Dimitri POV

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Rose had been anxiously pacing back and forth across the living room for a while now. A slew of emotions was running though my mind making it nearly impossible to focus on the situation at hand.

We were compromised.

I couldn't tell you how or when someone managed to locate our position but they did, and they wanted us to know it which could only mean they were planning to attack sooner than later. They wanted us spooked and off our game to make the hunt easier. Which, considering our lack of supplies and cover, was already laid out pretty easily for them. Our only choices were to pretty much sit and wait for them or run.

"What do we do? We have to run, right? We can't stay here and just wait to get fucked." Reminders of our previous activities before this incident flashed in my mind, I violently shook them away pinching my nose. That was going to quickly become an annoyance.

"No. That has to be what they're expecting us to do..." I didn't really have a plan, but running was clearly the worser of the two options. We had no idea where we were outside of the chalet, no lay of the land, and no points of contact other than the one line to Zmey and Galina that we weren't able to make outgoing calls from. The minute we stepped outside we'd be sitting ducks, only making our assailants job a hell of a lot quicker. The best course of action was to sit and prepare for the attack best we could.

They may have the overall advantage, but we could still maneuver around the chalet better than they could from the inside. We'd lay a trap for them and wait for them to fall into it. As crazy as it sounded, this was actually a plus for us. We hadn't made any ground on who was targeting us in the first place, but this was the perfect opportunity to get some kind of information from whoever was coming for us. Whether they gave it willingly or we had to take it from them.

"So, what's the plan then?" Rose stood arms crossed before me, patiently waiting an answer now that she'd calmed down. The longer I gazed at her the harder it was to form words. Her face was flushed, unsure if it was from the sex or the threat against us but didn't matter, and it left a rosy tint to her cheeks making her look almost porcelain-like despite the desert tan of her skin. Her usually tamed curls were thrown in all sorts of directions, I suddenly felt a little guilty for my literal hand in that, with a few curls still stuck to her forehead from her sweat. Finally my eyes fell on her lips, still slightly swollen and pouty and it made me ache to take her back to the bed and forget all about the threats against our lives and heavy future expectations burdened on them once this was all over. If I could've kicked myself for having that thought I would've.

This is exactly why you shouldn't have crossed that line in the first place.

Regret wasn't the word for what I felt about having been intimate with Rose, but it made things a lot more complicated now. Last thing I needed was more forbidden desires to distract me. Usually, in the past, when I decided to have sex with someone I was sure I'd never be seeing her again, so it didn't matter but Rose wasn't going to just disappear...and I wasn't so sure I wanted her to anymore.

"Dimitri?" She called pulling me out of my thoughts, "Do we need to talk about--"

"No." I cut her off sharply, immediately feeling like an asshole for it from the hurt that flashed across her face as she shrunk back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," Softening my tone I placed my hand against her cheek, much against all my better judgment, and it took all the strength I had not to linger in her warmth when she melted into me, "We can talk about it later, I promise. I just need this handled first. I need us safe." I dropped all guards and tried my best to make sure she understood that I didn't regret what happened between us, and I wasn't intending on just using her for sex. I needed her to know that I wasn't anything like him. Despite my questionable sexual relationships with women in the past, I would never be anything like my father when it came to those I actually cared for.

My blood ran cold at the realization of what I'd just absentmindedly admitted. Did I really care for Rose? Just a week ago I would've been happy putting her in a box and now suddenly "care" is a word related to her in my vocabulary.

No time to dwell on it now. Focus.

She nodded in understanding, "Ok then...so what do we do?" The plan I had in mind was still barebones and we didn't have much time but it was the best I had at the moment.

"We set a trap as best as we can and wait for them. We know they're coming to us, so we have to make this environment as much of a tactical advantage as we can. Block the entrances and exits, cover the windows and gather anything we can use as weapons. We don't know when or where they're planning to attack from so we need to account for everything." She listened intently as I was explaining and lit up like a child on Christmas when I finished.

"You want us to 'Home Alone' their asses?! I've always wanted to do that!" I raised my brow in question. I really wasn't sure what kind of battle strategy this 'Home Alone' was but it wasn't one I was familiar with.

Her mouth fell open in horror at my ignorance. I silently cursed myself for not pretending to understand the reference in exchange of whatever exaggerated incredulousness she was about to hurl at me.

"Don't tell me you've never seen Home Alone...you can't be serious." I shrugged nonchalantly. We didn't get a lot of American films or television back home and once I started working with Galina family movie nights weren't exactly part of the weekly killer training so my entertainment catalog was very lacking aside from my westerns, a few popular action and sci-fi movies and many romcoms thanks to my sisters.

"I can't believe I just had sex with you and you've never seen the cinematic masterpiece that is Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin? Eight-year old kid gets left home by himself on Christmas? Burglars break in and he completely WRECKS them?! Jesus, Dimitri, how do you live?" I ignored her dramatics, but still couldn't fight the smile that tugged at my lips.

Carefully estimating the weight of all the furniture around the living room to see what we had to work with, I could slowly start to see a blueprint for how we should lay everything out. I was very grateful now that the chalet was pretty lavishly furnished, it gave us a lot to work with.

"I'll take care of all the furniture in here, see if you can find something to lock all the doors to the rooms. Last thing we need is any unattended entrances. I wouldn't be surprised if they went for the windows first to catch us off guard." She nodded intently reaching up to tie her hair in a messy bun and the frightened, panicked and lighthearted Rose that had just been standing before me was gone. Suddenly, it dawned on me that since we'd been stuck here together in the middle of nowhere with no battles to fight, it had become easy to forget what she really was. What we really were.

Executioners.

"Next, try and find a way to set up some kind of simple noise trap in the farther side of the building, if they do come in from that direction we need to hear them." Her brows furrowed in objection.

"Wouldn't it just be easier for one of us to cover that side?" I'd considered that option but seeing as we were extremely unprepared and possibly outnumbered, being separated with no way of keeping in contact with one another would only put us even further at disadvantage.

Or is that just a drawn out way to say you don't want anything to happen to her...

"I don't want us too far from each other. Last thing we need is one of us getting caught in an ambush. We don't know how many there are." She paused to consider other options, many I'm sure would probably be crazy and reckless in nature, but ultimately nodded in agreement much to my relief. As much as I occasionally admired her hard-headed and spontaneous attitude, now was not the time.

"Once I'm finished in here I'll take care of the weaponry, we won't have much but I'm sure between the both of us we can do more than enough damage with just knives and whatever else I can find. While you're doing the rooms let me know if you find anything useful." There was no time left for anymore words and we broke up to do our designated tasks. There was no doubt in my mind that Rose was more than capable of handling herself, as I had countless scars on my body to confirm, but I couldn't help but worry that our assailants were already ten steps ahead of us. We could be doing exactly what they expected us to do.

It doesn't do you any good to worry about what ifs. Control what you can and don't think about what you can't.

Moving as quickly as I could, while also remaining low to the ground to avoid any potential stray shots, I removed all the cushions and blankets off the couches so we could use the pillows as some kind of padding and the couches would cover the living room windows. Thankfully there were enough couches and chairs we could spare to also have as cover in the case anyone does manage to get the upper hand on us inside. Whatever wasn't being used to cover the windows I used on the two doorway openings there were leading into the room to serve as a blockade.

A bittersweet image flashed of my sisters and I doing something similar to make forts in the living room to "entertain ourselves" while mama was upstairs...usually trying to fend off the attacks of our father. My sisters didn't know any better, but I could always hear her faint cries even through their laughter.

Pushing those thoughts aside I quickly went to work in the kitchen. There wasn't much to work with in regard to possible weapons besides the usual household kitchen tools; knives, tenderizers, pans, etc. I was surprised they trusted us enough to leave it stocked with knives in the first place, but very grateful they did. We wouldn't be able to carry much so I decided on a serrated steak knife for Rose and a basic frying pan for myself.

I could only hope we'd actually have enough time to make enough preparations. Each second that ticked on felt especially longer than the one before. It was surprising they even allowed us time before the attack, a typical killer would've just used the bird as the main distraction to throw us off right before they struck. This could only mean two things; either they were as weak of a threat as they were dramatic, or they were smarter than we thought.

What would I do if I were them? The bird would only be a catalyst, something to trigger my target into action. The exact action I wanted them to do.

Immediately my stomach sunk.

What were we doing? Gathering weapons. Covering exits and windows. Barricading the windows and doors.

Wait...we're not just keeping them out by blocking all the windows and locking possible ways of entry and exit...we're also caging ourselves in.

What benefit could that give to them? The only time I'd ever want someone to foolishly lock down was for--

Shit.

"Rose!" I just barely ripped enough of the shirt from my body to cover my nose and mouth the best I could before glass from the patio door dusted the floor and gas poured into the room.

Rose POV

"Rose!"

My body reacted before my mind at the sound of Dimitri's panicked scream. It wasn't often you heard a man like that, or anyone with a skill set like ours for that matter, yell in what I could only call distress. On my end of the chalet everything was calm still, there were no signs of a break in let alone anything even close to a full on attack yet.

What could possibly have thee Dimitri Belikov off all people so thrown off?

I didn't have to wait long for the answer.

The black canister that came flying through the window to block my path was all too familiar. I could practically smell the gas before it even released, and the sharp tingling in my nostrils brought a surprising sense of eerie comfort.

Tear gas. My favorite, how'd they know? Thankfully, this one gas can was nothing compared to the last encounter I had with it.

I thought I was going to die.

"Get up! If this was real you'd have a bullet in your head by now. We trained for this, you're better than this, Rosemarie. Kalkmak!" (Up)

The harder I tried the deeper my body felt like it was sinking into the floor. Everything was on fire. My eyes, my lungs, my mouth, my skin. Everything. I was surprised I could hear my father's yelling as clearly as I did, seeing as he was muffled from behind the safety of his gas mask and my labored heaving had long been replaced by violent retching and coughing.

We'd trained bit by bit for the past week with having me eat spicier foods than normal, going though my workouts and training with an altitude mask and taking small hits of pepper spray to the face but never did I think the crazy bastard would actually just throw me into a fucking gas chamber full of tear gas. I wasn't prepared for this.

I can't do this.

"Baba...sana yalvarıyorum." (Please). My voice was barely above a whisper, it felt like nails scraping down my throat to speak after all the hacking and vomiting. Hot tears flowed from my eyes, I was practically blind already from the gas but now I couldn't even see my hands in front of my eyes.

"Fine, kızım. I will stop. But I do that, and you are done. No more training, no more killing. I will find someone else to serve as my successor to this empire, and you will never avenge her. You will fail yourself, and worse you fail this family. Is that what you want?" It was a blow beyond low, but he knew exactly what would work to make me push past my limits. I didn't give a shit about his approval of me, but he knew how much she meant to me. I only agreed to this whole facade of wanting to take over the business from him so I could keep getting closer to who killed her, and I think he knew that.

Taking a second I held my breath altogether, giving my system a break from the gas and squeezed my eyes tight. After a little while of solely focusing on my breathing I was able to breathe through the blaze in my chest. It still hurt like hell but it became manageable. I made it manageable. Pain is only temporary, and I refused to let this be the thing that won over me. Pushing through the heels of my feet I was able to stand upright, much to my body's objection. Opening my eyes wasn't at all possible at this point, but I had come to trust my body's muscle memory and tactile awareness. I don't need to rely on my sight.

I could feel the old man's gaze intensifying as he stared on, just waiting for me to collapse again.

I was so focused on breathing that I barely had time to pivot out of the trajectory of the mini blade he flung at my shoulder. I had become so numb from the gas that I could only feel the thin trail of blood pooling from the superficial cut on my arm. No pain.

This seemed to satisfy him as he let out a deep belly laugh. A laugh that definitely meant, "Holy shit, I didn't think she'd actually be able do it."

Couldn't tell you where he shoved me into after that, but I was just happy it was clean air.

"You never stop surprising me, little girl."

Our guest was shocked, to say the least, to see me standing unfazed as he tumble rolled through the now open window. I tried, and failed, to bite back my laugh.

He did not like that.

"You think this is fucking funny? I'll show you something you can do with that smart mouth." He raised his gun, but with being a solid foot and hundred pounds bigger than me I had the speed advantage. It was easy slipping underneath his arms and throwing a kick to the back of his knee, which caused him to buckle and kneel. Now that he was more on my level it took no time to disarm him of his gun and knock him out with a knee to the chin. Just from watching his fight style I could tell he wasn't a contracted killer like us, and the roll he did coming through the window looked like military training. But, who the hell would be stupid enough to send ex-military after people like us? They didn't stand a chance. Someone obviously sent them here to fail, if not to die.

But why?

Happy to have a gun in my hand again at least, I immediately checked it over to see what I was working with. But, something was off. I'd handled many guns in my life but this was definitely not for bullets.

It was for tranquilizers.

That's why they sent military. This isn't a hit...it's a seizure.

Sorry guys I know it's been a loooonnngggg ass time since I've updated but little by little I've been working on this chapter in between life kicking me in the ass and I hope it was at least somewhat worth it for some, but I won't blame you guys if it's not .. Just want you all to know I'm very grateful for all the love and reviews this story has gotten so far and I'm glad it's got as many readers as it does (or did at least who knows who's still out there now lol). But, I haven't given up on this story at all and I hope you all can stick with me through it, thanks again for all your support and I'll see you in the next chapter!

xoxo