NINETEEN (Odessa POV)

"It's not fair..." I growl quietly from the backseat of the car while Ares holds back her laugh next to me.

"What's not fair?" Val asks puzzled and looks back at me through the rearview mirror for a second before focusing on the traffic of Paris avenues again.

"Do you know how much this suit has cost me? It was custom made in Milan!" I point at my double-breasted grey jacket furiously, it matches my plaid pants and I picked out a lavender silk shirt with a pussy bow on the neck and my beautiful purple ombre stilettos, my friend has done my hair in a sophisticated updo and applied a natural makeup, I also took my wonderful amethyst and diamond chandelier earrings et voilà... I could compete on elegance with any Parisian... but I can't beat a Neapolitan girl, apparently. "Why does she look better than I do?" I point at the assassin angrily but my friend chooses wisely and doesn't answer while I cross my arms over my chest.

"I'm sorry." Ares whispers; she's decided to break her vow of silence to apologize but is trying to hide her laugh at the same time. Her delicate dark blue wool pantsuit with a silk shirt in a lighter shade of blue and matching tie looks flawless, no wrinkles despite the guns, knives, spare magazines and God knows what else she's carrying under her clothes, her shoes are so clean and shiny that I could see my face reflected on them, a good watch and a pair of silver cuff links are the only jewels she's wearing... apart from her stunning eyes. She looks like a model out of a fashion show.

"How do you do this?" I ask exasperated and she shrugs.

"I was born with it... I'm Italian... and you're perfect the way you are, Odessa Nikoláyevna Vorontsova-Dashkova." I roll my eyes hard but can't help smiling, delighted with her praise. She entwines her fingers with mines on the leather seat and I relax finally, I'm not used to the European time zone yet after two days here and the jet lag has put me in a bad mood, I guess.

The so-called hôtel Drouot is a massive building located in a corner of the street that shares its name and it's the most famous auction house in Paris since the 19th century, some of the most expensive works of art in the world have been sold in one of the 15 rooms like the jade seal of Japanese emperor Qianlong that reached the amount of EUR 21 million. Paintings by the most famous artists, jewels from royals, furniture that came from aristocratic palaces... everything is sold by Drouot. There's a whole ritual about how to bid, a specific argot that only people who belong to this world understand, and I've been studying nonstop for the last two days to avoid messing things: fortunately, a small auction of bottles of wine it's not that difficult, it's not like I'm trying to buy a Monet.

"I don't think I'll be able to find a parking spot close so I'll be driving around till you finish, send me a text and I'll come to pick you up..." Ares nods and opens the door, checking the sidewalk and closer buildings carefully before gesturing at me to tell me I can get off the car too.

Everything looks calm on the street and also inside the building, the receptionist shows us where the room is but we don't bump into a lot of people through the labyrinth of corridors and lifts despite almost 100 employees work here. It seems to me that this is the only auction today... The room is painted in a flashy red colour, there're several paintings framed in gold hanging from the walls, mirrors and well-lit tapestries, old bronze clocks, chairs piled up in a corner, side tables and chests of drawers are lined up along the walls... it'll all be auctioned tomorrow, probably. Bottles of wine and liquor are displayed on tables close to the platform of the auctioneer and attendants can take a look at the labels while we wait. There aren't many guests here today, around 40 people maybe employees included, but my bodyguard monitors their movements closely even if he knows their names and professions: this isn't a public auction and an invitation is required to access the room so my father was in charge of investigating who was going to come before handing the information to Lucky.

"Welcome, Miss Dashkova, I'm Mr. Lange and I'll be your auctioneer today..." A middle-aged man, with white hair and a kind smile shakes my hand firmly before walking us to our seats in the middle of the room. "I wish you luck and I hope you get what you've come to buy..."

"Merci..." I answer and remain still looking at the chair with my name on a piece of paper suspiciously while Mr. Lange greets different guests. The truth is that I wasn't expecting this judging by the chic atmosphere around us and Drouot's reputation but I guess it's the most practical thing since these rooms must adjust to all kinds of events and furniture must be movable in case someone wants to auction a piano... But these black plastic chairs look shabby and uncomfortable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, take a seat, please. We're about to start..." I flop down on my chair while Ares does the same next to me and takes the small brochure, skimming through it till finding the box of red wine Château Margaux from 1985. "Our first item is a bottle of Pétrus de Pomerol from 2004..." I stop listening to the auctioneer, I feel like air is unable to fill my lungs but this isn't the right time to pass out, I grab my designer bag hard on my lap to hide the fact that my hands are shaking and bite my lower lip trying to hold back my tears. I shouldn't get hysterical, I must remember my training instead and breathe slowly till panic vanishes and my mind gets clear to think.

"Ares..." I whisper trying not to draw unwelcome attention while Mr. Lange keeps talking about the excellent Burgundy wine. "Lucky..." my bodyguard stares at me out of the corner of her eye and frowns when hearing her pet name, confused, before leaning towards me slightly. "I've heard a click... under the chair... when I sat down..." My bodyguard holds her breath for a second but she manages to react faster than I did, looking around while holding my hand tight to calm me down. Guests have started bidding and everybody is focusing on what's happening on the platform, we're the only ones sat on our row and there's no one behind us either, fortunately. "What are we going to do? I don't dare to move..."

The assassin lets my hand go and opens my bag while I keep looking straight ahead obstinately, an elegant lady wearing a Burberry's trench coat has got the bottle but the employees bring a new one immediately and the auction goes on, atmosphere is more lively now and people talk in excited whispers ignoring us. I feel Ares' hands rummaging in my bag till she finds a round and silver coloured object, a small mirror that was in a side pocket along with my lipstick, she holds it in her hand and leans to one side discreetly in order to take a look to whatever the hell is under my chair... She keeps her face straight but I notice out of the corner of my eye that she's holding her breath and biting her lower lip worried.

"Is it that bad?" I whisper scared but she doesn't answer, she seems to be thinking about what to do next and makes a decision in a few seconds, her fingers move nimbly over her phone keypad and she shows me the screen less than one minute later.

Odessa is sat on a sticky bomb activated by pressure, she can't move from her chair. You have to make the fire alarm go off so everybody runs out of the building and then wait for us with the car ready on a side street. Call Nikolai.

I hold my breath, terrified, while people keep bidding around me and the auctioneer gets more and more excited, he'll start with the expensive bottles in a few minutes and I'm supposed to buy the damned Armagnac but I don't think I'll be able to speak without screaming in panic. I want to get out of here and hug my dad... Ares entwines her fingers with mines and squeezes them gently while typing with her free hand before showing me the screen again, I look down but don't dare to move my head.

Val: I'm working on it and calling the boss. What's the plan?

Ares: I'll defuse the bomb, I've seen a couple like this before but I need some minutes of calm without people staring at me.

Val: Firefighters will arrive in 5-8 minutes, that's all you have...

Ares: It's enough time.

My bodyguard looks pretty confident and I wish I could say the same but right now my biggest concern is the bead of sweat running down my temple: my skin is itching but I don't dare to move to scratch my face. This was supposed to be a safe event, Drouot prides itself on their security system, one of the best of the world, since there're are important works of art in their storerooms, but none of us thought it was a bad idea to attend a private auction where chairs were pre-assigned... although if it weren't like that, they would've have blown up the entire room and dozens of people would be dead. I guess it's better if they run away as soon as possible leaving me behind facing the danger... with Ares... I don't want her to die with me, I want her to escape, leaving the Company and enjoying the quiet and happy life she wishes, lying on a beach of white sand in Philippines under palm trees... To be honest, I want to go to that beach too and drink a cocktail with Val and my friends Jay and Sophia. Fuck, I don't want to die... Dad will be devastated... and he'll start a merciless war in order to find the responsible, he'll take control of the Russian mob again despite it was very difficult to cut ties with them at first. If I die, everything will be a mess.

"Lucky..." The assassin keeps holding my hand and pretending that she's listening to the auctioneer on the stage. "If we get out of this room alive... when we get out of this room..." I rephrase because she's frowning furiously since I'm doubting her skills, well, it's not that I don't trust her but I'm very scared. "I want a date... you and me, dinner and candles... but a real one." My bodyguard stares at me confused and I repeat slowly. "I want it to be real, you and me... you know." The beautiful woman tilts her head to one side and her eyes shine of amusement for a second despite this is a horrible situation, her tattooed fingers move fast on her phone keypad again before showing me the screen.

Odessa, our relationship has long been real for me...

"Really? Well, okay..." I swallow hard, feeling anxious suddenly, that's not the answer I expected... I mean, I knew we were having fun together, we have chemistry and our feelings are stronger than a simple friendship but I didn't know that she... Fuck, she better gets me out of here alive because I really need to know what's going to happen between us from now on. "Would you go out with me, then? My treat..." My bodyguard nods firmly and raises her hand to touch my cheek at the very same moment the alarm goes off, people in the front row stare at each other in shock for a second while that annoying ring echoes against the walls, till they seem to understand what's happening and the room becomes a sudden chaos of chairs flying and people running.

No one notices that we stay behind, still. Well, I'm staying still but Ares has kneeled down next to me as fast as a cobra in order to take a quick look before lying on the floor, she snakes between my legs till her head vanishes and I lose sight of her beautiful eyes and plump lips. Luckily, I can still see her hands unbuttoning her jacket and she takes a knife from the sheath of her belt. I focus on her chest between my feet, the silk tie moves up and down following the steady pace of her breathing, I try to imitate those movements with my own lungs and focus on them to ignore the weird activity under my butt: small bangs on the plastic, scratches and a whispered curse I'm able to hear even if the alarm keeps ringing. Sweat runs down my forehead and neck, also between my breasts under the shirt, it tickles but I can't touch myself... One minute ticks by, then two... She has to hurry up, firefighters will be here soon...

Suddenly, Ares crawls under my chair till she manages to kneel down again, she puts her hand around my arm and looks right into my eyes with intensity before grazing my lips in a soft kiss and pull my body. I'm standing on my feet... and alive. I feel like crying but she doesn't allow me to do so, shoving me behind her own body before turning my chair upside down and taking the metal cylinder carefully, putting it in my bag before pointing at the corridor and running away. My legs shake when I think what I'm carrying and what would happen if this shit explodes while she assassin is focused on mixing with the people cluttering up the entrance lobby and leaving the building orderly, firefighters come running from the street through the main door while we walk down the sidewalk following the commands of a police officer. Suddenly, Ares puts her hand around my arm again and shoves me towards a side street. I land on the backseat of our car less than one minute later and Val turns the engine on to take us home.

"Are you crazy? What am I supposed to do with this? You're going to get us killed!" I point at my bag on the floor terrified, tears have started running down my cheeks but I haven't noticed it till now and Ares takes a white handkerchief from her pocket to clean my face.

"Doing with what? What are you talking about?" My friend asks while he stops at a red light, I can hear the firefighter siren behind me but we're far away now, there's heavy traffic but it's not rush hour in Paris so we'll arrive in 10 minutes.

"I'm carrying a fucking bomb in my bag!" I sob and Val stares at me in shock.

"We couldn't leave it behind," Lucky's calm tone of voice leaves us both speechless, she behaves as if the explosive in my bag can't create a crater in the middle of Haussmann Boulevard along with the fuel tank. "You fingerprints are all over the chair and my fingerprints on the cord, fuse and metallic tube... How much do you think it'd take for the police to knock on your door? Even if your father is Nikolai Dashkov and the Russian mob protects you, they'll ask questions we don't know how to answer. It'd be very difficult to get out of the country and our plan would be compromised... This way's better, nobody knows there was a bomb, Drouot security guards will think it was a false alarm, they'll check if anything got stolen and forget about this event. Don't worry, the bomb is safe now because I cut the cord; I'll go with your father to an area far away from the city to detonate it carefully or we can disassemble it and throw everything to the river."

"Are you sure?" Val's Russian accent gets thicker when he's scared.

"I'd never put Odessa's life at risk and, in addition to that, I took a blood oath..." My bodyguard answers angrily and my friend nods, accepting the reasons only a member of the underworld would understand, at least the second one. "Does the offer still stand?" I frown perplexed, wiping my tears away from my cheeks with her handkerchief while staring at my bag out of the corner of my eye like it's a snake ready to attack. "Our date..."

"Yes, of course... if you want..." I answer blushing.

"Of course I want." Lucky kisses my cheek gently while we drive into the building garage, my dad is waiting for us anxiously and he hugs me the moment I set foot on the concrete floor so tight I can hardly breathe.

"What the hell happened?"

"I bring you pieces... of the bomb..." The assassin explains when my dad looks at her puzzled and points at my bag. "I need you to tell me if you recognize something, you know, the style of the bomb-maker, if the fuse is something a certain mob uses, where this kind of explosive can be bought..."

"I understand, good idea... The truth is that Russian criminals prefer their guns and we don't deal with explosives frequently but I'll take a look later: we'll leave it here, in the car, for now." Ares shakes her head and takes my phone and wallet, handing them to me with natural movements, she's completely sure that the bomb is deactivated, obviously, before taking the bag and putting it inside a small box room and closing the door.

"We can't risk someone stealing your car and, despite the fuse doesn't work anymore, it's a bad idea to leave explosives near a fuel tank..." My dad nods and drags me to the elevator, Van and Ares follow us quietly.

"To be honest, I've sold a certain amount of explosives sometimes, but I've always felt more comfortable with guns and rifles. Dogs can't smell those... I can't believe what's happening... That asshole who threatened you was supposed to stay at New York... I'll call Boris and he'll tell me which one of his men has flown to Europe in the past few days. We're going to stop this right now!" My dad hugs me tight against his body and my muscles get relaxed finally while the assassin looks at us and nods. Nikolai Dashkov and Ares are losing their patience and that's bad news for our enemy, I almost feel sorry for him... well, no, not really.