The Playboy's Assassin

The moon was bright in the night sky painted a light navy blue, the stars were missing tonight. There were too many lights in the city for the beauty of the night to come out. I stepped out of the white limousine, my red heel clad foot out first. Antoine took my glove-clad hand in his immediately I stepped out of the car and brandished his million-dollar smile at me. I pretended to swoon, ignoring the fact that he looked like a constipated fool. “You look beautiful, my dear,” he repeated the same line he’d been giving me since I stepped into his car tonight and I quelled the urge to roll my eyes. Yes, I look beautiful. Move on already. “Thank you, Antoine, you’re such a darling,” I said in a thick Spanish accent and tapped his nose with my red painted finger. Today I was acting as Nicolette, an opera singer and Antoine was a financier and my ticket for the night. I had met him at a coffee shop down on Wall Street and he had been more than happy to share the details of his day with me. It was even more divine when he’d invited me for the show. It wasn’t a coincidence, he’d been analyzed by my team and passed as the best way to get into the theatre unnoticed. Except to him, it was all just a chance encounter and he would be enjoying his show with a beautiful woman on his arm. We took the stairs one at a time and I followed Antoine into the theatre and took my seat beside him in his box. Ironically, I was an opera singer here for an opera show. The theatre was packed full of people tonight. All two thousand seats are occupied. I searched through the occupants of each box till I locked eyes on my target. Bingo! Thomas Bane, the Duke of Edinburgh. A fat man with an equally fat belly, white beard, and a bald head. My target for tonight. The mission: Exterminate him.  He must’ve made quite a number of enemies for someone to pay such a hefty price to kill him.  The nasty old bugger was here with his side dish. Arabella Montague. He whispered something in her ear and she laughed, her perfectly white teeth sparkling under the lights. Arabella was a brunette with big brown eyes and pouty lips painted nude. She was dressed in a white Palazzo jumpsuit, her curly waves bouncing as she moved her head. She was a model, popularly known and loved for her angelic face and her sense of style. I tapped my red lips in contemplation wondering if I could ever pull off that innocent look in white. Red was my favorite color, followed by black and I scarcely wore anything else other than those two colors.   The curtains opened and the show began. The sound of a mournful piano filled the space, the pianist was in the shadows, the only thing visible was his hands moving on the piano. The spotlight changed focus and a fat lady came out dressed in white, her face painted white and cheeks adorned in rouge, beads of pearls arranged on her neck. She opened her thick lips and belted out the chorus, followed by some backup singers hanging in the air with wings attached to their backs. Her whole get-up made her look like the aunt of Casper the ghost to me and her voice sounded like cats screeching. What do I know about opera? Antoine already had tears in his eyes and his handkerchief out, dabbing at his wet cheeks. “She’s so beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes fixated on the woman on stage. Eek. Are we both looking at the same person or is he watching the show from behind a screen? “Yes, she’s so lovely. What a harmonious voice,” I replied sarcastically and he glanced at me briefly, smiled, and turned back to the stage. An hour into the show, drinks were served and I sat up straighter in my seat. A waitress carried a tray with just one drink into the duke’s cabin. I caught the flash of a light coming from above the stage. It wouldn’t be noticeable if one wasn’t expecting it. It blinked once, twice. The waitress upends her tray on the duke, the drink on it splashing down his shirt. His date gasped, her eyes widened and she glared at the waitress. The duke got up and went out of view with his escorts. That was my cue to leave. I turned to Antoine and pouted prettily. “Antoine darling, I need to use the ladies. I’m pressed.” “Okay,” he said and fixed his gaze back on stage. I got out of the seat and set my watch timer. Ten minutes. Sitting next to Antoine throughout the drive over had been hell on wheels, he was so boring, talked too much, and snorted every f*****g time he laughed. It was revolting. Now it was showtime. I walked out of the box and took the stairs. The duke and his escorts moved down from the stairs on the other side of the building with his bodyguards fussing over him. There were six of them with him, two in the front, two beside him, and two behind him in a sort of hexagon formation. In the next two minutes, we’d both meet in the hallway leading to the washrooms. I had this entire building mapped out in my head. Just as planned, we met in the dimly lit hallway and I had exactly five minutes to carry out my mission before we burst into the West wing where the washroom was. Using my hair as cover, I checked for the cameras to see if they were filming. Yep! They were. I so do love a show. I walked briskly up to them and called out. “Excuse me, sir!” They all turned to me and I ran up to them. Pretending to have a hard time running in heels, I tripped just as I moved close to the first bodyguard and fell on him, he caught me immediately. “Thank you, sir,” I said and he smiled. Swiftly, I pulled his gun out of his holster and shot the duke right between the eyes. The bodyguard grabbed my waist, squeezing me tight. Rookie move considering I still held the gun and with eleven more bullets to spare. I shot him in the leg, he shouted and let go of me in reflex. I raised the gun and shot him in the throat. I turned and shot the next guard in the chest, thrice and he slumped. The rest pulled out their guns immediately and aimed at me but I grabbed the guy before he hit the floor and used him as a shield as they fired. They were far apart from each other, making it easy to take them off one by one. I shot the farthest in the leg and he screamed, falling to the floor. I advanced towards them using the dead body as a shield as they kept firing and shot the next one in the shoulder and the chest. The guy on the floor aimed his gun at me and I tried to shoot him but the gun jammed. fuck! I threw the gun at him, hitting him in the eye, and dropped the dead weight. I kicked the gun out of the next guy’s hand and swiftly pulled out the daggers hidden in my garter, slicing his throat, and threw the other dagger at the next guard. It hit him square in the chest and he grabbed it, raising his gun to shoot again. I threw another dagger at him, getting him between the eyes and he fell. The injured guy on the floor tried to pick up another gun and I ran to him, sliding across the floor to kick the gun away from him, bruising my leg in the process. I snapped his neck with a grunt and got off the floor on bruised limbs. Suddenly, someone gasped and I looked up to see Arabella Montague staring at me with wild eyes, her hand over her mouth. “You killed them!” she screamed. Her presence caught me off guard and I froze for a moment. I hate witnesses. I don’t kill women but she’s seen my face and saw what I did. Quickly, I picked up a gun on the floor and pointed it at her. She froze. She stared at me with wild eyes, her lips trembling in fear. I held the gun tighter and took a deep breath. Her brown eyes glinted with unshed tears and she whispered. “Please.” I have to do this. There have to be no witnesses. I pulled the trigger and the gun clicked but didn’t fire. I pulled again and it clicked. Damn it! It’s out of bullets. We both realized this at the same time and she runs, screaming for help. I ran after her and she managed to make it past the threshold of the hallway before I grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back into the hall. “Please, please, please don’t kill me,” she begged with tears running down her face just before I snapped her neck and she fell with a thud. My watch beeped, ten minutes were up and I turned back and stared at the blood and c*****e I created in the hallway. I took a shaky breath and let it out. No Witnesses.