Angel and the Assassin 3: Sins of the Father

self-conscious.
    When he was in the zone, he was a shark, alert to everything but showing nothing.
    At last the man got up and began to undress. Kael watched him in his peripheral
    vision as he stripped and got into bed naked, his lean, rangy body moving with ease
    and strength. When he switched out the lights, the darkness was comforting.
    The Russian rolled onto his side, his voice disturbing the darkness. “Are you sure I
    cannot interest you in a little sex? No? I doubt it would work anyway. We would both
    want to be on top.”
    Kael did not answer.
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    Chapter Ten
    “Sir, I’m sorry I upset you last night.”
    “It’s all right, Mattie. Forget it.”
    Kael had taken twenty minutes away from Romodanovsky while the man was in a
    meeting with Townsend and the Met commissioner, with Dmitri acting as his father’s
    secretary. They were in the small study, and he had stationed Mackie outside the door,
    leaning in close as he said, “You screwed up once. That’s why I know you’ll never do it again.
    If anyone enters that room, I’ll put a bullet through your brain stem and then I’ll decapitate you
    and send your head home to your wife in a box.” A sweat had broken out on the man’s face the
    closer Kael got to him.
    “Yes, sir. I know you will,” he had said.
    Mattie went on, “It must have been more embarrassing for his gormless son than
    you. That bloke’s only twenty-one or so, and he looks thirty-five. It must be hard having
    a father like that to live up to.”
    The way Romodanovsky had treated his son spoke volumes. Yes, the man would
    be a hell to have for a dad.
    “Do you look like your dad?” Mattie sipped her coffee, looking up at him with the
    innocent curiosity with which Angel often looked at him.
    “I don’t know. I’ve never met him. He didn’t stick around.”
    Dismay plastered over her face, Mattie said, “Oh God, I’m sorry, sir. I just keep
    putting my foot in it.”
    Feeling sorry for her, Kael smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I never have. I’ve got a
    lovely mother.” Changing the subject quickly, he said, “Have you been on a date with
    Hotchkiss yet?”
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    A frown creased her forehead. “We haven’t really had time, what with work and
    everything.”
    “Let me know how it goes when you do.”
    “I will, sir.”
    “Come on. I don’t really trust Mackie as hard as I’m trying to. I want you
    following Dmitri around all day.” They made their way downstairs to the narrow
    hallway where Mackie stood to attention. “First I’m going to send Angel outside to do a
    perimeter walk. He gets fidgety when he’s inside too long.”
    Kael pressed his PTT and gave his orders for the day to his team.

    * * * *
    Romodanovsky returned to his rooms to get ready for dinner, and though it was

    just a formality, Kael checked the bedroom and adjoining bathroom, going through
    Dmitri’s room as well before returning to Romodanovsky. “It’s all clear.”
    “I don’t think there is much danger to me now,” Romodanovsky said.
    “No, not after the bollocking the Met commissioner gave his security officers for
    letting that bloke through yesterday. They’ve tightened up the perimeter so much you
    could probably wander the gardens alone in perfect safety—but I won’t let you.”
    Romodanovsky pulled off the casual wool sweater he wore over his shirt. “It is
    heartening to know that you care.”
    “I don’t. You’re just a job to me.”
    “You sent the pretty blonde girl outside to walk with my son. Dmitri would be far
    more interested in your little boy than the girl.”
    “He’s not my boy. I don’t know what you thought you saw yesterday.”
    The Russian laughed. “I know exactly what I saw. I am going to lie in the
    whirlpool bath for a while. My muscles are tight. Would you care to join me?”
    “If I was your son, would you still ask me?” He wondered just how far outside the
    norm the man would go.
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    “But you are not my son.”
    “Another time, perhaps.” Kael looked thoroughly bored, but the man’s constant
    innuendos were getting to him. Romodanovsky proceeded to remove his clothes before
    walking naked into the bathroom. Kael stood at the door long enough to watch him get
    into the bath and turn on the jets. For safety he left the door open before going quietly
    into Dmitri’s room. He didn’t even know what he was looking