The Assassins Weakness

Kissing Game

The next morning Enzo wasn't at training. I felt a ball of nerves settle in the pit of my stomach. He wasn't always present so I tried not to think too much of it but I couldn't stop myself. When Lorenzo approached me for our run after I couldn't keep my curiosity in anymore.

"Where's Enzo?" I asked.

"It's none of your business," Lorenzo replied.

Replied not snapped. Ever since the plane Lorenzo has been different around me. Not as needlessly cruel. I just nodded and then we headed outside. We were two miles in when my words escaped me again.

"Is he okay?"

"Do you care?" Lorenzo questioned genuinely.

"No - I - he just looked not himself yesterday," I defended.

"It sounds like you care," Lorenzo pointed out.

I sent him a glare.

"Enzo's fine," he conceded. "We made him sleep in since he's been overworking himself lately."

"That's good. He looked really shitty yesterday," I said feeling my stomach release some tension.

"How kind of you to say," Lorenzo said sardonically.

I glared at him again but this time both of our lips quirked into smiles.

"You don't have to pity me you know," I huffed out after mile five.

"I don't," Lorenzo quickly defended.

"You do. You haven't been an ass in days."

He let out a humorous scoff at that.

"I mean it," I continued. "I don't need pity. I'm here. I live in a mansion and eat for free. I'm not - some of my comrades aren't half so lucky."

If I can make Lorenzo believe my change it would work wonders against the others. Having my biggest hater support me will be helpful.

"Yeah, well, you still went through a lot of things you shouldn't have had to," he said gently.

I didn't reply, only gave him a small nod of acknowledgment. The last two miles of the run were in a companionable silence. Things were going well.

When we got back to the mansion I headed to the room I lived in to take a shower. I froze when I found Enzo standing beside the bed.

"Hello, sir," I spoke cautiously.

"I came to ask if you're up for an assignment," he said, back facing me.

"Of course, sir."

"I have an official meeting with the Scottish tonight. Ronan's boss, Declan, insisted the Bonnie lass be there," Enzo said almost bitterly.

"What role would you like me to play?" I asked.

Enzo turned around then. His hair and beard were back to normal but the bags under his eyes persisted.

"The one Ronan liked so much the first time," Enzo instructed.

"Okay," I agreed quietly.

Enzo gave a firm nod before he left the room.

* * * * *

I was dressed in a blue silk cocktail gown. It clung to my skin until just below the hips, then it gently flared the rest of the way. It was an official meeting so it would likely be somewhere fancy. I brought the makeup bag with me when I headed to Enzo's office. The guards let me in and I found Enzo leaning back in his chair when I approached.

He glance at the bag in my hand and motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. I did. He moved to the chair next to mine and scooted it close. We said nothing as he began to take things out of the bag and apply them to my face. The silence wasn't tense, but it wasn't comfortable either.

"You know," I said breaking it. "John and I used to play a game when one of us looked like you."

"John?" He asked.

"The other assassin you had to choose from," I explained.

Enzo hummed in acknowledgement.

"We would play the jumble game. We would both say something that was bothering us at the same exact time. The kicker was, we'd jumble the order of the words. It was absolute nonsense on top of nonsense. That way we would still be keeping silent about whatever confidential thing it was, but we got it out."

"You're trained assassins, isn't it easy to unjumble the words and figure out what the other meant?" Enzo asked skeptically.

"Normally, yes. That's why we spoke at the same time. We'd be so focused on figuring out how to best jumble our own words to focus on the others," I answered.

"I don't feel up to playing," Enzo said simply.

"What about the kissing game then?" I offered.

Enzo paused, blush brush resting on my cheekbone.

"The kissing game?"

"When John or I had a tough assignment we'd play the kissing game. You just kiss. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a way to get comfort when the world sucks."

"Nothing more, nothing less?" Enzo double checked.

I nodded. Enzo gently sat the brush on his desk and looked at me. My shriveled little heart twitched as he leaned closer. When our lips met a breath whooshed out of me. It felt like I was returning to a home I didn't even know I missed.

Our lips moved together like they were made for this. That tender feeling that had passed in the kitchen was back again. It was back and it sent wonderful shivers down my spine. It made my breath catch and my heart race.

The kissing game was very different with John. Kissing john felt the same as hugging him. Just a form of comfort. Kissing Enzo felt like a world shifting event. It felt like the first rays of spring sun after a brutal winter.

All too soon Enzo was pulling back. He didn't pull back far. He rested our foreheads together and our lips were still close enough for our breaths to mingle.

"I think I like the kissing game," Enzo whispered.

"Me, too," I whispered back.

"If Declan asked you to his room for the night would you go," Enzo breathed out.

I was still in such a daze from the kiss that it took me two full breaths for his words to register in my mind. I jerked away from him.

"What?"