Chapter 4

I saw her again tonight. 

The little girl and the older man with greying hair. 

He had her hand held in his and they were glancing at what looked like a massive ocean. 

Is my mind trying to tell me something? 

I have been frequently having this dream and every time it happens, I get these crazy unbearable headaches that don't go away even after medications. 

Tiredly, I sigh throwing the warm fluffy duvet away from my body, and stroll to my bathroom bare feet. 

This marks the fourth week since I saw him and it's torture to my mind. It's like I left a huge piece of me with him. 

The longing I feel in my chest is agonizing. The warmth and the manly scent of his body are deeply engraved in my mind, and I can't wipe them off. I want to be in the strength of his arms again. 

My beautiful stranger. 

I wish I knew his name or at least I should have kept his number. If I had figured out that I won't be staying in what I called home anymore, I wouldn't have tossed that paper away. 

Now I lost everything. 

As soon as I left his house, Ernesto froze all my accounts and left me without a penny. Right now I'm leaching on Tara because I can't even go to work. The idiot has a target on my head that's why I haven't left this house either. I'm just not ready to die. 

Ernesto is up to a major thing and I can feel it. I have been pushing myself so hard to remember my past and it's damaging instead of giving me a glimpse of what my life was like before whatever happened to me. 

I don't have other options. I need to know everything so I will be aware of what I'm fighting against. I just can't face them blindly without knowledge of what I'm fighting for. 

Fuck! This is tense. 

Liam is not telling me anything either, and I feel like I'm in this deep darkness that I can't help myself out. Memories from my childhood are completely erased from my mind and it's frustrating. 

Obviously though, something happened to me and Ernesto has everything to do with it. 

"Hey, if you are alive in there, breakfast is ready" My crazy friend yells violently banging on my door like she does every morning to wake me up. 

Tara is like a God sent. I try not to compare her to Liam but I just can't help it. I trust her more than I trust my brother and that is questionable. 

"I'm coming" I loudly retort, quickly grabbing my toothbrush to start with my morning routine. 

My hair is still intact from last night and the large T-shirt I'm wearing is sufficient for the day, since I'm staying indoors, again. 

This life is so boring. 

I need to get out there and kick some ass. Maybe I should follow Tara on her mission today. 

*

"So, have you heard anything?" I question, scooping some eggs as I expectantly stare at my long-time partner. 

We trained together and I have known her for the last nine years. 

My uncle chose her as my roommate and later my partner after a year of vigorous training. Tara and I immediately clicked and became best friends. 

When I ran away, She insistedd on following me, and lucky for her or us, she knows people everywhere so getting jobs is not a hustle. 

"Yes, your supposed last kill will be here today to kill you," she bluntly says, spotting a playful smirk on her face. One thing about my friend is that she doesn't have a filter. Tara says everything exactly the way they are or how she feels about something. 

"Why sent the man I was to kill, Isn't that suspicious? Does this man know he is on Ernesto's target list too? " 

"Your uncle knows you won't be going down without a fight, he is expecting you two to end each other. He has wanted Alessio dead for a long time and tonight he plans to kill two birds with one stone. His men will be around in case one of you survives" 

"Wait did you just say, Alessio? You don't mean Alessio Fernandez do you?" I yell, dropping my fork on the plate in shock. 

Alessio is not a man to joke with. Fuck! Everyone in the game knows better than to mess with him. 

He is a man who means business and I don't know why my uncle wants him gone. Probably he is covetous of the man. 

I have never met Alessio but his name speaks enough for him, and that is in great volumes. 

"Yes, honey. So if I were you, I would start bracing myself for death or come up with ideas on how you will put a bullet in him before he could," 

I think I just lost my appetite. 

I have had a few days of peace. The good days when I had to forget that I owned a gun. If Alessio is truly coming for me, I'm sure it's gonna be tough even if I decide to run. 

They say the man can hack anything and everything. He will probably find my location without breaking a sweat. 

I find It impressive though, a man who is good with devices and also his gun is undoubtedly hot. 

Can he beat my alluring stranger though? 

I wonder where I will start looking for that man. He is messing up with my head and It's making me hopeless. 

"Why didn't Liam warn me?" I wonder when I remember my supposed brother. He still works for our uncle and if Tara can dig out this important information, he surely is aware of it. 

Doesn't he care for me even a little bit? 

"No offense Nicole but since I knew this brother of yours, I think something is off with him" Tara gives me a disapproving look and I quickly look away, I just don't know what to think. 

Maybe I'm so desperate to have a family and it's making me act blind to the obvious things. 

*

I take off the shirt I'm wearing and change into a white Nike hoodie. If I'm dying tonight, at least wearing white may give me additional points to reach heaven. 

The big sweater reaches my knees and it's able to completely hide the holsters I set on both my thighs. 

Each strap holds two silver daggers. 

The blades, the silver necklace that I never take off, and the two guns, I found myself possessing them and I believe they are special. 

They are the only things that I found myself with from my past. 

My memory fails to show me how I got them but I believe they are mine due to the initials of my name that are engraved on the items. 

NV in black italics

I still wonder why that man allowed me to keep them. 

I add my two loaded guns to each strap before taking out the hair tie to let my hair loose. 

If I die today, I have to make sure the man follows me shortly after. If it's my last it should be worth my death. With a positive resolve, I  saunter to the living room with slow watchful steps to welcome my guest.

"Tara? " I call when the sounds of utensils banging against each other in the kitchen reach my ears. We just ate not so long ago and I'm not surprised that she is already hungry. 

This bitch eats a lot. Lucky enough for her, she is not already fat. The advantage of consistently working out. 

"I just burnt my toast while chatting with Seb" she whines pointing at the smoky black bread using her phone-occupied hand. 

"Who is Seb? " I wonder as I carefully sit on a dining chair. 

Fuck,! Any moment from now I might be dead meat. I hope my years of training and experience finally pay me off. 

"The man I fucked yesterday, I told you right?" she asks, glancing at me with an unbelievable expression. My mind has been greatly occupied of late and since she talks a lot, I tend to zone out most of the time. 

"Oh! My bad" I playfully knock on my head and she rolls her brown eyes at me, knowing I don't pay attention to her long boring stories. 

"Anyway, how are you getting ready to meet your maker, or the devil considering how many sins you have committed"

" First, I have been clean for almost a month and I'm sure it wiped out my previous mistakes, and second, you are here to back me up"

I'm not hopeful in this situation but I have to trust my impulse. Today I'm gonna test my capability in this game of kill or be killed. 

I know Alessio can easily take us down with a snap of his fingers. We are trained, yes, we are one of the best female assassins, yes. But we don't stand against the power that man holds. 

To add to that, he always has an army of men around him. 

Another option is running, but if I do that now I will spend the rest of my life doing that, and where is the freedom in that? 

My uncle taught us to always face our ordeals head-on because running is for weaklings. And just maybe, what if I manage to take him down tonight? 

"Okay, I will get in position, make me proud okay?" Tara dumps the pan together with the bread and leaves the kitchen. 

With a last glance at the clock on the opposite wall from me, I get on my feet with a dreadful heart. 

It's time. 

My palms are sweaty. 

I'm about to meet the devil in person and my possible end. I feel stupid right now for thinking I could face Alessio in a fight but I wait for him anyway. 

Tightly, I grip my gun in my left hand and a dagger in my right. In case a bullet misses its target, my blade never fails me. Taking in deep breaths, I try hard to mask my fear but I'm sure it's obvious with how my body is convulsing. 

I do some silly stretches to steady my weak limbs but who am I kidding, I'm terrified to death. 

Anyone will be frightened too, knowing that any minute from now you will perhaps be dead is not something to fool with. 

I close my eyes in concentration when I hear his slow footsteps. 

Alessio is a brave man. 

He is a man that won't come banging on the doors, he will approach you as a guest and after you hand him a glass of water or a cup of coffee, he will thank you with a bullet wound, possibly on your forehead. 

Luckily for me, I knew he was coming so I won't be caught off-guard. 

Before he even asks for the water, he will be dead, and lucky Nicole will live. 

Easy right? 

As every other guest would do, Alessio doesn't knock and rather invites himself in. 

I hear him locking the door behind him and with a last silent prayer, I hastily turn around, my gun aligned between his eyes while my dagger stuck above my head.

Ask me why I can't move. 

My target also has his gun pointed at me and he can't proceed either. 

It's like time just stopped and the only thing we could do is stare at each other. Black eyes versus grey. 

Alessio Fernandez versus Nicole Valdez. 

With my sweaty palms and the overwhelming emotions erupting in every inch of my body, I just realized that I failed my last mission.