9 days later

P E A C H     M C C O Y — T H E     H A C K E R

Nine days of mostly silence passed between me and Viktor.

I spent most of my time at the monitors, he was coordinating with this Javier character or talking to Markov on the phone I'd protected for him. Otherwise, if he wasn't occupied in the hotel, he was out. Scouting, he said. Making sure we weren't followed or being hunted.

I knew we were mostly safe and he didn't need to patrol the area but I wasn't going to keep him back from going away from the room if he wanted. It gave me time to myself as well. I was just glad he always came back with a clear gaze and steady hands.

We shared every meal together, every meal being breakfast and supper. I was always too preoccupied to eat lunch and he was never in the apartment at that time so I skipped the meal altogether. My leg was healing well, I hadn't gotten any infections. My bruises were going down too. They weren't as bad as they were the previous week. They were almost healed.

My hobble had turned into an almost unnoticeable limp. I walked around the room when I could trying to get used to moving about. Things were quiet and safe and I liked that. I wasn't as paranoid now because I had Viktor and he'd keep me alive. That gave me so much reassurance that I relaxed into this whole mirage of comfort. I knew it wouldn't last but I held onto it.

I played Bullet Mercenary earlier today, found a chat and hoped the message would get to this _m.a.r.k.v.i.k_ character. It made me uneasy, the fact that me might know both Viktor and I personally. Our meeting was set up somehow. I was certain of it but I didn't have the proof to back up my accusation. I've just been waiting for _m.a.r.k.v.i.k_ to reply.

deadpoolsucks566: The girl refused to talk. We're trying to find Viktor. He was last seen in Cloudpass. Need more money.

It's been two hours.

I left the monitors because they made me anxious and decided to open up my hair. Viktor was gone though he knew I was texting _m.a.r.k.v.i.k_ today. He told me he'd be back earlier than he usually was. Javier had managed to bring the jeep in yesterday and Viktor was moving the stuff, arranging for our departure to Las Pavita. He told me we'd have a place to stay and lay low. I trusted him because he was the expert here and not I.

Having the bathroom to myself, I undid my coily hair, washed it with shampoo, moisturized and blow dried it with the dryer built into the hotel wall. My hair was large, like a lion's mane, forming a dark halo that fell a little ways past my shoulder. My mother had always loved doing my hair. I wasn't as good as she was but I've done my best to keep it all these years.

I was till trying to get a brush through my hair when the front door opened. I froze, my heart beginning to race as I listened to heavy boots moving around.

"Peach?" I heard Viktor call and let out a sigh, my body losing all its tension. I walked out of the bathroom to the living room, brush in hand, my hair still I slight mess. I was working on it.

"I thought you were someone else," I told Viktor when I spotted him, his back turned to me as he stared at the screen where Bullet Mercenary remained open, waiting for _m.a.r.k.v.i.k_'s message.

"At least your cautious. This guy hasn't responded yet. I thou—" Viktor stopped talking when he turned and laid eyes on me. His soft baby blues were slightly widened as they went over my face and my hair.

"Woah," he said softly. I almost didn't catch it.

I put a hand in my coils and threaded it out. "I know. It's a little messy but I haven't exactly finished working on it yet."

Viktor moved closer, his eyes moving around my features with such intensity, I shifted on my feet. He reached out and held the side of my face, his fingers brushing over the edge of my curls, not exactly touching them. He moved his hand, brushing them out of my face, almost as if he wanted to see my expressions clearer.

His gaze was hooded, unfocused like he was trapped by the thoughts that went on in his mind. He slightly fisted his hand and run the back of it up my cheek, over my bruises so softly, I didn't feel any kind of pain. His fingers lingered there, where my skin was marred by colour and his eyes cleared in a way that made me rethink letting him this close. The cold fury within his being was hard to ignore but he gently and carefully tucked the hair that stood out in front of my face more behind my ear. The coils refused to obey their encouragement to sit in place, softly bouncing back when he retracted his hand.

"They're so soft," he said under his breath and then shifted his chin, his blonde locks sliding out of his eyes, allowing me to see the darkness in his expression, the wonder as well.

"Thanks. I try to keep them the best I can," I added lowly, unconsciously rubbing my fingers together.

"You look much prettier with your hair open like this," Viktor said casually and pocketed his hands like he was trying to keep himself from reaching out. He backed up from me a little, bowing his head so his hair fell back into his face and it was hard for me to read his expression.

"Thank you," I whispered, not sure how to take the compliment. Not many people had called me pretty. Hot, sexy, enthralling but never just pretty. It made me feel younger, more delicate. Something in me melted and softened. I internally scolded it.

Viktor cleared his throat. "The car's ready to go and everything in Las Pavita is prepared for. Has my doppelganger said anything?"

I shook my head. Snap out of it Peach!

"No, unfortunately," I sighed and moved around Viktor to sit down at the monitors, my hair bouncing as I did so. "I messaged two hours ago but no reply."

"Well, we can wait for a while longer but we've already been here too long," Viktor mumbled as he came and stood behind me. I was fully aware of his presence like a doe would be a wolf's. It would be all to easy for him to pull out a gun and shoot me or grab a fistful of my hair, pull my head back and slit my throat. I shivered thinking about it, the wave rolling down my spine slowly but sensationally.

"We are leaving tomorrow so we'll have to give him until then," I stated.

"Can't you download this game on your laptop instead?" he asked me and I shook my head.

"No way. This site is too unsafe. It would be like opening a window to my house for anyone small enough to slip through. My laptop is delicate," I implored, running my fingers softly over the machine.

"Does it hold any sensitive information?" he asked.

"No, I keep all of my good stuff somewhere else," I added, my words slow and mysterious.

"Not going to tell me where are you?" he asked and I laughed with a shake of my head.

"Not until I'm seconds away from death."

"Then I guess I'm never going to know," he said with an almost pitiful sigh from behind me that kept a smile on my face. "I'm going to take a shower."

His footsteps retreated and i turned, confused. "It's just three o'clock," I protested but he didn't stop. With a shrug I let him go.

When I heard the shower running in the master bedroom, I realized the magnitude of his words from before. By saying he was never going to know where I kept all my sensitive information, he revealed I was never going to be seconds away from death. At least, not with him around. That got me smiling.

When I turned back to the monitors, I went to a folder I hadn't told Viktor about. To him, it was nothing really. To me on the other hand, this folder was everything. I opened it and went to the exact piece of information I wanted.

About a decade ago, a warehouse in this town was mysteriously blown up. It belonged to Sante Di Laura, Don of the Viper's mafia. In that explosion, he was killed along with three quarters of his higher men. The mafia fell, mostly. A power struggle came about and a new leader was chosen and then killed. A coup was staged and the whole thing was chaos really. My father joined the mafia while it was still trying to build itself back up.

He was in a low place and we needed more money at home so he signed up to do jobs no one wanted. He dragged my brother in too sometimes. They argued about it a lot but then my dad made a mistake that changed everything. I wanted to hate him for it but I couldn't because if I hated him and hated Peirce for treating me as he did, I'd have no family left. I'd held onto them and I swore on my life I'd find the people who got my dad in trouble and make them pay.

The information on this computer is Bratva business but the folder I had connected some of the Bratva's raids to the case my dad was working on with a bunch of his pals. I didn't have much information on it, just the fact that they were looking for a woman, Clarissa Malone. She was of course the woman that ruined my father's life. She was the reason he was where he was right now.

I hadn't visited my dad in years but I still owed him this search, finding out who turned on him and make them pay. Feel what he felt having his children see him in a position that wrecked their lives. I'd built my whole case, I had a list of names. Getting into the Bratva's network weeks ago had enabled my search to move faster because then I had access to the Vipers, along with enough information to properly destroy the whole empire.

I wrapped my hand around the locket on my neck then held the golden rectangular lock between my fingers. I popped it open and was greeted with the sight of my thin USB. I picked it out gently and popped it into the side of the monitor, downloading the folder. This was where I kept everything connected to my family. Everything illegal and everything I needed to get vengeance for my dad and my brother even if I hadn't seen either in three years.

When I had what I needed, I put the USB back and kissed the locket. It being my mother's fueled my need for vengeance. One thing that haunted me was the soft wish in my heart that Viktor would not be caught in my strive for justice for my family. This whole thing had started because of the Vipers and the Bratva, a fact I'd only learnt a few weeks ago.

So, it did make me uneasy, the fact that Viktor's doppleganger might know both him and I personally. I knew it was because of either my father or my brother.

Something in my gut told me that topic swimming around between Viktor and I was going to burn us down somehow.