Assigned to You (Completed)

Chapter Fifteen: Evangeline

This was the second time that I found myself awake in Everett’s arms. We were still stark naked on my living room floor and Everett was fast asleep, his snores filling the silence of the room. I looked up and stared at him, the straight nose, the way his lashes were long and curled naturally, the tiny dust of freckles on his nose, and the pale blue eyes that I could stare at all day long. My favourite blue-eyed boy.

“I can feel you staring at me,” Everett murmured. I giggled and then snuggled closer to him, bringing my body even closer to his. It was around 2AM in the morning and we were both still wrapped around each other’s arms.

“You’re pleasing to look at. That’s good for you anyways,” I teased.

He opened his eyes, pale blue eyes staring straight into mine and then he said, “Why does that sound like you’re only dating me because I’m pretty?”

“Because that’s exactly what it is,” I replied and laughed, patting his chest and then grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around me. I put on his shirt which ended mid-thigh and put on my panties. I grabbed his boxers and threw it at him so he could put it on. I didn’t want the surveillance team to see him naked although I’m pretty sure they already got enough of the view last night.

I’m not looking forward to Justin’s teasing.

Everett laughed and pulled on his boxers and then stood up. His dark hair was unruly and a complete mess and his cheeks were still flushed. The after s*x look made him all the more adorable. “C’mon, let’s have early breakfast.”

“You’re gonna miss me, aren’t you?” he asked, taking his spot in the kitchen as I began to pull out the ingredients I needed for the breakfast I was going to cook.

I looked at Everett and remembered that he told me he had a flight to New York tonight. I nodded my head, “Yes, I’m gonna miss you, Ev.”

The fact that he was flying to New York meant that this could possibly be the opening that Nimri was waiting for which meant that I, too, would catch a flight to New York to assassinate Papa Saunders. The thought made me shiver and for once, I wasn’t looking forward to kill.

“I’ll call you whenever I can and text you a lot too.”

I smiled. “For someone who’s new to this whole thing, you’re really putting the effort.”

He stood up from where he sat and then walked to where I was, snaking his arms around my waist and kissing me behind the neck. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of his breath on my neck. I’ve been getting myself too used to his warmth which meant that I’m digging a far too deeper wall than I intended.

Everett rested his head on my back as I continued to cook and then when he spoke, I could feel the vibrations of his voice, “I’m going to miss you so bad. I haven’t spent the amount of time I spent with you with anyone else.”

I turned around and then placed my arms around his neck and then he pulled me closer. We stayed in that position, swaying slowly. I listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart and wondered, if I had a different job and led a different life, this all would’ve been easier. Being with Everett- truly being with him- would’ve been easier.

But I was an assassin and I had too much blood in my hands.

“Try not to find other girls to creep on while you’re there,” I told him cheekily, “Trust me, I know that I’m the jealous type.”

He laughed and then squeezed me a little bit tighter. “As long as you don’t accept packages from my uncle, we have a deal.”

He released me from our embrace and I instantly missed his warmth. “Go shower.”

Everett pouted but complied. “I’ll be back, love.”

I rolled my eyes and then continued on cooking. My phone rang five minutes later and I already had an idea who was calling me. I wasn’t surprised when the screen flashed Nimri’s name. I washed my hands and dried it on a small towel, taking my sweet time before I answered his call, and then finally reached for the phone that I had left on the counter.

“Hello?”

“Sterell.”

“What do you want, Nimri?” I asked, turning around and leaning against the counter.

“Impressive performance last night,” he said, amusement lacing in his voice, “Surprised that you have the energy to make breakfast for him.”

I gripped the phone tightly in my hand, trying to refrain from shouting profanities at him. I could’ve stomached the surveillance team seeing everything that happened but Nimri watching was another thing. It made the hair on my skin stand up and not in a good way.

“I thought you’d be professional enough to shut off the monitor when that happened,” I said coolly.

“Ah, I even did you a favour, I shut the surveillance’s camera to make sure Justin didn’t see. Wouldn’t want him beg for you even more,” Nimri said but I could hear the smirk in his voice, “And don’t worry, Sterell, I didn’t watch it. But I am happy that you took my advice.”

I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction because the truth was, I wanted Everett as much as he had wanted me. It wasn’t Nimri’s advice that led me in bed with him that first time, it was me giving into temptation. But admitting that to Nimri would tell him that I am getting attached to Everett and that would be a bigger blow to my ego.

So I did the other right thing that came to my mind. I didn’t respond.

After a moment of silence, Nimri spoke again. “He’s going to New York tonight. We’ve booked your flight at 6 AM tomorrow morning. The party will start at six in the evening tomorrow at the Empire.”

“That’s the tallest building in New York. I can’t assassinate him any time.”

“You wait until he’s outside. You have access to any rooftop of buildings beside it. You’re an assassin. You can figure it out.”

My eyes narrowed when I realized he had hung up on me. This wasn’t my first time to assassinate someone that’s located at the Empire. Nimri had a point, I have to wait until he’s outside. I wouldn’t want to risk killing him with so many people around. That was Henry’s forte, to kill even when the target was in a crowd and it was one of the things that I needed to still learn from him.

“You okay?”

I looked up in surprise and met Everett’s eyes. His hair was wet from his shower making his blue eyes brighter. He was wearing sweats and a plain white shirt and he couldn’t have looked even cuter. I hadn’t heard him come in and I wondered if he had heard the conversation I had with Nimri but he didn’t look suspicious.

“Yea. It was just my boss calling about work, swamping me with even more deadlines.”

He nodded and then took out two plates. I finished the food I was cooking and placed them on the plates that Everett had given me. Everett grabbed our plates and set them on the table while I quickly made coffee and waited until the pot was ready.

When Everett sighed, my attention instantly snapped towards him. “What’s wrong?”

He chuckled. “Why are you so panicked?”

Because I’m scared that you heard the conversation I had with Nimri. “I’m just wondering if there’s something bothering my boyfriend. Is that wrong?”

He smiled and then the coffee maker dinged and I poured the both of us coffee. Everett liked his black with two teaspoons of sugar while I made mine with almond milk. I set his cup in front of him and took my seat. “It’s nice to hear you say that I’m your boyfriend.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Papa told me something last night that made me realize that I might not get out of this work he’s handing me,” Everett said quietly, his eyes turning serious, “In Papa’s eyes, I’m the replacement for the son that he tragically lost.”

This was information that seemed relevant to the mission. The weight of the bracelet resting on my wrist suddenly felt heavy. “What do you mean?”

There was sadness in Everett’s blue eyes. “Do you want to know how my father died, Evangeline?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay.”

Everett shook his head slowly and then closed his eyes. “He was murdered.”

I sucked in a breath. “What?”

As clear as day, the anger in his eyes were evident as he looked down on his plate. “He was shot right in the head by someone. The man wasn’t even trying to hide, you know? When he was identified, he was already dead. Someone else killed him and threw his body in a dumpster. Sometimes that fact made me feel better. The killer was dead too. Just like my father. But you know what bugs me the most?”

“What?” I let out a subtle sigh of relief. It meant that it wasn’t Henry. I suspected it to be Henry for a moment but my uncle was still alive and killing people so it couldn’t be him.

“Why would they kill him? What wrong did he do?” Everett asked and then I could see the frustration of the little kid that he used to be, the frustration that grew up with him too, “When Papa introduced me to the ‘other’ business, everything became clear to me. Maybe that’s why they killed him. Maybe there was a wrong transaction or maybe there was an associate that wanted more.”

“Then how does your father’s death made you become the replacement?”

“As far as I can remember, and as far as what they’ve told me, my Dad had always been Papa’s favourite. It was always about Edward and never about the others,” Everett said quietly, playing with his food before stuffing his mouth with it, swallowed and then spoke again, “When Dad died, something snapped inside of Papa and he focused his attention on me.”

“Because he thought that since you are your father’s son, you could be the son he lost too,” I said, concluding for Everett.

Everett smiled sadly and nodded. “All along, he looked at me as the substitute for the son he lost. I don’t what hurts more than that.”

“Why did you just suddenly think of that?”

“It’s been on my mind since last night,” he admitted, sipping his coffee, “Seeing you made me forget and then I remembered it when I showered.”

I reached for his hand and placed mine on top of it. I could see the hurt behind his eyes. I wondered why it pained him so much but refrained from asking. Instead, I interlaced our hands and gently squeezed his. Our eyes met and I smiled at him. For a moment there, it was the perfect moment to mouth to him ‘I love you’ but I realized the weight of those words.

But what shook me more was the fact that I had thought about saying those words to him.

Oh s**t.

So to stop myself from saying or doing anything that would land me in a deeper hole, I stuffed my mouth with the food and sipped on the coffee, avoiding looking at Everett because I was so sure that his face would prompt me to do something. It was a good thing that he seemed to be keen enough to be stuck in his head during breakfast.

“What do you want to do today?” I asked him after I finally managed to remind myself of the rule that Henry practically engraved into my brain.

Never fall in love with a target.

“It’s Sunday,” Everett stated, as if that fact wasn’t obvious for me but when his gaze met mine, I was suck back into the blue depths that I had grown to love, “Let’s go to church.”

I almost choked on the coffee I had begun to sip. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stared, dumbfounded, at Everett. “What did you just say?”

His eyes glinted with amusement at my reaction. “I said, we’re going to church so dress nice even when I prefer to see you naked. Also, I think it’s time you meet my Dad. All the talk about him made me realize that this would be the first time I get to introduce a girl to him.”

I didn’t know how I was supposed to phrase my question without insulting him. I didn’t peg Everett to be religious. He hadn’t gone to church since we’ve spent time together so he couldn’t be religious. But I needed to ask him. I wasn’t a saint and with the job I had, it didn’t exactly give me a ticket to get to heaven.

“Are you religious?”

Everett looked at me with a crooked smile. “I believe in God, Evangeline. But just because I want to go to church today doesn’t mean that I’m religious. Faith and religion, they’re not the same thing. Go get ready and I’ll wash the dishes.”

I stayed rooted in my seat. “Why do you want to go to church today, Everett?”

“Because I want to,” he said simply, “My Dad used to take me. He said he once promised my Mom that he would. I stopped when he died and came back occasionally when I grew up. This is one of those days. It might be too much to ask you but can you do it for me?”

All I could do was just stare at him. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say and I couldn’t decline. I slowly nodded my head. “Okay. Wash the dishes, ‘kay?”

He smiled and let me stand up from my seat and head to the bathroom. Once I felt the cold water hit my head, I couldn’t help but close my eyes and allow myself to feel the clenching of my heart. Everett was making everything difficult because when all of this is over, I’ll be stuck with the memory of a beautiful boy who just simply wanted me to be a part of his life.

I finished the shower and got ready for church. Everett was waiting for me in my living room, dressed nicely, when I came out of my room. We didn’t talk much as we headed to church and during the service. I wasn’t paying attention either, just looking around the people who attended. I wondered if theirs sins was as great as mine. Didn’t God punish Adam’s son for killing his own brother? What kind of punishment did I have in store when the only thing I knew how to do best was to kill one of my own?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize that the service was over and Everett was dragging me back to his car. He didn’t ask questions though, simply opened the door for me and got on his side of the car. He didn’t say anything as he drove and I wanted to ask him where we were going but realize that he must be making his way to the cemetery where his father was buried.

Cemeteries made me feel more uncomfortable than churches. The thought of having to be the one who killed someone buried haunted me. I didn’t know most of my targets. I didn’t know what life they had led. So maybe they were considered criminals by the FBI but that didn’t mean they didn’t have a family to still grieve them.

“Here we are,” Everett said as he parked the car. He got out and opened the door for me. I took his hand and he interlaced our hands together. We walked a pathway until we reached a gravestone. Everett let go of my hand and crouched down, removing the leaves that had fallen and hidden the name on the black granite stone, “Hi Dad.”

I looked down on the stone and read the name. Edward Peter J. Saunders. Everett looked up at me and smiled slightly, and then reached for my hand and I pulled him up. He squeezed my hand tightly as he continued to speak, “I’d like you to meet someone, Dad. Remember what I promised you when I was thirteen? That I’d only bring a girl to meet you if I was serious about her.”

Everett turned to look at me and I could feel my heart sink. The way he looked at me was the same way my father used to look at my mom, the same tenderness in his eyes, the same swirl of emotions. I couldn’t speak. All I could do was just stare at him as he continued to speak.

“Her name’s Evangeline, Dad. Pretty name for a gorgeous girl, huh?” Everett wiggled his eyebrows at me and then said, “Love, this is my Dad. I know it’s an unconventional way of introducing you to a parent but this is the only way I know how. If you want, we can do the same with yours.”

I mustered up the courage to smile and turned to the gravestone, “Hello, Mr. Saunders. It’s nice to meet you. I hope you meet up with my parents wherever you all are.”

“That would be nice,” Everett commented and then focused his attention to the gravestone, let go of my hand and crouch, “Dad. There’s also another thing that I came to see you about. It’s Papa. I don’t like what he’s putting me through. I still want to say no. I am going to say no but I feel like it’ll break him because it would mean that he would lose an heir twice.”

“I’m not scared to have the same fate as yours if I go through with it. What bugs me most is that it ruins my character and you know how much I’ve been trying to build it.”

As I listened to him speak, it became clear to me that when the time came that Everett had to be my target, only two things could happen.

I’ll stand by my profession and pull the trigger.

And then I’ll point the gun to myself and pull the trigger again.

Because I would rather die than live knowing that I can’t be with him alive.