Song: Freak (ft. REI AMI) - Sub Urban

(edited)

---

Adelaide

---

"Oh and Adelaide?"

I turned around to face him.

"You can keep my shirt but I'll need the boxers back."

With that, he turned around and shut the door behind him.

---

A soft knock on my door woke me up the next morning forcing me to groggily make my way over to the door. 

I was greeted by a tall dark-haired lady with a few boxes in her hands, her eyes averted and head down. 

I could see little beads of sweat starting to collect on her forehead, visible due to her sleek ponytail.

"I've brought your clothes ma'am." She managed stammered out, looking everywhere but my face.

I didn't say anything, she was scared shitless and I didn't want to make it any worse. I moved out of the way, letting her past me and place the boxes on my unkempt bed.

I kept my mouth shut, watching her put the clothes in my closet, not wanting to scare her more than I already had and decided to leave the room. 

I trudged to the bathroom, splashing my face with water effectively waking me up before brushing my teeth.

When I walked back outside, the woman was gone and my closet was full.

He went all out.

On one side of the closet were normal clothes that anyone would wear with jeans, shirts, undergarments and some pairs of leggings. 

But on the other side were things that one would wear on an undercover mission, fancy dresses, jumpsuits and holsters that I could strap on my body. The drawers concealed a grand selection of knives and small guns.

Perfect.

If there was one thing that this wardrobe was missing, it would be hoodies. 

I usually wore them on missions where a dress code wasn't compulsory simply because I found them easy to move in and I could conceal various weapons under the baggy fabric. 

My hidden blades had gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations and I was forever thankful for that.

I'll bring it up to Romano, I thought to myself before mulling over what I should wear for the day.

I decided to keep it simple with a pair of baggy blue jeans and a deep red loose t-shirt. 

Feeling somewhat naked and vulnerable without a knife on my person, I strapped a knife to my stomach, making my way downstairs.

I found  the kitchen easily, remembering the path I took last night, but was taken aback when I found it empty. 

No food. No people. No nothing.

Damn.

I was hoping to meet someone else before having to introduce myself to the team I was going to be working with.

I made my way over to the fridge to see if there was anything that I could make until I spotted a box of frosted flakes and quickly decided to make cereal like the culinary master I was.

I sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen island and devoured the food I had prepared.

The stillness that covered the room like a heavy blanket unsettled and comforted me at the same time. 

When I finished eating, I washed up my bowl and thought about exploring the house some more before I decided against it. 

Snooping always felt weirdly wrong to me. 

For an assassin, I'm pretty considerate.

I made it back up to my bedroom a little deflated by my failure to meet anyone in the kitchen. 

That didn't last long though as I spent some time struggling to move the heavy wooden chair so that it would face the window and I could relax looking at the view of the densely wooded area that this mansion was immersed in. 

I plopped myself down in the chair, breathing out a sigh of relief and simply did nothing but think and breathe, something that I often did after a high stress environment. 

The silence engulfed me yet again but this time it was welcomed with open arms. 

Two hours later, Romano's knuckles finally rasped on my door, jolting me out my deep thinking session.

"Buongiorno carota, how did you sleep?" He asked, making his way over to me and putting his hands on the top of the chair, gazing out of the window.

(Translation: Good morning carrot)

"I slept like a rock. And you?"

"Rock? Is the bed too hard, cavolo? I can change you to another room if  you're uncomfortable." His face was shrouded in worry, making me giggle that he didn't understand the common phrase.

"The bed is perfect Romano. Don't worry your pretty little head about that." I patted his head lightly for effect before continuing, "aren't we going to meet the rest of the team today?"

Romano pulled a face and briskly walked to the bathroom.

I sighed and sat on top of the desk, waiting for him to finish. When he emerged from the bathroom, he looked the same except for the fact that his lips were jutted out, forming a pout. 

Just like a child would do. 

How is this guy a mafia don?

"Done styling your hair?"

His hand instinctively went back up to his hair, "you ruined it."

I rolled my eyes.

 He looked the same, I hardly changed anything. 

Deciding this wasn't worth my time to bicker over, I simply gave in.

"Your hair looks great Romano, as usual. Can we go meet the rest of the team now? I'm sure we're late already."

He gave me a lopsided grin as a response.

I was the one that put that smile there. 

The more time I spend looking at his face, the more I realized how truly flawless it was.

"Don't worry carota, I am the boss here meaning that I could get away with murder and nobody would bat an eyelash. Literally."

This guy is something else.

I followed him through the entranceway and down a labyrinth of hallways and rooms before I realized that we were heading downwards.

"Romano?"

"Si, fagiolo verde?"

(Translation: Yes, green bean?)

He opened a door that concealed a winding staircase going downwards. I looked over at him warily, hesitating to go down the steps, "Are we going to a secret bunker so you can kill me in peace?"

"Trust me porro, if I had wanted to kill you, you would be six feet under by now." He gently pressed his palm into the small of my back but I didn't budge.

(Translation: Leek)

"I don't trust you, mafia man, lead the way," I remarked, narrowing my eyes and nudging him forward by the small of his back.

He chuckled but didn't argue.

After a minute of silence, Romano turned around to look at me, making me almost crash into him. Almost.

"Mafia man?"

His eyebrows were furrowed and his body was hunched a little bit. 

We were close. 

Too close.

I took a cautious step back. 

"What's wrong with mafia man?"

He took a minute before responding.

"It's so... what's the word? Unimaginative." He lifted his hands in the air and continued walking down the winding stairway.

"And calling me various vegetable is?" I criticised unable to control my mouth as it curved into a small smile.

He let out a bark of laughter before stopping in front of a wooden door.

"We've arrived, Adelaide." He said slightly creepily.

"Why'd you say it like that?" I questioned him, still suspicious about the choice of venue.

"What do you mean, Adelaide?"

"Wait, stop. Why are you saying my name like that? What happened to carota or cavolo or even piccola patata?"

He let out a small chuckle before looking me straight in the eyes and striding over to where I was leaning against the wall.

"I thought you preferred it when men called you by your name, Adelaide."

"Not when they say it all creepy like you are." I teased.

He moved closer to me, leaning against the wall so that we were both facing each other.

"Are you calling me creepy?"

By this point, I had completely forgotten what we were doing down here in the first place.

"So what if I am?"

He pulled his gorgeous face away from my scrutinizing gaze for only a second before pushing me against the wall and putting his elbows next to my head. 

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours but was most probably only a few seconds.

This man was different from the Romano that I had known yesterday. 

This version was scarier. 

More dangerous. 

Time to take him down a notch.

I waggled my finger to beckon that I wanted to whisper something to him. 

He smirked, obviously thinking that I had fallen for his little act, and brought his ear to my mouth. 

I wrapped my other arm around his back that had skilfully unsheathed the knife that was concealed on my belly and positioned it behind him. 

I pushed his back into my body and clasped the back of his head.

"I could kill you right now," I whispered seductively in his ear whilst pressing the tip knife against his shirt.

He instantly stiffened, no doubt feeling the tip of the blade.

"You wouldn't."

I suppressed the laughter that was rising inside me. 

These were my favourite moments. 

When your target was completely at your mercy.

"And why wouldn't I, carota?" I teased him, bringing my mouth closer to his ear.

He took a short pause before answering.

"It would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

He had a point there. 

Plus, I was in this for the money and if I killed my boss I don't think any money would be coming my way.

Damn, this was just starting to get fun.

I tilted my head up and took the lobe of his ear in my mouth, softly biting it before pulling my knife away and pushing him off me.

"I guess you're right," I muttered now having lost all my entertainment.

"You're a dangerous one aren't you, porro?"

He wiped away some of the remaining saliva on his ear. 

I snorted as a response. 

"I'm an assassin, what'd you expect?"

"I didn't mean to offend you carota, I meant it as a compliment. I like dangerous things."

If he wasn't getting on my nerves before, he was certainly pushing it now.

"I am not a thing, Mr Mafia, and we're here for a reason. Now are you going to open that door like a gentleman or is chivalry really dead?" I lectured, gesturing to the unopened door that we had both forgotten about until this moment.

He wore an amused smile on his face as he made his way to the door and cleared his throat. 

He made a show of opening the door for me, bowing before he did so. 

I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at his childish antics. Relief flooded my body when I finally got to the other side of that goddamned door. 

There were only two other people there.

"You're late."

The first person I recognised was Jamie, sitting at a table that was positioned in the middle of the room with a computer. 

He didn't look up to greet me.

The second person was a girl I didn't recognise. 

She was sitting on one of the leather couches that were positioned to face a massive television. 

Her skin was pale and heavily contrasted her long raven hair.

"We got distracted." Romano simply stated, making himself comfortable on a leather sofa.

"Adelaide, assassin, MI6, Great Britain," I said with the most professional voice I could muster before striding over to her and holding out my hand for her to shake.

"Jaekyung. Don't shorten it, I don't like nicknames. Intelligence, NIS, South Korea." 

She took my hand with a firm grip and I nodded my head as a sign of respect. She seemed like a no-nonsense type of person and I didn't want to get on her bad side.

I chose to sit next to her over Romano.

Jamie cleared his throat. "Our first target goes by the name of Simon Fawker. He's a well known American banker. 42 years of age. One wife, no kids. Infertile." He listed before continuing.

"Romano has invited him for dinner in Italy one week from now under the pretence that he is interested in taking out a loan. Fawker probably thinks that Romano wants to wash some money and is using the excuse of a loan as a cover."

I averted my gaze from Jamie to Romano only to find Romano's eyes boring into my own. 

I didn't like the way my cheeks reddened ever so slightly.

"The only thing we need to work out is when we are going to take the hit. We don't want people thinking that Romano was the one who ordered it because that could make jeopardize a relationship with future targets. I suggest that we murder him after a fake deal is made with Romano and Fawker with a single kill shot, therefore letting people believe that Romano had no valid motive."

Jamie was always a serious one, always thinking things through. 

His eyes were glued on his computer screen, not looking up once.

"No." A stern voice said beside me.

That made Jamie look up.

"No?"

"No. Look, you aren't in the field when these things happen so you don't get it. In theory, that sounds great, but the chaos that will ensue afterwards is going to attract unwanted attention. We want to keep our identities secret so we need something more subtle. Does he have any underlying health issues?" Jaekyung muses.

Jamie leaned back in his chair and eyed up Jaekyung.

"Heart issues. Why?"

A sinister smile appeared on Jaekyung's face. "Ricin. We'll use ricin to poison him. It makes it look like a heart attack."

"And where the hell are we going to get our hands on that?" Jamie shot back, unconvininced and his ego seemingly bruised. 

He usually never had this kind of pushback from fellow peers in MI6.

"I can get you whatever you need. No price is too steep." Romano chimed in.

For the first time since I stepped into the room, Jamie looked at me. "What do you think, Ads?"

I leaned back into the leather chair, mulling over the options given. 

Using a gun was too loud, too messy. 

I wasn't a bad shot but I usually try my best to steer clear of them. 

I hated a mess.

"I could dress up as a waitress and fill up his water or something. Meaning Romano, if I come up to you with a jug of water, politely decline. From my experience, ricin works fast and we don't need that much of it to kill him but just in case I'll keep a knife handy." 

Jaekyung started grinning like a little child.

"This is so much fun, I haven't had the chance to use ricin in ages."

For the next few hours, we went over any information that Jamie had acquired including more about who Fawker was, the layout of the restaurant they were meeting in and anything else Jamie deemed important, which was everything in his eyes. 

When we finally finished for the day, I was aching to get my body moving. 

I asked Romano to show me a place where I could train my body and he happily obliged, leading me to the biggest indoor gym I had ever seen.

Finally, I thought, some alone time with just me and my knives.

---

okay byeee