The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Chapter 11: Confrontation

PEPPER LEAPS TO HER FEET at the sound of Anna's voice, while Tony's head snaps up from his hands to face the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Pepper demands. "How did you get in here?"

"Service elevator," Anna says, her fists tightly clenched by her sides.

She takes a small step toward them, hoping to avoid a proximity at which her nerves become evident, and wills her heartbeat to stop thudding heavily against her chest. Her eyes are locked on the woman with strawberry blonde hair standing next to Tony Stark, afraid to meet the eyes of the man who murdered Rifat, with her chin turned up ever-so-slightly in faux confidence.

"Damn," Tony mumbles, "I really need to get Happy to--"

"You can't be here," Pepper says, interrupting him. "You need to leave. Now."

Putting her drink on the table, Pepper crosses the room to the touchscreen mounted on the wall to call security. Anna watches her while her mind races as she scrambles to think of what to do next. She'd spent most of her flight either reminiscing over the events of the day or mentally preparing for her confrontation with Tony Stark, but no amount of practice could prepare her for reality.

"His name was Rifat," Anna says softly, unconsciously brushing the envelope of photographs in her pocket. "He had a family. Children. Two young girls."

"Are you trying to make me feel better, sweetheart?" Tony asks sarcastically. "If so, you're doing a bang-up job of it, really. Keep up the horrible work."

Anna takes another step toward him, turning her gaze from Pepper to lock eyes with the man who killed Rifat. The man who nearly killed her less than twenty-four hours ago. She can feel the color drain from her skin, her blue eyes shining bright in contrast with her already pale face, as she stares into his dark irises.

"They're dead," she replies, her voice cracking. "Murdered in their home."

Shock falls across Tony's face, and she can see the pain and frustration in his eyes turn to absolute despair. Pepper, who has finished calling security to the floor, gasps, frozen to the floor. Within seconds, security bursts into the room and two men in suits grab Anna by both arms.

"Do you recognize me?" Anna pleads as they pull her toward the elevator. "Look at me, do you recognize me?"

Tony's face is white with horror, unmoving, as his brain scrambles to process what this strange British woman has just told him. Security continues to pull her toward the elevator, but she reacts on pure instinct kicking the knee of one man and sending him to the floor while turning and jabbing the other in the throat. He falls against the wall, gasping for air, as she rushes toward Tony with her thick brown hair falling into her face and obscuring her features.

"I was there," Anna spits out vehemently, fear turning to rage in desperation. "I was with him. I was the one who pulled him to the ground on the terrace. You killed him, and you nearly killed me."

"Get her out of here," Pepper whispers, crossing the room to Tony. She places a hand on his shoulder, but he jerks his body away from her touch.

Anna cries out in pain as one of the recovered security officers grabs her arm from behind and twists it sharply, forcing her to pivot the open elevator doors.

"You're a monster," she says, tears springing from her eyes.

In a flash, Tony leaps to his feet and crosses the room in a few bounds, grabbing the girl's twisted arm from the surprised security officer and slamming her against the inside wall of the elevator. She yelps in pain, then snaps her head backward where it connects with Tony's nose with a loud crack. Losing his grip on her arm, he stumbles backward, hands catchng the warm stream of blood gushing from his nose. Anna whirls around, eyes wide at the damage she just inflicted.

"If you think that's what I am, princess," Tony snarls through his hands, "Then why the hell are you here?"

Anna stares at him, her shoulders heaving from effort and emotion, unable to find the words to respond. A security guard takes her by the arm, and she lets him drag her toward the elevator.

"I'm frightened," she says honestly, her voice no more than a hoarse whisper. "Am I next? Will you kill me next?"

Abruptly, Tony sticks his arm in front of the closing elevator door and positions himself in the door of the elevator, a safe distance from the young woman who just broke his nose. The fire in his brown eyes has dimmed to a simmer, and his thick eyebrows are knit together in confusion and frustration.

"Why...why would you think that?" He says, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Tears are rolling down Anna's face leaving trails in the dust still stuck on her skin from the streets of Istanbul. Her arm is screaming in pain from where the security guard has a vise-like grip on it, and she lifts her eyes to meet Tony Stark's.

"Why did you kill him?" Her voice is no more than a whimper while the anger in her eyes rages on still. "Why not me? Why am I still here?"

Tony pauses, "Let her go."

"Sir," the security guard says, confusion drawn on his features. "Are you--"

"Do it," Tony commands.

Pepper steps up behind him, her arms crossed tightly in front of her body as she speaks.

"Tony...."

He shakes his head, "Now."

The security guard drops Anna's arm, which she instantly brings in front of her chest and massages gently. Her skin is red from where he held her, and she cradles it carefully. She stares at Tony, blue eyes wide, and wipes the tears from her face. His intense gaze unsettles her, but she keeps her eyes leveled on him as both wait for the other to make the first move.

Tony breaks the silence.

"Who are you?"

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