So, what do you need?” his voice finally crackles through the speaker, his accent thick.

“I, um, I was kind of hungry, so I left the room to look for food.” I pause, scratching the tip of my nose in embarrassment. “Now I’m lost.”

“I see,” he responds and I hear some shuffling in the background. “Don’t move. I will come pick you up.”

The line goes dead before I have the chance to tell him where I am. Then it hits me. This house is under surveillance. All he had to do was check the cameras. That explains the earlier shuffling. Less than two minutes later, an elderly man approaches me and only nods at me to follow him. No words spoken. Maybe the phone call earlier had used up his daily quota.

He leads me to a spacious dining room where a jug of fresh juice waits for me. I take a seat, and he fills a glass for me and leaves to get me real food. While sipping the juice, I can’t help but imagine what it would be like to be taken on this table. It is at a comfortable height and is sturdy enough to withstand the rocking. I’ll consider that in the future. For now, I fill my tummy before I start making dumb decisions.

“Missus,” The butler calls as he returns with a tray of food. “Pick whatever you like.” He places it on the table next to me, then points at a blue button. “When you are done, press that I will come take you around.” He goes silent for a beat and then speaks again, very professionally, “The two young masters asked me to show you around in their absence. They will be back in the evening.”  With that, he pivots and leaves, his hands clasped behind his back. I don’t think he’s very thrilled about his new role as a tour guide. That, or he wants me out of his sight.

 Half an hour later, we embark on the house tour, and this is where I find out we are in a mansion big enough to highlight how deep their pockets are. The mansion is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a thick forest and ice. This must be one of their many secret locations that was never documented during any of my missions. There is no other sign of civilization within the vicinity, and that discovery gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m happy I’ll get to live a free life where I will not be easily discovered. On the other hand, this could easily turn into a prison if they go back on their word.

I push that thought back while I take in every detail of this place. With my skills, it doesn’t take long for me to master the turns. I politely thank the butler and return to my room…the room I slept in when I first arrived, not the one I woke up in. That, from what I gathered, is their shared room. I would rather have my own room, just like they each have their own room in addition to the shared one.

The two brothers have been close since childhood, and they have developed a peculiar shared interest since their teenage years. Those two liked sharing women, something their father highly frowns upon. Over the years, he has come to be a bit lenient on them as long as they perform their other duties well.

Although the brothers rarely bring a woman home, they bought this mansion together to keep their private life out of a watchful eye. From the butler’s confession, he was very surprised to find out they finally brought someone here. In most cases, they only have someone in a hotel, and they rarely do someone twice. That shared room is rarely used, and it has been almost a year since it had someone.

Does that make me special? Maybe. But I don’t dwell on that. Special or not, I’m alive because they let me. Ending an unconscious spy is not hard at all for a rookie, let alone highly skilled men. They gave me a chance to leave, but I chose to stay. Staying is my choice, so ruminating whether this is safe is pointless. I would have left if it wasn’t safe. I am still Wraith. I am good at escaping, and this place won’t really trap me if I want to go.

With that out of the way, I relax a little more. My fears dissolve into self-trust, and I make an important decision. I am going to stay, and for once I’m going to trust that everything will be fine. I am going to have fun and enjoy my stay as much as I can. If they wanted me gone, they wouldn’t have kept me alive that long, so there’s no need to stress myself with imaginary situations. But if things were to go south, I am capable of getting myself out of danger.

That said, the talk is still happening.