Makar

MAKAR

My hands wound around the dough as my thoughts spun in circles.

We'd been at Orbitus for a week and had done all the surveillance we could. At one point, I even tipped one of the bussers for any information they had.

Of course, once they told me they knew nothing, I planted cash in their bag, told Goran they were caught stealing, and they were fired immediately. I didn't have time for games and couldn't have anyone blowing our cover.

If it was just slitting Goran's throat, I could have done that the first day.

But I needed to get into his office, plant the worm into his computer that would let us track all of his contacts, taking the entire network down at once.

And that took time.

"Maddox!"

"What's up?" I turned around and saw Treton, one of the head chefs, handing me a plate with my dessert on it.

"The guests in the VIP room said it was too warm."

I scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "It's freshly fucking baked; it's supposed to be warm."

"Well, they didn't want it that way."

"Well, tell them to order something else!"

I turned back to my dough before catching myself. With a long sigh, I turned back to Treton and took the plate from him.

"Tell them I'll have another right out," I responded with a mocking smile.

Treton rolled his eyes and walked away. Damn it. I knew better than that. I needed to blend in.

It was even more difficult because Sophia had the day off. She always knew how to calm me down with even just a glance, but that day was an exception. I was overloaded with thinking about the mission.

I snapped quite a few times that week. Once at Sophia, which was so minor she almost didn't catch it, another at a bartender who wanted to cut me off after one of our shifts, and a third right there with Treton.

Since I began at Orbitus, my mind whirled quicker than it had in ages. It's hard to concentrate on flaky crusts when I was supposed to kill a man.

And figuring out what I would do with Sophia when we were done with this job just intensified my internal turmoil.

"Maddox!"

"What?" I whipped around, ready to lose my temper.

Treton handed me a plate with a burnt éclair on it. I pursed my lips and closed my eyes. That one I would take responsibility for.

"Right away, chef."

I took the éclair back from him and set my dough aside while I worked on the desserts that needed to be sent back. Not once in my life had I burnt an éclair until then.

If the mistakes kept up, I would be out of a job, and we would have no way of getting close to Goran.

Was I messing up this assignment because Sophia was always on my mind?

I needed to breathe. Checking the dough once more, I took off my apron and hung it up while walking past Treton.

"Where are you going?"

"Nosebleed!" I lied, covering my nose and walking to the bathroom. "Be right back."

That was the only thing Treton wouldn't care about, me trying to keep the kitchen sanitary, although I had committed a murder in there that was assumed a suicide. Luckily, none of it came back on me. I admired Treton's passion, but damn, he was difficult to work with.

I put the old pastry chef out of his misery working beside that one.

While walking to the bathroom to take a second for myself, I looked at the dark hallway leading to Goran's office and saw no guards in the door's windows. I checked my watch. We were right at the end of the dinner rush. There was no way he wouldn't be there.

After looking around and checking to see if anyone was watching, I walked down the dark hallway and peered into the doors. There was no one in the waiting room, but Goran was talking inside.

Is this my chance?

I slowly walked to the side of one of the doors, looking straight into Goran's office from the corner of one of the windows.

"You're so bad," a female voice said from behind the doors.

Goran walked into view, holding a rope in his thin, pale hands. "You like that?"

I pulled away from the door suddenly. That was much more than I needed to see.

This is it. Just go in and kill both of them.

While it was an opportunity, I wasn't going to kill an innocent woman. I didn't want to know half of what Sophia didn't tell me she went through when she was a dancer, and I couldn't imagine what sex workers had to endure. Their lives were hard enough, and she didn't deserve harm.

When did I become compassionate and shit?

Walking back down the hallway, I rubbed my hands over the back of my neck.

I could have killed him and told the girl to run, but then she would have been a loose end. The whole point of the mission was to make things easier for the family, not more difficult.

When I rounded the corner from the hallway going toward the kitchen, I was grabbed tightly.

"Let go of me!" I exclaimed, looking at the Dargun holding onto me.

"The boss will not be disturbed right now."

"I know, that's why I'm walking away!"

I jerked my arm back from the guard and walked back toward the kitchen. Wait. This could be an opportunity.

Turning back, I put my hands on my hips and stared at him. "Why won't he be disturbed right now?"

The Dargun scowled. "He has company."

All right. This one wasn't a talker. But he hadn't shooed me away. Maybe there was more to get out of him.

"He's had company before, and I've been able to speak to him. What's different about now?"

"He has a woman friend over."

I nodded slowly. "Any time a woman is here, I'm not allowed to speak to him?"

"No," the guard responded, looking away from me and standing up straight. "No one is to enter."

Not even you…

I walked away and through the double doors to the kitchen, replaying the thought in my mind. No one was allowed to enter when a woman was there. That fact could have been useful, but how was I going to kill him and not a woman while leaving no strings attached to the scene?

"Maddox! Get this ready for the VIP room!"

"I know, Treton, I know!"

The end of the shift was brutal. We had a twelve-top come in of drunk idiots who all wanted to sample our desserts. I was just thankful I didn't burn anything and that they were too trashed to give any critiques.

I walked onto my floor and sighed, looking at my hands. I still had flour underneath my fingernails and a slight cut on my hand from one of the knives I used. I was too busy thinking about how to kill Goran while slicing a piece of cake for a birthday celebrant.

And I still don't know how I'll pull it off.

Opening the door to my room, I sighed with relief when I saw Sophia waiting for me. We got closer over the past week, but that was the first day she wasn't at work with me. With a jolt, I realized that part of the stress of the day was wondering if she would still be there when I returned.

It was nice coming home to someone, especially Sophia.

The times we spent together when we weren't working brought us closer. She wanted to know all the different methods for baking, more about why they said it was science and cooking was art, and what my favorites to make that weren't from Earth were.

Taking an interest in me was something no one outside of the family ever did before, and each question she asked made me feel more deeply about her.

"Hey you," she chimed while sauntering up to me.

"Well, hello." I looked over her lingerie and smirked. "I see you got my present."

"Mmm…" She ran her hands over my chest and kissed me. "Was it more for you or me?"

I chuckled as she kissed my neck. "Both of us, really."

I wanted her. I really did, but I wasn't able to turn my mind off. My hands didn't run down to her thighs like they normally would have, and I didn't press her against the wall and take control like I always wanted to.

This situation is really screwing with me.

She dropped her hands from my chest and backed up with concern on her face. "What's wrong? Do you not like it?"

"What?" I shook my head and chuckled. "No, I love it! I absolutely love it. You look amazing."

She cocked her head to the side. "Then what's wrong?"

I sighed and put my hands on my hips. "I don't know how to do this."

She giggled and walked toward me. "Of course you do; you've done me every night this week."

"No," I responded, holding her at arm's length by her shoulders. "I don't know how I'm going to kill Goran."

"What?" She frowned. "It's been a week."

"I know." I ran my hands through my hair and shook my head, smacking my lips. "He's guarded at all times. Well, almost at all times."

"Almost?"

"There was a girl there today. In his office, I mean. I guess he hires them from time to time."

"And no one guarded him then?"

I shook my head again. "No. But if I were to break in and kill him and not her…"

"Then she would have to die anyway."

I looked at Sophia, surprised for a second, before I remembered how smart she was. "Yes. She would have to die anyway."

Sophia sighed, looking just as perplexed as I was until she slowly lifted her head with a slight grin on her face. "What if the woman didn't have to die?"

I frowned. "Well, that would be ideal, yes." I held her gaze and saw a twinkle in her eye.

Reeling, I leaned against the wall with shock written all over my face. "Absolutely not."

"Why not? It would work!"

"You want me to send you in there with him?" I yelled. "Are you insane?"

"What? So you don't think I could do it?"

"Do it? You're not going to do anything, Sophia!"

"Look." She spoke in a calm tone while walking toward me. "I would just go in there for a minute, seduce him, whatever, and then you come in and kill him quickly! I'm on the inside; you know I'm not going to tell anyone!"

Her hands touched my chest, and I thought about how special she made me feel. The images of her with Goran raced through my mind, and my veins burned with rage. I quickly backed away from her hands, trying to calm myself down.

"No, Sophia."

"Makar, I-"

"Why would I let you do that?" I screamed, pounding my fist against the wall. "Let you go in and fuck some other man, especially one that could have you killed in a second? You really have lost your fucking mind!"

When I came down from the anger slightly, I noticed her eyes were wide as she looked at the hole I made in the wall.

Fuck.

I've done it now.

Guilt slammed into my gut, and my head dropped.

I lost my temper around her. I looked at the hole in the wall and gulped before walking out of the room and slamming the door behind me. I wasn't angry at her. I was furious with myself.

I told her I would never hurt her, and I meant that.

But how would she ever believe me now?