8

"Old habits die hard" a voice says behind me

"Shit!" I curse under my breath

"Athena De Santi long time no see, I looked for you everywhere. But we all know no-one can find you If you don't want to be found." he says sighing.

"Anwar you know better than to look for me." I say looking at the handsome man in front of me.

Anwar Farid. Dark hair, brown skin and that charming smile, very handsome.

We met on a mission in Palestine, I was 20 fresh out of training, he helped me track down an Israeli target. He was part of the The Palestine Liberation Organization, he helped me a lot.But never trust someone too much, life has taught me that.

"Athena, what are you doing in Moscow? I heard Giovanni was looking for his Lost Queen aren't you supposed to be with him?" He said scratching his chin.

He's right Giovanni is looking for me, but I'm not that girl he knew anymore. He's never going to find me.

"We need to go somewhere else this place is too crowded" I told him turning my heel walking to my car. Getting into my black Kia Rio, Anwar stood looking at me.

"Get in Anwar," I told him. He got in and clicked his seatbelt in.

The car started beeping as an indication of a foreign electronic device. Selene installed the system in all my getaway cars including the one in Russia.

"Leave your phone in the bin, I can't risk being tracked" I said, He threw his phone in the nearest bin,

"And the other one too babes," I tell him and he chuckles.

We always have at least two phones on us in case of emergencies, trackers implanted in our skin too. But I deactivated mine years ago.

"You know me so well Athena, Its like we're meant to be" he says throwing the other phone in the bin. He turns around and gets back in the car. I laugh at his comment.

He's always been flirty.

"Deactivate your tracker for a few hours." I tell him

"Where are you taking me Athena?" he looked at me sideways, I ignored him and started the car. We drove in silence for some minutes.

"To one of my safehouses, What are you doing in Moscow Anwar?..." I trail off as I park in the underground parking space.

"How did you find me? And don't even think about lying to me I know you." I pull out my gun to his head, removing the safety, I would never be able to kill him, I love him too much.

I know that but he doesn't.

He puts his arms in the air "I got a tip from the dark web that Regina dell'Ade was in Moscow looking for Sminorv, I don't know who sent me the tip it was untraceable but I immediately staked out GAZHOLDER knowing that Sminorv was there tonight,..... then I saw your beautiful self in disguise leaving the club, I could recognize those legs anywhere." he says smugly looking at my legs.

I scoff, another problem has risen.

Who knows my Identity and exactly where I am? I can't deal with another threat right now.

It couldn't be Giovanni, if he knew he would have been here already, no-one knows my location except Anwar of course, not even Selene knows where I am.

This is not good

"Anwar can I trust you?" I ask him with a firm tone,

He nods "Athena you know you can trust me, I just had to see for myself that you were really alive, I thought you were dead, you just left me with no explanation."

I lower my gun and put it in my thigh garter, "What are you doing in Moscow?" I repeat my first question.

He sighs "I'm here with Calla, we're working on a big target,10 billion for this kill, we couldn't not take offer, I could go on vacation for the rest of my life" he laughed

"Confidential?" I ask

"Yeah, this target is very big so very confidential" he says, I decide to explain to him why I cut off contact with his team. Except for the Arie part of course, no-one can know, not even Anwar.

"Anwar I was kidnapped right after I came back from our mission in Nigeria. After the mission Giovanni broke up with me, he kicked me out," I look up to him blinking back tears.

"Two weeks after I left, I was taken hostage by Leonid Sminorv." he gasps, "He tried to coerce me into killing Gio, but I refused.... he kept me and abused me for about a year or so, then I escaped." I take out my phone from my pocket after it dings.

"Thena I'm so sorry that happened to you, does he know you were taken by Sminov?" he asks.

"No I don't think so, he's very impulsive, if he found out he would kill Leonid you know that." I glance at him before making my way out of the car. "I need to leave Russia, Its not safe for me anymore, I need to lay low for a while." I say looking at Anwar,

Sadness washes his features, "Athena I missed you... so so much" he says moving closer to me.

No, I can't do this, this will just make things more complicated

"Anwar we can't do this, I promised Calla this wouldn't happen again" My voice comes out soft and low.

"Maybe in another life you'll be mine Thena for I am already yours in this one" he says smiling softly at me, I promised his sister to not break his heart and if I do this it will just add to the heartbreak,

Because he knows where my heart belongs, who it belongs to.

My Gio, even if he isn't mine to claim anymore.

"You know I love you but not in that way...You'll always be in my heart" I cup his jaw and leave a small kiss on his cheek.

"Find someone, you deserve to be happy Anwar, I'll make sure to contact you when it's safe, Take care of yourself" I start to tear up

He looks at me and nods, he opens his arms hugging me to his chest, I wrap my arms around his torso, I inhale his smell, reminding me of how much I missed him, how much he reminded me of home, how much he made me feel safe.

"Take care of yourself, I love you soldier" he says

"I love you too soldier, I'll see you" I say wiping the stray tear on my cheek.

He waves and I turn my heel towards the elevator, I press the basement button and when I look over my shoulder, he's gone just like the wind. The elevator ding brings me back to reality.

I enter the elevator and make my way to the safe in my room.

I open the safe and take everything I need, keys to a Cessna 400 a light aircraft that can I can fly, passports, a code to my next hideaway, money, cash, gold and a new identity. I grab the bag and call the cleanup team to make it look like I was never here in the first place.

I drive to the private airfield, my brain racking and thinking of possible suspects who could be after me, I have messed with a lot of people but none of them have the guts to come after me.

No-one messes with me.

I stop the car and fix my wig.

Making sure the bomb is set, I get out of the car and make my way towards the Aircraft. I get in and press the bomb detonator, the car goes in flames as I start up the plane before flying into the dark sky.

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