"Hello dear." Winston kisses my hand like the gentleman he's before turning to face the assassin and sitting on the chair in front of her, leaving his briefcase on the floor. "Ares, it's nice to see you again. I guess that our Nerd has informed you of the circumstances of this case and why we're here, so you have decided wisely to let her live since killing her would piss me off. I think it's time to take the cuffs off."
"It's Nira, no Nerd. How often do I have to tell you?" I grumble angrily while I pour him a glass of the wine he likes to drink every time he comes to my house. Then, I get close to Ares cautiously, avoiding looking at her eyes, and I enter the six-digit code that opens her handcuffs. Once free, she rubs her wrists while she shoots me one of her frozen looks, watching my movements when I bring back her gun from the table near the door along with a bottle of water: the sedative makes your tongue feel gritty and she'll need it. For a moment I thought that she was ready to shoot me despite all, but she holsters her gun and drinks slowly even if I still can feel the rage vibrating under her skin. I sit down on my chair facing my computer system, looking at the screens, checking my defensive perimeters and reading some of the urgent news headlines in order to know what has happened in the world while I was talking to a professional killer.
"Well, since you already know what our friend Nira does for a living and how important her work is for The Company I'll talk you about the little problem we're facing now." Winston takes a sip of wine and sighs before speaking again. "It was my idea to employ her and I've never regretted my choice, you have no idea how much she's helped, the vast amount of information she's gathered and how many of her decisions have contributed to... stabilize The Company. In the past, when anyone could kill anyone at the slightest provocation, the consequences were catastrophic: gang wars, mass murder, civilians killed as a collateral damage, ruined business, police and judges chasing after us no matter how many attempts to bribe them... it was a mess. Having a person with a global vision has benefited us all but unfortunately not everybody feels the same way. Some members of the High Table think that leaving these kinds of decisions in the hands of one person means... give her too mucho power."
My boss looks at me squinting while I hold my pets in my arms to prevent them from jumping on his lap: he hates cat fur on his designer suits.
"To be honest Nira has never taken advantage of her position, nor has she manipulated information for her benefit. She does a really nice job, and that's why she's still alive, but obviously some people feel offended because a 25-year-old girl controls behind the scenes the course of the economy and the power of the greatest criminal organizations. Let's just say that the biggest mafias like the Russians, the Japanese and the Americans, we're in favour of keeping Nira in her post of arbitrator to resolve the issues between gangs. On the other hand, smaller organizations like the Irish, the Mexicans and even the Chinese, tend to see her as an obstacle to their development. Irish have been losing power in favour of other mafias for a while now and they want to recover it, of course; Mexicans only care about selling more and more drugs without thinking of the consequences and Chinese want to gain a foothold everywhere in order to unseat us all from our position as leaders of the High Table. We had the support of the Italians too but, unfortunately, D'Antonio family is now more concerned with their struggle to keep their hegemonic position that has been weakened due to the siblings death; they need to find a new leader soon and also are obsessed with hunting down John Wick. Nira is the least of their worries right now."
The reference to John makes Ares get tensed again, it's obvious that she wants to get her hands on him before the Italians if possible. She's going to have a hard time trying to find him since he's eluded them all so far. I know where he's hidden of course but I've no intention of telling that to anyone: I like the guy, it takes a lot of balls to try to leave the Company and he almost succeeded. The Italians can try to find him on their own, I'm not helping them.
"So The Irish have sent you to kill her and we're afraid that someone else could try too. The High Table is going to talk to them again in order to convince those people to see reason but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon... that's why I've decided to make you a deal now that you're working as a freelance after the death of your last employer."
"What? Why didn't you say anything about it to me?" I ask confused leaving my cats on the floor.
"Because you won't like it: you need a babysitter."
"What? No way!" Winston ignores me and turns to talk to the assassin.
"I'll pay you fifteen million dollars if you keep her alive till we find a solution to the Irish problem." Ares turns slightly on her chair to look at me from head to toe, checking me out. Then, she stares at my boss again and lifts her left hand, opening and closing her fist three times before raising an eyebrow in a silent question. "Yes, I know: it's a lot of money. The Italians are offering "only" fourteen million for Wick's head so that can give you an idea of how important Nira is for the Company." The assassin looks at me again in disbelief, her eyes raking all over my body slowly, paying great attention to my legs while she bites her lower lip. This girl is shameless!
"Hey, the thing that is valued at $15 million is up here!" I'm almost screaming pointing at my head. Ares smiles naughtily and shrugs.
"To be honest, everything would be easier for us if you accepted to stay at Continental Hotel where nobody can attack you. I still don't understand why you refuse to do so."
"I've told you before. This hardware is very delicate: I'd have to take care of it personally, transport it and reinstall it and I wouldn't be able to work at full capacity for some time. Moreover, my house is a safe place not only because there're alarms everywhere and bullet-proof glass in every window but because I have my own generator and my connection cable is protected. What's the point of having a hacker working for you if someone shuts off the Hotel power and l run out of battery? And your connection cable is a disaster, it runs along the main line with the cable of other neighbours, anyone could cut it and you'd lose the connection. On the contrary, mine is buried and I'm the only one who knows the layout." And in addition to this, they're not locking me up even in a luxury hotel, but this is something I won't tell them out loud.
"Well, this is it. I know you're working more as an assassin than as a bodyguard lately but thanks to your experience you really know all the tricks. You'll have to move in here and keep Nira alive while I work with my allies in the High Table to make sure that no one is going to threaten her anymore. Hopefully, they'll desist from their plans when word gets out that you're protecting her. Of course, you have to return Aidan Finn his money and refuse the job. If you accept mine, you'll have to use this and I'm not taking no for an answer." Winston takes a Marker from his pocket, the golden medallion gleaming in the light. Oh my... this is getting serious.
Ares seems hesitant for a moment looking at me out of the corner of her eye while she licks her lips, lost in thought. She points at me with her index and then she starts moving her hands very fast, too fast for me to follow the conversation even if I'd know something about sign language. Finally, my boss stares at me with an eyebrow raised:
"She wants to know if you are going to act like a spoiled brat or, on the contrary, you're going to obey her orders."
"I'm not a spoiled brat... and I don't want to die," I answer looking into her eyes, "I'll do whatever you say, you're the expert here."
Finally, the assassin nods convinced. Opening the medallion and using the spike that pokes out the side, she cuts her right thumb and presses it against the metal leaving a red fingerprint. Then she does the same on the book that Winston has taken from his briefcase, signing the contract later. I take a tissue from a box near me and hand it to her before turning around to ask my boss:
"You sanitize those things every time you use one, don't you?"
Winston rolls his eyes at me. "Okay, listen. Ares has the upper hand here from now on. If she thinks that the situation is too dangerous and you need to move to the Continental, you'll do it immediately without complaining. I can replace the hardware but where will I find another brain like yours?"
Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. Ares stands up with a feline movement and points at my boss, moving her hands like she's holding the wheel; I understood that, she's asking if he has come with his car. Then she starts moving her hands again so fast that they're almost blurring, I must learn sign language or find another solution to communicate with her. Finally, they both turn to face me.
"I take you to dinner tonight at the hotel." Well, I didn't expect that.
"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this invitation?"
"Ares needs to pack some clothes and weapons since she's moving here for some time. In the meantime she wants to keep you in a safe place and the only one possible it's the Continental. She'll pick you up there when she's ready, all right?"
My new bodyguard looks at me deadly serious, I guess she's expecting me to act like a spoiled brat throwing tantrums but she's wrong. I think this is a great idea, I'm hungry and the chocolate brownie of the hotel restaurant is my weakness but I wouldn't be caught dead in the hotel wearing my sportswear. "Can you give a minute, please?" They both nod and start speaking in sign language again, maybe finalizing the details of the agreement. I check quickly that my cats have food and water at their disposal and I rush into my room where I change my clothes for a pair of skinny black jeans and a beautiful jumper in a blue pastel shade trimmed with little pearls, black patent leather flats and a matching bag where I put my wallet, my keys and my very special phone, the one which let me control all my computers remotely so I can have access to my invaluable information. What I told Winston is true, it would be difficult to move all my hardware but it's also true that I could keep a reasonable level of work thanks to this little toy and other similar devices. But this is my secret.
"Well, shall we leave now?" Ares looks me from head to toe and nods before going upstairs to the main floor and walking out the backdoor. I make sure that all my alarms are on, then I cross the backyard getting into the big black car while my bodyguard is monitoring the surroundings with one hand grabbing the handle of her gun. She gets in after me and her thigh presses mine when she seats down next to me; I feel something hard again, maybe a knife?
"Do you need a lift back home?" Ares shakes her head and starts another round on hand movements. Definitely, I have to do something to solve the communication problem. "All right then, you'll make sure that Nira goes into the hotel with me and then my driver will get you wherever you want. I'm glad to see you're taking your new job so seriously. She's going to stick to you like glue, darling" Winston looks at me with a pitiful face, the poor man has no idea... I'm very happy with these arrangements: I really like Ares.