The Bodyguard

18

I shake the thought out of my head as soon as it pops in. Behave, Andrea. This wasn't a romance setting. This was my life. My survival. Besides, I wasn't even attracted to Nik in that way.

"Ms. Leister, are you okay? You seem lost."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine." I state, as I realize he's fully clothed now. I heave a sigh of relief internally as I realize he's fully clothed.

"Shall we?" He asks.

"We shall." I ask, my eyes glued to the road.

Soon after the awkwardness that comes from the swelling of my head, and trying to focus on not thinking about Nik. . .Shit, Drea! Get it together. We arrive at the venue.

"You look great, Ms. Leister." Are the next words I hear from him. I raise my eyebrow, as I pause, reducing my breathing. He continues, "So, the goal is to use that to your advantage." I drop my brow. Of course. "Flirt. Try to get one of Volkov's men out. I'll take it from there."

"How do I know who's Volkov's man?" I ask.

"You'll know. They have all have tattoos on their wrists. Left wrists." He responds. I want to ask him how he knew so much information, but the answer was pretty obvious already.

I nod. "If things don't go as planned? If I'm unable to lure him out— what happens?"

"We run." He says, and adrenaline rushes through my body. I look at him, as I anticipate the night. He hands me a gun.

"Protect yourself if need be." It sounded like a command. I liked it. It sent shivers down my spine. Get a hold of yourself, Andrea.

I take the gun from him and place in the panty hose strap of my left leg. I'm counting the days till I get to meet you, Volkov.

Finally, we arrive at our destination. Nik and I go in separately. We give knowing nods to one another, as we walk into what seems to be a ballroom. I pause, a bit uncomfortable with my dress, as I notice a few eyes on me. Why did you have to chose this one, Nik? I adjust my lipstick with my middle finger, and rub them together. I try to smile as brightly as I can, as I head for the drinks table. I pick up a glass of white wine. As I drink, my eyes meet with a pair of black eyes. I pause for a second, taking him in, and then I look away. I can still feel his eyes on me. Would he be my prey? He looked too smart to be one. I had to avoid him. I begin to scan the room, looking for an easier target. One who has half dim witted, and half stern.

"There you are." I whisper to myself, as I spot a perfect candidate. I had to check his wrist, to see if he was Volkov's man. As I'm about to walk towards him, a disgustingly hot breath touches the nape of my neck. I turn around. It's black eyes.

"Hello, beautiful lady." He says. He has a thick Russian accent. His presence reeked of command.

"You speak English just well." I respond.

"Of course. Me, I'm Russian, but I learned English. I can tell you are English woman."

"American, actually."

"Would you like to have drink with me?" What if. . .? What if he was Volkov? I had to control myself. I couldn't let him know what I was capable of. Giving him smart replies wouldn't help me. The champagne in my glass had finished.

"Of course," I respond. I needed to see his body. We walk to the drink section, and I spot Nik. He's raising a brow, obviously wondering what the hell I was doing. I ignore him, following black eyes to the drinks section.

"Red wine, rosé, white?" He asks me.

"Red wine, please." I respond. He hands a glass over to me. I begin to drink it, as a million thoughts race through my head. He seemed to be around his early forties.

"So, why are you in Russia?"

"School! I'm here for school. I heard that school was cheap here, so I wanted to see for myself."

"True. We are very generous here. There's lot of money in Russia."

Drug money, you mean? "Really? How so?"

He chuckles. "What your name is?" He asks. I intentionally move my hand, so the red wine spills on him.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry. I'm so clumsy! Let me help you," I say, dropping my glass, and reaching for his shirt. I grab his shirt, and begin to unbutton as fast as I can. He grabs my wrist. I look at his left wrist. There's no tattoo.

"Leave it." He says, and politely drops my hand. I look at his chest. There's no tattoo either. He's not Volkov. I turn my head to see that all eyes are fixated on me.

"prodolzhayem vecherinku!"
"Continue the party!"

He states, and everyone looks away, and the celebration begins. He walks away, and I stand there, wondering what I'd just done. I scan the room, and I find exactly who I'm looking for— Nik. He has a frown plastered on his face, as he holds a glass of what I presume to be whiskey.

"I'm sorry." I mouth. He nods, and tilts his head, obviously telling me to do what we'd come here for. I tuck my hair behind my ear. Where could you be? I wonder, looking around for my prey.

"Gotcha." I state, as I see him laughing and talking with a group of men. At this moment, I'd consider myself as Special Agent Andrea Leister, on a mission to catch a criminal, in the midst of other criminals. I wasn't a woman trying to seduce a man right now.

"Care to share your drink, handsome?" I ask, as I make way into the circle. I can tell all eyes are on me, as I walk up to him. He chuckles.

"Kto ty? YA ne govoryu po-angliyski, ledi."
"Who are you? I don't speak English, lady." He responds.

Shit. He doesn't speak English.

"Hahaha! Brat! Ona khochet tebya, ey!"
"Hahaha! Brother! She wants you, eh!" One of them says. Fuck. What have I gotten myself into? I had no idea what they were saying. Nik. . .

"I just translated what you wanted to say. He's not impressed. Show him your work." He says, laughing. I raise a brow, confused, as all the men begin to laugh. Now, I'm embarrassed. Shit.

"Why are you looking so confused? You want to fuck him right? You're a hooker." He says, and my jaw almost drops.

In the next moment, my prey grabs my wrist rather violently and begins to grin at me. I blink. If only I could show him a little piece of action for daring to grab me so violently. I smile seductively at him, even though I knew I probably looked like a wet chicken doing so.

"Shall we?" I nod, giving him my best seductive smile. The lights go off. I look around, surprised. A disco light turns on, and what presume to be Russian dance floor music comes on. My prey drags my waist.

"Woah!" I'm startled. His hands are wrapped around my waist, as my back rests on his body. Other than fighting positions, it was my first time being in such a position with a man. A romantic position.

"What are you doing?" I ask. I remember that he can't speak nor understand English, so it was pointless asking him. I follow his lead, and I continue dancing, as I watch Nik watch me dance. He looked extremely sexy standing there, in the shadow, a glass of whiskey in his left hand, and his right hand in his pocket. It felt like he was trying to read my mind, peer into my soul.

My prey suddenly grabs my butt, and spanks it. I feel disgusted. I grab his collar and watch his eyes widen. I came this far to find a way to catch Volkov, I wouldn't let this bozo piss me off into reacting. I grab his head, and go in for a kiss. I break the kiss, and use my eyes to direct him towards the door. At least, he'd understand that I wanted to do it outside. He nods at me, and says something in Russian, which I don't bother to take note off. I turn around, trying to look for Nik, as my prey leads me outside. Nik is nowhere to be found. I turn around, looking for him, when my eyes fall on Irina.

"Hi— Before I can complete my sentence, she injects something into my neck. I grab her hand, alarmed and panicked. My legs go numb, and my tongue goes heavy. In a split second, I fall into darkness.