1.3

He knocked gently when the needle of his watch pointed to ten. Right when Velika O'Sullivan opened the door, he put on a perfect smile and politely greeted her. When he passed by her, he swiftly checked her ears, making sure she wasn't wired.

"Hi." She smiled back at him. They knew perfectly how both of them were under disguises, which intensified the atmosphere more than usual.

"Nice decoration." He scanned around to check for surveillance cameras and complimented aimlessly.

"Thank you." Said Velika O'Sullivan, "Have a seat."

"Before we start, can I ask you a question?" He turned a little. Now she could see the side of his face, quite elegant, she curled her lips. Instead of sitting down, he paced slowly to the bookshelf, started reading the titles of the books while taking some out. Ears may be everywhere, he told himself. Then he finally turned around and walked towards her, didn't forget to touch the downside of her computer desk while passing by.

"Sure." She shrugged, held back her laughter, and crossed her legs.

"Why did you let me go when you had a chance to kill me?" He said with a half-serious half flirting smile, "Were you falling in love with me, O'Sullivan?"

"Were you falling in love with me, Heinrich?" She asked him back, "A stranger who you presumed to know, yet know nothing about."

"That wasn't an answer to the question." Said Daniel Heinrich as he approached her. He stood close enough for her to feel uncomfortable, but she didn't move, "The question was, were you falling in love with me?"

"An affection, I'd say." She said quietly, while he lifted her chain, made her stare directly into his eyes, "I admire you, Daniel Heinrich, but that's about it."

"I admire you too, Velika O'Sullivan." Said the German, as he gently pressed his lips on her thin, pale ones.

Daniel Heinrich didn't know what to do with her. He didn't know her, didn't know what she had been through, but she probably already knew all about him.

"Your arrogance and ignorance will get you in trouble one day," She said quietly in a soft voice when he finally let her go, "Oh, I'm sorry, you were already in trouble because of this."

"At least I wasn't abandoned." Daniel Heinrich said scornfully. The sudden change of her expression on her face proved his guess was correct. For one second her stare seemed blank like she was brought back into the worst part of her memory. He knew she was probably enraged even though she turned around and said in a calm voice:

"Heinrich, you really shouldn't make a bold guess about others' lives."

Before Daniel Heinrich could say another word, Velika O'Sullivan gave her first strike. She hit his left cheek with her right fist, and he stepped back, he remained surprised for about one second but then he shook his head and stroke back with a complicated smile. He tried to grab her arm and twisted it to her back, but unfortunately, she dodged. She acted she was going to hit him by her fist again, but she kicked him instead. He bent down, she thought he was injured so she went to check on him. Suddenly he straightened up and this time he seized her right arm and pulled her down on the ground. Now he thought he won the fight, but he forgot Velika O'Sullivan was a tough woman to conquer, she reached to the china vase and smashed it on Daniel Heinrich's back. He moaned quietly and squinted at her, she gave him a victorious smile, he lifted her and dashed her back onto the floor, now it was she who groaned, and he was the one with a triumphant grin. Before he could defend himself, she kneed him in his abdomen, he released her a bit after the sudden, unpredictable strike. She took the chance, grasped him by his neck, and turned him down in a flash.

"Do you want to keep going?" She asked, out of her breath. She was still grasping his neck so he could hardly breathe.

He didn't say a word but meanwhile, he slapped her so hard that she could hear the humming in her ears, she loosened him and sat back.

"Tie." He stood up slowly, so did she, "You let me kiss you, then you fought me, what should I think of you?"

"I always thought you couldn't fight." Said Velika O'Sullivan when she was rubbing her temples, ignore the last part of his question.

"I feel sorry for you," Daniel Heinrich curled his lips, "And I feel sorry for myself because I'm pitying you."

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me, and you can be more sarcastic," She said coldly, "Why would you think I was, well, 'abandoned'?"

"It was nothing but a guess." He rose his eyebrow, "You know you have an unusual last name."

"Yes, of course, my name." She rose her eyebrow. She poured coffee in her delicate cup; the vapor gradually vanished in the air. But the warmth remained, brought them a moment of tranquility, "Coffee?"

"You can never get enough of coffee, regardless of what time it is." Sitting on the couch, enjoying the cup of dark coffee calmed Daniel Heinrich's mind, as if the violence between them had never happened. They sat there quietly, sipping from their cups, checked on each other occasionally.

"By the way," She gave him a teasing look, "My house isn't wired."

"Being cautious is never a bad thing." He placed his cup on the table, "You have to concur on that."

"Sure, I concur." She shrugged, curled up on her couch, and took a sip of coffee, "Why not? And, funny how we are sitting here like friends. We kissed, then we tried to kill each other."

###

Natural, an illegal organization but with government permission, funded by upper-class people with secret purposes. Fundamentally, Natural was an agency responsible for assassination and investigation which spread its system all over the world. Mr. and Mrs. Leontes were two of the founders, and gradually after years, Natural became Leontes' family business. At first, Mr. Leontes wanted his eldest son, Shane Leontes to run the company when he retired, but Shane Leontes left the company after Mrs. Leontes passed away and decided to give up the inheritance of the company.

About two weeks ago, Mr. Leontes was found dead in his private mansion. Although the coroner ruled the cause of death as sudden cardiac arrest, there were many flaws and rose suspicions in Romeo Leontes' mind. Romeo Leontes, together with his sister-in-law, Astoria Leontes, took over Natural according to Mr. Leontes' will. To resolve his suspicions undercover, Romeo Leontes contacted Velika O'Sullivan, his best agent and the only person he trusted inside Natural.

"You think it was a murder?" Velika O'Sullivan frowned.

"I took several things out of the report." Romeo Leontes was sitting on his cozy armchair while Velika O'Sullivan stood in front of him with her arms held, "The result of the blood test was abnormal."

"Be more specific." She tilted her head a little.

"Well," He paused and gestured her to sit down, she shook her head, "There was one unknown kind of chemical he injected or forced to inject within 24 hours before his death."

"I'm sorry to say this, but," She bit her lips and said carefully, observing Romeo Leontes' expression, "Do you think it might be the mixture of some drugs? He did that for a while after Mrs. Leontes passed."

"No, Velika, no." Romeo Leontes objected to her opinion, "I know what kind of medicine he took, and this was not one of them. Someone poisoned him."

"Then why did you take that part off from the report? If you are so sure it was a murder, perhaps you should discuss with Astoria…..." Velika O'Sullivan's voice faded as she spoke, suddenly her eyes widened, she looked at Romeo Leontes unbelievably and he nodded.

From the moment Astoria Leontes took over her husband's position, Romeo Leontes always had concerns about her. He knew her since he was 16 and she was 2 years older than him. Even all these years had passed, he still didn't know her backstory. He only remembered after he came home on a typical school day, his older brother, Shane Leontes was back home from Germany, together with a girl. His brother told him that she was his wife, and Romeo Leontes had no choice but to accept the fact that he had a sister-in-law. A woman under disguise and full of lies, but also astonishingly beautiful, that was how Romeo Leontes would describe his sister-in-law. She had a very heavy northern European accent, but she never mentioned where she came from and never spoke a single word in her native language. She was pretty like Vivien Leigh but less romantic and more ambitious. Romeo Leontes was afraid that her extreme aspirations would cause conspiracies, he had to defend Natural, it was Leontes' family business and he couldn't let anyone else took it from him.

"Fine, I'm in." Velika O'Sullivan lowered her voice, her face looked solemn again. Then she said quickly, "It's not like I have another choice."

She stared directly into his blue eyes. It was the kind of stare that somehow send a shiver down his spine as if he wronged her in many ways.

"You know you chose it right?" He said dryly, "It was a long run and we both knew that."

She sighed, turned away from him, and facing the window:

"How can I not know?'

###

Before Velika O'Sullivan came to find Daniel Heinrich, Romeo Leontes had already traced down the person who synthesized the chemical compounds given to Edmund Leontes. It wasn't that hard with his extended web of the network in the research field. Dr. Mills, it was the chemist's name.

"You all have interesting names," Daniel Heinrich curled his lips after Velika O'Sullivan finished her story, "There was someone had Leontes as the last name. I thought it only existed in Shakespearean stories."

She pretended she didn't hear his comment: "Any questions?"

"Why did Leontes trust you?" He put down his teacup and leaned forward a bit, "And why me?

"Romeo recruited me," Her tone was neglectful, "You, well, I hate to admit it, but you are the best agent I have ever seen besides myself."

"Besides yourself, of course." He laughed, "But I'll take it as a compliment."

"You should." She nodded, acted to be firm, tried her best to hold her smile back.

"One more question before I go interrogate Mills with you tomorrow," Daniel Heinrich sat back, spread his arms on the top edge of the sofa, "Why did you let me go when you had a chance to get me?"

Velika O'Sullivan gave him a complicated smile: "Why did you let me go?"