The Secrets We Keep

As Choi climbed the steps, he heard Dahlia’s door slam shut. He grimaced, never seeing her this angry.

Arriving at her door, he knocked, “Dahlia?” he probed. “It’s Yeong; may I come in?”

She opened the door, then returned to her bed. Upon it was her suitcase. She had begun to pack, getting ready to leave.

Seeing this, Choi softly spoke. “Dahlia, you can’t leave. Not now. See this through.”

“I cannot afford to have my mind read like that,” Dahlia fumed. “There are things up here,” she pointed to her head, “that cannot be known.”

“I know,” Choi agreed. “But the others seem to be okay with others knowing.”

Dahlia was about to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, she quietly sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. Choi sat next to her.

“We know of their relationships, yes,” Dahlia agreed. “We do not know their intimate moments.” She looked Choi in the eyes. “Yeong, that creep has the ability to know everything we did last night. All the details. are you fine with that?”

Choi shrugged,, “Well, no, I’m not. When you put it that way, I understand. We’ll tell him there has to be limits.” He got a text from Alyssa, to which he replied: Not now!

“How can we monitor those limits?” Dahlia asked. “It’s not like we have a quality assurance in mind reading.” She took his hand. “It’s not just our intimacies.” She paused. “In my mind are national secrets.”

Choi’s brows arose. “As in Israeli secrets?”

“Yes,” Dahlia affirmed. “No one knows the fullness of what I am about to tell you.”

Choi looked questioningly at Dahlia.

“In my down time,” Dahlia explained, “I contract with my country. I work for Mossad.”

Choi ignored the reply he believed was from Alyssa. His main concern was Dahlia at the moment.

“Even the Princess doesn’t know?” he asked.

“She knows I do jobs for my country,” Dahlia admitted, “but the extent she doesn’t know. Yeong, I am a contracted assassin with Mossad.”

Choi’s jaw dropped. He didn’t know what to say. He was falling for a killer.

“My code name is Azrael,” she admitted, “the Angel of Death. Now, you fully understand and cannot let anyone know. I trust you Yeong.”

Choi didn’t know what to do at this point. He couldn’t think of nothing to say. Or do. So, he hugged her, then softly spoke.

“I understand. Your secret is safe.”

“So, help me pack?” She asked.

“I’ll help you put thongs, I mean things away,” Choi insisted. “We will work this out. Together. No, I don’t trust the man either. I don’t see what the Little Hacker sees in him. But I swear to you, Dahlia,” Choi made an oath, “if he harms you in any way, I will slice his head off. Please stay.”

Choi’s mind suddenly remembered his vision of Dahlia and thinking he would need to protect or save her. Now he understood why she came to his vision.

Dahlia at Choi’s attempt at humor. At least, she thought it was humor. Maybe it was a Freudian slip. Anyhow, she was concerned with Ekaterina as well.

“Kat needs to be a part of this as well,” she emphatically stated. “We cannot have. Agent Sartre revealing royalty secrets.”

Choi readily agreed. He smiled. “Are you ready to head back down?”

“Yes,” she said with thought. “I’m really going to need to show my appreciation tonight.”

“That’s not why I did this,” Choi remarked, “but it does sound nice!”

“Let’s go,” Dahlia suggested as she stood, taking his hand. He stood and together they returned downstairs.