I gazed again at the video and audio footage I'd managed to grab throughout the day yet didn't manage to find anything different to all that I'd viewed the day previously. Zak took several meetings in his office, and appeared to cut deals with many of those who attended them - either lending money for an exorbitant interest rate, accepting payments on debts incurred or perhaps sorting things out for other people. I heard mention of 'whacks' and 'disappearances' and 'grievances held against family members'.

It all seemed pretty run-of-the-mill mafia business to me and nothing like what had been sold to me by my handler; there was no mention of people smuggling and false paperwork at all. Even in my explorations around the Brasserie itself, I had not seen any evidence that illegal migrants were staying anywhere - either through sleeping arrangements of extra bodies that shouldn't be there lurking in darkened corners or possessions that didn't belong to the staff members.

I began to wonder whether I'd been sold a line somewhere and whether the provided information on Zak was even correct. Although he was undoubtedly a crook, he didn't appear to be a people smuggler.

That left me with some deep seated suspicions and disgruntlements - yet they were not directed at Zak himself. Those emotions were directed more towards my handler. I wondered then if perhaps my burgeoning feelings for Zak were beginning to get in the way of my assignment or whether the evidence displayed in very literal black and white in front of me was skewing my thoughts and opinions.

I had no answers for any of my questions yet I knew that that the only thing I could do was to wait. As the old adage went - only time would tell.

****

The following evening, I wandered into the Brasserie, whistling cheerfully; I greeted some of the other employees just as cheerfully who returned the favour equably. I was surprised when I saw Zak in a state of dishevelment bustling through from the back; his gaze was distracted, his face flushed, and a light jacket was already haphazardly draped around his body.

"Hey! Sasha!" he said when he saw me.

Before I could react, he stopped by me and pressed a kiss to my cheek; I laughed in surprise and laughed harder when most of the restaurant staff who'd seen the exchange whistled and whooped at Zak's obvious sign of affection. I neither objected nor pushed Zak away despite my embarrassment. He grinned at his staff even as I placed one hand on the small of his back - that time, it was Zak's turn to not push me away nor object.

"Get back to work, you lot," Zak yelled at them good-naturedly. "Nothing to see here."

"There's plenty to see, Zak," one of the waitresses said as she passed us. "And it's all good. I didn't even know you were a thing."

"As of last night, we are," Zak said before I could say a thing.

I just smiled wryly and didn't contradict Zak, despite my previous plea to take things more slowly. I had also previously promised that there was something between us so to deny that now would be an outright and outrageous lie. Zak was emboldened by my patient silence and he winked up at me.

"Yeah? Good for you," the waitress said and she gave me an amused smile. "Both of you. You make a handsome couple."

"Thank you," I said quietly which made Zak grin even more.

The waitress' smile turned into a grin before she bustled away with a brief apology to serve a customer.

"Anyway. I've gotta dash off myself, Sash," Zak said as he watched the waitress work. "I've gotta see a man about a dog and a motor, if you know what I mean?"

I didn't but I nodded anyway. I guessed though that he must have had a meeting about something or other, even if it didn't involve dogs or cars.

"Can you hold the fort for a few?" Zak asked me. "I shan't be gone long. I'm sure you can cope."

"You're trusting me with the flagship of your empire?" I asked and raised an eyebrow at him. "Things must be looking up."

"I trust you, mate. Don't let me down. I know you won't. But seriously. I gotta dash," Zak said before he turned to stride purposefully towards the door.

Surprisingly, his faith in me meant a lot and I smiled at his retreating back. I returned to my place at the bar; just because I was overseeing the restaurant didn't mean that I could abandon my other duties. The waitress who'd spoken to me earlier in the evening passed and gave me a wink.

"If anyone has any problems, I'll send them to you," she said and her wink turned into a smile. "As long as we don't get any dine-and-dashers tonight."

I nodded; the dine-and-dash phenomenon had been a prevalent issue for quite a while, wherein patrons of various eating establishments decided to run out without paying their bills. It had happened a few times at Quantrell's, yet those had occurred before I'd arrived.

Luckily that night was a slow night at the bar, so it enabled me to venture out from behind it and to wander the tables, checking up to see whether everyone was happy with the service; I had to explain to a few people that I was in charge while Zak was otherwise disposed which earned me a little respect in some quarters - respect that I felt I didn't deserve. I had started to feel a little bit like a charlatan - in many ways, I actually was, because I was not quite who I said I was.

By sheer luck, I happened to be near the door when a couple tried their hand at the old dine-and-dash trick. I saw what they were doing and managed to slam the door closed, lock it and bar it with my body. They crashed into me with surprised - yet outraged - yells.

"Going somewhere?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow at the pair. "I believe you owe the house a ton and change."

A ton in cockney parlance was a hundred pounds; neither of them seemed very determined to pay it. I heard a knock at the door behind me and Zak's baffled voice calling through it. I grabbed the two miscreants and stepped away even as I jerked my head towards Daisy - the nearest waitress to me - as I asked her to unlock the door for me. She did so and admitted a still baffled looking Zak into the restaurant.

After he'd been informed of what had happened his face narrowed into angry lines and he jerked his head at me.

"Sasha? Bring these two into my office would you?" he asked.

I did as I had been bidden and Zak duly closed - and locked - the office door behind us. He sat behind his desk and bade the two miscreants to sit down. At his request, i stationed myself at the door; without being asked, I pressed my back against it and leaned against the wooden barrier, arms folded across my chest.

"Now. Are you going to pay me the money owed - " he said and looked askance at me.

I guessed that he was asking me for the amount so I confirmed - "A ton, Zak."

"Are you going to pay me that ton you owe me, or am I going to have to extract it from you by force?" Zak asked as he opened a desk drawer.

I lifted an eyebrow in surprise as he pulled out what can only be described as a machete, which he laid quite openly on the table.

"I might start with a few fingers first. Maybe toes. Less conspicuous that way," he said and his voice had changed into a deep and venomous purr.

I watched, transfixed, as the real Zakariah Quantrell truly came out - a persona that I'd seen in snippets before. It was clear that his reputation as a mob boss was well deserved and something that he really had acquired through solicitous deeds.

The couple in front of us surprisingly found the money pretty quickly without need for further prompting, which did not surprise me in the least.

"There. That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Zak asked with a smile as he laid the small stack of notes aside. "Sasha? Let these two out, will you?"

I nodded briefly and stepped away from the door, to unlock it and to all but push the duo out by force.

"See yourselves out," I gritted out. "Don't make me come after you. I'm worse than he is."

They all but ran for the restaurant and I thought one of them smelt distinctly and sharply of urine. I turned back to the boss even as a clapping sound emanated form Zak's desk.

"Oh, very nice touch, Sasha," Zak said and he looked genuinely impressed. "I'll make a hoodlum out of you yet."

I merely smiled as I felt something shift and realign inside me. The threats and intimidation had admittedly come all too easy to me, and as a result, something inside me opened a little. I felt a rage, which was something left over from the recent past I couldn't remember as it tried to push itself to the surface - although I still couldn't remember quite what had happened. I was so close to remembering, however. I gritted my teeth and decided I had to try harder to recall what that missing set of memories was.

Zak stood and slipped his machete away before he said - "You didn't even flinch when I brought this out, Sash. Most people would have done that, you know. Just how much shit have you seen in your life, boy?"

I smirked at being referred to as - boy. Zak wasn't all that much older than me, after all and neither of us could be described as being youngsters.

"More than you can imagine," I said and once again, I wasn't lying.

As an agent for the MI5, I had been in a lot of desperate situations and had perpetrated even more with my own hands while pretending to be a whole cast of bad men. Some of the shit had stayed, I supposed, yet there was still that raft of untapped memories that I suspected caused me more grief than the rest of it had.

"Well, I think you've come to the right place," Zak said and gave me a calculating look.

Then that look disappeared and he grinned.

He continued with - "I think I owe you a meal. As thanks for helping out."

He gestured towards the door where the dine-and-dashers had so recently dashed out again.

"I don't need thanks for that," I said with a frown. "They didn't pay. No one should get away with that crap."

"Indeed. Let me put that another way, then. Let me dress it up as a date," Zak said and his cheeky grin was offset with a slightly solemn frown. "You did say we could do the whole dinner thing again. No dashing that time."

I smiled at that and once again, I nodded.

"A date would be more preferable," I admitted.

"Good! It's a date. Quite literally," he said and reached out to lay a hand on my chest. "Same place as before? Tomorrow night?"

I nodded, laid one hand over his and smiled. I was certain he could feel that my heart was beating faster, a remnant of something that I didn't want to examine at that moment. It wasn't from the excitement of catching the two dine-and-dashers that was for certain - it was more due to Zak himself. He leaned in, stole a proper kiss that time and I surprised myself by reciprocating - something that Zak himself couldn't fail to miss.

He grinned at me before he said - "Now we're getting somewhere."

I just laughed and let him lead me from the room.