He sat across her, his legs were on the table, and he was busy sipping on the coffee cup she had offered him. His body language was that of an aloof man- his devil may care attitude was like seething resentment and her anger was reaching a boiling point to the point that she wanted to throw her cup of hot and burning coffee at his face. He was an uninvited guest at her home and his presence in her abode unannounced could cause a lot of misunderstandings and problems for her. He was a mafia lord, and she was a police officer. Even if this was a false implication by his side it would be problematic for her since it looked as if they were buddies, and she knew him personally. She only met this guy yesterday and here he was today at her house uninvited and without her acknowledgment. Finally, she was the first one to break the silence between them that was like a knife and suffocating her.

'What the hell are you doing here?' She practically spat those words at him — there was no doubt as to her gnashing her teeth in rage, she could practically hear the scrapping of her teeth and the sound brought discomfort to her ears.

'Sweetheart-of course I am here to see you. 'His voice was husky, and she felt a strong urge to slap him. This wasn't the time to try to charm her — her situation looked ridiculous to her almost to the point that she wanted to yank at her hair out of frustration at this point.

'But I don't want to see you.' She practically threw those words at him. His grin widened at her tone. He was expecting this kind of reaction from her. Watching her fume anger was certainly entertaining. Her hands were in a fist, and it looked as if she was trying to control herself from punching him on the face. She wasn't the only person in his life at the moment who would like to strangle him or punch him but somehow her reaction was the most amusing one out of all the people he knew.

''What brings you here?'' This time she tried to control her wavering emotions and spoke in an almost calm voice while making sure to keep her emotions under check.

''I am here to see you.'' His eyes were focused on her this time rather than the cup he was sipping on moments ago.

''Me?'' She signaled towards herself with her hand. She was quiet for some time expecting him to give her further explanation but to her annoyance, he stayed quiet, his gaze was frozen at her, and she did everything in her power not to squirm at her place under his uncomfortable gaze. He was just observing her blatantly and she felt naked under his eyes. He could sense her anxiety and discomfort that much she could tell as he took his eyes off her and focused them on the coffee cup in his hands' ones again.

''I wanted to make an offer.'' He told her the purpose of this meeting.

''I reject any such offer.'' She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. One thing was clear to her, he was merely testing her loyalty and her loyalty lied with the law enforcement. People at law enforcement were not only her co-workers but also her family. They were with her during all the highs and lows of her life and there was no way that she would betray them for such a dangerous man who killed people without mercy of any kind. She knew Yuri he was one of the most wanted mafia lords on their wanted list, and she didn't want to sympathize with him. Let alone make a deal with him.

''If that is what it is I will respect your decision.'' He stood up from his place and carelessly tossed the cup in his hand towards the center table. The loud bang made her jump at her place, her heart hammered against her chest violently. Her palms were moist — her legs were ready to give way under her, but she stayed firm at her place, she had put her gun somewhere and at the moment it was nearly impossible to reach for it. She feared that the moment she would reach for her phone to warn her partner he would swiftly get rid of her. He had a gun that was tucked at the back of his jeans, and she expected him to take it out any second from now and get rid of her that very instance. The tension in the room was prolonged- But her thought was proved incorrect when he walked to the main door of her apartment. She was still holding onto her breath, standing there alert and ready to run in case anything went wrong.

He turned to face her briefly; she could make out glazed emotions of his and spoke in a monotone ''I hope you'll accept my offer when it's the right time.'' His statement although thrown at her felt foreign to her. The emotions bubbling inside her were those of confusion and chaos- she wanted to ask him a lot of questions, but that also meant that he would be in her apartment for a little while longer and that was what she didn't want. She wanted him gone and to never see the likes of him again but him specifically.

The moment he left her apartment, slamming the door shut behind him and then her legs betray her. She hit the carpeted floor. The intensity of the fall was broken because of the plush carpet. She kept staring at the door ahead of her expecting her to pop inside her apartment any time from now and end her life. She had rubbed her arm with death that she was well aware of, and it sent chills down her spine.

The events from the day before yesterday were very vivid in her mind and she cursed the time when they crossed paths, and now he was looming over her head like the shadow of death. The fact that he showed up at her place uninvited and the first thing that had greeted her was his gun pressed against her temple the very moment she entered her apartment with the bags of groceries. The bags were still laying there on the marbled floor some contents had scattered on the floor; some had rolled under her furniture. She just sat there unable to make her way to the big mess that his presence had created; finally mustering all her strength picked her off the floor and made her way to the scattered grocery bags, and started arranging them on the shelves of the kitchen.

Then she found herself in a daze, she could still hear his statement playing like a record in her ear. She didn't know what to make out of his statement, she jerked herself out of those ominous thoughts. Looked around her apartment and concluded that she couldn't stay in this apartment for the time being. Not until Yuri was safely behind bars, and away from her place. She got lucky and nothing else she tried to remind herself. Whatever use he had of her wasn't her concern and there was no way she would consider and accept his offer voluntarily. Then it was as if she was hit by a truck of bricks — she should have taken this opportunity to get him arrested after all she knew about his whereabouts. The police had a hard time tracking him down and that was the reason despite being a wanted criminal he was roaming around freely and killing innocent people. If she had acted rationally and not let her emotions take control of her logical thinking he would have been behind bars safely.

She slammed her fist on the marble countertop. Maybe he was still roaming around in her area- that thought came to her, and she found herself quick enough to grab her jacket off the sofa and dialed her partner's number. Eric picked the phone on the second ring, and she could hear him greet her on the other end of the phone. ''Hey, Anastasia!''

''Hey! Listen. You need to call for backup and search every inch of my locality. Send some officers to my place too. '' She was speaking in a hushed voice; her tone was low but urgent. It was as if he could hear the panic in her voice. His friendly tone turned to a stern one.

''Who is it?'' His voice was professional now.

''Yuri. 'Soon her place was flooded by men in uniform; she could recognize some of them as her co-workers. They were interrogating her. She told them every detail exactly in the order it happened. The place looked like a crime scene. Some of her next-door neighbors made their way to her place when they saw the police vehicles, some of them scratching their heads in fear while others simply stood there like spectators watching the officers busy doing their jobs. Some of them were asking the police questions and talking in hushed and tensed voices among themselves, but she could hear it all very clearly. She could hear their accusations. They were accusing her of bringing dangerous guys to their one's safe and peaceful locality. She simply ignored their glares and their accusations and started inspecting her place along with the other officers trying to make sure that nothing was missing. To her glee her place wasn't bugged and neither anything was missing. So his sole purpose was to threaten her and make that offer.

A part of her was curious as to what that offer was, but the rational one was quick to jerk those thoughts away and focus on the mess in front of her, Eric called her again this time, her colleagues were almost wrapping up the scene and ready to head homes or to their workplaces. '' Hey! We lost him- he was caught on surveillance cameras around your area, but then he disappeared in allies and that is when we lost him. He is a master at hiding in shadows but don't worry we will catch him soon, and then there will be no more hide-and-seek. '' Eric's voice was disappearing in the background; the anxiety within her was almost bearable now. She felt physically sick, and her head was suddenly woozy. Her eyes drifting in and out of focus then and now.

It was Eric's voice who was repeatedly calling her by her name that she was brought back to reality. She looked at her phone and realized that the call went on for too long, and yet she didn't hear a single word he was saying. ''Hey,'' she answered back, and his tone was that of annoyance. Anger was bubbling in her, she was the one who almost died back there, and he was getting unnecessarily harsh with her as he went on and on about her being irresponsible and almost getting herself killed.

''Are you done acting like a dad? I know I messed up but none of that had any of my say in it , but you don't have to rub it on my face at every single opportunity you get. I am tired of you treating me like a child.'' Before he could say anything she disconnected her phone and shoved it in her jacket. Her face would have been red by now out of anger She was sorely tempted to throttle Yuri the reason why she was in this mess in the first place, but then she was reminded of her careless mistake the other day, and it didn't help calm her anger she was full of regret for carelessly giving her identity away to the mafia lord and by now he knew everything about her most probably. She looked up at her apartment and let out a sigh, she had to go to a hotel for a day or two it wasn't possible and safe to stay in her apartment and she didn't want to put other people at the risk.

What if Yuri decided to visit her and end her life for good this time at least others around her will be safe. She touched the back of her jeans to make sure her gun was there and then after locking the doors behind her started walking towards the main road, the motel was on the main road and few blocks away from her home.

She checked in the hotel and booked herself a room. The room was small, but it was enough for a two-day stay as long as she was away from the devil nothing else mattered. After a bath and some necessity she made her way to the bed, the moment she heads to the bed she was out cold despite trying her best to stay awake. The gravity of the situation would soon draw on her the next day-

-XOX-