TWENTY- TWO (Odessa POV)

The sun lights up the living room and the Eiffel Tower looks splendid through the open window but nobody pays attention to the breathtaking views despite the fresh breeze carries the scent of the trees from the park. I decide to take the breakfast dirty dishes to the kitchen while mustering the courage to do what I have to do... I shouldn't have drunk my second coffee this morning, now I'm more nervous than before. Val smiles handing me his mug before turning his head to follow the conversation attentively and I take a deep breath, there's no point in putting it off any longer...

"Dad, I've done something..."

"Oh no... That was what you told me every time you got involved in a prank when you were a kid." My father turns around to look at Ares who's sat next to him. "It happened frequently, I'm afraid my daughter has been a magnet for trouble since she was a toddler."

I shrug and smile, it's not my fault if I was a restless child, besides I'm supposed to have got it from him so he wouldn't look that shocked, after all. They arrived home very late yesterday after leaving our spy who knows where, we had some light dinner and went to bed because it had been a long and busy day. Everybody got up early today and we've been planning Lucky's fake death, my dad showed us maps of the river and the blueprints of the boat he's rented, a very big one to be sure that we'll stay far away from the bomb, and the small crew has been paid handsomely. Val has our plane tickets to go back to NY next week where I'll sign Winston's book and will look pretty sad when informing the Italian mob that Ares has died in the line of duty, while Lucky and my dad will travel to Philippines on a private jet. Everything is ready.

"Listen, dad. Yesterday, I spent the entire evening trying to track down the phone number who hired those useless spies unsuccessfully, the bank transfer leads to a tax haven without connections with the Russian mob... Whoever he is, they guy knows how to cover his tracks, we won't be able to find out who he is unless we do something drastic. And I thought that, since we have a trap already set, why can't we take advantage of the scenography and kill two birds with one stone? A single boat in the middle of the Seine would be the perfect place to finish him discreetly... So I sent him a text pretending to be the spy telling him I had witnessed a conversation between the purple-haired girl and the bodyguard talking about a boat tour of the river..."

"You've done what?" My dad stares at me horrified while Ares leans back on her seat and raises her hands in a questioning gesture at Val.

"I knew nothing about this, I swear," my friend shakes his head. "She's done it alone."

"You've invited our enemy to join us on a boat where there'll be a bomb... Are you aware of how many things can go wrong?" My girl asks me slowly, looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Yes, I did it. This is the perfect opportunity, don't you realize?" I flop down on an armchair, sighing. "That person has followed me to Paris and if he doesn't give up and keeps determined to kill me even if I move to Philippines, I won't be able to travel safely again, I'll have to live hidden or walk around surrounded by an army of bodyguards every time I want to go shopping... And Ares will be unable to protect me because she's supposed to be dead, she'd risk her cover... I can't live like that, always looking back over my shoulder. We need to find out who he is and neutralize him now while Lucky still can shoot his head."

"And do you believe that becoming bait is the best option?" My dad frowns angrily although he hasn't yelled at me and that means he's thinking about it and I still have a chance to persuade him.

"Nikolai, I don't like it either but she's right, it's a good opportunity to get rid of our enemy and besides, you know Odessa is well-trained and she'll be able to withstand the pressure." I look at Ares in shock, I wasn't expecting her to support me in this and thought I'd need to fight them both. "Plus, the place will be under control since you've bribed the boat crew... Just tell them that, if someone else tries to bribe them too, they must warn you... He'll probably want to pay some money to be able to sneak in the boat and we'll know he's there, he won't be able to catch us off guard. I'll kill him with my knife, the bomb goes off, Odessa and Val will swim to one side and I'll do the same to the other one and if someone finds a corpse... they'll blame it on the bomb." My dad seems to think about it for a second while rubbing his forehead with his fingers before nodding.

"All right but I don't like the fact that you're growing up and making decisions on your own, everything was easier when I was able to send you to your room... We're going to check the plan again till you all know it by heart and could recite it in your dreams..." I relax on my seat and nod smiling, my father rolls his eyes and hands me a blueprint. "This is for you too..." he explains pointing at a little box.

"What's this?" Ares takes it in her hand and opens it, pulling the leaflet out and starts reading it attentively.

"A commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic recommended by my old doctor. According to him, the worst thing that can happen to you after swimming in the Seine is to catch gastroenteritis because of the bacteria in the water and this will fix it... Other than that, you must be careful with the rats on the banks, you don't want one of those biting you but they usually run away when they see humans coming..."

"Lovely," Ares snorts before taking one of the maps.

*****

"Gorgeous... the cathedral looked amazing from this angle." Val whispers while we sail down the river Seine leaving behind the city centre with its monuments, heading to the location my father picked out to activate the bomb detonator. We saw no reason why we shouldn't enjoy the sightseeing tour in the meantime and we had to pretend that we didn't suspect anything in front of the crew because they think this is a real trap set by one of our enemies. Although it's true that, judging by how nervous they look and the way they talk in whispers staring at us out of the corner of their eyes, we would've noticed that something weird was going on long time ago. This is the problem every time you hire people who aren't members of the Company, you can't expect them to be professionals.

"Shouldn't we go downstairs?" I ask pointing at one side of the boat... I'm starting to get pretty anxious too although I try to hide it. We've been sat on orange plastic chairs on the roof of the cabin to be able to enjoy the views despite it's a windy day but now we must go downstairs to the cabin with panoramic windows so it's harder for other people to see us from the banks while the crew sneaks out the boat and we deal with our enemy before the bomb goes off. Yes, he's here, hidden in the command bridge, the captain confirmed the news to my father by phone telling him he was a tall and blond guy but he didn't say his name. Ares showed me the text sent by Nikolai raising an eyebrow and smiling cockily since the description seems to confirm her suspicions but I don't want to believe it yet... it can't be him. He doesn't have any reason to hate me.

"Yes, come on..." Val nods after checking the time on his phone and my girl gets up from her chair while monitoring the banks of the river, my dad picked out the best location since I can only see a few tourists. She slides her hand under her jacket to be able to grab her gun and goes downstairs first, making sure the cabin is empty before letting me in. The three of us wait together on one side while the boat keeps sailing through the river slowly till it stops abruptly. My heart starts racing and beats awkwardly in my throat and this plan looks like a bad idea all of a sudden... I could lose Lucky, she could get hurt, she could get stuck to something under the water and drown... I'm starting to understand how important this tattooed and lethal goddess is to me.

"What are the reasons?" I whisper and Ares turns around to stare at me puzzled. "You said there're a lot of reasons why you love me..." The assassin opens her eyes wide for a second before smiling and winking at me, leaning closer to my ear and kissing my cheek.

"I'll tell you next week on the island while I hug your naked body... you'll only wear the emerald necklace..." Her lips graze my skin while she whispers quietly, sending a shiver down my spine. I grab her jacket in my fist, looking at her concerned.

"Be careful..."

Suddenly, a thick black smoke comes from the front of the boat and the crew screams in panic before jumping into the water after creating this diversion as planned, the few people walking along the river promenade scream too and rush to get closer to help them but they can't see us through the dirty windows, fortunately. We only have five minutes before mi father detonates the bomb under the command bridge but far away from the fuel tanks... Where's this guy?

"Odessa Nikoláyevna Vorontsova-Dashkova... I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you again..." I close my eyes and a single tear runs down my cheek, I still can't believe it even if I'm hearing him and have caught a glimpse of his face for a second... Why him? After all these years... A million of memories flood my mind: rainy afternoons playing trivia with other members of the mob, long hours at the shooting range, the first time I tried to sneak in my home drunk hiding from my dad... he helped me that night. Ares' gun getting cocked brings me back to reality...

"Markov... why?" I whisper staring at my childhood friend in disbelief. The blond guy is aiming his weapon at me while Val and Lucky have their guns aimed at his head and silence turns the atmosphere in the cabin into something dense, it's hard to breathe in here. I'm confused and hurt but now worried, Ares is the fastest at shooting and our enemy won't be able to hurt me despite he's looking at us with a haughty smile. Everybody in the underworld knows that she's the best and Markov will die because of his arrogance.

"This is your fault, you should've come back after your father's death... That business shark left you a fortune, you could be living on a Caribbean beach drinking cocktails far away from me. What the hell were you doing in NY? Pestering me is your new life goal? I haven't been able to get rid of you since you were an unbearable spoiled brat following me around... But you were the boss' daughter and everybody laughed at your stupid jokes... I have bad news for you: you've never been funny..."

"Look who's talking..." Val growls next to me holding his gun firmly. "I've never liked you, you always behaved like an arrogant son of a bitch."

"And you're a pathetic faggot who dreams to be like Odessa instead of dreaming of fucking her like a man with balls would do..." I open my mouth wide in shock staring horrified at my childhood friend, who's this man? How did he manage to act like a good person for so many years?

"Stop it! I want to know what's going on here..." I point at Markov furiously and he smirks mischievously, his eyes shoot poisonous darts at me when he starts speaking.

"You've never had the courage and ambition to become the head of the Russian mob, it was obvious since you were a kid, but I was ready... This is my destiny... I've been working nonstop for more than a decade following a well-studied long-term plan, clawing power little by little. Climbing up positions in our gang, doing business on my own increasing my personal fortune taking advantage of the contacts I established... I only need a couple of years to be able to stage a coup. I've been pretty discreet, you know. No one has been able to see the complete picture, the master plan that will help me to become a member of the High Table... No one with the exception of your mother. Rusalka was the only smart person in your family but you got your small brain for your father, unfortunately for you... I tried to seduce her when she started to get suspicious... She was a beautiful woman so I didn't care."

"My mom never..." I grumble through my gritted teeth.

"I know, she pushed me away calling me kid and swore that was going to tell everything to your father... I had no choice but to get rid of her..." My stomach turns painfully while I stare at my old friend in disbelief, I feel my world collapsing around me.

"It was an accident, my dad told me..." I whisper focusing on breathing and not passing out.

"I know, Nikolai entrusted me with the investigation, I was the one who checked the car and told him the brakes weren't cut... although they were. Can he get any more idiot? And you too, you could've lived longer and happily if you stayed in Europe, far away from me and NY... I would've killed you eventually given that I can't allow you to take my position now or in the future just because you're daddy's girl... but I could've done it fast and painless. Today, however..."

"Son of a bitch!" I yell before throwing myself at him but some mysterious force pushes me back again, chaos erupts around me when the windows shatter, Markov and Ares scream and the sound of gunfire almost makes me deaf, the whole structure of the boat shakes... But I don't care because I'm focused on my target, my mother's killer is going to die... I crawl on the linoleum floor not giving a damn about the pieces of glass cutting my hands and the boat leaning over, I clench by jaw getting closer to the blond guy who's kneeled down in front of me, his hand covers his ribs and some dark and viscous substance is soaking his shirt. Bu it doesn't matter... nothing else matters other than the knife in my hand. I raise my arm and stab him on his chest hard, again and again. Markov yells and collapses on the floor before I sit astride on his hips, sinking the knife on his flesh one more time... and again... and again...

"Odessa..." Blood is splashing everywhere but I can't see it, I can only see his face and his haughty smirk when he told me he had killed my mother... Asshole... "Odessa, stop it! It's over, babe, he's dead..." Ares cradles my face with her hands forcing me to look up, her stunning eyes seem worried... "Markov is dead, okay? But the boat is sinking and we need to leave, my love. Your father detonated the bomb when he was about shooting you... I put a bullet in his side despite the shock wave made me stumble, I was aiming at his head, actually, but you've killed him... Let's go, my love, it's over."

"Yes, okay..." I whisper staring baffled at the blood on my hands. Ares grabs the knife and passes it to Val who throws it through the window, the windows are open... I hear people screaming on the river banks.

"Odessa, we have to leave, the boat is sinking fast... Markov's corpse will float away through those windows and he'll get lost in the river, luckily, or will end up in the sea. It does matter anyway, if they find him, you father has enough contacts to make the autopsy report disappear. Baby, please, go with Val... We need to go ahead with the plan... Odessa..."

"Yes..." I whisper getting up like I'm in a trance.

"We can't go on with this, she's in shock, I can't leave her like that and go to Philippines..." My girl's concerned voice while she talks to my friend snaps me back to reality. I shake my head trying to focus on, I'm a Dashkov, damn it... I can't afford having feelings clouding my mind in the middle of an ongoing operation, my father would move on and cry later, alone, after achieving his goal... That's the way my family works. I take a deep breath and grab Lucky's shirt leaving a blood print on the white fabric that I try to ignore.

"It's okay, you have to go..." My girl's lips taste salty due to my own tears when I kiss her, I didn't realize I was crying till now. "Lucrezia, go, come on... Val will take me to the other bank, I'll be fine..." Ares seems to hesitate when she pulls away. "Go, we'll meet soon... in a week... Naked and wearing the necklace, I promise..." I whisper before kissing her one last time and following my friend to the deck although it's difficult because the boat is careened, we jump into the cold river while people yell at us from the bank and I clench my jaw to avoid drinking dirty water. I try not to think about what happened, it's not the right time to freak out now... I have to reach the shore, go to the hospital... God, I hope the river cleans the bloodstains from my hands because I don't know how to explain why they're there.

"Come on, Odessa, we're almost there..." My friend pushes me so I can climb to the small stone wall while someone takes my hand and pulls at the same time. I collapse on the hard ground breathing heavily for a second when they all rush to help Val... He's tall and strong and pulling him up here won't be easy... Something flashes twice on the other side of the river behind some houseboats, like the sun hitting on a mirror aimed at my face, the prearranged signal... Lucky is safe with my father, she'll tell him what happened... I wish I could hug them both, I need them so much right now... But I have things to do like jumping on a plane, signing on a book, looking sad... and I'll do it because I'm a Dashkov and we don't fail. Never.