I walked in the back door and noticed Natalie sitting on a black leather sofa, sipping what looked like a Bloody Mary. She looked at me and playfully remarked. "What took you so long? I was starting to get lonely." The comments were followed by a playful pout. With a raised eyebrow, I calmly replied. "While you were sitting on your ass, getting drunk, I was outside playing with my friends. I had to come in though because Billy wet his pants." To this, she giggled and said. "I assume you you met all requirements?" My brow furrowed as I asked. "Requirements?" She nodded and downed the rest of her drink. "At least seven casualties and no alarms raised." I chuckled. "Of course. Only one dude saw me and that was right before I liberated his head from his shoulders." She sighed, slightly annoyed at my response. "Did they teach you nothing Jason? You are not to be seen by the targets." She scolded. I snickered which only seemed to make her more annoyed. It was clear by the look on her face that she was disappointed. "Look Nat. I met the requirements. Everything should be......" She stopped me mid sentence and placed her empty glass on the mahogany coffee table "Don't ever call me that again. It's either Natalie or Betton. No nicknames." It was my turn to sigh. "Jesus Christ. You're so uptight. Who stabbed you in the vagina?" Outraged, she stood, slapped me, then stormed off up the stairs. I had to work real hard to keep myself from following her and giving her a piece of my mind and putting the bullet in my gun in her leg. Instead, I went to the kitchen and started raiding the fridge. Two and a half hours later, went upstairs and called out her name. "Natalie? I'm sorry about what I said." She replied with "Whatever. Just leave me alone." I walked down the hall until I came to an open doorway. I glanced in and saw her laying on a king size bed in a pink satin nightgown with a laptop in front of her. "I mean it Natalie. I shouldn't have said it." She closed the laptop and moved it to the nightstand closest to her "Well, you did so.... Yeah.... Unfortunately I need you. Not just because we're partners but because......" She stopped and blushed slightly "Never mind. Forget I said anything." I gave her a pleading look. "Come on. You can tell me." Her blush deepened as she mumbled "I need a bed buddy....." My eyes widened and I blinked a few times, a little confused. I couldn't believe my ears. Natalie Betton was asking me to cuddle with her all night, every night. "I'll do it." She continued to blush as her eyes lit up. "You will? I mean.... Thanks I guess." I laughed a little as I stripped to my boxers, revealing to her my extremely scarred chest and abs. Upon seeing the scars, she frowned and asked "Are those from the Academy?" I sighed as I climbed into bed with her. "Let's just say I wasn't the quickest learner. But hey. Scars and reminders of the mistakes of the past and warnings against future mistakes." I explained. She gave me a look of astonishment, as if it was the first time she had ever heard it put like that. "My God Jason, that was deep." I held back a 'That's what she said' and replied with "Did you think I was some kind of brainless killing machine?" To my dismay, she nodded slowly. "Most assassins I've met are." I scoffed, feeling a tad bit offended. She had just compared me to most assassins even though she had never seen my work. "Let me let you in on a little secret. I'm not most assassins. If you want me to prove it, come outside and I'll show you how sick and twisted my mind truly is. My friends called me The Butcher for a reason." She sighed, the look on her face was letting me know that she had not intended offence nor did she need proof. "I know Jason. I've read your files. You like to toy with your targets and just as they hit the limits of fear a being can endure, you swoop in for the kill. Though on multiple occasions, you have refused to kill a female target causing scenario failure. On seven of those occasions, you had to repeat the scenario almost a dozen times which resulted in semester failure. You are among the oldest to graduate and at one point you were considered for termination. Not very impressive." I took a deep breath, hoping it would keep my temper in check. "Well I am truly sorry Ms. Betton. We can't all be fucking perfect!" I turned away angrily and winced as I felt her hands trace the scars on my back. "I'm sorry Jason. I didn't mean to upset you. We really shouldn't be arguing this way. It is bad for the cohesion of our partnership." I felt her pull the covers over us and wrap her arms around my chest. If I hadn't know any better, I'd have thought she was flirting. I turned to face her and closed my eyes, letting out a sigh. "I know.... I just hate when people bring up the past. It's better off unspoken and left alone. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep." With that, I fell into a deep slumber.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it