Author's Note: Again thank you so much for the wonderful reviews and encouragement. This chapter is kinda short and primarily focused on Andy and Amir. Also, it is kind of a set up chapter in a way. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Back to playoff hockey, wine and more writing.
Chapter 6:
Amir dreamed about Germany that night. He hadn't thought about their last mission together for nearly three years as he knew that Andy had made it out alive. She probably hated him, but she had lived. He could not risk her being dragged into the next assignment he had been given. She had been his partner and they had trusted each other implicitly until that night. He still remembered her voice as she pleaded with him not kill her, while her eyes had given him the okay to take the shot. Looking in those blue eyes he loved as he had had to aim just right. It had to be enough of a danger to make it look real, but away from anything that would be truly life threatening. His shot was off because the man urging him to kill her grabbed his arm, and she had taken a gut shot that nearly killed her. He had been dragged away as she fell to the floor, blood oozing from the wound he had inflicted. The men who were long since dead had paid for forcing the decision on him.
He rolled over hoping that the memory of the devestation on her face would disappear if he closed his eyes. She was alive and whole, and she didn't seem to be angry with him. She had seemed genuinely happy and relieved to see him that afternoon. He thought back on the time when she could make him smile by simply seeing him and not the agent he was becoming.
Andy watched Amir adapt a new persona with ease as they found their mark and he made contact. He had turned into a suave and slightly cocky man that felt the world was his for the taking. She stood at the bar and took in the nuance of his smile and the ease of no worries weighing on his shoulders. He looked younger and full of boundless energy. The only thing that told her it was an act were his eyes. The smile didn't reach them. No one would be able to notice unless they had learned the difference from hours of observation.
Two hours later as they were walking back to the apartment dorms, she noticed that Amir had gone extremely quiet. She glanced over before reaching out a hand to stop him. "Are you alright?" she questioned turning to block his path. His quietness was darker than normal for him.
Amir looked into those blue eyes that were filled with concern and realized she was asking because she cared what he was thinking. He searched her eyes for any hint that she was digging for information that wasn't strictly that of a friend. "No." It was honest but didn't give her anything. She continued to look him in the eye with concern that he couldn't look away from as her hand still held his wrist.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Do you want me to leave you alone?"
"No."
She looked startled by the answer and he took that moment to do what he had wanted to do for weeks. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Her hands settled on his biceps as his free hand cupped the back of her head, he searched her eyes for any hint that she didn't want this, and dipped his head to capture her lips. She returned the kiss tentatively at first, then she slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
He pulled back first and could see the unfocused look in her eyes. Her lips were swollen, and her cheek slightly reddened by the stubble of his beard, but she didn't look angry. He hadn't intended on kissing her, but he didn't regret it and she certainly had not pushed him away.
"Stay with me tonight." He said it like a command but knew she would tell him no if that was what she wanted.
She followed him to his room and they sat up against his headboard talking most of the night. He told her about his sister and how she had been killed by a suicide bomber on the day he was supposed to take to her rehearsal. How he had fled home to find a way to make it up to his parents and make sure that no other family would suffer what they had. She listened to him talk as his voice grew gravely with the need to sleep. The confession sealed her faith in him as a partner and she listened as they slid down on the bed and faced each other.
He didn't try to kiss her again, but he grew quiet as her eye lids began to droop. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before reaching to the foot of the bed and covering her with a light blanket. Amir had fallen asleep, and in the morning had woken up to find her curled around him. It had been the best night's sleep he had had in years.
Andy walked into the mansion and smiled at Rosalee, the maid that had been kind to her, but fiercely loyal to Adrian. She walked into the master bedroom she shared with the man and stashed her gun in one of the many purses on her side of the closet. She changed locations every time she stepped foot in the house, but she hated that it wasn't right next to her. Her luggage was unpacked, and she changed into a pair of loose fit sweatpants, a tank top and pulled on a sweater to ward off the chilly evening, to wait for Adrian down in the media room.
She had staked out the places to hide her cameras that Preach wanted placed but knew that with a cleaning crew coming in the day before the party, she was going to have to wait until the night before. Being so close to the end, she was anxious to finally be finished with the mission. Looking at her watch, she sipped sparkling water and turned on the evening news as she waited for the inevitable.
Adrian was not a bad looking guy, he was tall with a square jaw and stubble that was faint enough to be sexy, but not look like he was trying. His sandy colored hair was wavy and thick and when she had met him in the bar by accident, she had been instantly attracted. It was as she had stepped into the ladies' room that she had received an urgent text from her handler that the man she had spent an hour flirting with was a man the CIA had been keeping an eye on as part of a sex trade ring. It had been hard to go back out and pretend to still be attracted to him.
She heard the front door close and rose to go and greet the man that had wined and dined her more than any man ever had. Andy had made him work for her attention, he had enjoyed the chase, and now that he had proposed, he had grown possessive. Part of her enjoyed the attention, had wanted to be the center of a man's world, but she knew it was all fake.
Adrian grinned when he saw her standing at the foot of the stairs with her hair loose around her shoulders and a smile meant for only him. He pulled her into his arms and thoroughly kissed her in greeting. "Andrea, my love, I have missed you," he whispered before she turned and walked him up the stairs.
"I missed you too. How was your trip?" she answered wrapping her arm around his waist. He proceeded to tell her meaningless information about his trip and the people involved.
"Peter will be coming to the gala as well. He had been on the fence until I beat him at tennis this morning." Adrian continued to talk as she climbed up on the counter in his closet and watched him remove his watch, the money clip he always wore, and his cell phone. He stripped down to boxers and she pretended to admire his form with hungry eyes.
"I have two more guests that had been iffy. My brother will be here tomorrow for dinner with his girlfriend." Andy told him with her own enthusiasm. She watched as the slight irritation of unexpected guests flickered across his face and braced for a fight before his face transformed into that of an enthusiastic fiancé.
"Wonderful!" Adrian responded before lifting her off the counter and carrying her out into the bedroom.
Later than night, Andy found the bed beside her empty and padded down the stairs to Adrian's office. She could hear him talking to someone on the phone and crept close to the door. "Run a check on her brother and this girlfriend." She heard him order and grinned as her plan fell into place. She sprinted back up the stairs when she heard him end the conversation.