Love in Bullets

3| Blood Rather Than Tears

Phoenix Madden-Rossi stood by the door, silently watching the two interact. 

He had heard the rumors surrounding the 'All Scary Agent 0013', and he saw what they were afraid of. Some say that she eats babies for all her meal. Some say she kill someone while both her arms were broken. Others were to worried that she would pop out of no where and hurt them for spreading rumors. 

His hands went to his suit jackets sleeves, pulling them down the slightest bit. It was a nervous tick of his, one that his brother hated, but he never could quit it.

The one he assumed was Zasio, from the slightly more aged face, walked sweetly towards him. A smile replaced her apologetic tears. 

"Mr. Rossi, perfect timing," she said with false enthusiasm. His eyes shifted to the un-moving person behind her. She was leaning against the glass, directly in front of him. Her eyes were moving up and down his body, not trying to check him out. He was familiar with that look, the slight linger on certain features. 

No, she was trying to analyze him. She was trying to find his weaknesses. 

And to her credit, it was working slightly. 

As much as he didn't want to admit it, she was intmadating to stare at. Hell, just being in the same room as her is nerve racking.

He would just never admit that.

At least not yet.

Agent 0013, still stood un-moving and un-blinking but now she was staring straight in his eyes. Her electric blue clashing with his honey brown. 

"Well, I trust it was a comfortable flight, Mr. Rossi."

His attention turned back to the woman in front of him. He gave her a nod which she then responded with a smile. 

Zasio walked behind her large desk, and 0013 turned her head towards her as she sat down. Zasio grabbed a folder, one significantly smaller than the one 0013 had in her hands. 

As Phoenix started to read through it, Zasio started talking.

"I have already briefed Agent 0013 on the background information, I was hoping to leave the plan of action to you, Mr. Rossi."

Phoenix gave yet another nod, quickly finishing the sentence he was reading. He looked up, and Agent 0013 looked even more bored than before.

"The plan is simple, but it will end up taking a few days. Me and my team will split into groups and track the people you send into Italy. From there, we should be able to spot anyone who looks suspicious and hopefully catch them," Phoenix spoke in his usual work tone. it was a marvelous mix of bored and 'I hate everything' attitude.

Agent 0013 still seemed suspicious, but Phoenix would be to in her position. From what Zasio had told him a few days before, she was only briefed on a small part of the issue. Even if he had gotten the smaller folder from Zasio, he still was more aware of what was actually happening compared to 0013.

"Anything you need to say, Agent?" Zasio said in a sickly sweet voice, one that 0013 was most likely used to by now. Everyone knew that Agent 0013, the women the myth the legend didn't talk. Someone started a rumor a few days ago, saying that she did in fact talk to one of her latest victims, and he couldn't help but wonder why she won't now.

0013's eyes shifted from him to Zasio, distaste clear in her expression before shaking her head 'no'.

"Well then, for preparations, 0013 you will be flying back with Mr. Rossi but staying in a separate location from him. Since you are still my highest ranking agent, you will still be taking jobs even when in Italy. Understood?"

Zasio looked to 0013, waiting for the nod of submission. 

And she got one almost a minute later.

She smiled, "I'll email you the details."

Two hours later...

The plane ride was bumpy, the air was tense, and the snores were loud. 

Agent 0013 sat working on her laptop, trying to ignore the loud snores of the man a few rows in front of her. 

It was his plane yet he chose to sit by her and annoy her almost the entire time. That was until her fell asleep. Then he was annoying her subconsciously.

Her finger slid fast across her keyboard, trying to dig up any dirt she could on the snoring man. She found nothing besides what she already knew. She had heard about him, Phoenix Madden-Rossi. 

Rumors swirled around him like a wildfire, from being the most bizarre and outlandish things she had ever heard to the more reasonable one; for example, he has killed more than person. Although according to the records she was scanning, he had a clean criminal record. 

Her eyes had started to hurt from looking at the screen so much, so she reached into her small backpack beside her-that was seventy-five percent weapons and twenty-five percent clothes-and pulled out clear framed blue filter glasses. 

She was never embarrassed to wear them, she just didn't like other people knowing she needed them. She was rumored to be tough. And she is. Even if she has glasses.

0013 continued to research him, his operation which was conveniently hidden under many layers of encrypted data, and his team/family. 

Based off what she saw, he was adopted by his parents, Ryle and Jesse Rossi. He has another adopted brother, Ajax-Miller Rossi. By their birth certificates, they are both twenty-seven and were adopted year apart. Ajax was first, being adopted when he was fourteen years old, and Phoenix coming at fifteen years old only a few months later. 

They did run the Italian Mafia, her intel only being confirmed so slowly as she was doing it herself instead of her analyst partner Tyler Fields. Phoenix Madden-Rossi took over as the Don only five years ago, but he was a world-wide known killer before hand. His brother wasn't mentioned in almost none of the past reports, only showing up in the more recent ones. In fact, the first one he showed up in was September 19, 2018. Almost four years ago.

She was so into her work that she realized she didn't hear anything.

No one was snoring. 

Her immediate reaction was to tense up when she felt someone creeping up from behind her, but she forced herself to relax, hoping to strike when it worked to her advantage. No footsteps were heard, no breathing, but she knew someone was there. 

Slowly her right hand continued to type, her left hand going underneath her keyboard. Her calloused hand made contact with the cool object she was looking for, her index finger brushing against the soft layer of duct tape she had put to keep it in place. 

She still heard nothing.

But she saw everything. 

Early, when she was boarding, she had left the window on the seat behind her open. This allowed her to see the attackers outline before they got a chance to do anything. She recognized the stance the man stood at, the certain smug swagger in his step, and put her knife away. 

Her right hand shut the top of her laptop right as he stood behind her, his hit breath on the base of her neck.

"If you wanted to know more about me, 0013" he paused to chuckle, it was as deep as she imagined it would be. "You could have just asked, killer."