The Kiss and The Kill

They ran through aisles of broken toys, past gutted machines that once made children happy. Leo led the way, surprisingly agile for a man who looked like he got winded opening emails.

At a junction of corridors, Leo stopped suddenly. "Wait." He pulled a small device from his pocket and threw it down the left hallway. It exploded with a bang and a flash of light.

Sofia blinked spots from her eyes. "What was that?"

Leo grinned behind his mask. "Party favor."

The shouts from their pursuers confirmed the distraction worked.

They burst through a side door into freezing night air. A beat-up motorcycle waited in the shadows.

Leo tossed Sofia a helmet. "Hop on, detective. Next stop, not getting murdered."

The engine roared to life just as the factory door burst open behind them. Bullets whizzed past as Leo peeled out, nearly tipping the bike before regaining control.

Sofia held on tight as they weaved through back alleys. "You drive like a maniac!"

Leo laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

They skidded onto a main road, blending with traffic. After several turns, Leo pulled into an underground parking garage and killed the engine.

Silence.

Leo took off his helmet. His hair stuck up in all directions. "So. That was fun."

Sofia got off the bike, legs shaky. "Who were they?"

Leo shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Kuznetsov men. Rival gang. Disgruntled toy factory enthusiasts." He patted the motorcycle. "Either way, we lost them."

Sofia took out the flash drive. "This better be worth it."

Leo's expression turned uncharacteristically serious. "It is. And it's also a death sentence if they catch you with it." He reached into his jacket and handed her another flash drive, this one shaped like a tiny cat. "Decoy. Password is 'password.' Because some people really are that stupid."

Sofia pocketed both drives. "You're not what I expected."

Leo grinned. "Taller? More handsome? Better smelling?" He kicked the bike stand down. "I get that a lot."

A car entered the garage, headlights sweeping over them.

Leo sighed. "And that's my cue. Places to be, people to annoy." He put his helmet back on. "Oh, and detective?"

Sofia waited.

Leo's grin was visible even through the visor. "Try not to die before the sequel."

The motorcycle roared away, leaving Sofia alone in the concrete cavern. The flash drives weighed heavy in her pocket. The factory's darkness clung to her clothes.

Somewhere in the city, Dmitry Kuznetsov was waiting.

And now, thanks to a hacker with a death wish, she had the tools to destroy him.

The garage exit beckoned. The night stretched on.

Sofia started walking.

The penthouse elevator doors opened to a wall of bulletproof glass and the Moscow skyline spread out like a glittering wound. Sofia Ivanova stepped out with her service weapon drawn, her breath coming fast and sharp. The marble floors reflected her silhouette back at her… a distorted version of herself, all angles and rage.

Music played softly somewhere. Piano. Chopin.

She followed the sound through the cavernous living room, past abstract paintings that cost more than her yearly salary, past a fireplace large enough to burn bodies in. The scent of expensive whiskey and something darker, something metallic, hung in the air.

Dmitry Kuznetsov stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back to her, a glass in one hand. He didn't turn.

"I wondered how long it would take you to come," he said.

Sofia didn't lower her gun. "You killed him."

Dmitry took a slow sip of his drink. "Did I?"

"Don't play games." Her finger hovered over the trigger. "They found Andrei Volkov in a dumpster this morning. His fingers were gone. His teeth were pulled. And his chest…" She stopped. Swallowed. "Your signature."

Dmitry turned then. The city lights haloed his frame, casting his face in shadow. He was dressed in black, as always, his sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms corded with muscle and the faint, pale scars of a life lived violently.

"Andrei was a traitor," he said simply.

Sofia's grip on the gun tightened. "He was nineteen."

Dmitry's expression didn't change. "Old enough to know better."

She fired.

The bullet shattered the window behind him. A spiderweb of cracks exploded across the glass, but it didn't break. Safety laminate. Of course.

Dmitry didn't flinch. He set his glass down on the windowsill with deliberate calm. "Feel better?"

Sofia strode forward and slammed the butt of her gun into his ribs. He grunted but didn't stagger. She hit him again, this time across the jaw. His head snapped to the side, blood blooming at the corner of his mouth.

He licked it away. Smiled. "Harder."

She swung again. He caught her wrist mid-air, twisting until the gun clattered to the floor. Then he yanked her forward, so close she could see the flecks of gold in his ice-blue eyes, could feel his breath hot against her lips.

"Is this what you wanted?" he murmured. "To put your hands on me?"

She spat in his face.

He didn't wipe it away. Just stared at her, his chest rising and falling as fast as hers. Then he kissed her.

It wasn't gentle. It wasn't sweet. It was a clash of teeth and tongue, a battle neither wanted to lose. Sofia shoved against his chest, but he only deepened the kiss, one hand tangling in her hair, the other gripping her hip hard enough to bruise.

For one terrible, glorious moment, she kissed him back.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders. His taste—whiskey and something darker, something uniquely him—flooded her senses. The heat of his body, the strength of his hands, the way he groaned against her mouth like she was air and he was drowning…

She wrenched away, gasping. "I hate you."

Dmitry's lips were swollen. His pupils were blown wide. "Liar."

She slapped him. The sound cracked through the penthouse like a gunshot.

He grabbed her again, spinning her around and pinning her against the cracked window. The city stretched out below them, a thousand lights, a thousand eyes. His body pressed against hers, every hard line of him fitting against her like they were made for this. For violence. For hunger.

"You think I don't know?" he growled in her ear. "You think I don't see the way you look at me when you think I won't notice?"