Double Agent

○ eighteen ○

"Any news on Giordano?" I ask as he slices clean through a white onion.

He looks up at me, his fingers still cutting.

"I don't think that's safe," I eye the perfectly cut onion cautiously.

"I've never missed a shot in my life. This is kindergarten to me."

"You're a show off."

"I can't show off the truth, darling."

He cooks down the onion and tomato paste in a pot with cream, rescuing the pasta a while later and folding it together, placing it on the table before me a few minutes later.

"Excuse me sir, where is the parmigiano reggiano topping," I narrow my eyes at him.

He scoffs, pouring himself a glass of liquor, "We ran out, your highness."

"This is appalling."

"Stop being a brat and eat it."

"This is an actual abomination of my culture and you're– "

He shoves a fork of pasta right into my mouth. I moan embarrassingly as the creamy goodness coats my tongue.

"Do you ever shut the fuck up?"

"You could shut me up easily," I shovel more pasta into my mouth.

His eyes darken in amusement.

"Back to the topic at hand. Giordano?"

"We're struggling to find him. The best we have is his most frequent location and his full name. Damien's working on it.

"I hope for our sake they didn't look through the tax receipts," I say with a yawn.

He gets up and washes his plate, slinging his jacket over his shoulder.

"Go to bed early. Do not mess up the house." Then he walks over to the door.

"Where you going?"

"Anna needs help with a bust under her department."

"You have a mission... now?" I glance up at the clock. It's almost midnight.

"That's when we get the job done," his eyes shine over in raw adrenaline before he disappears behind the door.

I wait for three seconds, watch the dark interior of the house, think of the rush of the job. I barely have time to put on pants and store a knife into my boot before I'm out the door and down the lobby. Ezra swerves out of the carpark, the black car halting when he sees me.

The window rolls down precariously.

"Absolutely not. Go back upstairs."

"You don't think that's going to stop me from coming, right? Especially when I called Anna on the way down and she said she needed the backup."

"You'll freeze," his eyes gloss over the tank top that I'm wearing.

"But I'll be efficient and flexible."

He looks at the road. His jaw jumps for a second. Then he presses a button on the dashboard and the lock clicks. I slide into the warm car, escaping the frigid air.

"Follow the plan, listen to me, and don't do anything dumb."

"Yes sir."

—

I'm minutes away from ignoring everything he told me in the car. The plan is failing.

"So you didn't plan for if we didn't make the shot before he entered the elevator?" Anna's forehead crinkles, irritation directed at a frustrated Damien.