Martin watched his partner as she worked the room. She had never given him any reason to mistrust her, and that was precisely what worried him - things between them were just a bit too perfect. He thought about the trust they had built, their chemistry, the ease at which they spoke to each other privately. She glanced up at him as she demurely chatted with an ambassador's wife, giving him an almost imperceptible smile as if she could hear him thinking about her. He couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth in return, and looked away only after she broke his glance.
He knew then that she would betray him, given the chance. His past had shown him that if it was too good to be true, it always was.
In his line of work it was often fatal to trust the wrong person, so generally Martin trusted no one. She had lulled him, intentionally or not, into a false sense of comfort and security and a chill ran down his spine as he realized it now. "Better now than when she's standing over my dead body" he thought to himself as he finished the last sip of his martini and placed it behind him on the bar.
As if the current mission wasn't difficult enough, he now had to worry about keeping her at arm's length. "Enemies closer..." he thought to himself as he strode purposefully towards her across the room. He took her arm by the elbow and excused her from the conversation she was in using all the charm he could muster.
"The Sultan's wife has identified me, " he lied, whispering, as he led her through the mingling guests, "and I need you to distract him while I work the target."
"Identified you?" she said, with genuine suprise in her voice, "how is that possible?"
"It's related to an unfortunate incident with his wife several years ago," he was a fine actor when it came to having to convince someone that what he was saying was true, "I can't get into it now, but I assure you I will if we make it through this."
"I see..." she said, using a tone indicating that she actually didn't. "I'll see what I can do." She brushed past him as she moved away, leaving him to catch a whiff of perfume in her wake. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy smelling her for a moment, and then opened his eyes again, steeling his resolve.
