Episode Thirty-One: The Treading Water Affair

The following morning, Nikolai and Guy boarded a train before the sun even rose from the sky. Nikolai packed only a fanny pack, and Guy thinned out his trusty satchel. Guy watched Nikolai look out the train window as the sun painted the sky into dawn. Nikolai dressed as a tourist, a New York Yankees ball cap hiding his blue eyes, his scruff and thickening moustache obscuring his face, a map under his arm, his American accent overcoming his Russian one.

When they reached the hotel, they lingered by the entrance as Nikolai disabled the security cameras. Then they went inside, with Nikolai booking the hotel room for several nights while Guy glanced around the hotel lobby. He, of course, strutted about undisguised, and his brown eyes tried to catch the placement of the security cameras. Nikolai said he took them out, but Guy simply watched the big Russian scale a building and pull out a heap of cables that could have been anything. But he wasn’t worried about himself, he worried about Nikolai getting into deeper trouble.

Nikolai hooking his finger through his belt loop broke him free of his thoughts, and the Russian handed him the key. “Four nights, and I paid cash, like you said.”

Guy nodded and brushed Nikolai off of him. “And you put it under the right name?”

“Of course,” Nikolai replied, frowning.

Guy headed towards the elevator, and Nikolai’s long legs easily caught up to him. As they stepped into the elevator, Guy groped Nikolai’s ass as he leaned forward to press their floor and then the door close button. “Are you going to carry that accent the whole time we’re here?” Guy asked, giving Nikolai’s ass a firm squeeze.

“Maybe,” Nikolai replied. “What’s it to you?”

Guy shrugged and smiled, folding his arms across his chest. “I guess I’ll just have to fuck that Russian accent back into you.”

“Please do,” Nikolai replied, a small smile in the corner of his lips.

“I’ll have to run a few errands first,” Guy said. “You understand.”

“So I’ll just be the dutiful wife and wait in the hotel room for you?” Nikolai asked.

Guy’s eyes narrowed as he tried to read the Russian’s stiff expression. He hoped Nikolai only teased him. “You can do whatever you want, Mr. Wetsuit. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to follow me while I pick up supplies. And don’t answer the phone either. I know I called you that one time, but I won’t this time, all right?”

Nikolai nodded. “Of course,” he replied. “Your client knows where you’re staying, right? So you don’t want him to know I’m with you.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Guy replied. “You know that.”

“It’s for my safety,” Nikolai replied, giving Guy a smile. “I know that.”

Nikolai nuzzled into Guy’s hair as the elevator door opened, and Guy batted away Nikolai’s hand as they started walking. Nikolai opened his map again, reading as they walked.

Once they got into their hotel room, Guy quickly dropped onto the bed and stretched out on it. He rubbed the duvet around him and purred, “This’ll do fine.”

“This hotel’s really clean,” Nikolai said. “A lot nicer than I’d expect from you.”

Guy grinned. He pulled Nikolai towards the bed by his hips, eventually toppling the blond on top of him. He cupped Nikolai’s scruffy cheeks in his hands and kissed him softly. Nikolai grinded up against him, and Guy let his hands drift across Nikolai’s back, pressing the Russian against him by his ass.

Nikolai murmured, “I thought you said you had to go out before you fixed my accent.”

Guy sighed, and Nikolai nuzzled his neck. “You’re right,” Guy said. “Sooner I go, the sooner I can come back and make you talk right.”

Guy slid out from underneath Nikolai and prepared to go out. He ditched his satchel in the hotel room and simply carried a wallet. His materials would come in their own duffle bag, and he wanted to travel as light as possible. Guy left Nikolai draped out on the bed, and he ran his errands at a reasonable pace, eager to cut down idle chit chat, but not so fast as to risk choosing the wrong explosives for the job. He did, however, glance into store windows to consider more gifts for Steffie. He felt a bit guilty about lying to her, so he decided the right gift would make him feel all right again. However, he chose nothing. He picked up fast food on the way back to the hotel, and the assassin and the secret agent ate greasy hamburgers in front of the hotel television with only a few words exchanged between them.

Nikolai’s foot brushed up against Guy’s leg. Guy smiled. They stayed silent and attentive to the television as they digested. Nikolai eventually draped back out onto the bed, reading on his stomach while Guy looked over the hotel’s blueprints. He tried to focus on the blueprints and his plan, but his eyes often caught Nikolai’s form on the bed, and he fantasized about running his hands across his ass, sliding a finger into it.

He wondered if Nikolai fantasized about the same thing.

The assassin turned back to his job. As he spent more time planning, he realized he would have enough money to retire if he killed all three of the men. Each one had a different bonus for their death, but the combination of the men would give him the ability to live on interest alone if he could find the right bank.

His thoughts drifted to Red. He always thought he would be the one on a job, the one other people would worry about, but maybe it was time for him to be the stable one. He wanted to see Steffie grow up and blossom. He wanted to see if she turned out more like him or her mother or maybe a combination of their worst or best qualities.

And he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t think about Nikolai. A man who would always be young and trim and eager to fawn over him. He’d be dead before Nikolai showed real signs of aging. He rubbed his temples and realized how much he wanted to do this job – and how much he wanted to do it right.

He didn’t have to retire, certainly not.

But the option would be nice.

“I smelt chlorine on the way in,” Nikolai said, breaking the silence and Guy’s thoughts. “Does this hotel have a pool?”

“It does,” Guy said.

“D’ya mind if I go swimming?”

“Sure, yeah,” Guy replied. “I can sit down there and watch you.”

“I am not an infant,” Nikolai replied, standing up to grab his fanny pack. “I can certainly manage alone.”

“I don’t believe it,” Guy said. “Plus I want to give you CPR.”

Guy stood up and stretched as Nikolai dug through his fanny pack. Nikolai pulled out something small and grey. Guy asked, “What is that?”

Nikolai stretched it out.

“Don’t tell me you fit a bathing suit in there,” Guy said. “If you’re wearing that I’m definitely watching you.”

Nikolai snapped the bathing suit against Guy’s ass with Guy laughing in response. Guy pressed himself against Nikolai. “Maybe we should just fill up the tub and you can swim here,” Guy said, his lips against Nikolai’s neck. “And maybe I’ll join you then.”

Nikolai pushed Guy away and unbuttoned his shirt. “I’d really appreciate a swim. I fear all this idleness is making me pudgy.”

Guy tried to pull at Nikolai’s tight flesh. “Please tell me you’re joking, Niko,” Guy said. “You’re far from being pudgy.”

“I’ve never minded pudge on my partners,” Nikolai said, eyeing Guy’s stomach. “But my line of work requires me to stay in shape.”

Guy patted his own stomach in response and helped Nikolai by unbuttoning his pants. “At least let me get you off first,” Guy said, his warm hands groping at Nikolai’s testicles. “Come on.”

“After,” Nikolai said. “I’ll have to shower after the pool anyway. I don’t appreciate the scent of chlorine lingering over me.”

Guy ran his hands along Nikolai’s chest and stomach, kissing the center of his chest. Nikolai unbuttoned his pants as Guy kissed a hairy nipple. “Get away,” Nikolai said, batting him away. “If you get me excited I’ll never fit into this swim suit.”

“What a shame,” Guy said.

Guy shamelessly watched as Nikolai slipped into the swimsuit. It was longer than a Speedo, with a small amount of ‘shorts’ portion to keep Nikolai bunched up and to hide any public hairs, though the organized trim of pubic hair made Guy certain Nikolai did some manscaping while he was gone. Guy ran his hands along the fine leg hair, snapping the swimsuit at one of the leg holes. Nikolai swatted Guy away before pulling a pair of goggles out of his fanny pack.

“You seriously carry around a pair of goggles?”

“I like to swim,” Nikolai said, shrugging. “I’m always prepared.”

Guy grabbed his book while Nikolai picked up one of the hotel towels to take with him. He wrapped the towel around his waist, Guy ogling the tuft of curly hair crawling towards his bellybutton. Nikolai swatted his hand away again as he tried to reach for it.

Guy used the hotel room key as a bookmark and they walked to the elevator together. “I didn’t know swimming was such a big deal to you,” Guy said.

“You call me Mr. Wetsuit.”

“Well scuba diving is different from swimming,” Guy said. “I guess you don’t want to make out in the elevator.”

“Maybe later when I’m all wet,” Nikolai said.

Guy and Nikolai found only silence in the elevator with Guy’s mind completely occupied by Nikolai’s body trying to escape from his swimsuit. Nikolai lowered the goggles as they stepped out of the elevator so no one could get a clear look at his eyes.

They walked to the pool and Guy flopped down on a chair there, crossing one leg over the other. Nikolai tossed his towel towards him, and Guy folded it behind him like a pillow. He remembered the blueprints. The rooms his men stayed in were just above the pool.

Guy pretended not to watch as Nikolai dove into the water, but his eyes caught something else. Three older men stood in the shallow end of the pool, but aside from that the room was empty. Guy tried not to stare at them, but he wondered if they were the men he planned to kill. Nonetheless he curiously observed their quickly aging bodies.

Guy tried to superimpose a shrivelled version of Nikolai’s face onto their lumpy bodies. He couldn’t imagine Nikolai aging at all. He always imagined him like this, slicing through the water with his sleek, tight body. Guy considered himself as one of the men. He would have originally thought he wouldn’t have lived that long, but he thought of dying in the fire on his last job and it made him shiver. He almost didn’t want to admit he wanted to live for longer. He wanted to spend more time with Nikolai and watch Steffie grow up. He wondered if Nikolai would still like him when he looked like the men in the pool. He couldn’t imagine why Nikolai ever would.

He was a little surprised he lived for this long, long enough to want to keep living and long enough to stumble onto someone that makes everyone else think it’s time for him to settle down. Guy looked away as he watched the men step out of the water with too much loose skin wiggling. They chatted cheerfully with one another.

Guy stared into his book, trying to find his place again. He wanted to peer at the men to try to recognize their faces, but he didn’t want to be obvious. The men approached him. “Your friend there was creating too many waves for us,” one said. “Is he a professional?”

“A professional swimmer?” Guy asked, smiling as he looked up from his book. “No. I often tell him he could be though, you can see the way he takes to the water.”

“He didn’t want to go into it?”

Guy shrugged.

“We thought maybe you were his trainer or something.”

Guy laughed. “No, no,” he replied. “I’m afraid I’m a bad influence on him. I didn’t want to go swimming at all.”

“And you didn’t!” one noted.

Guy chatted quickly to these cheerful old men. He sort of liked them, they joked around with him like they were all old friends together. They stood shameless in their towels, their sagging man-boobs reaching out to creep Guy out. But he recognized their faces. These were the men he was to kill, and he tried to see any loathing in their faces.

But they seemed happy and genuinely kind. He saw none of the arrogance he could see in the picture. And he wondered if he would be the same when he aged. He’d be so old he thought no one would care if he lived out the short time that would be the rest of his life, but there’d still be someone putting a price on his neck. Someone with an old grudge.

Nikolai clung to the edge of the pool, and he motioned for Guy to throw him his towel. Guy threw it, and Nikolai snatched it up, covering his shoulders, back, and some of his chest with the towel like a cape. Guy quickly realized Nikolai tried to cover his scars.

Guy turned as Nikolai stepped out of the water, his bathing suit clinging in the best of ways. Guy just wanted him to turn around so he could see the way it clung to his ass. Nikolai sat down on the chair next to Guy, but facing the men around him. Guy noticed Nikolai didn’t remove his goggles. “I wish I’d brought my swim cap,” Nikolai said. “This pool is nice and long, perfect for laps.”

“But not perfect for isolation,” one of the men said, nodding at Nikolai. Guy knew this man’s death would make him the least money. “You were creating quite a storm in our corner.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Nikolai said. “I wasn’t thinking. It’s a big pool.”

Guy laughed. “This guy never thinks of anyone else.”

Nikolai didn’t even take the time to shoot Guy an unimpressed look. “Nope,” Nikolai said.

“Are you going back in?” one of the men asked Nikolai, tapping his own face where Nikolai’s goggles were. And this man was the middle number for Guy.

“Oh no,” Nikolai said. “My sight’s rubbish, and these’re prescription. So if I took them off, I wouldn’t be able to see you guys clearly.”

“You wouldn’t want to see us clearly anyway,” the cheapest one laughed.

“I wish I had bad eyes,” Guy said, laughing with them.

“I don’t blame you,” the middle man said.

The tallest man smiled at Nikolai and said, “Those are some scars on your legs.”

Guy knew this man would make him the most money, but he was also the fittest of the bunch. Guy didn’t want to have to scuffle with this man, and he suspected the man’s beard covered scars on his face. One of his thick eyebrows was already broken in half by a scar.

“Oh,” Nikolai said, glancing down at his legs. Several scars loitered on his legs.

Guy could see the secret agent’s mind whirling for an excuse, and Guy said, “He scuba dives a lot and does some of that treasure hunting on shipwrecks. He’s been nicked a few times.”

Nikolai nodded.

“Ever find anything good?” the medium one asked.

“A few things,” Nikolai said. “Nothing to retire on. If I find anything interesting, I tend to donate it to whoever’ll have it. Some museums, you know, things like that.”

The men murmured and nodded in agreement.

They chatted for a little bit longer before exchanging farewells. The men went back into the pool and Nikolai and Guy headed back to the room. “It’s like watching raisins sitting in water,” Guy said. “Creeped me out a bit when they came over to talk to me.”

“Did you feel like your future was stalking you?”

“Oh please,” Guy said. “I’ll be long dead before that happens to my body.”

In the privacy of the elevator, Nikolai felt the wrinkles around Guy’s eyes, only to have Guy bat him away. “Stop that.”

“I just thought I would point those out.”

“You like them.”

“Yes.”

They walked back to the hotel room in silence again. Guy wondered if the men recognized him as a hitman, and he noticed Nikolai’s eyes glaze over as if deep in thought. Guy frowned and wondered what the Russian had to think about.

Guy unlocked the door and tossed his book on the bed. Nikolai took off his towel as he walked into the bedroom. Guy followed him, wrapping his arms tightly around Nikolai’s waist. Guy’s lips brushed up against Nikolai’s shoulder blade. “Hold on,” Nikolai said. “Wait until I get into the shower.”

Guy pouted and grinded up against Nikolai’s rear. He murmured, “But I wanted to take that suit off of you.”

Nikolai forced a sigh, though Guy caught the smile in his lips. Guy rubbed the inside of Nikolai’s thighs, rising onto his tiptoes to kiss Nikolai’s neck. Nikolai pressed back against Guy and replied, “I suppose you can do that first, but let’s try to make it into the bathroom, okay?”

“Fine,” Guy replied. He released Nikolai, but gave his ass a slap.

Nikolai huffed and moved into the bathroom. He waited with his arms folded across his chest as Guy followed him in. Guy dropped to his knees in front of Nikolai, feeling the cold, slick, wet swimsuit between his fingers. “This actually feels kind of gross,” Guy said, with a laugh.

“It is not entirely comfortable at the moment either,” Nikolai said.

Guy said, “Well I suppose we must get them off,” and he pulled Nikolai’s swimsuit down around his ankles.

He decided the swimsuit, while clinging nicely to Nikolai’s testicles and rear when wet, was much nicer dry. He wouldn’t let Nikolai swim before screwing him again, anyway. And he smiled at the thought of going with Nikolai to the pool again.

Nikolai tried stepping away from Guy, but Guy firmly grabbed his hips, leading him back. “Hold on,” Guy said. “I’m not done.”

“I’ve kicked off the swimsuit.”

“I can see that,” Guy said. “But I’m not done.”

He grinned as he teased the secret agent’s penis between his fingers, and Nikolai swatted his hand away. “You know what happened last time.”

“I liked what happened last time,” Guy said. “It gave me much needed confidence.”

Nikolai scoffed. “You have so much confidence you could drown all of Canada in it.”

“I have a feeling Quebec would survive,” Guy replied.

Nikolai just rolled his eyes and moved into the shower. As he drew the shower curtain across, he said, “If you care to join me, you may want to bring the appropriate equipment.”

Guy wondered what about his penis wasn’t appropriate, until he remembered he needed lubricant and a condom. He undressed as he sought out the necessary materials, and once he finally stumbled into the shower, the smell of chlorine barely lingered on Nikolai and was overtaken with the hotel’s soap. Nikolai’s cold blue eyes watched him as he set down the lube and wrapped condom on the ledge for the soap.

Then he found himself swept up in Nikolai’s arms as the blond buried his lips in the sweet spot where his shoulder and neck met. Twisting his fingers through Nikolai’s hair, Guy lead the Russian’s mouth back to his own. Nikolai wrapped his arms around Guy’s waist, spinning Guy around so his back was pressed against the shower wall. Guy listened to the sound of their breaths and their lips colliding as the water hissed around them.

He heard Nikolai fumble while opening the lube, and he smiled against Nikolai’s lips as he kissed him again. He stroked the back of Nikolai’s head and neck, keeping the Russian’s focus only on him. He relished in the warmth Nikolai shared with him, and he kept his body curved against the blond’s. He purred as Nikolai teased the opening of his ass with his slick thumb, and he flicked the tip of his tongue against Nikolai’s as he grinded up against him.

Guy let out a gasp as Nikolai started to slowly press his thumb in and out of Guy’s ass and spread his ass cheeks as he did so. Nikolai’s hand crawled up his chest as he pumped his thumb faster inside of Guy, his fingers tugging at his chest hair. Guy throbbed and pressed back against Nikolai, eager to speed up the blond’s slow process. “Jesus God, Nikolai,” Guy moaned. “Just fuck me.”

Nikolai kissed Guy again, and Guy tightened his grip on the blond. When Nikolai pulled away from the kiss, Guy lightly bit down on Nikolai’s lower lip. Nikolai pulled his thumb out of Guy and opened the wrapped condom with the help of his teeth. Guy took the condom from him and slid it onto Nikolai’s cock with a few rough jerks at the base of his shaft, smiling as he heard Nikolai swallow a gasp. He spread more lube onto it, tugging Nikolai’s shaft or squeezing his testicles in the process.

Nikolai slammed Guy against the shower wall, his wrists in Nikolai’s grip. He shivered as Nikolai kissed his ear just before sliding the head of his erection into his ass. Guy bucked back against him, groaning as he tightened around the blond’s throbbing cock. Releasing Guy’s wrists, Nikolai dug his nails into Guy’s hips, slowing down the rhythm drastically.

As Guy’s cock ached in the air, Nikolai spread the assassin’s hairy legs by the inside of his thighs to continue to hit deeper into him with a grunt. “Oh fuck,” Guy groaned as he arched against his companion.

Pumping faster in and out of Guy, Nikolai rubbed the inside of the assassin’s thighs before tracing one hand up to squeeze his testicles. Guy let out a moan of pleasure, his erection still painfully pining for attention. Nikolai nibbled and panted against Guy’s ear, and he released his testicles to trace both hands up Guy’s quivering body. Guy distantly heard the hotel room’s phone ring, and he mumbled a “Fuck him” and let the sound of their breaths drown out the noise. Bucking back up against Nikolai, Guy groaned as Nikolai pressed his thumbs against the assassin’s nipples.

As Nikolai’s hips brushed up against Guy’s ass, the assassin gasped, “Are you going to be polite and jerk me off, Niko? Or should I help myself?”

Between breaths, Nikolai murmured, “I do not think you need it.”

Guy laughed and titled his head to nuzzle Nikolai’s neck. “But I want it,” he replied, lightly kissing Nikolai’s neck.

Nikolai responded by running his fingers down Guy’s chest and pelvis, his hands forming a triangle around his erection. The Russian’s fingertips brushed against his testicles, but refrained from fondling his shaft. The bastard teased him. Nikolai’s hands bucked Guy against his quickening rhythm.

Leaning back against Nikolai, Guy closed his eyes to focus on the sound of their breaths and groans overcoming the hiss of the shower. He pressed his hands against the shower wall, gasping as he tried to ignore the pulsing from his erection. He reached down to pleasure himself.

Nikolai, however, quickly pulled Guy’s arms back and pinned them behind his head. “Not yet,” he breathed against Guy’s ear.

When the Russian himself began to moan in his language, his long fingers began to tease Guy’s erection. He ran his finger along the ridge right under the tip of his cock before gripping Guy firmly at the base of his erection. Guy gasped and shivered, relishing in the first light touches he received. With Nikolai’s one hand lightly massaging the assassin’s testicles and the other firmly jerking him off, Guy let out a long moan of pleasure. He began to spill across Mr. Wetsuit’s fingertips, mixing with the shower water.

Guy squeezed his eyes shut as his mind whirled for things that would keep him from coming before Nikolai. His thoughts drifted to the ringing phone, but Nikolai’s presence around him drowned the thoughts out. He tried to remember how uncomfortable he felt in Nikolai’s grasp, but he only felt warmth now without any fear. He listened to Nikolai’s soft voice brush against his ear and pressed back against Nikolai. He heard the Russian’s voice crack as he came, and his quick hands made Guy finish moments after with a groan of Nikolai’s name.

And Guy lingered in the shower, kissing Nikolai’s neck as Nikolai tried to clean around him. Guy laughed and hugged him lightly. Nikolai smiled and nuzzled into Guy’s hair. Guy traced his hands down Nikolai’s back, and he murmured, “I should probably call my client back.”

“I would understand,” Nikolai replied.

Guy looked up to see the Russian smiling above him. He rubbed Nikolai’s nipple with his thumb and kissed the other. “I’ll return his call then.”

Nikolai nodded, and Guy noticed his eyes followed him as he moved out of the shower. Something about that unsettled him, and he wrapped a towel around his waist as he moved into the main room. He sat down on the bed and lifted up the phone. After calling the front desk, he managed to get the number to return his client’s call and finally heard the man’s soft voice on the other line. “Mr. Solo?”

“Yes,” Guy said. “Sorry, I see I missed your call.”

The man said, “The men spotted you and are leaving shortly. If you plan to act, you must act immediately.”

“How soon is immediately?”

“It is my understanding that they are packing now and rescheduling their appointments,” the man said. “I suppose it depends on how light the men packed.”

Guy turned his head and saw Nikolai standing in the doorway, fully dressed but with wet spots spreading across his clothes. His hands were behind his back. “All right,” Guy said. “I’ll deal with it now.”

“I certainly hope so, Mr. Solo.”

Guy heard a click as the man hung up, and he followed suit. “I have to work,” Guy said. Nikolai pushed Guy back down on the bed with one hand and straddled him. Guy frowned and pushed Nikolai’s chest. “Nikolai, I have to work.”

“I understand,” Nikolai replied.

He pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a rope. Guy grinned and said, “Did you have that in your fanny pack too, Mr. Wetsuit?”

“No, I believe you packed it,” Nikolai said, grabbing Guy’s wrists. “I looked at the photograph when you went out to buy the explosives. Even if I had not looked, I would have recognized them at the pool.”

“So you knew them?”

“They are A.B.E.L. heads,” Nikolai said. “You understand that I cannot allow you to harm them. I will only tie you up until they have left, do not worry.”

“Nikolai,” Guy said, relaxing under Nikolai’s grasp. “You know I can’t just let you do that. If I don’t do it, someone else will, and I’ll just be poor.”

“Perhaps,” he replied, “but I still cannot let you go.”

Guy kissed under Nikolai’s chin as Nikolai began to tie Guy’s wrists together. Guy’s mind whirled as he tried to decide how to react. He couldn’t throw away this job, especially if it meant he could just fade out. Certainly there would be repercussions if he attacked A.B.E.L. heads, but he would be able to escape before they could catch him. He’d have enough money behind him to buy an island and fly Steffie to stay out with him.

He lifted his wrists and wrapped the rope around Nikolai’s neck, positioning himself on top of the Russian. Nikolai gasped and clutched at the rope. Guy said, “Relax, I’ll just tie you up and you can say you tried to stop me.”

He let out a yelp as the Russian’s foot hit him in the gut and launched him off of him. Winded, he grasped his stomach as Nikolai came at him again. He pulled his hands free of Nikolai’s incomplete bondage and grasped the rope. The secret agent grabbed his wrists again, but Guy copied his previous movements, keeping Nikolai away from him by pressing both feet against Nikolai’s stomach, sending Nikolai onto his back. He manoeuvred himself on top of Nikolai, sitting down on his stomach and grabbing his wrists.

“You must be tired,” Guy purred, “to let me win so easily.”

“Fuck you,” Nikolai hissed, struggling against Guy’s grasp again.

He lifted his body in an attempt to push Guy’s weight off of him, but Guy pressed back and braced himself to keep his position. He tied Nikolai’s hands to the back of the headboard, his hands facing the wall so they wouldn’t have easy access to the knot. He avoided looking Nikolai in the eye. The secret agent’s cheeks were red with anger and shame, his eyes starting to well up with tears. He couldn’t decide if Nikolai tried to manipulate him, or if he was legitimately upset about the probable death of the A.B.E.L. agent heads. “I don’t have time to explain,” Guy said as he tied the knots, “but I want you to know I’m doing this for Steffie and you.”

Nikolai’s voice turned cold as he said, “I know you, Guy Solo. You are doing this only for yourself. Your file says that your weaknesses are money and sex. I suppose I should not have put out so quickly today or else I would have stood a chance.”

Guy got up and began to pack his explosives and get dressed, glancing at the hotel map as he did so. He decided to ignore Nikolai. He couldn’t trust him right now.

“If you plan to blow up the building, is it really a good idea to leave me here tied up?”

“I’ll be back for you,” Guy said, slinging his satchel over his shoulder. “Everything will be fine, I’ll come back and get you out.”

Nikolai’s face twisted and he rattled the headboard as he hissed, “If you come back, I will personally shove an explosive up your ass and set it off.”

Guy leaned over and kissed Nikolai on the forehead.

Nikolai spit in his face.

Guy wiped his face and smiled weakly at Nikolai. He remembered what Red told him. Nikolai shot his partner in a fury of rage. He couldn’t be trusted right now. “I’ll be back,” Guy murmured. “You know I love explosives in my bottom.”

And he left the hotel room, hearing Nikolai’s voice rise at him in Russian.
 

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