Chapter Five - 'Rough Diamond' Part Five

Vibrating with tension, I take a few moments to get myself back under control. As I’m about to exit back for the lounge, it dawns on me that I stink. I’m soaked in sweat. My shirt sour.

Better take that shower…

***

Clean and in fresh clothes, I pause in the doorway from my room.

Katya’s returned to the lounge, looking much more relaxed. Lounging in an armchair, she riffles through some magazine. After a few moments, she tosses it to one side and picks up her book.

From my spot by the door, I watch her; her body language; those invisible tells that something might be amiss that she’s not talking about.

And there’s…

… Nothing…

Why?

Spy in the camp?

Bullshit.

Romano doted on her. Showered her in diamonds.

What can this woman conceivably have done to threaten him?

She glances up. Smiles. “There you are. I was beginning to think you were going to dissolve in that shower.” Her eyes drop back down to her book.

The Glock in my pocket, but cradled in my hand, “Miss Masterson, is there something you want to tell me?”

She flips over a page, flicks me a glance… “Didn’t we agree it’s Katya?” Then, frowning, “Tell you? Like what?”

My fingers curl around the Glock. “Anything you think I should know. Something that… perhaps… you didn’t like to mention.”

The book dropping to her lap, she looks at me properly. “I’m sorry?” Brow creased up now, “You’ve lost me, Hickman. What are we talking about?”

Floundering, I rub at my forehead. It doesn't clear the growing ache. “Nothing… springs to mind… you think I should know?”

“Hickman, I’m sorry, but I have no idea where you think this is going.” Her expression is clear of anything but a faint irritation.

Christ…

“Miss Masterson, why does Leone Romano want you dead?”

Her mouth opens and closes. Then opens again. “Hickman, my apologies. I misheard you.”

“You didn’t mishear me. Why would Romano order me to kill you?”

Her gaze drops to the hand in my pocket. For a moment she sits, stares, simply frozen. Then she stands, the book sliding from her lap. “Ordered you? He ordered you to kill me?”

“Yes.”

Disbelief wars with fear behind her eyes. Lips pinching, she takes a step back from me. “Leone gave you instructions to murder me? Not his brother-in-law? Or some other of Angelina’s family?"

I drop my eyes. When I raise them again, “The question is, why? What have you done? He says you betrayed him to Mancini. I’m sure that’s not true. So… what?”

Pupils pricking, she pants. Short breaths as she raises hands to her mouth. “You’re sure you’ve not made a mistake? You might have misunderstood him.”

“There’s no mistake. I’ll ask again. Why?”

“He said it was alright,” she whispers. “That he was pleased.” Her eyes well. “He said… He said…”

“Katya, whatever he said, Romano sent you away to die. I want to know why.”

“Are you going to do it?” A sob escapes and her knees give. Stepping smartly forward, I catch her before she falls, but she struggles against me. “Don't touch me! Oh, God. Hickman, don't hurt me…” Battering at me, she shrieks. “Please don't hurt me.” Whimpering, she collapses against my chest.

Cradling her in my arms, my cheek against her head, I stroke her hair. “Shhh… Shhh… Katya, stop panicking. I'm not about to murder a helpless woman. Certainly not you.” Scooping her up off her feet, I lower her back into her armchair. Hands hugged around herself, she sobs, rocking back and forth.

Perched on the chair arm, I wait for the storm to pass.

After a minute, she shudders in a breath, swipes hands over her face, then raises swollen eyes to me. “You killed that other man, the sniper, on Leone’s order. I know you did.”

“He told you that?”

“Not in so many words, but he made it clear that he was no danger anymore and that you’d…” She waves an uncertain hand in the air.

“Katya, that sniper was a professional assassin. And he worked for the head of an organised crime family. Or thought he did anyway. He played the same game I do. I'm better at it than he was. That's all. And yes, I executed him.”

“That’s what Leone pays you for?”

“Yes, but I use my gun on other men of the same sort. Romano can't order me to murder you without telling me why. I never signed up for that. Now, tell me. What have you done that was so terrible?”

She fumbles in a pocket, then casts around, looking for something. Wordlessly, I pass her a box of tissues from the coffee table. She swipes still-wet cheeks and eyes, then blows gracelessly into one of them. Then another.

Finally, she turns swollen eyes and a red nose on me. “I'm pregnant.”

Ice cracks under my feet. “By… Romano?”

“Of course...” Anger flashes. “… Who else?”

I click my tongue. “I had to ask. You're his mistress…” The anger fades, morphing to doubt… “… Or you were…” I hover, considering… “If Romano thought you were carrying another man’s child, that would probably have been motive enough for him to order your execution.” I hesitate… “I don’t want to insult you, Katya, but again, I have to ask. Is there any possibility Romano might believe you were pregnant by another man?”

Swollen eyes shoot arrows at me. “It’s his,” she hisses, then tugs out another tissue. Blows again.

Katya sags into the armchair, forlorn. “When I told Leone I was pregnant, I’d worried he might be angry. Maybe think I’d tried to set him up. But he said he was pleased. He said everything was alright and he’d be a father to the baby.”

Tears trickle again. “I thought he loved me. He told me he would divorce Angelina and marry me.”

Face crumpling, shoulders shaking, she drops her face into her hands. “How could he do this? How could he? He said… he married Angelina for political reasons. It was a marriage of convenience. That he didn't love her.”

I lay hands on her shoulders, my touch clumsy, hesitant, but she leans in toward me, accepting the caress. “Katya, it may well have been political, but that doesn’t mean Romano can afford to upset her family. Angelina is the daughter of Giovanni de Palo. If he got wind that there was any threat to his daughter’s status as wife, Romano would have a war on his hands before he’d turned around.”

Another sob. Her head hangs. “Lies. It was all lies. He said he loved me, and I believed him.”

“Love doesn't come into it. It's a dynastic arrangement. I'm not sure if Angelina wanted to marry Romano in the first place or whether she was required to do so by her family. But whichever it was, all the wealth would channel through her children. De Palo might look the other way over Romano having a mistress. But he would never tolerate any competition to his daughter’s children. For that matter, in all probability, neither would she. And all she’d have had to do was tell her father if she suspected. If it's any consolation to you, Romano probably didn't have much choice in the matter.”

Katya tears away from me, rising from her seat like an avenging demon. “No choice?” she shrieks. “No fucking choice? There's always a choice.”

I inhale. Exhale. “Yes, there is.”

She stills, staring at me. “What are you going to do?”

I stand, rest my palms on her shoulders, look her in the face. “For the avoidance of doubt, Katya, what I’m not going to do is follow Romano’s orders. Executing pros who played the game and lost, is a far cry from murdering a pregnant woman because she's suddenly inconvenient. It’s not part of my remit.”

Her mouth works, her throat rippling, her chest rising and falling.

“Katya, truly. If I intended to kill you, you would already be dead and you would never have seen it coming. I know you’re scared, but you mustn’t be scared of me. Now, do you believe me? It’s important you believe you can trust me.”

Her breathing eases. Eventually, slow-blinking, she nods. “Yes, I believe you.”

“Good, because we need to move fast. I have to get you into safe hiding.”

Her eyes widen. “What are we going to do?”

“First of all, you and I need to talk.” I palm the back of my neck. “You have to fill me in on what you believed would happen next.”

“Shouldn’t we be leaving now?”

“Not right now. If anyone’s watching, which…” I aim a finger toward her… “… they might well be, we need to make it look as though I’m following orders. That means we stay put for now. We’ll leave together as it’s going dark and then…”

“And then?”

“And then… I’ve not gotten that far yet. Tell me properly what happened, and what you thought was going to happen.”

“The doctor confirmed last week that I was pregnant. I’d not said anything to Leone before then. I only told him once I was sure. He said everything would be alright, but that until he could settle matters with his wife, he would send me somewhere out of sight to have the baby. Then, after what happened at the restaurant, he said I had to leave immediately and that you’d be my bodyguard until the danger was past and he could make permanent arrangements.” Her voice cracks. “He said he'd look after me. That we’d be married.”

“I… had the impression you enjoyed being a mistress rather than a wife?”

“I did, but… it’s different once there’s children involved.” She raises swollen eyes. “Hickman, what exactly were your orders?”

Lie and be gentle?

Or give it to her straight?

Get it over with.

“Romano ordered me to kill you, to dispose of your body and… He wants your jewellery back.”

Her hand rises to the diamond at the hollow of her neck, her mouth forming an O. Face twisting, she yanks it off, hurling the necklace at the wall. “Cheap bastard!”

I reclaim the glittering thing, taking her hand and curling her fingers around it. “Don’t lose them. Romano was clear he wants them back. Even if you kept them, if you're on the run, you'll need money.”

The fury fades and her voice turns small. “Am I on the run?”

“If I don't convince Romano that I’ve done as he ordered, we both are. I have to get you out and fast...” Her face crumples... “Katya?”

“I'm scared. Oh, God, I'm trying to be brave but I'm so scared. What am I going to do? I can't go to my family. He knows about them. Who they are. Where they live.” She whips a look at me. “Do you think he'd go after them?”

“If he suspects you're alive, it’s the first place he’d look. You have to go somewhere he can't find you. Or anyone else he might send after you.”

“So, I have to spend the rest of my life in hiding?”

Fuck…

“Katya, I need to think. We have a few hours. If you can, get some sleep.”

She nods, but rather than heading for the bedroom, she curls in on herself in the armchair.

“Hickman?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you doing this for me? It could cost you everything. I'm another man's mistress and I'm carrying his child.”

“You were another man's mistress, and a kid's a kid. What does it matter who the father is? In any case, murdering pregnant women isn’t my style. A man's role is to protect women and children.”

Her face hardens. She lifts her chin. “Oh? And what is your style? Whatever you say, you took orders from Leone.”

“I take orders from whoever pays me. If Romano had paid me to take you out of the way and… persuade… you to stay away, I’d have probably done it. But not this. Not even if…”

“If what?”

I don’t answer.

I can’t answer…

She moves close, her body against mine. She's trembling and her face against my chest is wet. I wrap arms around her, stroke her hair. “Shhh… Try not to be so afraid. You're safe here. And I'll protect you.”

I'll always protect you.

She shudders, weeping. “I'm sorry, I thought I was stronger than this.”