I felt like a bit of an idiot for almost kissing him on the plane, but we both promised to forget about it, which was good. It was time for me to be professional now, and I had to have eyes in the back of my head at all times, especially since I was about to let the head of the Bosnian Company know I was the Thorned Rose, obviously using an alias name, but still my face, and to try and convince the Bosnian mafia to turn on Domenico and his men, which I know is going to be a pretty hard task.

I saw my alias name on a sign held by a man dressed as a chauffeur: 'Anastasia Hills', and I went over to the man. He led us out to a black Audi Q3, with blacked out windows, and I could feel Fabricio stiffening next to me, obviously concerned about what was going on. I gave him a reassuring smile, and he gave me the tiniest smile back, so small if you weren't looking directly at his lips, you would've missed it. Why was I looking at his lips? For fuck sake Savannah, snap out of it!

We pulled up to a set of tall iron gates in the middle of an even taller stone wall, surrounded by guards. When the gates opened for us, the car continued to drive down what seemed like a never-ending driveway, lined on the edges with pine trees. When we finally got to the end of the driveway I had to blink twice before truly believing my eyes, because it was like we had entered another world. There was a large circular fountain, which had a big sandy-coloured structure in the middle, and a stone horse on each of the four sides that spat a stream of water out of their mouths. All the way up to top of the structure were various embellishments, and at the top was a large white vase with a pink and blue floral pattern. Around the base of the fountain was a flower bed, filled with red and white geraniums. This was only the fountain as well, the huge house, coloured the same as the fountain, stood tall and proud, with various fences, flower beds, ornaments, balconies and frills around it to make it truly spectacular There were two Rolls Royces and a Lamborghini parked outside, and we parked next to them. The chauffer got out of the driver seat and came to my door, opening it up and giving me his hand to help me out of the car. I felt slightly underdressed compared to the grandeur of this house, as I was just in jeans and a jumper, however my counterpart, Fabricio, was perfectly dressed in a graphite coloured, checked suit and pastel pink shirt, with the top two buttons undone.

"Anastasia!" I heard someone call. I span around to see Haris in a burgundy suit and waistcoat, with matching trousers and a white shirt with a pinky coloured tie.

"Haris, hi!" I called out to him and walked over to join him. He held out his hand and I shook it, only to be pulled in closer to him so he could wrap his arms around me in a hug.

"And this must be... Don Sandrino, of course," Haris said, shaking hands with Fabricio who had walked up to us.

"Lovely to meet you Mr. Velic," nodded Fabricio.

"Please, call me Haris. Come inside." He led us through two huge glass doors that were embellished with a criss-cross pattern of a gold coloured metal. Considering the size of this house, I wouldn't be shocked if it was actual gold.

He led us through his magnificently decorated house into a small sitting room, where he gestured for us to take a seat.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked.

"Scotch please," said Fabricio.

"Just a coffee please, with milk, no sugar," I smiled.

"Of course my love!" he pressed a button on an intercom by the side of the door and spoke our drinks orders through it, also getting a scotch for himself. Then he sat down opposite.

"Now, I already had a feeling I knew what this was going to be about, so my brother and his wife are waiting in a room elsewhere, I will call them through now," he picked up his phone and spoke some words in Bosnian, then hung up. "So, how do you like our beautiful country?" We discussed Bosnia for about five minutes before a man and woman came in, I recognised him instantly as the head of the Bosnian mafia

"Ah, Nadir, meet Don Sandrino; Don Sandrino, meet Nadir Velic, and his breathtaking wife, Ismeta Velic," Haris gestured between the three of them, "and this is Anastasia Hills."

"What is the point of this brother, I know this man yes, but I am partnered with his uncle against me, and this woman seems... irrelevant," grumbled Nadir.

"You're a rude one, aren't you?" I asked, rhetorical question though.

"Yes, I am, that is why I am the head of the Bosnian mafia, little lady," he came closer to me, and I stood up.

"Head of the Bosnian mafia because that's where your older brother appointed you," I said in a mocking tone.

"You fucking bitch, you come into my house-"

"Not actually your house though is it," I was provoking him, and it was so funny how angry he got. He threw a punch, but I dodged it, grabbed his arm, twisted him around, over my back, and slammed him down on the floor. Then I got on top of him, one leg either side of his chest, grabbed the knife from my waistband and held it against his neck. He looked absolutely terrified, shocked and amazed.

Haris burst out laughing behind me, "ah, brother, maybe I didn't tell you, this is the Thorned Rose!" Nasir's face morphed into pure disbelief and awe, and I got up off of him. He actually half bowed towards me, and apologised for his outburst.

"It's okay, I was provoking you!" I laughed.

There was a soft knock on the door and a maid came in with a tray of drinks, and I picked up my coffee and held the coffee cup with both of my hands, absorbing its warmth.

"Now, onto business," spoke Nasir, "what brings you here to Bosnia? And, although I am very grateful to finally meet the infamous Thorned Rose, what brings me here to meet you?"

This was where Fabricio took over, "I would like for you to ally with us, against Domenic Pagnotta."

Nasir burst out laughing, "ah of course, and I would like a unicorn!" he continued laughing, "why would I do that for you? I understand you have, possibly, the best assassin on your side, but her against an army, no matter how good you are, the army will always win."

"We are currently allied with Aleksander Koltun, who has said that whenever it came down to it, he would back us all the way," continued Fabricio, causing Nasir to raise an eyebrow in wonder.

"How did you manage that? Aleksander Koltun doesn't do allies, believe me, I have been trying for years," said Nasir, he turned to his wife and spoke in Bosnian, and she got up and left, turning back to us, "she doesn't understand English so I just told her she could leave if she was bored, and she did."

"Ah, and, well, ask Anastasia about that one," Fabricio motioned to me.

I explained about how I was hired by him to kill Giovanni Furfaro, a child and woman trafficker, who had stolen women and children from one of his warehouses. I explained how we believed Aleksander was also a women and children trafficker, and how we tracked him down and were about to kill him, when we found out his warehouses are actually to send the women and children back home, giving them shelter and food, and how Aleksander hated people traffickers.

"Who is this Giovanni Furfaro?" asked Haris.

"He worked for Domenico, until I slit his throat," I admitted nonchalantly.

"So, Domenico traffics women and children?" asked Haris, concerned.

"Yes, other than drugs, that it the main way he gets money, but a lot of that is kept quiet, so people like Aleksander and other mafia bosses don't come after him," answered Fabricio. It is a well-known fact that, at this moment in time, a lot of the heads of the mafia are against human trafficking. They are still mostly evil men, murdering people, raping prostitutes, selling drugs, weapons, laundering money, torturing others, and of course there are still some men, like Domenico, who do decide that they want to traffic people, but most of the human trafficking is by other organised crime groups that are not strictly made men in the mafia.

"Brother, surely you cannot work with a man like this?" asked Haris.

"My alliance with Domenico is over. The question still stands though, why should I strike up an alliance with you?" asked Nasir, looking straight at Fabricio.

"Because of me," I chimed in.

"My dear, you are a skilled assassin, as I have mentioned, but-"

"I killed Kasim Hasic," I stated bluntly.

"Yes, I forgot to tell you this, we kept it out of the news and all under wraps. He was about to kill Ajla Mujadic... she killed him in their kitchen," explained Haris. Nasir slammed him hand down onto the coffee table, and the glasses on it tinkled as they fell.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?" he demanded, yelling at Haris.

"Calm down! I told you he was going after the assassins in the company!" yelled Haris back.

"I didn't realise it was that serious, and I didn't realise my daughter was next on his hitlist!" Nasir's voice was laced with pure fury and rage.

"It isn't exactly like he gave me an order of people he was going to kill, he just did. He's dead now, let's forget about it. All because of her," Haris motioned to me and they both turned to look at me. Nasir stood up, stretched out his hand to shake mine, and I stood up and took his hand. "Thank you, thank you so much for saving my daughter and her family," he said.

"You have a deal," Nasir announced, turning to Fabricio, holding his hand out to him, and they shook, "tell me how you want it to go down, and I will do it."

"Pull out of your agreement with Domenico, say it is because you heard about the human trafficking, don't say anything about me. When I am ready for the final fight for power against him, I will call you," disclosed Fabricio. Nasir agreed.

"Oh, by the way, can you not tell anyone about who I am? I've killed a lot of people and it makes some people happy, but others angry... I don't want them coming for me, my family, or the Russos," I pleaded.

"Neither of us will," promised Haris, turning to Nasir, who nodded in agreement. "Now... let's have some champagne and lunch!"

Their huge dining table was covered with colourful Bosnian foods, and it was all so delicious. I really felt like I had been fully immersed in the cultural cuisine by the time I had finished, and it was very enjoyable. Then, Haris took me for a walk around the gardens, whilst Fabricio and Nasir discussed various strategies inside, drinking whiskey. We chatted about all sorts whilst looking at the spectacular view of the mountains in front of us. By the time evening came, we were all slightly tipsy, sitting in their hot tub, drinking a bottle of Dom Perignon each, late into the night. This really was the life. The next morning, we all met up for breakfast, after sleeping over in different bedrooms, and said our goodbyes.