Hila
The message from the Monk had fixed it.
A couple of snaps, of Moshe, sitting, staring blankly into space while a hand rested on his shoulder, a hand with a syringe, had alarmed her sufficiently.
Moving quickly, the assassin had gotten on the job, trying to find a weak link. For the Monk had been clear. Get into Lucien Delano’s newest Club.
It was common knowledge that it was to be the grandest, the largest, and the most exotic of all his Clubs, even more, magnificent than the one in the city, his flagship Gentlemen’s Club, even more, flamboyant than the second one he was planning to open in a few months, away from the city, in another district.
And since the Delano Mob was behind this, everyone knew that money would be thrown about with no hesitation. For the Mafia Don was one who believed in the Best.
Rumours had it that oil-rich sheikhs, tycoons from across the world as well as politicians, cutting across political parties, all of them were vying to visit and stay at this place, this Utopia which was touted to be the ultimate answer to any man’s desires.
With so many people vying to pre-book the twenty rooms and enjoy the stay with their women, engaging in the most dissolute activities, the Fight Club in the basement which was supposed to excite the imagination of the basest, to say nothing of the BDSM rooms, fitted out with the most horrifying equipment, all, all to be enjoyed for an exorbitant fee. Including the services of the best wh*res, you could buy. Of course, the food which was served at his restaurants was also of the finest quality. What more could a rich man desire?
The security had been beefed up multiple times for Lucien Delano was no fool. Having been at the receiving end of countless attacks on his family, he was bound to be more alert. From all her research, she also discovered that he kept his wife and daughters away from the places he had created. Hila grimaced. The women in his family were to remain lily white and pure, while he had no hesitation to get women to service the kinky, often sick, and degrading desires of his customers.
What a bl*ody fraud.
*
She had heard of his wife, the beautiful and sexy, much younger woman he kept away from this place as far as he could, jealously. Hila had researched and found out about the stormy way he had wed her. Hell, she even knew that the man had raped his wife the night before their marriage!
But now, he had sired seven children from the very same woman. Hila shook her head in disbelief. That must be one very dumb woman, she thought as she began to pad her chest and her waist to match up to the unconscious woman at her feet.
Hila was very thorough.
*
For starters, she set about fixing her hair. Using the tools which she had brought along, she altered her hair first, dying it the deep auburn shade that the woman had been sporting.
She had agreed to the Monk’s seemingly outrageous proposal, cold-blooded and desperate as she was, to free her brother from the clutches of the man.
But unbeknown to the crafty priest, she had already laid out her plans. She was going to spirit Moshe away after this final job. She had already prepared the groundwork; and had chosen the new identity she would assume when she left this place. Their new passports were ready. A new identity for her and her broken brother, a new beginning, she thought bitterly.
But only after getting through this final job.
For a minute, as she gazed into the mirror and saw Ava’s emerald eyes, for she had fitted the green contact lenses, stared back at her, blank and unseeing.
*
There had been a time when she had been caught; when she had been a young operative and had been trapped. The men who had captured her had raped her.
She had shut out the ugly, hurtful memories for a long time but at some odd moments, weak, vulnerable times, those memories surfaced, mocking her.
Rough, sweaty groping hands, the beatings, the way the men had invaded her body, their lewd comments and laughter. When she had managed to get away, she had been in hospital for months. When she walked out, she knew that it would take a miracle for her to conceive.
Hila had never slept with a man since that time.
*
She shook her head, forcing the unpleasant memories back into the box in her mind, where she kept them under lock and key.
No matter, she told herself briskly, as she added the final touches of mascara and then stepped back to check if she looked like the woman on the floor.
After this, she, Hila the dreaded assassin, was going to vanish.
*
The good thing was that none of the real Ava’s mates were also employed at the new Club, so Hila would have a certain degree of freedom to work. From all accounts, the woman who lay in a heap, trussed up and dead to the world, at her feet, had not had much of a social life, preferring to stay in contact with just an old friend named Lauren Warden. The woman in question was away and only kept in touch infrequently.
Keeping the picture of the unconscious woman before her, she skilfully altered her appearance. After a little more than three hours, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.
Ava Morrison looked back at her from the mirror.
With a satisfied grunt, she thought, Ava Morrison had been reborn.
*
Ria
After leaving the office where she had been chatting with Danielle, she went looking for the Capo. Not in a very blatant way, she didn’t want him to think she was desperate! A girl had her self-esteem, after all!
But she so longed to see him, to feel his shard mouth on hers. She shivered and smiled to herself as she hurried outside and crossed the patio to the temporary living areas of Philippe and the other two Capos.
The large white cottages had been set a little apart, just as the staff quarters in the first Club had similar buildings. But these houses were large, more spacious, Philippe had assured her.
Bayard fell in step with her and she beamed at him. Josh Bayard was also one of her of Pappa’s men, closer in age to her and one of the few people she could actually have a conversation with. He was an unlikely-looking addition to the Mob with his cornflower blue eyes and yellow hair, but when he smiled, displaying his even white teeth, it made everyone feel reassured, surmised Ria. The young man, nerd that he was, peered at her over his glasses, grinning shyly, turning a darker shade as she beamed at him, her dimples on display.
He was one of Lucien Delano’s tech wizards though looking at him, anyone would mistake him for a college student.
‘Hey!’ he said cheerfully, just a little hesitant, a hand clutching a laptop and the other shoved in his trouser pocket.
“Hey yourself,’ grinned Ria, not noticing the way the young man’s eyes widened in admiration.
*
As they turned the corner of the lawns, the buildings housing the staff came into view. Construction work had obviously been going on a frenzied pace and the houses for the staff, Lucien’s top men, had already been completed.