Chapter 2
Present day
"Jemmy!" Alan's brusque tone brought me back to reality. I shook my head to clear the remnants of my past from my mind.
"Did you drift off again?" Alan inquired, though I assumed it was a rhetorical question and choose not to respond to his question.
It had been twelve years, yet the recollection of that fateful day still plagued me and lingered within me.
"Is the target currently situated in his office?" I asked, exhaling softly in an attempt to maintain a composed facade.
"Yes, do you recall the plan?" Alan queried through the earpiece, to which I nodded. I was aware that he could see me from his vantage point, and I was inclined to conserve my words.
Our target for the day was the minister of health. His crime? He embezzled funds designated for a small town clinic and siphoned them towards establishing a brothel! He inaugurated a brothel while numerous children died due to lack of proper care.
I had been tailing him for months, and he seemed to believe that my acceptance of a few dates implied affection. He was a malevolent individual, and I was determined to end him and ensure that no harm befell anyone else on his account.
"Anastasia, there you are!" He exclaimed as soon as I emerged, calling my alias. As if being controlled, an automatic smile graced my countenance. He drew nearer, enveloping me in a warm embrace before bestowing a peck on my cheek. I struggled to conceal my revulsion by giving a childlike pout.
"Hey darling, I brought wine for us to celebrate," I murmured in a seductive tone, eliciting a broad grin from him.
"Indeed!" the old man quipped.
"You have precisely twenty minutes to conclude this," Alan's voice cut through the earpiece discreetly affixed to my right ear.
"Understood," I murmured back, ensuring only he could hear my response through the discreet device concealed on me.
"Darling, I require fifteen million..."
"On one condition," he interjected, prompting an internal eye roll on my part.
"And what might that be?" I inquired, feeling both irritated by the time wasted and taken aback by his lack of curiosity regarding the substantial sum I required.
I had to conclude what I was doing swiftly. Regardless of his terms, his demise was inevitable in the near future.
A hint of regret flickered across my countenance at the notion of his young son and blameless wife he would be abandoning, yet I promptly dismissed it and adopted a self-satisfied expression.
"I desire you, my love," he whispered longingly and reached out to grasp me which caused me to flinch a little in response.
My mind was drifted back to twelve years ago where I saw twelve year old me screaming desperately for help.
"Is that all?", I queried with a sinful smile and ran my hand skilfully across his chest. He relaxed a bit and closed his eyes to take it all in.
"Five more minutes", Alan muttered to me again.
"Yeah!" I breathed out as I continued with my sweet torture.
"Yes!" he groaned
"I have forwarded you my account details; therefore, kindly do the needful as I attend to my affairs," I remarked with a cocky grin. As he made an attempt to reach for me, I skillfully evaded his grasp. It was imperative for the transaction to be swiftly completed, as my tolerance was wearing thin.
My phone emitted a notification, indicating a completed transaction. I smirked mischievously at him and pondered my next course of action.
"Two more minutes! Jem, kill him already! Boss will be so mad if he finds out you're not done yet. He gave you thirty minutes and you've…” Alan droned on but I tuned him out as I concentrated on the creep before me. I swiftly brought out my dagger while he stayed distracted and plunged it in his throat, having his blood splatter all over me. Crap!
I rushed into the restroom and discarded the blood stained rubber face mask I had on and changed into a dungaree. I stuffed the incriminating costume into my satchel before dashing out of the office. As I exited the building, I donned on some dark shades before entering the car that awaited me.
I would have preferred to use my black motorcycle but Jon, the boss said it was such a bad idea. He insisted I got driven and had a personal driver for this particular mission
Seated in the back seat, memories flooded my mind. I reminisced on how Alan had taken me in as his little sister. I had fallen terribly ill after the whole rape incident and ended up in the hospital where I was diagnosed with life threatening diseases which the doctor said I was too little to handle and as if that wasn't enough punishment, I got pregnant after the rape but couldn't deliver the baby which cost me a lot of pain and excess loss of blood. I nearly lost my life but both Jon and Alan did not allow it as they became my constant shadow until I got well, their care unwavering.
The doctors said the baby died in my womb and performing any surgery would be too big a risk to take seeing as I was just barely thirteen at the time.
I went into a stage of depression and had so many suicidal thoughts almost all the time. It was a really dark time for me
Recovery was difficult and I only survived on fluids for months but I recovered eventually.
Jon taught me everything I knew ranging from how to use a gun, a dagger, be merciless and to my credit, I was always ready to learn. Alan was a great help too.
I snapped out of my thoughts when a rustling sound filled the device in my ear.
"Well done sweetheart, boss is going to be so proud of you" Alan commended through the earpiece.
"Are you home already?" I asked since he was In the same building as I when I killed the minister of health.
"Uh duh, what was I supposed to do? Not use the opportunity to ride your precious motorcycle? By the way who names their motorbike vixen?" he asked.
"You did what? You're so dead when I get home" I said feigning anger.
Though I felt a little bit of it since vixen is mine and mine only to ride on.
"Uhm... Yes dad! I'm coming!" he called out pretending to be summoned by the boss to which I smiled even though he couldn’t see me. Alan and I preferred to refer to Jon as 'boss' when on a mission for security purposes But when at the comfort of our zones, we call him dad and Jon respectively. Although, Jon was now a retired Mafia boss and Alan had sort of taken over, Jon still told us our next moves. He was a boss through and through and he was going to be so until he swore in his successor.
Alan's job in any mission was to hack into the target's computer system, camera or anything that related to programing since he was the computer genius while I on the other hand killed mercilessly and ruthlessly. Besides that, Jon put me in charge of the accounts of the gang since every very penny spent must be accounted for.
"Where to, Miss?", the chauffeur asked me.
"Take me to boss's house", I said not looking up from my phone. I was busy making the transfer of the money to the clinic the minister ripped them from. Since joining the mafia, I somehow convinced them to stop buying people and selling their body parts to hospitals since there was hardly any profit from it and instead, encouraged them to scout for people who took advantage of the less privileged.
It was wrong nonetheless but it felt more noble than just killing.
"Miss!" the chauffeur greeted as he opened the door for me. I hadn’t realized we had gotten home.
"Yeah whatever" I replied nonchalantly, still not paying him any heed.
I was engulfed in a big hug by Alan as I got out of the car and I hugged him back. I only had a soft spot for him and Jon.
"Not now, Al. I need to shred this face and clothes and you need to make me another face", I said trying to pull it off from my bag.
"Hold it right there Miss Valerian", a commanding voice interrupted. I turned around in search of the source of the voice, and resting against the silver railings of the stairs was a person I'd recognize even in my sleep.
"Oh I'm so scared Mr Ross", I deadpanned and we both burst out laughing.
"When you're done, I need you to come to the Emergency Room", he demanded with all trace of laughter gone.
Whenever he mentioned the emergency room, then it was really urgent. I groaned internally and felt Alan pat me softly on my back as he collected my stuff to attend to them.
I walked into the ER and took my position and a few minutes later, Alan joined us and quietly handed me my new face and gloves. I silently mouthed a thank you and began eating the French toast he had brought along for me.
"I am sending you to Rome for your next mission and you will stay in the house of Jay Black", Jon said lazily from across the room, leaving me to stare bewilderedly at him with my mouth agape.
Rome?