A few evenings later, I looked around in horror when I heard a voice calling my real name while I was still at the bar.

"Misha!"

I frowned when I saw a familiar face grinning at me. He was a well-dressed man in his forties that I'd dated briefly a while ago; his name happened to be Bailey. I cursed his timing at turning up at the Brasserie - just when I didn't need my cover blown.

"Misha? What are you doing here? I didn't know you were working as a Bar Steward now," Bailey said and brayed out a laugh at his own joke. "If anything, you were never a bastard."

My frown grew deeper; I felt Zak's gaze resting on me with interest. The Brasserie boss was nearby, checking over the till and as such had heard every word so far.

"I'm sorry," I said stiffly to Bailey. "I think you have me confused with someone else."

"I doubt it. How many bloody Cossacks called Misha are roaming around in these parts?" the man said and brayed again with sudden laughter.

"I might be a Cossack but my name is Sasha," I said pointedly and carefully. "And I don't know you."

"Oh? Playing coy now, are we? Or do we have a twin brother all of a sudden?" Bailey said and his laughter had started to turn into annoyed confusion. "Or are you ashamed of what we did last year?"

"I don't know you," I repeated and my frustration was clear in my voice. "I never knew you. And my name is Sasha."

The last sentence sat heavy on my tongue like ashes. Zak drifted closer and he looked a little perturbed.

He was staring at the man coolly but he said - "Can I help here?"

There was a menace in his tone and for a moment, I actively saw his nice-guy act slip a little, which revealed the ice-cold killer that I knew lurked beneath Zak's skin. Oddly that didn't bother me. I'd been around enough types like him over the years to have become inured to it; I'd also heard Freddy's demise a few evenings previously.

To have assumed that Zak really was a mild-mannered fish shop owner would have been pretty naive on my part - even if I hadn't already known what he was. I knew that I was pretty safeguarded around people like him - it was usually men like Zak that ended up in prison because of me and my work.

"Yeah. This guy's pretending he doesn't know me," Bailey said and he started to look even more annoyed as he gestured towards me. "I dunno what his bloody game is. I thought we were getting on pretty well."

"And do you know this guy?" Zak asked me.

"I've never seen the guy in my life before," I lied and managed to meet Zak's gaze head-on while doing so.

"You fucking bastard," Bailey said and his anger grew even more prominent. "Is this how you treat me now? After all we went through? Jesus Christ."

He stormed away and slumped down at a table without further word. I was left feeling perplexed and Zak only looked amused.

"Well, he seemed pretty adamant he knew you, Sasha. I can have him whacked if he continues harassing you," Zak said and laughed as though he was joking.

I wasn't entirely certain that he was, no matter how much he dressed his words up in pretty laughter. Once again, my mind brought up the sounds of Freddy's demise and knew that Zak was perfectly capable of following up his words himself. I merely offered the other man a grin and continued wiping down the bar. An uncomfortable silence soon fell between us after that yet Zak continued watching me, eyes focussed on my hands in particular. To break that silence, I voiced a question.

"I'd like to take you up on your offer of boxing lessons if you were serious about that the other day?" I asked.

Zak's eyebrows raised yet he didn't look too displeased by my acceptance of his offer. Instead, though I'd been playing hesitant on purpose, I, of course, had ulterior motives to accept. Then Zak grinned his roguish grin and shrugged, his shoulders rolling beneath his expensive suit.

"Sure. Why not? I'm heading there tomorrow night if you're up for it already?" he asked.

I hadn't expected that invitation to be rescinded so soon yet I knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Unless you have other plans," Zak added and I guessed then that my answer had been too slow in the delivery.

I grinned at him and shook my head.

"Unless a pizza for one and a date with Netflix constitutes as being too busy," I said with a self-deprecating laugh that wasn't entirely faked.

Though I had been planning on that pizza, I had been hoping to catch up on some of the footage that I'd managed to procure from the cameras I'd installed around the Brasserie. That was as near to my own personal Netflix as I was willing to come. Zak laughed though and seemed to take the bait.

"Well, that sounds like an intriguing evening another night if you fancy some company. Although a pizza for one wouldn't feed two mouths," he said and grinned at me again.

"Oh, I see. It's like that, is it, Zak? Inviting yourself over now, are we?" I asked and laughed - that was a genuine laugh.

"I've already told you that once I see something that I want, I go for it," he said and stared at me meaningfully again.

"Well. Keep trying and you might just win," I found myself saying - again that sentence came more naturally and more genuinely than any other.

I wondered then how deep I really was getting into this case. Zak's advances were blatant but not entirely unwanted either. Even though I knew that he was a bad guy, most of the time he didn't really seem it. I was disarmed by how normal he seemed, and non-threatening.

Although I'd heard things previously such as the gunshots that had ended Freddy's life - I had not physically seen anything other than his charming side and I wondered how much of himself he was truly hiding from me. To get close to him, I would have to get even closer, to expose every single side I could of him. I only hoped that I wouldn't endanger - or even lose - myself in the process.

Zak meanwhile looked pleased again, as though he was the cat that had already got the cream, licked it up and come back for even more of it. I smirked at him, amused by his expression and reaction to my words. I'd forgotten how much fun this cat-and-mouse game could be.

"I intend to keep trying," Zak assured me. "There's only so long a single man can hold out against me after all."

"Interesting," I said and again, I meant that.

I grinned and continued wiping the bar even though there truly was nothing else to wipe up anymore. I just needed something to do instead of just standing there awkwardly. I never had been very good at doing nothing and being idle. Maybe that was why I'd taken the job at MI5 - I needed the excitement and tension more than I realised.

Zak straightened and stretched, his back arching backwards and once again he reminded me of a cat - a predatory one that time. He caught me staring and he smirked at me again. He didn't get the chance to give me a snarky riposte as someone wandered into the restaurant.

"We're closing soon - oh, it's you, Mick," Zak said as he presumably recognised the person who'd just walked in. "What can I do for you this fine and productive evening?"

Zak gave me a meaningful look as though I had been the cause of his productiveness and perhaps I had been. He seemed to view me as a work in progress. Trouble was, I suspected that I had started to like being that work in progress too much now.

"I need help," the newly named Mick said as he gave me a glance. "I need to have a word in your shell like. In private."

"Sure thing," Zak said brightly. "Come through to the office and we'll have a natter. Speak to you later, Sasha. If I don't get out when you're finished, be a dear and lock up behind you."

"Be a dear?" I repeated and laughed.

Zak merely gave me a cheeky grin and sauntered away. It was just as well I hadn't been offended by that remark although Mick gave me a strange look as he passed me. I merely gave him a blank and disinterested stare in return until he looked away, awkward embarrassment blazing red on his face.

In fact, because I had in fact finished my duties for the evening, I ensured that everything was locked up, posting the key back through the door again once I had let myself out.