Heights weren't my favorite.
That probably wasn't the best thought to be having twenty feet above the ground, perched on the edge of a window on the building I had just scaled up the side of; but here we are. The silver chain meal watch on my wrist kept perfect time, in sync with Tyler's back at the office a few miles from here. Without the computer genius' help I never would have even able to find Ashton's apartment, let alone break into it. There were alarms on every window. Ironic considering this was the top floor of a seven-story building.
Exactly when the hands hit 10, Tyler opened the lock on my window I was perched at remotely, blocking the alarm signal with his lines of code. The cold air of Monaco's night nipped at my skin as I worked the window open quietly from the outside. The balls of my feet balanced on the window's edge with my left hand gripping the brick wall to keep me from plummeting to my death. My right hand slowly managed to open the window enough for me to grip the frame with both hands and slide my feet into the warm apartment before the rest of my body followed.
The wood floor of the dining room was warm on my bare feet, the radiator heating the wood directly next to it. It was easier to scale buildings without shoes, but it also made sneaking around quieter. Carefully, I treaded on the wood of the spacious apartment. One squeaky board and this would be over before it even started. My eyes locked on the back of Ashton's raven head of hair, watching the news while scrolling on a laptop. The noise of the French newscaster provided me with a gauze to hide under, increasing my chances of success from highly unlikely to possibly.
I could almost hear my heart in my ears as I got closer to the skilled killer. One wrong move and he'd skin me before I could even blink. Literally.
I was angled slightly so Ashton wouldn't see my reflection on the windows. I was so close I could see the lines of code he was looking at while sitting on the space grey couch with his legs crossed in his lap. When I was hovering right behind the muscular man, I took the opportunity and wrapped my arm around his neck with lightning stealth.
The silver laptop tumbled to the ground as his body went rigid, his much stronger arms trying to push my body back as he dug his finger into the pressure point of my elbow. I could already feel the nerves in my arm going, so I pulled my wrist with my left hand to tighten my hold. Knocking someone out with a chokehold didn't take long if you knew how to do it correctly. It was almost impossible to escape even for the most skilled fighters. Everything you saw on the big screen was lies; this type of hold was almost as lethal as a gunshot to the chest.
The force on the weak spot of my arm faded as Ashton let out a strangled noise, his pulse starting to sluggish against my bare skin. I could have killed him and gotten rid of my biggest problem right now, but I didn't. That wouldn't put me on Rick's good side. So instead of causing brain damage or killing the man, I released Ashton's heavy body when I was sure he wasn't just faking it. His large frame when limp on the couch he was sitting on as I walked around the expensive furniture to drag his strong body across the wood floor like he had done to me not 24 hours ago.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
My right foot kicked out the dining room chair as I hauled Ashton's body up. His chiselled muscles made Ashton a lot heavier than your average six-foot-two man and it definitely made my life more difficult. All the hours I put in at the gym were paying off right now.
I produced two pairs of cold metal cuffs from the back pockets of my black skinny jeans and locked them onto the chair's arms and around Ashton's wrists before taking the rope tucked into the back waistband of my jeans and tying his ankles. Our techniques were the same but to be fair, they were very basic.
I stepped back to look at my handy work, his eyes closed and his head lulling forwards on his chest. My laser-focused eyes zeroed in on his white T-shirt that his pectorals and his arm muscles were straining against before darting to his open concept kitchen where a block of knives sat on the pristine marble. I think it's time Ashton Naifeh got a little payback.
