The Bodyguard

19

Leonid's POV

"How did you dare to do this without my permission, Irina?"

"I was helping you, Leo! I thought that maybe— Irina was getting on my nerves. "I don't remember asking for your help! And I certainly don't need your help when it comes to her."

"If you had told me about any of your plans, I would have known, and wouldn't have taken her. It's on you for doing things behind my back."

"Behind your back?" I ask her, as I look at her, surprised. "What do you mean?" If Irina wasn't a woman, she'd be flying across the room. I grab her arm, "I hope you're not getting any funny ideas in your head, Irina." I whisper in her ear, "You will bark only when I tell you to, and you will sit when I tell you to. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

I drop her arm. "Drop her at the bayou. At my fathers old house. She'll find her way back to me."

"Okay."

"Don't ever interfere with my plans again." I warn her.

*

Hours after Irina'd left, I sit, patiently waiting by my phone, for Andrea to call me.

"Did her phone die?" I wonder. It's been at least six hours. It's possible she could still be sleeping. I sigh. If I went to the bayou, she'd obviously suspect foul play. I couldn't let her suspect me for even the smallest thing. Irina had ruined my plan, but it wasn't fatal, thankfully.

My phone rings. "Hello?" I answer almost immediately. "Where did you go to, Ms. Leister? This is Russia, not America!"

"Somebody kidnapped me, Nik. Please come get me, I-I don't know, I don't know where I am."

"What do you mean? Where are you, Ms. Leister? Can you see anything?" I ask.

"There's lots of trees here. I got Volkov's man last night, but— Ow," She winces. "I think I'm in the woods, Nik. I don't feel so good."

"Okay just calm down, I think I know where you are. Stay on the phone." I tell her, and rush out.

Ensuring Andrea wouldn't suspect me was one thing, but explaining why Irina kidnapped her was another. What could I possibly say? She would definitely ask me.

"Ms. Leister! Ms. Leister!" I call out, as I approach the old house.

"Nik! Nik? Is that you?" I hear, as I approach the house.

Her dress is torn, makeup smudged, and her hair is a complete mess. She looked different. This was the first time I'd seen a different side of her. She looked tired. Fed up. Frustrated.

Suddenly, she sprints towards me and wraps her hands around my waist, engulfing me in a hug. I stand there amazed, uncomfortable, and shocked. Other than my mother, it was the first time I'd gotten so close to another woman.

She breaks the hug. "I'm sorry."

I ignore her apology. "What happened yesterday, Ms. Leister? How did you. . . How did you end up here?"

She looks at me, anger evident in those grey eyes of hers. She massages her temples, "I don't know." She responds.

"What?" I ask, surprised. Why did she lie? Why was she lying? I couldn't give myself away. I had to pick my words carefully. "I mean, didn't you see the face of your abductor? Could it be Volkov's man? Do you think he was behind this?"

She looks at me, as though she was contemplating what to say, carefully trying to pick her next words. "I wouldn't put it past him." She responds. She didn't confirm nor deny.

She was right. Irina doing that was as good as her boss, Leonid Volkov giving her those orders.

"Well, then let's get out of here. It's not safe." I tell her. She nods a yes at me.

***

"I'm sorry Nik. More than anyone, I know how much finding Volkov is, and I messed it up." Andrea says, as we enter what is in now her house. She turns to face me. "It's such an irony, isn't it? An agent getting kidnapped?"

"Don't beat yourself up. We should've been ready for this. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's not your fault." She says, a small smile forming on her lips. I look away, a bit irritated. I leave.

I couldn't wrap my head around why Andrea lied. She had to have known it was Irina who took her. She had to have seen or heard something at the very least. What was she trying to prove? Or did she truly not know it was Irina who kidnapped her?

I pick up the glass of whiskey and gulp it all, as I watch the sky. It reminded me of her. My mother. Andrea. Why was my mind constantly drifting off to thoughts about her? I wanted to humiliate and kill this woman off. Why was I prolonging things? I could hold her hostage for as long as I wanted, especially now because she was powerless. She was in my territory, and under my roof.

I leave the balcony and head into my living room. I take my phone, and I make a call.

"It's time to come back home, Sasha."

****

Irina's POV

"Easy, Irina." Anya warns me, as I empty the bullets in my gun on my target. I exhale, anger coursing through my veins.

"What's wrong with you, Iri?"

"Leo! That's what's wrong!" I respond, dropping my gun on the table before us.

"This Leo. What has he done now?"

"He yelled at me, because of that damned American. Leo yelled at me for the first time, and it's because of her." I hated her so much. Why did she have to waltz into our lives now, just when I was so close to finally breaking the walls around Leonid.

"American? There's an American woman with him? Ah ah, Iri, you must act fast. Those American women are good at stealing men! Who is she?"

Anya and I had been friends forever. We practically grew up together, but Anya had no idea who exactly I was, and who exactly I worded for. Yes, she did know about Leo, and that we worked together, but she didn't know Leo was the Leonid, and she didn't know what job exactly I did. She had no idea that I was Leonid's assassin.

"I need to get rid of her. I don't like how he's getting attached to her, tell me, Anya. What do I do?"

I couldn't let that American witch take Leo from me. I'd been by his side for over ten years, working and walking with him to the top.

"You know what makes me even angrier?"

"Huh?"

"He's never been with any woman. He never gets close to other women. It's just me. I've been the only woman allowed around him, for the past ten years." I grab her shoulders, "And the American has changed that. They practically live together!"

"And the more time they spend together, the more likely he is to—

"Never. That will never happen. Leo will never sleep with her. I will never let that happen."

As far as I knew, Leonid was a virgin. He has never been with another woman, because of the trauma he'd faced watching his mother get raped. Although, I wasn't exactly in the same category as he was, I'd dedicated ten years of my life to him and the business. If anyone deserved being his first, being the woman in his life, then it was me. It was me, Irina.