THE DON'S FAVOURITE SIN

Ava "b***h!" Noah snarled and spat on the ground like the word disgusted him. "I told you how this was going to end. You just refused to f**k**g listen." My head coiled back against the cold floor, the iron taste of blood was thick in my mouth and I couldn't see much— just a blur of his silhouette through the red dripping into my eyes. The bullet still burned inside me, somewhere below my ribs, but honestly? I couldn't even feel it anymore. Maybe that was worse. He towered over me with a look on his face— one that screamed satisfaction. I coughed a little, while trying to smile. But failed woefully. "Go to hell," I rasped, my voice was barely louder than a whisper. He crouched down beside me, brushing the blood on my cheek with the tip of his gun— the same gun whose bullet was inside of me. "You first," he smirked. Then stood up and pointed the gun at me, the last thing I saw before my eyes went closed was his smiling face. It was ironic, really— me the hunter was now the prey. Noah had come to my house to go over some documents the organization had assigned to us. I had recently moved out of DU1— the sprawling apartment complex on the city outskirts where every agent was given a room. it had always been my dream to own a place of my own and just last week, that dream became my reality. "Ava, what do you think about the rumor going around the organization?" Noah had asked me while staring at me, his eyes were intense, too intense I looked up from the document I was reading, "what rumor? I'm no longer at DU1, so you'll have to be specific." "One of us defected. An order has been given to kill that person." "What?" I blinked, stunned. "Who would dare go against the organization after everything we have seen it do?" The organization— Ron Din— was a name whispered in the underworld with fear. Assassinations, espionage, covert sniper missions— they had their hands in everything. My name is Ava, just Ava without any last name or whatsoever, I was told that, there was a name tag on me when the sisters in the orphanage found me in front of the door. On the back of the name tag was the number "2", after much deliberations, the sisters at the orphanage concluded that it was my age and i grew up celebrating the very day i was abandoned as my birthday. Ron Din took me from the orphanage when I was twelve and what followed was a decade of brutal training, some of the kids who came in with me didn't survive. But I did and didn't just survive— I dominated. I became the best in shooting, combat and seduction if the mission called for it- there was no mission i went for and failed, my reputation grew far and wide in the underworld and it earned me a nickname-THE DOLLFACE KILLER. I loved it and the fear that came with it. Noah was silent, he stared at me like he was holding something back. "Is it someone we know?" I asked with suspicion in my voice. His body language was all wrong. And then I saw his hand reach slowly for the gun tucked behind him— I moved faster— my foot connected with his chest and he flew across the room slamming into the wall. I let out a bitter laugh as I connected everything together"After everything I've done for the organization, this is how they repay me? Labeling me a traitor and trying to kill me?" Anger surged through me as I I strode towards him, grabbing him by the throat and I slammed him against the wall. "Who gave the order?" I hissed tightening my grip on his throat. "There's evidence Ava!" he said choking. "Daniel brought the evidence himself. I froze. Daniel? it couldn't be. Not my Daniel. The man I was supposed to marry. The same man who had slept with me in my bed last night. "What do you mean, Daniel? Which Daniel?, the dread I felt was betrayed by the trembling in my voice. "Yes, your fiance," Noah growled, his tone thick with disdain. "Why are you acting surprised? The evidence is irrefutable. Your dealings with the Morbi squad have been exposed." I let go of Noah's neck. Everything fell silent. My fiance. Evidence. Morbi squad. None of it made sense, how could Daniel do this to me. The realization felt like a stab in the chest. And then, Noah raised his gun and pointed it at me. "Any last words before you go?" I turned and faced him, my body trembled not from fear but from anger— I wasn't going down like this— Colt M1911— I had carried one for years. I knew that gun almost better than I knew myself. My eyes tracked the way his fingers gripped the gun. His shoulder was tensed ready to move. He would need maybe two seconds to draw, flick the safety and pull the trigger. Two seconds. That was all I had. I caught the hesitation. A flicker of doubt. Maybe over confidence. Maybe he thought I'd freeze. That was a big mistake from his side. I moved— low and fast. My shoulder slammed onto his chest as I twisted into him, and with one sharp strike to his wrist, the gun flew from his hand. It hit the floor with a hard clutter and skidded across the tiles, stopping by the chair. There was no time to think, I dove towards the gun before he got up and rose immediately with the gun in my hands pointing at him— my breath was ragged and my heart thundered in my ears but my arm stayed steady. "Now," my voice was rough. "Who needs to say their last words?" He didn't even blink, instead he smiled— it was deliberate and infuriating. *It doesn't matter, Maya," he said, like we were talking about the weather. "Half the DU1 agents are in position outside, I knew that it won't be easy to kill you, so I brought help. Whether you'll walk here alive? That depends on your ability" he smirked. "But you Noah... you were supposed to be my friend," I said my breathe caught in my throat. "You know damn well I'm not the spy." He laughed. It wasn't just a chuckle. A full, loud, mean laugh— like what I said was the biggest joke of the year. "Friend?" he sneered. "Please" He stepped closer, not minding the gun pointed at him, "why the hell would I be friends with someone who f****d their way up the ladder?" My heart grew tight. I was stunned. "You know that's not true, Nathan," my voice was low. I'd never crossed that line. Sure. I'd flirted when necessary— played the game like everyone else. But s*x? No. That line I never crossed. Not even when things got rough. He looked me dead in the eyes like he was peeling my skin off with his stare. "The only truth that matters," he said, his voice low and poisonous, "is that the second you're out of the picture, my status in Ron Din changes, I take your place and stop being your shadow. My grip on the gun strengtened. Everything in me screamed 'shoot him'. But I didn't. I gave him a cocky smike "That depends" my voice was cold and deliberate, "on if you can. I moved very fast. In one breathless motion, I turned and ran— straight for the window. Without any hesitation, I threw myself through the glass. Blood sprayed across my back as the jagged edges bit into my skin. I hit the ground hard, rolled, hissed— but I got up. I had jumped from worse before and I lived. Above me Noah's voice exploded like a bomb "FIND HER!" The alley was already swimming with DU1 agents— they all round to where I had dropped — guess my little stunt caught their attention and they closed in my direction. But I didn't move. I held on the Colt M1911 tightly and straightened slowly, blood was dripping down my arms and my muscles screamed from pains but my eyes locked at the agent whose back was turned towards me. I wasn't going to die today. Not like this. Not for a lie. And definitely not by Nathan's hand.