EIGHT (Odessa POV)

"Are we ready?" I whisper while my armour-plated limousine moves through the 5th Ave dodging traffic and I fix the scarf around my neck and the beanie on my head. Today is a grey and cold day in New York and it seems that's going to rain, but it's a good thing for us because it means there'll be less people wandering around Central Park and the Bowery King's fake beggars will follow our movements easily: we aren't trying to hide anyway, quite the contrary, but we can't be too obvious either. Fortunately, my irreverent behaviour from these past weeks will lead them to believe that's normal for me to arrange an important meeting in a park instead of going to the Continental that would be the logical choice. I look at Ares who's sitting next to me but she just lets out a hum of agreement and doesn't talk because she's got into character and is playing the mute assassin, well, bodyguard in this case.

"I don't understand why I can't go with you," Val growls from the driver's seat not very pleased with his role in today's charade: he'll be the guardian of the car in charge of making sure that nobody is putting a tracking device or a bug in the limousine while I'm going to my meeting. My dad doesn't trust the Bowery King or the members of his gang, the Soup Kitchen, and he believes they're going to mark us and follow our movements out of curiosity.

"Because you draw too much attention to yourself," I answer and Ares snorts amused next to me.

"It's not my fault that I'm so tall..." my friend growls again stopping the car in a free spot.

"Jay? Sophia? Are you ready?" I ask knowing that they can hear me while I hide my ear better with my beanie, I don't want anybody seeing the earpiece and getting suspicious: maybe we won't be aware of it but hundreds of people will be watching us in just a few minutes. It can be a beggar, the hot-dog man, the boy removing dry leaves, the girl walking her dog... Soup Kitchen is everywhere monitoring every corner of the city.

"I don't like this..." my friend answers from the apartment I rented in a building near the park.

"Jay, I already told you, you can't follow us today: the Bowery King is really smart and he'd identify you as a foreign element soon if you're lucky, or as an enemy if you're not, and you'd end up dying because of your insatiable curiosity. You'll have to settle for the bugs and HD cameras that Sophia hid two days ago pretending to be a birdwatcher. Shall we go?" Ares nods next to me but she puts her hand on my shoulder and holds it tightly in order to stop me when I was about getting out of the vehicle. The assassin looks through the windows and she seems to remember they're tinted before grumbling.

"Let me do my job." I raise my hands as a token of surrender and remain on my seat, smiling and tapping the mat with my heel nervously while she gets out, jogs around the limousine, takes a look checking that there's no threat before opening my door and starts walking by my side. She holds an umbrella in one of her hands and I'm pretty sure it can be a very dangerous weapon if necessary but she keeps her free hand close to one of her guns. I think she has two under her coat and one more in her ankle, in addition to several knives, but none of them are visible because she's a professional and besides she's wearing thicker clothes today instead of her usual elegant Italian pantsuit.

"How many of those people that are running into you are members of the underworld?" Jay asks in my ear and it's my turn to snort. Ares stares at me confused for a split second, she's not wearing an earpiece, before going on alert again while we head to Bethesda Fountain. The truth is that they all could be members, or none of them, although I'd bet that the beggars who show their faces here and there are the King's boys and girls. But it's not until we reach the terrace that I notice it: there're too many 'tourists' taking pictures, guys walking dogs, couples kissing on the benches, runners... to be a cold and rainy day. This would be the way the park would look in a sunny spring day, but not today.

"Fuck, they're not even trying to pretend that they aren't looking at us..." I whisper and my bodyguard smiles amused while we walk down the stairs although it's pretty obvious she's more tensed now that we're surrounded by a crowd and her protective instincts have kicked her ass hard. Which is ridiculous since nobody here wants me dead, it's true that the Bowery king doesn't always operate following the Company rules and he seems to be really fucked up, but he has no reasons to start a war against the Russian mob that would end up with my dad's friends launching an all-out manhunt and his beggars dying. They're in the park out of curiosity, just because someone casually dropped that I'd be here closing an interesting deal and we're counting on them to be our witnesses so the underworld thinks I'm still in business. I sit down on the bench around the fountain looking at the lake and wrap my thick jacket on my waist while Ares stays by my side, taking a look around surreptitiously.

"She's already in the park and will arrive in 5 minutes..." Sophia confirms while following our movements through her cameras.

We have a very special leading lady for our small play today: none other than one of Jay's acting teachers, so I'm assuming she's good at her job. She's French, according to what my friend told me, and is here to teach some curses during a couple of weeks but somehow her students have managed to persuade her to take part in the shooting of this documentary that will be filmed with a hidden cameras in order to make it look more real even if we're actors instead of criminals. I hope she can deliver her speech in one go and won't make a mistake because bloopers aren't an option today. Ares clears her throat next to me and I look up fixing my beanie to try to disguise my surprise, the assassin fidgeting nervously is weird, she keeps her poise usually. She tilts her head slightly to her right before moving it abruptly, like she's trying to brush her hair away from her face, and I take a quick look at the direction she's showed me. A tall and dark shadow covered with a shabby brown coat is watching us behind some trees... The King himself is here to find out what we're up to... I feel honoured.

"Miss Dashkova?"

"Madam Girard, welcome... Please, sit down..." I point at the bench after getting up and shaking her hand. The woman, who looks like she's in her 50s but in remarkable good shape, obeys looking around and smiling happily. The truth is that I can't see much of her face besides her eyes, lips and cheeks, since she's wearing a hat, scarf and has the coat collar up... which is really nice because no one will recognize her if they see her later. I must congratulate Jay on the clothing choices since I can't see the smallest lock of hair.

"You have a beautiful office for your business here..." she points at the lake and the dark green tress on the other side.

"I know, right?" I answer stunned by her perfect Quebecer accent despite she's born in Paris as far as I know. Ares gets closer, moving a step so she can hide us form the Bowery King's sight with her body while smiling mischievously: it's pretty obvious she's done this to annoy him. Anyway, he'll find sooner or later what's happening since his people are walking around us nonstop pretending they're taking pictures and feeding ducks... but listening closely too. "How can I help you?" I smile at me companion and she speaks with a firm tone of voice.

"Prescription drug prices have been skyrocketing and they double the inflation rate right now in USA. Among them, Viagra, fentanyl and anabolic steroids are the ones that can generate more profit... All of those are cheaper in Canada and let's say I have the means to smuggle them into this country but I need an investor capable of putting them on the online market successfully. Drugs are genuine and totally safe, I promise."

"I understand, it's a very interesting proposition, no doubt... I would've never imagined that the border with our northern neighbour was so permeable..." I whisper pensively while looking out of the corner of my eye how a beggar gets closer slowly: he's probably hiding a bug and is recording our conversation so the King can hear it later.

"Canada border is the bigger one between two countries in the entire world but the guys wearing suits in Washington are more worried about the south and the problems with Mexico. There're sparsely populated and heavily forested areas that aren't monitored properly due to the lack of guards; they're trying with some cameras, motions sensors and drones lately, but crossing the border is very easy actually and, even if they have you in their footage, they never arrive in time to catch you. But my organization uses a different channel, we don't run through the forest with backpacks full of prescription drugs since that wouldn't supply a big market like this one."

"And how you do it, then?" I ask curiously, faking surprise and raising my voice just a little so everybody around us can hear us while Ares keeps watching and following the conversation at the same time.

"Coffins..."

"I beg you pardon?" I ask really shocked now.

"Oops! I didn't tell you that we'd made changes in the script, did I? We wanted to turn it into something... more theatrical." Jay chuckles in my ear and I force a smile, I swear that I'm going to eat all the chocolate cookies later and won't let her take one.

"Eco-friendly coffins, actually. They're made with cardboard or natural wood without toxic varnish, they're cheapest, don't pollute soil or water and they're really successful now that everybody is worried about then environment. My company has all the necessary licences to produce them in Canada and export them to USA, the border guards check one of them usually and sign the access permit quickly: nobody likes to touch those things, they give them the creeps, and they don't check the rest of the coffins were the drugs are hidden. Besides, since we're selling a patented eco-friendly product that's a trend right now we look like good people, you know, 'reliable.'"

"It seems to me that you've got it all figured out..."

"It's a very easy and profitable business, I can assure you. Here, you have all the figures and explanations you need in this flash drive. Examine it along with your people and call me when you make your decision. You won't regret working with us, I assure you."

"Thank you, Madam Girard. I'll study your report very carefully since I'm very interested in this this deal. Have a nice day."

"I wish you the same, Miss Dashkova." The elegant French lady shakes my hand and walks away slowly. One of the beggars will follow her probably but the only thing he'll find is that she's staying at a nearby hotel and will fly back to Paris tomorrow. I smile at Ares and tilt my head towards the staircase, it's time for us to go back to the limousine... thank God, because my ass was freezing sitting on that bench.

"Everything went well, don't you think?" Jay's voice echoes in my ear and I nod discreetly knowing that she's able to see me through the cameras Sophia will collect tomorrow again. Everything went great and I'm pretty sure the Bowery King has bought it. Trafficking in fraudulent medicines isn't a common business among the Company members, and certainly not hidden in eco coffins, which means this story has all the factors needed to arouse curiosity and be told like a funny anecdote.

"They've put a tracking device on the limousine but don't panic, I know where it is and I'll put it on a delivery van when we arrive to the parking lot before we change to a safer car. They'll go for a long walk around New York while we go back home." Val laughs delighted opening the door of the vehicle like his childish prank is the funniest ever. And just at that moment, several police cars and a fire truck rush down 5th Ave with the sirens blaring, forcing the vehicles to move away making room for them. Everybody is staring at them with their mouths open, trying to find out what's happening, when I feel Ares shoving me out of the limousine through the other door.

"I'll take her home through a different route. You'll evade the pursuers in the parking lot, I don't trust them..." she whispers at Val quickly and jumps out, grabbing my arm and running away taking advantage of the fact that nobody's looking at us and are pointing at the column of smoke on the other end of Central Park.

"What are you doing?" I ask out of breath while turning a corner heading to Madison Ave. The assassin shoves me against the door of a building, leaning my back against a wall violently before kissing me... I don't understand what's happening but I'm not missing the opportunity. My mouth melts meekly with hers and my tongue rubs her lower lip but she pulls away and tilts her head in order to take a look at the street behind me. She seems happy when she confirms that nobody is following us and whispers in my ear.

"Val is going to be stuck in that traffic jam for a while, till the firefighters finish their work, and even if that's an amour-plated limousine... I'd rather get you out of there and go back home on our own." She grabs me from my arm once again and we rush down the street while she remains on alert, ready to take her gun at the slightest provocation.

"Are you aware that those threats against me are fake, aren't you?" I grumble running next to her. "No one is trying to kill me..."

"I'm doing my job," she answers through her clenched teeth. "And besides, I'm hungry."

Ten minutes later we stop at Café dei Fiori, an elegant Italian restaurant decorated in soft shades of grey and with tables placed in a discreet mezzanine that can't be seen from the street, Ares chooses one at the back of the room and waves at the waiter. To my great surprise, the guy gets closer carrying a small bottle of wine and water and leaves without handing us the menu. The assassin looks more relaxed, she removes her thick coat and greets a couple of customers with a nod of her head while I send a text to my dad explaining him that everything's fine, Val is stuck in a traffic jam on 5th Ave and we've decided to stop and grab a bite together. I take the earpiece off now that I don't need it, I don't think Jay would be able to hear me at this distance with several concrete buildings between us anyways, and I ask her directly.

"Is this place one of D'Antonio family business?" I wave my hand around me. The assassin winks at me naughtily confirming my assumption and the waiter comes back with our order, in fact we never ordered it: Ravioli Filled with Bufala Ricotta and Spinach with Toasted Hazelnuts, a Risotto with Baby Artichoke and two pieces of New York Cheesecake with Warm Berries... it's not the most Italian dessert, I actually prefer tiramisu, but this is delicious so I eat till the last bite without complaining. "How are we going to get back home?" I ask licking my spoon and I realize that Ares is staring at my lips entranced. My question seems to bring her back to reality and she takes a pen and a piece of paper from her jacket pocket.

"A taxi to Madison Park and then walking carefully checking that nobody follows us."

"Great, that's exactly what I need after this meal, a bit of exercise... Although I don't think this is necessary, seriously," I whisper after leaving the restaurant so no one can hear us. "The Bowery King has no reasons to attack me and he can't afford a war against the Russian mob, although rumours say that he's as dangerous and powerful as the High Table members in his own special way. I understand you have to pretend that you're doing the job I hired you for, and you can't wait to leave this city and start a new and free life, but you're taking things too far, don't you think? What's the problem?" Ares waves at one of the several taxis driving down the street, picking it out at random, before turning around and putting her hand over her heart grimacing. I frown confused, I don't understand what that means... does she have a bad feeling about this?