—I need to hide the body, they can't find it until after the auction or everything will be lost. —he said to me as he took out his phone and dialed a number. —I need you to take care of something urgent where I am, yes, in the cellar, I had a little difficulty. I will wait. —and he hung up.

— And now?

—Now, we wait.

Ten minutes later the cellar door opened and voices were heard. Christian made me hide one more time, and he hid with me.

— Where's the damn bird?

—Guys, back here. —he said to them as we left our hiding place. —All yours. —he said, pulling my hand towards the exit.

Christian held my hand tightly as we left the club for our car. I could feel the tension in his grip. And I could tell by his expression that he was upset. We returned to our hotel room and as soon as we entered the room Christian took off his jacket, frustrated, throwing it towards the sofa.

— Shit! —he said as he pulled out his gun and threw it on the sofa as well.

— What's going on?

—That things didn't work out as I thought, now how are we going to know where that damn auction is going to be? —he said as he walked through the room, passing his hands through his hair.

I put up with the urge to laugh.

I approached him and took him by the hands. Christian stopped and stared at me.

— Do you want me to help you relax? —I said to him, smiling as I pulled him towards the sofa.

—I'll only be able to relax when I know where the damn auction is going to be.

—Well, let's sit around and wait for a message. —I said to him, pushing him lightly and making him sit down.

And I quickly sat on him. Let's see how long it takes to react to my words. Christian quickly stared at me.

—What do you mean, wait for them to tell us? What was the last thing you did with the phone?

—Hack one of the ones that was there, so we just have to wait for them to tell us where the auction is going to be.

— Whose phone did you hack into?

—I have no idea, I just access to the first one, I thought I wouldn't have much time to do it. But there's a way to find out. —I said to him, getting up and looking for Christian's laptop. —I'm going to need your phone. —I asked him while I opened the laptop.

I sat next to him and when Christian held out the phone to me I began to work my magic. Christian sat next to me and watched me patiently. But this job was something I had never had to do before, and it would be complicated. Half an hour later Christian had had enough of watching me enter codes and was lying back on the couch, eyes closed. I shook my head. Just a few more steps and...

— Voila! —I told him after half an hour.

Christian opened his eyes and approached the laptop.

—Elena Smirnova. —he read aloud as he carefully examined the photo with the information I was showing him. — I guess I don't need to know how you accessed the CIA database?

—Nope. —I said as I returned the phone. —I need a relaxing shower.

—I'll come with you right now. I need to check this out.

I walked into the room, undressed and went into the shower.

Twenty minutes later I stood in front of the mirror, put on my glasses, wrapped myself in a towel and came out of the bathroom, I was tired of waiting for Christian. I found him where I had left him. I leaned against the door frame as I stared at him. He lifted his eyes and stared at me squinting. And then he looked again at the computer screen. And he smiled at me.

—It could work. —I heard him murmur before he put the laptop aside and approached where I was.

— What could work? —I asked him as I folded my arms.

Christian smiled at me more broadly as he came in front of me.

— You know what reminds me of seeing you like that with a towel and arms folded? —he said to me as he stood in front of me.

—No. —I said to him even though I imagined where his thoughts were going at that moment.

—New York.

—I imagined it. So, what did you say would work.

—A plan I've started to put together since I saw you lying there. —he said to me as he tangled a lock of hair in his hand. —On second thought, I don't think it'll work.

— Why not?

—Because it would only work if you could speak fluent Russian. —I smiled at him.

— Почему вы думаете, что я не говорю?2— I told him with my best Russian accent.

2: What makes you think I don't speak it?

It's been a while since I've practiced it, but it turned out pretty well.

—At every moment you surprise me more and more Ana, I didn't know you spoke Russian.

—And some French. —I confessed while Christian looked at me surprised.

—But we should still make some changes with you. —he said to me while he took me by the arm and made me go for a walk.

— Will you tell me what you're planning? —I said to him when I had finished turning around.

—Forget it, I don't think it's a good idea, Ana, it's dangerous. —he shook his head.

—How can I know it's dangerous if you don't tell me? —I asked him smiling.

—It's a bad idea, it occurred to me that since you look like Elena's sister we could infiltrate the auction instead of her and see how everything went.

— Are you serious? —I asked incredulously.

—Forget it, it's very dangerous.

— Опасный и захватывающий3 —I said to him as I approached the laptop.

3: Dangerous and exciting.

And I stared at the photo that was open. Caterina Smirnova. And he was right. The resemblance was incredible. Just change the color and texture of the hair.

—It could work. —I told him while Christian was staring at me.

— God, you've gone crazy! No Ana, it was just an idea. I'm not going to put you in danger. —I looked at him with an eyebrow. —At least not in this kind of danger.

—I think it would be easier to infiltrate us. I like Caterina and you like my sexy and handsome bodyguard. —Christian smiled at the comment of sexy and handsome.

He came up to me and smiled at me.

—You're right, it would make everything much easier, but that's not up to me, I'd have to talk it over with my superiors, who I doubt would agree to put a civilian in between.

—Make the call. —I said to him, holding up the phone.

Christian took the phone from my hands and shook his head.

—What am I getting myself into? —he said very softly before leaving my side.

—I heard you. —I shouted at him to let him know.

Christian turned briefly smiling at me before heading for the bedroom.

And I wasn't going to interrupt him, I knew he'd need some privacy for what he was going to talk about. So I stood there reading the whole profile they had on Caterina Smirnova. Christian went back to where I was 15 minutes later. I put the laptop aside and stood near him. He was very serious and stared at me.

—I am not very happy with this decision Ana. —he said to me as he took my face in his hands, his gaze getting lost in mine. —My superiors have accepted that you pretend to be Elena's sister, but they have set certain conditions that you are going to have to follow and comply with to the letter.

— What conditions?

—Dress in something comfortable, we don't have much time and I want to show you at least the basics and the most important. —he said to me, kissing me on the forehead and pushing me into the bedroom.

I was intrigued. What were those conditions they demanded of me? I dressed in the most comfortable clothes I could find and went out in search of Christian.

—The most difficult thing would be to correct the color of the eyes. —I said to him thoughtfully when I arrived at his side.

—You'll only need a few contact lenses to correct it.

—I remind you that I already wear glasses and without them I can't see anything. —I said frustrated.

—We correct the color with lenses, and you will wear your normal glasses, nobody knows much about Caterina, so they don't have to know that she wears glasses.

He took me by the hand and we went out to the underground parking lot and from there to some place that Christian didn't want to tell me.

— Will you tell me where we're going?

—I'm gonna teach you how to shoot with a gun. —he said to me while I looked at him in disbelief. —You'll need to learn it if you need to.

Christian was driving somewhere in Chicago. Somewhere where he could show me how to shoot a gun at this time of night. And to my surprise he parked in front of a police station.

We got out of the car and holding my hand he led me to the reception desk at the police station.

— Good night, how can I help you?

Christian took out his wallet and opened it showing him the ID inside.

—Yes, I'm aware of that. —he picked up the phone and dialed a number. —Lionel, they're here... yes, they'll be right down. —he hung up the phone. —Take the elevator to the basement, Lionel is waiting for you.

—Thank you. —Christian kept his identification and we headed for the elevator.

—I thought you weren't allowed to show your identity to anyone. —I said to him once in the elevator.

— And who says I showed it to him? —Christian pressed the button in the basement and the doors closed.

—No? So what did you show him?

Christian took out his wallet and held it out for me. I opened it and I could see the I.D. he had just shown him. It was from the Marines, and it didn't have his real name, it said Ryan Chasting. I returned his wallet.

—You are a man of many hidden talents, Mr. Chasting. —I said smiling at him.

—You have no idea. —he whispered in my ear as the doors opened in the basement.

And right in front of us a uniform appeared.

—Good evening Mr. Chasting, I'm Lionel, if you'll follow me I'll take you to the practice field. —he say as he turned around.

We got out of the elevator and started following him until we got to the range where we were going to practice shooting.

— Which model do you want to train?

—I think a P228 will be fine. —Christian replied.

— Will you be practicing too?

—No. —and Lionel left us alone to get the gun.

— A P228? —I asked curiously.

—Yes, it's a weapon similar to mine, it's the one used by the police.

At that moment Lionel came back and handed Christian a gun along with a magazine.

—Let's go. —he said to me as he drove me down a corridor where there were several boxes each separated by a panel. —Here. —he told me as we stopped at one larger than the others.

Christian took some glasses and put them on me followed by earmuffs.

—This is a Sig Sauer P228. —then the lights of the shooting station light on. —And that's the target you'll have to shoot. —he said to me as he pointed to a target about five meters from where I was. —But first I'm going to show you how it works. This is the safety. —he said, pointing to a piece on the left side of the gun. —The first thing is to unlock it. —he said to me as he pressed it. —Then you have to put the magazine. —he said to me as he put the magazine in the gun. — Then you have to rake the gun, and it's done by moving this backwards, this way. —Christian held the gun by the top and threw it back. — Do you understand?

—Yes. —I said as I looked at everything he was doing without missing a single detail.

—Let's see if you understand. —and in a quick movement he took out the charger and put the lock back on, leaving it as it had been given to him.

He put it on the counter together with the magazine.

—Take the gun and do everything I just showed you.