On the other side of Rome, sat The Italian Dispatch, a five-star hotel and casino that served as a playground for the wealthy elite of Italy and its tourists. At a blackjack table sat Simone. She was gambling away some of her money from her recent job alongside Jack. She wore a black Nat Kaplan couture dress, and had her hair tied up with a golden, metallic pin.

"Twelve," said the dealer at the table.

Simone glanced at the gentleman to her left, he chose to stay at sixteen with a king and a six. A reserved choice given the high stakes of the buy in for the table. The man to her right had yet to play, but had a four and a seven. His fingers twitched, he was nervous and struggled to breath with his tie being a notch too tight around his collared shirt.

Simone tapped her fingers on the table to signal a hit. The dealer laid out the next card. Three.

"Fifteen"

Simone glanced further down the table, at the end sat a German man with a security guard standing behind him. He sipped from his martini glass and gave Simone a kind smile and gesture.

Simone smiled back before returning to her game. She tapped the table again to signal another hit from the dealer.

"Twenty" he said as he placed down a five on top of the three.

Simone signaled to stay, ending her turn at the game.

The nervous bloke next to her hit twice. Receiving a two, followed by a jack. Ending his game from going over twenty-one. The man cried out as the jack was placed upon his cards. A nearby enforcer for the casino escorted him away from the table and away from the crowd. He wasn't seen again for the rest of the night.

The gentleman at the end stayed at nineteen. The dealer flipped his cards over to reveal eighteen. By house rules, the dealer was forced to stay at their hand and complete the game. The reserved man lost and left the table without a word spoken. The German gentleman slid over to the chair next to Simone.

The dealer began the next game as the two players slid out a stack of chips.

"What brings you out to a place like this?" The man asked Simone.

"I'm celebrating. Just finished some work, and am getting ready for my next job."

"Oh? And what is it you do – Ms."

"Jones. But you can call me Rachel. I work as a business woman. Private contracting for different companies."

"Oh, any companies I might know?" he inquired.

Simone glanced down at the man's watch. "I recently had a job for Jaeger. Modeled a few of their watches."

The man's ears picked up.

"Oh really," he said as he began to uncuff his wrist so he could show off his luxury watch. He attempted to peacock it to Simone, "I just spent 600 on this watch myself."

Simone gave a surprised look at the diamond coated watch.

"Oh, my goodness, you must be an important man," she said, playing up her flirtatious side.

The man rested his hand on her lower backside.

"My name is Johnathan Roland, but you can call me John."

The dealer finished laying out the cards. Simone had a sixteen.

"What would you like to do, ma'am?" the dealer asked.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Simone kept eye contact with John and didn't look back down at her cards.

"Hit me," she said.

Shortly later after a few more drinks and games, Simone and John made their way to back to John's hotel suite. A private room with its own floor, featuring a swimming pool, entertainment center, and luxury sized bed. John had excused the body guard for the rest of the evening. As they rode up in the elevator to the private suite, Simone began to loosen John's tie. As the door opened the two began to ravage one another in a flurry of heat and passion. John unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the wayside. Simone pushed John onto the king size mattress before she untied the back of her dress and slipped it off.

She climbed on top of John's body as he pulled her in and kissed her along the neck and shoulders. John rolled her over and took a dominant position. He unbuckled and took off his trousers. As he finished removing the last of his clothes, he pinned Simone's arms up with one hand. He used his other hand to simultaneously rub along Simone's thigh; eventually reaching his way back up to her waist and breast.

He thrusted himself into her and let out a thunderous moan. Simone freed herself from his pin and grabbed over his shoulders and scratched along his back for support. As he continued, his breath grew faster. He lowered his head into Simone's shoulder.

As his head was down, Simone removed her left had from his back and reached for the pin in her hair. She unsheathed a small, sharp dagger from the pin.

John let out another moan and orgasm before being impaled in the neck by the blade. He lifted himself up for a moment on top of Simone, and she took the blade to slit his throat. John reached and grasped at his neck as he rolled off of Simone. Blood sprayed out profusely over the room. John stood up after rolling onto the floor. He stumbled a bit; his face turning white as shock began to set in to his body. He attempted to stammer towards the phone near the entertainment center but slipped on his blood that puddled on the marbled floor. He slammed on his shoulder beside the pool. Simone rolled off the bed and stood up. She used the bed sheet to wipe off her blade before returning it to the pin in her hair.

John continued to gasp and call out, he gave a slight scream before Simone kicked him into the pool. He flailed for a moment before bleeding out and drowning in the water.

"It was fun," Simone said as she turned around and walked back over beside the bed.

She used the bedding to wipe away any blood that spilt onto her body. Putting her dress back on, she grabbed John's cologne off of the nightstand and gave herself a spritz. Something to mask any smell of violence that might've fallen onto her.

She removed the bedsheets from the bed and stuffed them in a small metal trashcan that was in the corner of the room. Using a complimentary lighter for cigars in the entertainment center, she lit the bedding ablaze and headed back to the elevator. On her way out, she grabbed the keycard for the hotel, John's wallet, and an ice bucket. She scanned the keycard to call up the elevator and rode it down to the seventh floor of the hotel where the ice machine was designated. As the elevator worked its way down, the door opened to another couple staying at the hotel.

The man noticed a little red smear on Simone's cheek. Before he could say anything, she noticed and gave a quick, fake laugh.

"Oops, got a little grenadine on me," she assured, wiping away the blood with her finger and giving it a lick. "Need to get more ice for the cocktails."

The man looked away as Simone gave a smile. He seemed convinced enough to not say anything. The door opened to Simone's floor and she exited the elevator. She set the ice bucket next to the machine in the hallway and headed for the emergency exit stairs. Using the stairs, she exited the building through the side and walked out of the nearby parking lot. A few blocks down sat her car.

She drove out and returned to her motel in a different section of the city. It was a rundown room for cheap that nobody would raise an eyebrow at. As she kicked open the door, she rested momentarily on the small twin mattress. She reached over and turned the radio on; it was covering the events at the opera house, as well as the news of Mussolini's declaration of war.

The motel phone rang out and Simone answered it. On the other end of the phone was Bordeaux, a handler for the French government.

"It's done," said Simone.

"Good – I know you've worked double time this last week. But the Italian government has pressed out a new job that might hold interest to you."

"You know, Bordeaux. It's been a long night, is this something we can discuss tomorrow, or maybe even the day after?"

"It's Luther."

Simone sat up from her bed. She silenced the radio to make sure she had heard things clearly.

"Did you say Luther?" asked Simone for clarification.

"Yes, word is out that the Italian Government has set a hit on one of your colleagues."

"Is there a hit on Jack as well?"

"Nothing on him as of yet, why?"

Simone was silent for a moment.

"No reason," she said.

"The contract isn't private, so if you want it, you'll have to act quickly. The Italians don't care who gets the job done, as long as it's done quickly."

Simone set the phone by her side and thought for a moment.

"Is there a large payout?"

"Larger than your last three jobs combined," admitted Bordeaux

"Contract me," she said before hanging up the phone.