Chapter 73: Codename: Aconite Chapter Twenty-Three

After I clean up the state of my dining room, I go to the bathroom to freshen up and put my shorts back on. When I return to the dining room I find Silas standing there with his pants up but still undone. I quirk an eyebrow as I look at him inquisitively.

He notices me and smirks. “You made a mess of my pants. I don’t suppose you have anything for me to wear, do you?”

I snort in amusement. “I think I can wrangle something up for you.”

I go into my spare room and rummage through the drawers until I find a black pair of men’s sweatpants. Castro has been known to leave a few items of clothing every now and then, and I’ve indulged him because I’m sure it’s not fun lounging around in suits. Castro and Silas are similar in size, so hopefully these will fit.

I make my way back to the dining room and toss him the pants which he catches with ease. “These should fit. If not, too bad,” I say, folding my arms over my chest and now starting to feel the ache in my shoulder, not to mention my face.

Silas examines the pants curiously. “Is there going to be a jealous boyfriend wanting my head on a pike?” he asks as he unbuttons his corset vest, removing it and laying it over the table.

“Maybe. But I’m sure you can handle it,” I tease.

He looks displeased by my answer, but nevertheless, he drops his pants and briefs to the floor, letting his dick hang free and exposed to my leering eyes like a piece of salami hanging in a deli window. He keeps his eyes fixed on me while he slips out of his Oxfords and pants and slips into the sweatpants, pulling them up slowly causing the waistband to slowly graze his dick until it disappears from sight. I take a deep breath and do my best to settle the erotic thoughts racing through my mind while I ignore the ravenous throbbing in my pussy.

As he goes to take a seat, I grab the knife I have tucked into the back of my shorts and hurl it at him, aiming for his crotch. He lets out a surprised yelp as the knife impales the baggy inner seam of his sweatpants to the chair.

He stares at the knife in shock and then looks up at me. “You nearly cut my dick off! Are you crazy?!” he yells.

“I wasn’t aiming for your dick.”

“You could have missed! Would you stop throwing knives at me?! Where did you even get this one?” he asks in bewildered annoyance as he glances back to see the dagger I threw earlier, still embedded in the wall.

“I grabbed it while I was in the bathroom,” I shrug.

“How many weapons do you have stashed in this place?” he asks incredulously.

“As many as I need. Now why are you here and how did you know who I was?” I ask as he tries to pull the knife from the chair, but it’s stuck in there pretty good.

“Check the folder on the table,” he says.

My eyebrows dip as I look over at the table. Sure enough, there’s a large manilla envelope on it. Hadn’t even noticed it before, but my mind was elsewhere. I walk over, open the folder, and feel my blood turn to ice in my veins as I read through pages and pages of information on me: my name, my parent’s names, dates of birth, and addresses. There are even surveillance pictures of me. Some taken here in Greece, others when I was on jobs in other countries. This dossier is identical to the one I had on Silas.

I look over at him in astonishment, “How did you get this?”

“A man by the name of Raul Miarganda hired me the other month to kill you. Told me about how you conned him out of his life savings, and he wanted revenge. He paid me in cash up front and gave me the dossier. It mentioned I could find you at a café in Moscow that you like to visit,” he says, finally pulling the knife from the chair, freeing himself. He gets to his feet and walks closer to me. “I didn’t know you were an assassin,” he says, laying the knife on the table in front of me.

“Then how did you know I was Aconite?” I ask suspiciously.

“After you so kindly left me for dead, I went to some Russian contacts for medical help. I also asked them to test my blood for poison since I was very certain you drugged me with something. They tested for everything and found traces of aconitum in my bloodstream. Aconite isn’t a commonly used poison, but I did know of an assassin who uses that particular poison and I put two and two together.”

“Just how did you survive that?” I ask accusingly, placing my hand on my hip, “There’s no cure for aconite poisoning, even treatment is complicated and rarely successful. Yet here you stand not only looking incredibly healthy but able to fuck like it too.”

He smirks. “Firstly, thank you for the compliment on my fucking abilities. Secondly, if it makes you feel any better I’m not as healthy as I look. I’m still recovering from your little stunt, but I was fortunate to have a doctor who caught it fast and gave me a good treatment plan. A lot of people in the underworld use him for emergencies.”

I clench my molars and feel a tick in my jaw. “Would his name be Vsevolod by any chance?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“So you’ve heard of him,” he says unsurprised.

“Of course, I have. He’s my uncle. Well, step-uncle, technically,” I say reluctantly. Blood or no blood, he’s been my Uncle all my life and he’s family either way.

He blinks in surprise and then bursts out laughing. “Now that explains it.”

“Explains what?” I ask in irritation.

“When he discovered the aconite he was extremely amused, and when I told him what had happened, he found it even funnier. Now I understand why. Luck must have really been on my side for me to end up being treated by someone who knew your tricks,” he says leaning in as he speaks.

I shove him away in annoyance, but that just makes him smile wider. “Trust that I’ll be giving my uncle an earful soon. He knew the guy who tried to kill me was alive and he said nothing. Didn’t even give me a heads up or anything,” I snap in anger. How could he do that to me?! I’m his niece!

“Could be the fact I spent the entire time telling him that you were the most pulchritudinous woman I’d ever seen and that if I was going to die, being killed by such a beauty would be the perfect way to go,” he says casually, but with a tone of sincerity that has me stopping short.

I stare at him in silence, unsure what to say or do, and as the silence grows between us I feel a sickening flutter in my stomach that makes me want to run from the room. There’s something about this man. The things he says, the way he says them and the way he looks at me that has all my common sense fading into thin air.