"Why did you kill her?! I told you not to kill her!" the President started shouting the moment Natasha stepped out, covered in blood.
"That psycho attacked me when I turned around. What was I supposed to do?!" Natasha lied without hesitation.
She didn't even know why she was doing it.
"It's fine, we have a name." Levi tried to calm the situation, though he noticed something strange about Natasha.
"You don't know her?" the President asked, his tone suddenly calm.
"No."
"Levi, tell them to investigate that name."
It was obviously just an excuse to send him away and leave the two of them alone.
"You know I care about you almost as much as I care about my own children," the President began once Levi left.
"But they're not like us. They're clean. If you care about him, don't drag him down with you."
He was talking about Levi.
And she knew he wasn't wrong.
"Unless you want to stain him too."
It sounded more like advice than a threat.
"I don't," she answered immediately.
She didn't want to pull him into her dark path.
"But he's so persistent... and smart. He reads me like a book."
She envied him for that.
And at the same time, it was exactly what she hated about him.
"Then don't let him open the book."
Even he knew that was impossible.
That was why he never involved Levi in his business.
.
.
Natasha spent the entire day lost in her thoughts.
She was sure she didn't know that girl.
But the girl definitely knew her.
"Has Leonardo called? He hasn't shown up for two days," Levi said angrily while pacing around the cabin.
They had just finished training together and everyone was exhausted except him.
"Maybe something happened to him," Azra said quietly from the bed, completely drained.
She sounded like a puppy struggling to breathe.
"I doubt it," Natasha disagreed. She didn't underestimate Leonardo.
"He just doesn't like us and doesn't want to live with us," Ash added from the floor.
No matter how hard he had tried over the years, he couldn't tame Leonardo.
But he wasn't giving up.
"Unfortunately for him, it's not his choice. Tell him he's in trouble and he better show up soon before I drag him here myself," Levi said, clearly frustrated about too many things already. Leonard's nonsense was the last thing he needed.
"Yes, boss," Ash said, barely gathering enough strength to roll his eyes once Levi turned around and headed to his room.
Natasha stood up. She needed some fresh air.
Even training hadn't helped clear her mind.
"What the hell is going on..." she muttered, sitting down on the concrete and rubbing her forehead.
Was that intuition?
Why had it told her to kill the girl?
The President also wouldn't leave her thoughts.
She was pretty sure he had tried to manipulate her.
He didn't want Levi getting involved because Levi would notice things others wouldn't.
She suddenly laughed, remembering the speech the President had given earlier.
He had tried to use her feelings for Levi to manipulate her.
Even though she knew that, she still agreed that Levi should stay out of it.
She walked to his room and found him working on something on his laptop.
The moment he saw her, he instinctively shut it.
She stepped inside and closed the door while he watched her in confusion.
"Why don't you just let your father do his job?" she said exactly what he expected her to say.
"A better question is why you won't let me get involved. What am I going to find out?"
He pushed the laptop aside and sat up straighter.
"A lot of things you wouldn't like, considering you don't approve of the way we operate," Natasha answered honestly as she stepped closer.
The way he used to look at her was slowly changing.
And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she didn't like that.
"I don't want to disappoint you even more," she said, trying to break the silence and his suspicious gaze.
"I don't think you can disappoint me any more than you already have," he said coldly.
He didn't know if it would affect her.
But it did.
"Compromise. I'll tell you what I'm doing and what I know, and you won't stick your nose in it. It's enough for you to know what's happening, right?"
Of course it was a lie.
She planned to feed him crumbs of information just to gain his trust.
"It's not like I could do anything anyway. My father's the one with the power," Levi said, more or less accepting her offer.
"Perfect," she said happily and sat next to him.
"Before I killed the minister, he was talking to someone on the phone. The name Hudson popped up."
Natasha started sharing confidential information.
"That was the girl's last name. They're probably related," Levi immediately connected the dots.
"Exactly. I don't know what the connection between the minister and them is yet, but if I find out, I'll tell you."
She said it convincingly before leaving the room.
Later that night, she decided to visit the house where the minister had lived.
She carefully slipped inside, unsure if anyone was there.
Her plan was to search the house and try to find any information.
Anything.
Even though she couldn't hear anything, she had a bad feeling.
She slowly walked toward the room where she had killed him.
No one was there.
Suddenly someone tried to attack her from behind, but she sensed it just in time and barely dodged.
With her left hand she stopped his arm and punched him in the face.
She didn't manage to throw a second punch.
Her left hand wasn't strong enough to hold him, so he freed his arm and grabbed hers.
He twisted it behind her back and pulled out a knife with his other hand, pressing it close to her throat.
She lowered herself slightly and slammed her elbow between his legs as hard as she could.
The hit gave her just enough time to break free.
He bent forward in pain.
She kicked him and knocked him down.
Grabbing the knife he had dropped, she jumped on top of him.
Even though it was pitch dark and he couldn't see anything, he managed to move his head just in time.
The blade barely grazed him.
Annoyed, he punched her hard enough to send her crashing to the floor.
He moved quickly before she could recover.
He gripped the hand holding the knife tightly so she couldn't move and grabbed her throat with the other.
Natasha was still dizzy from the hit and couldn't fight back.
For the first time in a long while...
she felt fear.
She opened her eyes.
Confusion replaced the fear.
Since she had landed near the window, the moonlight made it easier to see.
Levi, who was on top of her, immediately let go when he realized who it was.
"Oh for fuck's sake..." he sighed tiredly and moved away from her. He was too exhausted and confused to even stand properly.
Natasha didn't think much at that moment.
She was just happy to be alive.
"If you're going to choke me, at least do it in a bed," she said irritably while holding her throat and struggling to swallow.
"Idiot. After that hit I'm pretty sure I won't be able to have sex anymore," he snapped angrily, still in pain.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in confusion, barely gathering enough strength to stand.
"Didn't we have a deal?"
"Well, since you don't know the girl but she knows you, I thought maybe there were cameras here," Levi said, exhausted.
Natasha was never easy to take down.
And definitely not without injuries.
"And?" she raised her hand questioningly when he didn't continue.
"They're gone now. But I'm sure there used to be some."
Before Natasha arrived, Levi had searched the house and concluded that at least one camera had been installed.
And now it was gone.
"So they took the cameras... and saw that I was the one who killed him," Natasha realized.
Now she understood why the girl had looked so terrified when she saw her.
She still didn't have all the answers.
But it was enough for tonight.
When they returned, Levi went to his room while she grabbed alcohol and a cloth.
"I hope I don't have to stitch you up, because I have no idea how to do that," she said when she entered his room.
He was leaning against the desk, almost sitting.
Natasha walked over and poured alcohol onto the cloth.
Levi watched with sad eyes.
He knew it was going to burn like hell.
"Mmm—" he groaned when she pressed the cloth against his mouth to clean the wound.
"I like it when you suffer," she said, unable to keep her dirty thoughts to herself.
Levi opened his eyes and glared at her while she laughed wickedly.
"If you don't stop with comments like that," he said in a serious tone as he grabbed the spot between her thigh and her ass and pulled her closer,
"you'll be the one suffering."