When dawn broke Amelia was up. She still couldn't believe her brother had shown up on her door step with two strangers looking for safety. She thought it would be strange to have house guests but it was kinda nice to have dinner with them last night. She sighed as she pulled herself out of bed.
She pulled her long and slightly curls light red hair into a high pony tail and turned to her closet. She found a pair of running shorts and a tank top. She changed quickly and left the house as quietly as possible. She had patted down a trail back behind her house. It took her about an hour to run it and end up out on the main road. The sun was warm but the breeze was chilly. It was going to be a cool day.
Whens he got back to the house it was almost six. She sighed and jumped in the shower quickly. Before getting ready she started the coffee maker. She went on to get ready. She dried her hair, curled it a bit and gt dressed. She choose a pair of red capris that stopped just above her ankles. She pulled on a flowy white shirt. She sighed at her refection in the mirror. When she started her makeup she could hear the coffee starting to fall into the pot. She hurried the mascara and lightly placed black eyeliner. She was pleased with how she looked so she went to eat.
Once she was full she mixed some pancake batter for her guests. She placed the bowl in the fridge, pulled out a large pan and place it on the stove. She left some extra coffee grinds out.
"Illya make your friends some pancakes..." She started a note. "I'll be at the shop till 6. There are a few broken tiles on the roof if you feel up to some work." She smiled. "Love Amelia... xoxo."
After she left the note on the counter she walked to the door and pulled on her T-strap white sandals. She locked the door behind her and got into her yellow and white 1956 Nash Metropolitan car. As she drove she thought about her house guests. She smiled knowing Gaby would be good for Illya. She seems calm and able to hold her own. Then her mind wondered to the American spy. She caught herself blushing when she thought about how broad his shoulders were and his perfectly parted hair. She had to shake her head to get her mind from wondering further.
She pulled into the parking spot behind her shop and unlocked the door. She turned all the lights on and started to set up her cash register. Once she had finished setting the displays up she unlocked the front door and flipped the closed sign to open.
The day did not go by fast. It was a slow Wednesday. She sold a few bouquets to some young gentle men and a few older women. She was kind and kept a small conversation with each costumer. She had time to balance her books and get in an early order for next week. The rest of the day she sat behind the small glass counter on a stool reading. She had been reading The Barracks by John McGahern. It was a sad love story that interested Amelia.
She had gotten caught up in reading that she hadn't realized someone had walked in. She didn't even hear the bell over the door. "Amelia?" The voice scared her and she looked up with a jump.
"Hernando." She laughed a bit. "Hi, sorry I was..." She shook her head and put the book down.
"How are you Amelia?" he ignored her excuse. She smiled kindly even thought she didn't want to talk to him.
"I'm fine. Buying your wife some flowers?" She asked and Hernando shrugged.
"No I came to see if you were free tonight." He smiled as he leaned on the counter with a cheesy smile.
"No I'm not. I'm never free Hernando." She said pushing back on her feet to get some distance between them. Hernando was a married man but had a lasting crush on Amelia. Everyday he would come in, flirt and try to get a date out of her. She would deny him, he would be visibly angry but but flowers anyways.
"You know I don't understand. We would be great together you know." He said his cheesy and annoying Spanish accent got on her nerves. She huffed and sat back on her stool.
"You are married, and even if you weren't I wouldn't go out with you." She huffed. "You are not my type." She used that every time he asked her out. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go home so buy something or get out." She said looking at the clock next to her. It was almost five.
"One of these days Amelia..." he said grabbing a very big bouquet and placing it on the counter. "You'll be mine." He said again with that horrible smile that actually scared her. She didn't say anything. She just took his money and he walked out.
Once he had walked down the street she ran to lock the front door. She flipped the close sign over and started turning off the lights. She watered all the flowers before she left quickly. As she drove home the fear that Hernando caused her faded slowly. Somehow having three spies staying with her made her feel safer.
When she pulled into her drive she sighed. She grabbed the bouquet of lilies she took from the shop and headed for the door. When she walked in it was quiet. She shrugged and headed into the kitchen and found a vase for the lilies. She put some water in it and then placed it on the counter. She than walked into the back yard and noticed Gaby sitting in gazebo on the other end of the yard.
"Hi." Amelia started as she walked up to her.
"Hi." Gaby smiled back. "You have the most amazing back yard. I mean it's beautiful." She said.
"Thank you. Did it myself." She smiled as she took a seat next to her on the lounge chairs.
"Well again it's amazing." Gaby smiled. "And you have a great book collection. I hope you don't mind I borrowed some."
"No go ahead." Amelia smiled. "Where is Illya?" She asked.
"I've had the pleaser of watching them both try and retile your roof." Gaby said pointing to the roof. Illya stood on one end with a white muscle shirt that was covered in dark red dust. She smirked a bit as she watched Gaby gaze at her brother. Than her eyes found Napoleon on the other end.
"Oh my..." Amelia gasped a bit when she saw his finely toned and muscular arms that came from his sculpted back. He had lost his shirt completely and she could see his abs from the other end of the yard. "Okay how is that fair." Amelia huffed and Gaby laughed.
"I know." Gaby said with a nod lowering her big sunglasses.
Amelia and Gaby watched the two men work for a minute. Than she noticed that Napoleon had bandages. One on his forearm, one on his left side and the other on his chest. "What happened?" She asked.
"The mission that went south, he took a few bullets while he and Illya tried to escape." Gaby explained.
Amelia watched as Solo bent over and placed a row of tiles down. That's when she saw the white bandages start to turn red. She slowly got up and walked over to the middle of the yard so they could see her. She looked up and placed a hand over her forehead to block the bright sun.
"Mr. Solo, I appreciate the work you are doing but I think you should stop." She called out to them. Both men stopped their work and looked down at her. Napoleon smiled at her.
"And why is that?" He asked.
"Your bleeding." She said pointing to him. She watched as he looked down and Illya came to his side quickly. "Come down please." She asked nicely.
They both did as they were told and Napoleon started to take his bandages off. "Amelia you have a first aid kit?" Illya asked as the three of them walked back inside.
"Yes, I got this... You can finish the roof." She smirked at her brother who huffed at her. "What I've stitched you enough times to be pretty good at it." She said and he left mumbling to himself. "Sit." She said pointing to a chair at the table. She jogged to the bathroom and got the first aid kit. Before she started she looked back into the yard to see Gaby watching Illya closely as he worked on the roof.
Amelia smiled a bit. She turned to Napoleon and sat next to him. He sat still as she started to restitch his wounds. She noticed he had a few other scars. Bullet and knife wounds no doubt. She sighed a bit as she cut the exciting stitches off. His skin was warm and it shined because of the layer of sweat. Her mind wondered a bit as she started with his arm. She wanted to touch more of him. A man this attractive, you'd have to be dead not to want to jump him. Her mind was running and he was watching her.
"Something on your mind?" He asked quietly.
"What? No." She shook her head as she cleaned the wounds first.
"Okay..." he nodded. "So besides from having to stitch me, how was your day?" he asked and she stopped her work and looked up at him with shock and a smile. "What?" He was confused.
"Nothing, it's just... It's been a while since someone has asked me that." She smiled and then went back to work.
"Oh..." He felt a bit bad about that. "Well in my opinion a woman like you should have someone ask her that everyday." He added. 'Why did I just say that?' He thought. He watched as she blushed and smiled.
"It was long." She sighed. "Slow." She nodded and he hummed acknowledging her. He watched as she opened her mouth to say something else but then stopped.
"What is it?" he asked.
She was surprised he saw that. She sighed. "Its just this guy..." His eyebrows raised a bit. "He comes by everyday and I've told him multiple times that I'm not interested." She shrugged. "It never used to bother me, but today he said something that just caught me off guard is all." She tried to brush past it.
"What did he say?" Solo asked very curious.
"One of these days Amelia, you'll be mine." She mocked his accent a bit as she looked down at Solo's wound she was stitching.
"Should I have a word with this man?" Solo said and Amelia giggled and looked up.
"No, it's fine. He's harmless..." She paused. "I think." She shrugged.
"Just don't let him intimidate you." Solo continued.
"Kinda hard." She smirked. "He is bigger than I am..."
"I hope this isn't to rude of me but the Red Peril out there is much bigger than you." He shrugged. "And you don't seem to be intimidated by him."
"He is my brother." She laughed a bit as she patched the second bullet wound. She slid the chair closer to him so she could restitch the larger wound on his chest. She had to take a second before leaning in. She tried to keep her mind from wondering, and she almost missed what he said next.
"Do I intimidate you?" He asked looking down at her slightly. He had notice her take a second before touching him.
Amelia had to stop when she heard him ask. She looked up and realized how close she was to him. "I haven't decided yet." She answered honestly. She gave him a bit of a smile and went back to her work. It was quiet for a bit as she finished up. "There." She said patching up his chest wound. "You should put a shirt on." She smiled. "Because this is a lot to take in one sitting." She said waving her hand over his bare chest. Napoleon smirked and stood with a nod.
The rest of the night was quiet. Illya finished the roof and Solo helped him clean up the mess. Amelia made them all dinner again and they all had pleasant conversations. Illya found himself watching Amelia talk to Napoleon and Gaby. She looked so happy to have others to talk to. She was already a pretty happy person but she was lonely. He had some how influenced her to be a very sheltered and careful person. She didn't make friends easily and she enjoyed her time alone.
Napoleon enjoyed how lovely Amelia was. She always had a smile and an interesting story, most of them relating to Paris or flowers. He didn't mind the simple talk. He had gotten so used to his world of covert operations and so much secrecy that he had forgotten how to just enjoy a day.
Gaby liked having another women around. For some reason she felt more relaxed without Napoleon and Illya alway on edge. It had been a while since she could lay back and just read. She saw why Illya was so protective over her. She was quiet and a bit naive. Not a bad kind of naive but a kind that made her sweet and nothing like the other women Gaby knew. She felt as if she could open up to her that just the kind of person Amelia seemed to be.
Gaby was first to say goodnight. "I have to go shopping tomorrow after I close the shop, if you would like to join me." Amelia smiled kindly as Gaby stood. "Madrid has some really nice clothing." She shrugged.
"I'd like that." Gaby smiled.
"Is that a smart idea?" Illya asked. "We are in hiding, going shopping might draw some attention."
"Two women clothes shopping has never gotten attention in this town before." Amelia added. "No one knows you are here. It's fine." She smiled and nodded at Gaby. She smiled back and headed off to her room.
"Where your bracelet tomorrow." Illya ordered and looked at Amelia a bit angrily. They had all been sitting in the living room having some coffee and tea enjoying the conversations.
"Why?" Amelia asked taking a sip of her tea.
"Because I said so." Illya huffed. Solo shot him a look, he needed to ease up a bit.
"Illya it's just shopping. I can see the concern if we were headlining a two women show." She laughed a bit and Solo smirked.
"If you two are going to be out I need to know where you are at all times." He said sitting forward and looking at her.
"Gaby is more then capable of taking care of herself Peril." Solo added trying to calm him.
"I am aware of this." He huffed. "But what about you? What if someone sees you with an agent. What will you do? Throw flowers at them." He was getting annoyed and just wanted her to be safe.
"Illya, I may not be a secret agent but I can protect myself." She was a bit hurt by his jab. "And how will anyone know she is an agent. She doesn't exactly look like one or wear a sign." She sighed. "I've followed your instructions when I moved here." She said putting her cup down. "I don't attract attention, No one knows my last name, and no one would ever believe the girl who owns the flower shop has a brother who is in the KGB." She sighed almost looking sad about her secret life.
"Good." Illya nodded not noticing her sadness. "Where the bracelet." He ordered again.
"Okay." She finally gave up. She stood and walked into the kitchen with her cup. She placed it in the sink and yawned a bit. "Goodnight Mr Solo." She smiled kindly at Solo.
"Goodnight." He smiled back with a nod.
"Ne vous inquiétez pas borther." She walked over to Illya and placed her hand on his cheek gently. Solo smiled at her kind and soft voice as she told her brother not to worry. Illya said nothing and just sighed. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead then walked away.
Solo waited until he heard her door close before he said anything. "You should ease up a bit." He said quietly.
"What?" Ilya whispered angrily already annoyed by Solo's tone.
"When you speak to her, you aren't very brotherly." He added with a smirk.
"How I talk to my sister is none of your business Cowboy." he huffed.
"All I'm saying is she has molded her life around being your safe house, so some trust and appreciation might help." Solo shrugged.
"You think I've ruined her life some how?" Illya snapped quickly to the assumption.
"That isn't what I said." Solo answered quickly. "You should just put more faith in her. She isn't an idiot. She doesn't need to be watched and followed in order to have a life."
"What makes you think you know what is best." Illya stood. "Do not question my decisions or how I treat my family." He mocked Solo a bit. "Maybe if you had someone to worry and care for you would understand that what I am doing is just to protect her." He said angrily and quickly stormed out and into the hall. He heard the door slam and Napoleon sat quietly.
Amelia stood on the other end of her door listening. She had been both touched and mortified about what Illya had said. She knew what he did was to protect her but it was to protect himself as well. She also didn't understand what he said to Solo. Did he not have a family or anyone important in his life? That thought made her sad. A man like him deserved someone to worry about him. She sighed and thought about going out and apologizing to him for Illya. But she heard him walk up the hallway and close his bedroom door. She sighed and quietly went to bed.