Permission to start

Miranda Newman

I wake up in a good mood. Finally, I'm going to start part of my mission today.

I'm getting ready to take a shower when I hear my phone ringing. I pick up the darn thing from the nightstand next to my bed and furrow my brow when I see who it is. What does Stan want with me this early in the morning?

"Hey, Stan," I say.

"Good morning to you too, Newman," he responds sarcastically.

"A good morning certainly wouldn't start with me hearing your voice so early," I retort, rolling my eyes. "Goodness, you didn't even let me prepare for the shock."

"Very funny, Newman, but the matter is serious," he says. I immediately stop my teasing and wait for more. Stan sighs on the other end of the line. I bet he's pulling at what little hair he has left right now.

"I'm calling to warn you that there's a lot at stake with this mission, Miranda, a lot. Please be careful," he says.

In other words: Don't mess it up again.

I adopt a serious tone of voice. "I know, Stan, and I appreciate your trust in me once again. I promise that nothing will prevent me from completing this mission in the most perfect way possible."

Stan lets out a relieved sigh.

Although I tease him all the time, he knows what I'm capable of and that I can handle this. I was one of the youngest agents he ever had. I lack experience, I know, but I have plenty of talent. I was born for this, anyone can see it, even Stan.

"I wish you good luck, Newman. Try not to create too much trouble," and just as he was about to hang up, he added, "And for God's sake, have some mercy on poor Dominic and don't drive one of my best agents crazy. See you later, Miranda," and he hung up.

Drive Dominic crazy? Tempting proposition, but as the good girl that I am, I'll focus on completing this mission. For now.

I prepared myself to go and meet my new "home," while thinking about the direction my life has taken.

I always knew I would be an agent, always. Since I was a child, I would dress up as James Bond or the Charlie's Angels on Halloween and felt that one day I would become one of them. It wasn't easy, I admit, but as soon as I graduated from high school, I went after what I needed to become an agent... Besides meeting the physical requirements and passing the mental tests, they required a college degree, so I pursued my degree in physical education, since I needed an education that taught me how to use my body in the best way possible. My thinking couldn't have been more ironic. They knew very well how to make me use my body.

At the age of 23, I was hired by the agency, a prodigy, as they said. My résumé and my looks allowed me to be an agent, let's say... different. There's a reason they call me the pretender. I was a master at it.

I manipulate men. I deceive them. I seduce them. And if necessary, I kill them.

I quickly rose through the ranks at the agency, my fame spread, and the number of successful missions I completed only increased. It was a year of glory. I was a goddess.

Until that night. That damn night when I messed up everything. The Monroe case. The bastard managed to shake me by bringing up my family situation. I shouldn't care, but I hesitated for a second, and a second was all he needed to escape.

I shake my head, trying to control my thoughts and the tightness in my chest. This is not the time to lose composure, Miranda. I repeat to myself as I finish getting dressed.

Soon I'll be a married woman. That wasn't my original plan, but here I am, getting ready to meet my "fiancé."

I search for my bag around the house, and when I'm ready, I go downstairs and decide to wait for Dominic at the entrance of the building. He shouldn't take long.

While looking at my phone, I hear the sound of a car approaching, and I realize that I didn't even have to wait two minutes. Mr. Straight-laced is extremely punctual.

Dominic gets out of the car and comes over to greet me. I analyze him for the first time wearing remotely casual clothes.

At the agency, he only wore sports clothes during training and formal attire during working hours. I already knew the guy was hot, but holy shit, I'm seeing those flexed biceps as he walks over here. Someone fan me, seriously.

"Good morning, Miranda," he greets, still in a formal tone.

Yeah, he needs to play the part better. I stand up, getting inches away from his face. I slowly approach, observing his posture tense up, and delight in his shocked look when I give him a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Good morning, my love," I say, smiling, and Dominic remains frozen. I look deeply into his eyes. "That's how it's done, partner. If we're going to be a couple, then act like a couple," I say, giving him a wink as I head towards the car, leaving him standing in the lobby of my building.

Who's training whom now?

Seconds later, Dominic seems to recover, already resuming his position inside the car. He doesn't comment, and I decide to leave him be for now. We continue the journey in silence until we stop in front of a luxurious house.

I didn't expect the agency to invest so much, but in a way, it makes sense. Pavlov was part of the city's high society, so of course he would live in an upscale neighborhood, and consequently, so would we.

I was still staring at that enormous house in disbelief and didn't notice when my partner got out of the car. My first mistake, I can't afford to be so careless. I quickly got out of the car to catch up with Dominic, reaching him just as we approached the door. I was about to complain when I was surprised by Dominic lifting me off the ground and holding me in his arms.

"Wait, what..." I began to say.

"Stay calm and laugh as if you find this very funny," Dominic whispered softly in my ear, and just as I was about to protest, he added, "We have an audience."

I glanced sideways and saw a blonde woman observing us curiously. Yekaterina Pavlov.

Immediately, I put my arm around Dominic's neck and gave him a relaxed smile.

"I thought we could only do this on our honeymoon, partner," I teased, pretending not to be affected by the closeness.

"But this is our home, we might as well carry out the ritual here too, don't you think?" Dominic asked, and for the first time, he sounded... charming?

I was too bewildered by this relaxed version of Dominic that I didn't notice Yekaterina approaching.

"I was so excited to meet our mysterious new neighbors," she said, sounding enthusiastic. "Welcome, I'm Kate."

She introduced herself using what seemed to be her nickname. I don't blame her, Yekaterina was a very long and foreign name.

Kate extended her polite hand but then realized I was still in Dominic's arms. She smiled awkwardly and began to withdraw her hand. Dominic immediately let go of me, just in time for me to shake her hand in a greeting, surprising her with my quick response.

"The pleasure is all ours. I'm Miranda, and this is my fiancé, Dom," I explained, giving Dominic a half-hug, and he quickly proceeded to greet her.

Kate smiled radiantly, as if silently shouting in her mind, "They are so cute!"

"Are you getting married?" she asked calmly, showing no shame in admitting that she had been eavesdropping. I nodded. "You'll love living here, it's a very peaceful neighborhood. My fiancé and I plan to continue living here after our wedding. Oh, you have to meet him. Neal desperately needs a social life that goes beyond me, my uncle, and that damn restaurant."

Dominic let out a soft laugh at Kate's comment.

"We would love to meet him," was his simple reply.

"How about next week? It's my uncle's birthday, and we'll be hosting a dinner. He's one of those influential people in society and always invites a bunch of big shots to these events. I'm usually bored to death; it would be great to have you two there to save me," she suggested.

I looked at Dominic. This would be the perfect opportunity to get closer. Victor would be there, and we could see him interacting within his social circle. Dominic's gaze told me he was thinking the same thing.

"It would be a pleasure. We'll definitely be there. Thank you for the invitation, Kate," I replied sincerely, smiling. Kate smiled in response.

"Great, I'll come by one of these days to deliver the invitation with more details. It was a pleasure to meet you both," she said.

"The pleasure was all ours," I responded. And with a hug that neither Dominic nor I expected, Kate left, and we entered our house.

I looked at Dominic and smiled. It seemed like everything was going well for us. He simply nodded, the stoic agent seemed to be back.

Goodbye playful fiancé.