The Playboy's Assassin

The Memorial: Vanessa.

I stared at the shimmering water of the Savannah River. The same river that changed the course of my life eleven years ago. I could still remember it vividly. It was stamped at the back of my mind. How I had begged to go see the whale that day. Father had refused because the weather had been a bit cloudy, but he had caved after a while. If only I hadn’t been so stubborn.

“As we light our lanterns, let us hold a minute of silence for the souls we lost on this day,” the mayor said. He was a sticky old man with fat cheeks and a bulging belly, dressed in a suit that was a bit too small for him. One by one, they lit their lanterns.

“This is for you Mom and Dad. You’ll always live on in my heart.” I lit my lantern and held it for a moment before letting go. Somehow, letting go of that lantern filled me with more grief. I missed them so much. What I wouldn’t give to have them here with me again. My eyes watered and a year slipped down my cheek. I wiped it off and sniffed. I watched the lantern soar higher and higher and thought of how disappointed they’d be if they saw me now. I swallowed and breathed out. I was being ridiculous. They were dead. Their corpses were probably just a pile of bones and dust now. There was not much they could feel about anything.

I heard the crunching of a twig behind me and Enrique appeared at my side. “That’s quite a light show.” He was holding a flask and by the smell of it, it was alcohol. And he’d been drinking for a while. He had disappeared all day. I hadn’t even seen him at the fair.

“Want some? I got it from the hotel. It’s bourbon and a good one too. “ He tipped the flask towards me and I shook my head.

“No, thanks. I’m a lightweight. A little sip of that and I’d be unrecognizable.”

He snorted. “Another surprise. You look like the hard liquor type.” He took a sip from the flask. “Now I know why you ordered flavoured water at the bar the night we met.”

He snorted again and his shoulders shook. “Who orders flavoured water at a bar?”

I glanced at him. The lights danced on his face giving his hair a sleek sheen. His eyes were focused on me, his lips curved in a sloppy smile. They looked soft and inviting. Heat pooled in my belly. “You’re drunk.”

He took a deep breath and released it. “I’m not drunk. Just a little tipsy. I never get drunk.”

I couldn’t see his eyes clearly in the dark but he was steady on his feet and wasn’t slurring his words. So I supposed he wasn’t drunk. “That’s exactly what a drunk person would say.”

“Would I be able to do this if I was drunk?” He pulled me closer in one swift move and placed his leg in between mine. He dipped his head and kissed me. He tasted of alcohol and smelled of male. I could feel his hardness on my stomach and a coil tightened in me.

“I need you,” he whispered as he pulled away and nibbled my ear. “I want you so bad right now. Let’s go back to the hotel.”

His hot breath fanned my cheek and I shuddered. I never got this jittery feelings around a guy. Never ever. But now it was present in me. My pulse jumped every time he touched me and the thought of feeling him in me again filled me with a heady desire. Like a beacon, he was pulling me in. “Okay.”

The minute we made it to the room, we didn’t waste time in stripping each others clothes off. He grabbed me like a starved man and I was his last meal. His lips were hard against mine. He was rough and it drove me mad. I returned his energy with equal fervour. When he bent me over the bed and held my arms behind me, I got even more aroused.

He plunged into me without warning and I moaned at the feeling of fullness. His hips moved rapidly as he pumped into me and panted. I bit down on the bedsheets to keep from screaming my lungs out. My eyes rolled as I moaned out incoherent words into the bedsheets. With a shudder, I climaxed and he wasn’t that far behind. Hot liquid flowed down my leg as he pulled out of me. I turned and lied on the bed, panting as I tried to catch my breath.

“That was something,” I said. I had had s*x before. Lots of time even but this was different. Every time I had had s*x, it had been a way to distract myself from my thoughts and to release tension. It hadn’t mattered who it was with or where. But this with him felt like more than a distraction. I could admit it to myself now.

He flopped down beside me and pulled me to his chest. I always thought Enrique was more of a f**k 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. He had been getting a b*****b from a random girl when I’d tried to kill him but his need for body contact after s*x said otherwise. He always wanted to cuddle even though I always pulled away every time he tried. I didn’t this time though. This time, I placed my head on his chest and let him hold me. It was comforting listening to his heart beating rapidly.

“My grandpa died,” he said softly. “Apparently, he’s been dead for weeks and I never knew about it. His lawyer said he’d been trying to contact me but couldn’t get through to me.”

“I’m sorry.” I felt bad for him. As someone who knew the loss of a loved one all too well, I knew how he must be feeling. The guilt of not being there. The shocking realization that you were never going to see them again. As someone who’d caused grief for a lot of people, I knew it how it felt.

“You shouldn’t be. It’s not your fault he’s dead. He was the closest thing I ever had to a father. Lord knows my father was shitty at parenting.” He sighed heavily. “I have to be in Italy for the reading of his will. I don’t think he would’ve left me anything. We had a falling out some years ago and he hasn’t spoken to me since then. I just have to be there so it wouldn’t seem like I didn’t care.”

I chewed on my lower lip. If he was going to Italy, that meant he would be out of danger for a while. He didn’t need to hang around me for protection anymore. If he was wise, he’d stay in Italy and just stay under the radar for a couple of months. The target on his back would be gone by then. I didn’t know why that made me feel a twinge of disappointment.

“I checked the flight schedule and we can get a flight from Charlotte to Italy.” He picked a lock of my hair and twirled it in his finger.

“We?”

“Yeah. I’m assuming you’re coming with me. You can’t leave me alone, Scarlett. They’d probably find me the second we split up.”

“You do know I’m not like a cloak protecting you from some kind of tracking device.”

“Of course but you’re my best chance at survival.”

I sighed and got off him. This had been fun but it was time to cut loose. I needed to leave in country and figure out what to do with my life. “You need me to survive. Once you’re in Italy, you just need to keep a low profile and let a couple of months pass. They’ll give up trying to catch you and just return the money paid for your life.”

“I thought you had the money.”

“I was bluffing. I don’t get paid until I finish the job.”

His brows pulled together. “So you weren’t paid three million dollars to kill me?”

I snickered. “You’re not the president, Enrique. I don’t know how much was paid for your life.”

“Wow! And here I thought I could fake my death and we could split the money.” He smiled and I pushed his chest.

“By the way, my name’s not Scarlett. It’s Vanessa.” I figured we were friends enough now for him to know my real name.

“Vanessa. Nice name.” He smirked. “At least now I don’t have to think you’re some kind of pornstar every time I say your name. Although, you aren’t that far from a pornstar.” He winked and I thumped him on the head.

“i***t,” I muttered.

ENRIQUE.

The sound of a ringing phone jolted me awake. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on my pants lying on the floor. I removed my hand from under Vanessa and picked up the pant. It still felt weird to call her that in my head. But I guessed Vanessa suited her much better than Scarlett. I took out my phone from my pocket. It was Diego calling.

“Hello?” I picked the call and got off the bed. I looked back at Vanessa to see if she stirred but she was fast asleep. I moved to the window.

“Thank God, Enrique. What the hell? How can you send me that kind of message and then not pick my calls. I’ve sent you several texts. Where are you?”

“I’m in White Whale Island in South Carolina.”

“White Whale? What are you doing there? I thought you said you were kidn*pped. How do you still have a phone?”

“Yeah, about that, I wasn’t technically kidn*pped. More like a mutual agreement to follow her.”

“Enrique!” he growled. “I’ve had the entire police department searching for you thinking that you were lying in a ditch somewhere but you were following a woman?”

“No, it’s not like that. Remember that woman we saw on TV? The one who killed some Duke?”

“Scarlett Red,” he spat her name with venom in his voice. I glanced at her tranquil face. She didn’t look so much like an assassin now.

“Yeah. She’s the one that tried to kill me but she didn’t and now there are assassins after me. I figured if you can arrest her then she can tell us who is trying to kill me.”

“Wait. You are telling me Scarlett Red, the most notorious assassin the world has ever seen is with you and you’re still alive?”

“Well I have been keeping her quite busy.” I smirked.

He must’ve have sensed it in my voice or maybe he just knew me too well. “What? No! You f****d her?”

“Several times and let me tell you, she is a dynamite in bed. The things she can do with her tongue–“

“Aww! Gross. I don’t want to hear it. Seriously, Enrique. There is a limit to things. You’ve been f*****g the woman that tried to kill you? Are you insane?”

“Relax. Don’t get your panties in a twist. She was my only chance out of New York alive and she’s pretty hot too so it’s a win-win situation for me.” I sighed. “My grandpa is dead, Diego. I have to go back to Italy and I need you to nab her before then. I can’t take her back there with me.”

“My hands are tied, Enrique. You’re out of my jurisdiction. I can’t make an arrest without proof that she’s the one I’m looking for.”

“I’m proof enough. She tried to kill me. She took my grandfather’s watch. That’s attempted murder and robbery.”

“I need physical proof, Enrique. I’ve already had everyone out on a wild goose chase looking for you. How do you think I’m going to look like when I tell them you’re with an assassin and copulating with her too. I need you to get me something real that I can work with. A picture of her, a video, an audio, anything that ties her to those murders.”

I trailed my fingers on the window seat. “How the hell am I supposed to do that? I wasn’t there when she murdered people.”

“Well if you can get her to confess that’ll be good enough. Since you and her are so close, she must’ve let something slip.” I traced an inscription in the wood. She’s been pretty tight on information about herself. There’s no way she would let slip details about murders she’d committed. Unless…I could hear the wheels turning in my head.

“I know what to do.”

“Good. Be careful, Enrique. She might’ve been nice to you so far but she’s a very dangerous woman. If she catches on to what you’re trying to do, you’re dead meat.”

“Relax, she won’t find out.” I have her eating out of my palm. Who knew the way to tame her was just to make her feel good. I dropped my phone on the window seat and watched her sleep. I had to admit she wasn’t that bad. She may have tried to kill me a few times and punched me in the face a couple of times but she wasn’t as dangerous as Diego was making her out to be. She was great in bed but she also made me feel a certain kind of peace I hadn’t felt with anyone else. In another lifetime, we might be friends and might even end up in a relationship but I needed her to get me out of this mess and this was the only way.

I turned and picked up my phone and my gaze caught the inscription I’d been tracing earlier. It was covered by paint and you wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t know it was there. V.H. I frowned. I’d seen those initials before. I tried to think of where I’d seen them and it clicked. At the library. V.H. Vanessa Hastings.

They must’ve stayed in this room eleven years ago. I traced it and I felt a connection to her. Vanessa. The little girl’s face appeared in my mind. Her toothy smile, freckled face, red hair. I frowned. Wait a second. I turned and faced Vanessa. She had tiny freckles on her face too. They were barely visible on her skin but they were there. And I remembered the tiny gap in her teeth when she smiled.

“My name’s not Scarlett. It’s Vanessa.” It all made sense now. Her name kept echoing in my head. She always signed her name in initials. She was the survivor in the accident. Her parents had died on this island. I saw the little girl’s smiling face and Vanessa’s cold one. She must’ve gone through a lot to turn from that to this. Suddenly, she didn’t seem so bad anymore. What kind of evil person travels miles to come to a fair every year just so she could honour her parents death. They weren’t even buried on this island but this was where she came to every time. She was just a girl. Holy s**t! I’ve been f*****g a girl.

I always did think she looked young even with that permanent poker face. She was just nineteen. Well twenty if her birthday had already passed but still I was older than her by nine years. She was only a kid who’d gone through a lot to survive and I was trying to send her to jail just to save my own skin. I didn’t even know her story. She surely couldn’t have chosen killing people as a profession on a whim.

She whimpered and turned in her sleep. She must be having a bad dream again. I went to her and hugged her from behind. She quietened down after that. I turned her to face me and held her tighter. She was all alone in this world. At least I had a family no matter how dysfunctional they were but she had no one. I stroked her hair and she sighed.

“I’m so sorry, Vanessa.”