NINE (Ares POV)

We walk into Odessa's apartment almost one hour after we left Café dei Fiori while she growls tiredly behind me, it only takes 30 minutes by taxi under normal circumstances but I preferred to take a long detour on foot from Madison Park till we reached the parking lot entrance to the building, exactly how I'd do if I were her genuine bodyguard. Actually, I feel like I am... after all these past years working for the Company, I can't help to take blood oaths seriously and, even if I signed one while playing my part in a charade, the truth is that I still feel compelled to fulfil it: Odessa's safety is my responsibility. And I'm worried...

I went on high alert this morning in Central Park for some reason I don't understand. She's right: no one is threatening her and the Bowery King wasn't going to attack her, however... I sensed a real danger. At first, it was all right and the so-called drugs smuggler was an outstanding actress, if that meeting would've taken place at the Continental one week ago when Odessa was trying to catch my attention, I'd bought the story. But while I was hearing her talking I monitored the surroundings at the same time and identified several members of the Company, besides the Soup Kitchen beggars, and my skin crawled. My hand slipped inside my coat involuntarily and my fingers grazed the grip of my gun while taking a look around, worried suddenly. Two waiters of the hotel were there pretending to take pictures, obviously Winston wanted to know what Odessa was up to, some members of the Irish mob I know by sight were buying a hotdog and even a D'Antonio guy nodded at me discreetly and smiled at me from a nearby bench.

I'm pretty sure other members of the Company were there, even if I didn't recognize them, and I feel like one of those isn't pleased with my new boss... or maybe with me... but it doesn't make sense. The Russian mob has Odessa's back, few members of the underworld are as powerful as them and they won't risk a war with those tough guys, and in addition to that she did no wrong to anyone. She's a newcomer in this city and, although it seems that her business is successful, the truth is that it's all fake and she isn't affecting other people's finances, it's not like the girl with the purple hair is stealing clients or making them lose money. Concerning me, apart from that idiot the head of D'Antonio family in Rome sent to rule the mob in New York, no one has a reason to kill me: I don't have unfinished business, no one wants to take revenge on me for doing my job, everybody understands that I'm just the executor and my bosses are the real culprits.

But the unpleasant feeling persisted and, when it was pretty obvious that Val was going to get stuck in a traffic jam with the limousine, I took the first opportunity I got to shove her out of there and get her to safety, a place I knew well and where I could find some support in case of an attack. Café dei Fiori was the closest one with these characteristics and food was the perfect excuse I needed to drag her inside... Now Odessa is angry because she thinks I'm being excessively cautious without a good reason. It's hard to explain the bad feeling I have and don't sound like a crazy person.

"Hello, dad... you know what? Sometimes I get the impression people only visits my house so I can feed them... that was my dinner. Well, it doesn't matter since Lucky and I shared a splendid Italian menu and I'm not hungry but now I'm going to take a shower in order to get warm. My muscles are freezing after spending an hour running through the streets of New York..."

"Have there been any problems?" Nikolai Dashkov lets the meat skewer he was eating drop on his plate and stares at me worried. I shake my head while pouring a glass of water and take a seat in front of him at the kitchen table, the truth is that nothing went wrong, everything went according to plan apart from my upset stomach. The apartment door opens and closes with a loud noise and Val's steps echo through the corridor while I remove my gun from my hip and put it on the table near my glass.

"Traffic is insane in this city! An idiot who worked in a bakery left the oven on and he went out to smoke a cigarette, bread burnt and the smoke reached the street, an old woman freaked out and called the police and all of a sudden the 5th Ave was a chaos full of officers and firefighters. I needed one hour to get to the parking lot with the limousine and I spent almost another hour driving around with the safe car trying to check if I was being followed. Is that shashlik? Thank God! I'm starved..." The big guy flops down on a chair and steals one of the meat skewers that smell of lemon and onion from his boss' plate before biting a big chunk.

"Where are Jay and Sophia?" I ask getting relaxed on my chair and looking through the window. The Empire State Building looks amazing from here, I'm going to miss this city when I leave finally.

"They went back to their apartment, they had to study for a test or attend an important class or something like that..." Val answers after swallowing. "By the way, leaving a letter with a threat on the limousine windshield was a nice touch to give some realism to the story Odessa told your boss... although I don't know how and when she put it there. She must've been really fast because I didn't notice it... but maybe I was busy keeping an eye on the beggars in order to find out where they were hiding the tracking device because it just appeared out of nowhere after you walked into the park..."

"What are you talking about?" I ask confused and my muscles get tensed again when my brain processes what he's saying.

"The letter... the one Odessa left on the windshield..." Val lets his skewer drop and rummages in his pockets till he finds a piece of crumpled paper.

"She never came back to the vehicle, we got in the park and headed to Bethesda Fountain without stopping," I answer with a harsh tone of voice while snatching the paper from his hand, smoothing it out before reading. "Was this your idea?" I ask praying that he's the reason for this letter but Nikolai shakes his head and stares back at me worried. My skin crawls the same way it happened two hours ago when I read the piece of paper. "I'd say it's pretty clear what they're trying to tell her... whoever this is." I lift the letter so they both can read it easily.

"Get out of my city, whore."

"I feel so much better after the shower... What's wrong? Why the long faces?" My boss walks into the kitchen combing her beautiful purple hair that's still wet with her fingers and moves slowly till she's standing next to her father, leaning a hand on his shoulder while staring at us puzzled.

"Was this your idea?" I can't help raising my voice and my sudden question seems to catch her off guard.

"What are you talking about?" Odessa reads the threat with squinty eyes and raises her hands, looking at us even more confused. "What's that? Where does it come from? What's happening here?"

"It comes from the windshield of your limousine but I don't know who put it there... maybe it was Jay or Sophia's idea... or one of their classmates could have walked by the street..." Val smiles at me, thinking that he's found the solution to this mystery.

"Call them..." Nikolai's deep voice echoes through the kitchen and his daughter takes her phone from the sweatpants pocket instinctively since it's impossible to ignore the command voice of a Dashkov.

"But, why...?"

"Do it! I have a bad feeling..." I raise my voice again and Odessa obeys finally, dialing the girls' number and leaving the phone on speaker on the kitchen table. The food is getting cold but nobody seems to care.

"Jay's Pizza, may I take your order?"

"This isn't the right time for jokes, my friend... Listen, have you put a threatening note on the limousine this morning? Or maybe Sophia did... Like a prop to give more realism to the story..."

"What are you talking about?" The Asian girl cuts her speech off abruptly. "We stayed in the apartment all the time, watching the screens..."

"Move away from the windows!" I order out loud, jumping from my chair and taking the gun from the table.

"What...?"

"Obey me!" I grab her arm and pull till we both are standing in the middle of the living room. "Are they bulletproof?" I point at the glass with the barrel of my gun and Nikolai nods while he jumps from his chair too in order to draw the grey curtains.

"Of course, our safe houses have the most advanced security systems always..."

"And thermal sensors-proof?" We don't have time for further explanations right now, I just want to know if Odessa is safe in this building.

"Those curtains are," Dashkov answers looking at me into my eyes and I nod because I've understood his message: he's the kind of man who leaves nothing to chance and his daughter is the most precious treasure he possesses, this house is a bunker and the dream of a bodyguard. Nothing bad can happen to Odessa here, not even if they plant a bomb at the door... and I'm pretty sure it's a reinforced door even though it doesn't look like it. "Who in the world would be threatening my daughter? This is ridiculous... she has no enemies. Maybe someone heard her talking about the threats at the Continental and this is just some kind of sick joke..."

"Or someone really believes that she's doing multi-million-dollar businesses and it's a problem for their finances..." Val suggests while drawing the curtains on the other side of the living room. "If that's the case they'll realize soon that they aren't losing money actually and they'll stop harassing her..."

"Whatever... I don't like it..." I answer while my fingers grab my gun harder. "You're not leaving my side for any reason from now on, not for a second."

"I appreciate that you're taking care of my child..." Her father's voice echoes through the room before Odessa can open her mouth to speak.

"That's my job," I answer firmly. "And I'm very good at it." Nikolai nods and seems relieved knowing that I'm taking seriously these threats and I'm one of the most qualified bodyguards he could hire. "We're going ahead with our plans but we need to be more cautious from now on..."

"I'll ask the members of the Russian mob that know I'm alive and the only ones I keep in contact with sometimes if they have heard something, maybe they're trying to hurt our people through my daughter."

"All right. Val, you have to check very carefully every car before Odessa gets into it... and her bike too." The big guy gives me a thumb up while I drag his confused boss towards her bedroom. "Stay there," I order before drawing the curtains too.

"Am I going to live in the dark? Come on, Lucky, this is ridiculous. I pretty sure the letter means nothing..."

"I took a blood oath..." I answer firmly while holding my gun.

*****

"Honestly, I think you're overreacting..." I turn around shocked and look at her through the glass. I told her to stay in her bedroom but it's pretty obvious this girl is used to be the one giving orders but never obeying them. Although strictly speaking, the bathroom is part of her bedroom... "I'm not going to be a prisoner in my own apartment..." Odessa crosses her arms over her chest, staring at me frowning trying to look intimidating, while tapping on the floor with her toe furiously. I have to hide a smile so she doesn't get even more furious than before despite her face is really funny.

"I'm doing the job you paid me to do..." I answer vehemently grabbing the bottle of shampoo. Hot water runs down my skin while I wash my hair but she doesn't seem to care that I'm showering and she's talking to me through the screen. I think she hasn't realized yet that I'm naked in front of her... she's really angry.

"No, I actually bought the emerald necklace and you handed me the gold coins back when we left the Continental... I never paid you to be my bodyguard and you can't give me orders." I shrug slightly before taking the shower gel, I know Nikolai supports me in this and she obeys her dad, even if she argues at every step, so she doesn't have any opportunity to get rid of me.

"I took a blood oath," I answer again: she's grown in the Company and knows what that means. Odessa heaves a sigh staring at the floor before nodding annoyed, she's going to stay in her apartment and do as I tell her, there's no doubt, even if this situation is a nuisance for her. Maybe I should do something to cheer her up... I smile mischievously and turn around again. "Can you scrub my back?" I ask looking at her over my shoulder. My question seems to take her back to reality and opens her eyes wide staring at me from head to toe before licking her lips.

"I'm dressed, I'll get soaked and..."

"Take your clothes off and come here," I answer with the same firm tone of voice I use when I want her to obey me without arguments. I close my eyes and raise my head, letting the water run down my body and wait... Odessa leans her hands on my shoulders barely two minutes later and starts massaging my skin, slipping down my spine till grazing my upper buttock area with her fingers. I grab her wrists before she can move her hands again and put them in front of me, with her arms around my waist, her soft breasts lean on my back and her chin on my shoulder. "We'll find out what's happening, okay? You and me... and then we'll fix it..."

"Fix it Russian style or Italian style?" she asks laughing amused and her breath on the wet skin of my ear sends a shiver down my spine.

"Both methods are very similar although Italians have a reputation for getting rid of the evidence in a bathtub filled with acid later..." I turn around and wink at her before hugging her tight and kiss her, shoving my tongue inside her mouth. Odessa's body holds onto me, forcing me to step back and leaning my back on the tiled wall to keep balance. Dozens of erotic images flood my mind while I consider all the options this shower offers us and hesitate among them but, before I can choose one, Odessa buries her fingers inside my pussy deeply tearing a moan from my throat when they start to move slowly, in and out, rubbing my hot and wet flesh. My uterus clenches around them and the Russian girl smiles smugly against my lips.

"Where's my bossy bodyguard now?" she asks mockingly.

"She's still here..." I whisper before gasping when I feel her fingers reaching deeper inside me. "On your knees..."

Odessa obeys me despite my faint voice and squats between my legs before her mouth sticks to my core immediately. Water runs down our bodies while she slides her flat tongue over my clit, then she makes it swirling and flicks the sensitive node with the tip driving me crazy. Her fingers remain motionless inside me when she licks and sucks greedily like they're enjoying every clench. I tilt my head back and shove my hips against her mouth, spreading my legs further, offering her my own pussy to feast on. Odessa's fingers start pumping, slowly at first, following the pace of her tongue before turning almost aggressive: my body gets tensed and my pelvis starts grinding against her face involuntarily while I tangle my fingers in her wet hair to keep her in that place. Tension grows till I can't bear it anymore and, less than one minute later, an orgasm runs through my veins and my cry echoes against the bathroom walls.

"Have you ever got laid with your boss?" I blink shocked when hearing her bold question and look down. The Russian girl is still between my legs, my hand is tangled in her hair and her fingers are still inside me: she removes them deliberately slowly and licks them while waiting for my answer. I shake my head staring at her entranced.

"My bosses are usually unscrupulous guys ruling their mobs sitting behind a desk, smoking cigars and drinking too much... Eww..." I scrunch my nose and grab her hand to help her getting up. "You're the most beautiful boss I've ever had by far..." I whisper before kissing her gently.

"If everything goes as planned, I'll be the last one." I nod leaning my forehead on hers, she's right but I need her help to get out of the Company and she must stay alive in order to do that.