It had been over a week since my confrontation with Robert and I still felt pain in my ribs every time I moved, but I didn't bruise easy thankfully. Lissa hadn't bothered asking questions when I'd arrived at our apartment, she didn't need to though. She knew very well what had happened. In a lot of ways, news spread faster in the organization than in a high school.

I reminded myself to seem calm and collected as I walked onto the campus of the university Dimitri worked at. I reminded myself that normal people don't constantly scan for danger but then again most people don't have to worry about being shot at by someone who knows exactly what they are doing.

I walked to the front desk and tried my best at a friendly smile to the woman with long brown hair. "Can you point me in the direction of Mr. Belikov's room?" the woman gave me a few directions and I nodded a quick thank you before heading that way.

I walked in his room to find him during a break and his nose deep in a western. I noticed several images of Vivienne and his wife on his desk. Some of the images were of all of them smiling, several of her and Vivienne, and then a picture of Vivienne as a baby.

"Do you mind if I interrupt you for a minute?" I asked and slid my hands into my jeans. He looked up and smiled as he saw me.

He put the book down and stood from his chair. "Of course I don't mind. I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been pretty busy." I casually shrugged. Busy waiting on the busted lip and cuts to heal,I couldn't stop the thoughts from coming into my mind. "My friend and I have been looking around for a few things to go in our apartment and have been job searching."

The lie slid off easily and I could remember Rhea, Lissa's mother, telling me time and time again that lying was one of the worse parts of the job. She'd never been a good liar, but it was easy to lie to those who didn't know you.

"What kind of job are you looking for? I could ask around if you'd like." He offered and I simply shrugged.

I thought of the first thing that came to mind and said "We're not going to be here long, so there's really no point. We have a few loose ends to tie up back home."

He nodded and took out his phone, a look crossing his face. "Well, I don't have class for another half hour. Would you like to join me for lunch?"

I fought the urge to immediately say no and realized that this was going to be one of the few times I saw him without Vivienne. Better now than later, I suppose.

"That sounds great." I said and he grabbed his keys off of his desk, along with his duster before we headed off campus.

I stayed quiet for much of the walk but in the back of my mind, I had a million questions running through and I knew that I was being more observant than normal but the last thing I felt like dealing with was one of Robert's eyes on me.

The alley where Jesse and I had our fight caught my eye and I grabbed Dimitri's arm. "How about we walk through here? There's a great little deli on the other side of the building."

He arched an eyebrow at me but followed regardless. I noticed that I still had my arm through his and dropped it at my side and looked up at the very top of the building, pleased to find it empty.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I looked back at him with a questioning look. He looked almost… worried.

I nodded before looking back ahead. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just looking around."

"Are you looking for anything specific? A boyfriend maybe?" he asked and I couldn't help the sound of laughter that escaped me before I could catch it.

I was surprised at my own outburst and tried to collect my emotions. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm not really looking, not with everything I have going on."

"You do that a lot you know." He said and I didn't bother to hide the puzzled look on my face. "You don't show your emotions."

I looked straight ahead and stuffed my hands into my pockets. "I've learned over time that showing emotions is dangerous."

We walked in silence until we nearly got to the edge of the alley way when he spoke. "People often use our emotions against us so we learn to cover them up. After someone's been hurt, they don't know how to trust anyone enough to show who they are anymore."

Someone had used his emotions before and I had no doubts once so ever about which bitch tried to take advantage of his instability after his wife died. A raven haired woman came to mind and my blood began to boil. I'd definitely have to shoot her before going after Victor and Robert.

I had no doubts that with no one left in his will to take her, she would take Vivienne without a second thought and I didn't want to think about the misery that Vivienne would go through with Natasha Ozera.

Her file was perfectly fitting to every abusive step mother in every fucked up fairytale book. Christian, her nephew, had been in her care since his family was murdered and she had supposedly taken him in out of the goodness of her heart. She and Dimitri had been friends for years but according to the files, she and Christian barely knew each other.

We arrived at the deli and ordered our food before sitting down at a booth in the back corner. I looked up from the Dr. Pepper with lemon that I was drinking and into his brown eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

He put one of the chips in his mouth and leaned back in the booth, sitting up a little straighter than normal. "I won't promise an answer." He looked guarded then and I immediately went on the defensive side but kept my poker face in place.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in his eyes and relaxed a little. "I've seen Vivienne at the library a couple of times now and she usually has a woman with black hair with her. I'm guessing it's when you have your night classes."

"Tasha Ozera. She's a close friend of the family." I stared him down because I could hear a part of the story that he wasn't telling me. He smiled then and said "Tasha and I have actually been friends for a long time and had even considered dating but when I met Noleen… I knew it wasn't going to work between Tasha and me. I'm glad we've stayed friends through the years. I mean, I'd have never met Christian and Vivienne would have one less friend in her life."

Well that explains it. Tasha was probably assuming that the closer she got to Vivienne and now with Noleen out of the way, she'd be able to get more intimate with Dimitri. The thought of someone using a five year old to fuck their dad, made me want to shoot her that much more.

"Vivienne adores Christian but I'm not so sure about Tasha. Seems kind of tense there, don't you think?" I asked and he bit his lip, a knowing look on his face. He's not oblivious! Some part of my mind yelled.

He started picking at his sandwich and looked down. "I was hoping it would pass. Vivienne's never really like Tasha and it's pretty easy to see, no matter how hard she tries. I hate leaving her with Tasha so much, but with my job it's kind of hard for me to be home in the afternoon when Vivienne is out of school. I take her with me when Christian and I help out at Max's shop but I know she hates it there."

"Maybe you need to find her a new babysitter. Sticking her with someone she hates is going to make it worse on her than it already is." I took a bit out of my sandwich, letting my point sink in.

He had a frustrated look come across his face as he seemed to be deep in thought. I took a sip of my drink and he looked up then.

"How about you?" he asked and I sucked my drink in a bit too fast. I coughed and tried to catch my breath as I grabbed a few of the napkins. Fuck! I lost my cool at that point. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and he took that as a sign to go on. "If you'd like to, of course. I mean, you said you were looking for a job right? Not to mention, Vivienne adores you."

Shit, shit shit, SHIT! was the only think my mind was able to process. I looked into his brown eyes and saw that he was full of sincerity and I knew that I wouldn't be able to talk myself out of this one. How many assassins babysit? How many assassins get fucked over enough to be offered the job of their assignments' kids?

"That'd be great." I said at last and forced a smile on my face that I knew didn't look forced. My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I quickly scanned the restaurant to see if anyone of any importance had noticed my mishap.

Not one of Robert's watchers in sight. I looked back to Dimitri, who had stood and was placing a few bills on the table which I noticed covered both of our meals and the tip. "I have to get back to my student's but I'll talk to Viv and let you know something soon. I'll see you later." he grabbed his jacket from the booth and walked off with that.

I slouched back in the booth and stood there looking at my drink for a minute and slipped my hands into my pockets. My fingers brushed the cool metal of one of the untraceable bullets and I remembered that one of them… was for him.

***There we go everyone! I hope you are still with me and enjoying the story. Thank you so much for the awesome reviews and have a nice day. Don't forget to R&R!