I came around with Zak staring down at me with concern in his gaze; he was pressing a cold compress on my forehead.

"When I said you should take a fall, I didn't expect you to actually do it for real," he said and smiled. "I thought you'd at least fake it, Sash."

Though he smiled again, I could still see that genuine worry on his face. He helped me to sit and I saw that both Terry and Mick had gone.

"Where are they?" I asked as I rubbed at my sore head.

I gestured at where the other two men had been and Zak shrugged.

"Mick did a runner pretty sharpish. Can't imagine why he was in such a hurry," Zak said and gave me a faux-innocent look.

"Probably because he knew he'd lost," I said with a vague smile. "Ultimately. I presume he did hand over that money as he was supposed to?"

"He did. When I threatened him with castration again," Zak said and grinned. "And Terry's in the office, trying to rearrange that hot date of his. You know how sore he was over that one."

That made me laugh which in turn made me wince when a lance of pain soared through my head. Zak excused himself to fetch me some water and painkillers and I downed both gratefully upon his return.

"You okay, fella?" Zak asked and once again I saw that real concern on his face.

"Yeah, fine," I assured him and I found that I was - better than I had been in months, doubly so since I'd recovered my memories. "And I think I owe you an explanation."

I didn't know why I wanted to reveal all to him, yet suddenly on the spur of the moment, in consideration of all that I had found out, I found that I wanted him to know. He didn't look surprised which made me frown.

His brows lowered, he leaned in and said - "I think I know what you're going to tell me. Mykhailo."

I was surprised even further by his use of my real name. He couldn't have known it, even though I had been called 'Misha' at least once in his presence.

"How?" I asked but couldn't go any further.

"I told you that I could find out anything about anyone," he said. "And it's no less true for you. I did hear someone call you 'Misha' instead of 'Sasha' once if you'll remember. It didn't take long to find out that you were MI5. Not too many 6′ 4" Cossacks in these parts after all."

I sighed and decided that I couldn't argue against his logic. There really weren't that many people like me around - not in Essex or London at any rate.

"And yet you let me stay in your house," I said. "Why? To keep an eye on me?"

"Partially," he admitted before he sighed. "Look. Misha. Sasha, whatever you want me to call you. Let's go home. Let's not talk about this here. The walls have ears, as they say."

I nodded. I knew that better than anyone. I allowed Zak to help me up and though Terry suddenly appeared to hover nearby with a baffled expression on his face, he didn't ask questions. I stopped by him, took his hand and shook it.

"You're a good man, Tel," I told him. "If I never see you again, let me say that I always liked you."

"Likewise," Terry said and he looked even more alarmed.

He still didn't ask any more questions however and for that , I understood why. He truly was Zak's man, inasmuch as I was, perhaps more so. He knew when to ask questions and when to keep his mouth shut.

Zak and I drove home in silence and I wondered then if 'home' was even a word for Zak's house for me anymore. I settled into the kitchen, even as Zak dumped the suitcase down on the large wooden table there. He looked tired all of a sudden - more tired than I'd ever seen him.

"Zak? How long have you known?" I finally asked, just to break that awkward silence. "I mean, really?"

"I told you. Since that guy called you 'Misha' at my Brasserie," Zak reiterated. "I wanted to see how good you were. How much you'd find out. How long it would take you to crack and tell me."

"Weren't you worried I'd sell you out?" I asked.

"Like I said - I wanted to see how good you were," Zak said carelessly. "If things got too hairy, I knew I could just kill you."

That revelation didn't surprise me as I'd been expecting it. The fact that I still was alive meant that Zak had never truly felt in any danger through my presence in his life.

I still had to ask through gritted teeth - "Why didn't you then? If you know what I was?"

Zak paused and I saw a hint of genuine pain his face before he admitted - "I didn't expect to fall in love with you. I love you now, despite it all. Perhaps more so, because you came clean. For all my faults, I respect honesty."

I nodded at that and then said - "I wasn't lying when I said I loved you."

"I know," Zak said and again he looked tired. "I saw it in your eyes. You can't fake things like that - not when they're genuine. Besides. We shared a bed, didn't we? You can't fake what you did in bed with me."

I couldn't even remember much of that night and didn't want to admit it. All I knew was that it had felt good. I sighed and brushed my hands through my hair - or rather what remained of it.

"No. Things like that can't be faked. Anyway. I was supposed to find out about a people smuggling ring," I said. "That you were supposedly a head of."

"Except I'm not," Zak pointed out with an amused quirk of an eyebrow. "I might be a lot of things but I do draw the line at that. Surprisingly. I'm more concerned with the state of my own manor, if you know what I mean."

"I know that now. Someone at MI5 was part of it, for money. My own fucking handler if you can believe it," I gritted out.

Zak looked surprised at my admission before he said - "Is that so? I guess money turns even the highest of heads. What are you going to do about it?"

"What I was going to do six months ago. Take it to the fucking top brass," I said grimly. "Except I was stopped and sent to you. I think you were supposed to kill me. I think that was why you found out who I was so easily. My handler made it easy for you. Or the section head did."

I remembered again the conversation I'd heard between my section head and some unknown entity, right after Stryker had sent me on this detail. It seemed as though more than a few people had been gunning for my head all along. It made me wonder just who else in MI5 had been involved.

"I bet that handler of yours was surprised that you still walked into her office a few weeks ago," he said and laughed.

I nodded before I said - "How did you know about that?"

"I had you followed," Zak said with a diffident shrug. "And who do you think was in your flat rifling through your stuff and leaving notes? That was Terry."

He paused as though he expected me to show surprise over his revelation yet I felt too weary by the constant surprises to react much. All I could think was that I should have known. Zak had been all too swift to move me into his house after that 'break-in' - perhaps that had been his plan all along and that had been the trigger to get things moving in his favour.

When he didn't get a response, Zak continued - "And the man in the alley that I shot at? Also Terry. By the way, I'm a good shot. I never miss. And yet that night - "

He paused and I filled in with - "And yet that night you missed. On purpose."

"Yeah, I don't kill my own man who's loyal to me," Zak said. "The question remains however is - whose side are you on? Whose man are you?"

I looked at him and I knew. The fact was - he knew it too and could read it in my eyes even before I said anything.

"Yours," I said wearily. "I've been yours for a while. I want to bring justice down on those who tried to kill me. And drugged me. And tried to destroy everything about me. Including my memories. Let's face it, I'm out of a job at the MI5 anyway. Because of you."

Zak raised an eyebrow which was a silent call for me to explain more. I then told him of the surveillance photos that Stryker had shown me - of me kissing Zak outside the Italian restaurant.

"I'm not supposed to fraternise with the enemies. Kisses were one thing but actively sleeping with you? I would have ended up out of a job any way," I ended with. "But it turns out I was fraternising with enemies anyway with Stryker. In a different sense. And the thing is... "

"Yeah?" Zak prompted when I didn't immediately continue.

"The thing is... I'm not in love with Stryker," I said with a sigh.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. So what are you going to do about it?" Zak asked.

"What? About not being in love with Stryker?" I asked and tried to hide the resultant teasing smile. "Nothing much I can do, Zak. Seeing as I'm gay."

That made Zak laugh and he lashed out to punch my shoulder.

"You knew what I meant, you bloody toe-rag," Zak said as his laughter turned into a smile.

I had to concede to that, of course, so I said - "Again, nothing much I can do. Other than to take it right to their bloody doorsteps. As I was trying to do before I had my mind wiped and almost assassinated as a consequence."

"Well, let's get the bastards," Zak said with a smile.

I looked at him for so long that Zak asked - "What?"

"Are you actually offering to help me?" I asked quietly. "Why?"

Zak exhaled loudly through his nose and it was his turn to pause for a while. He paused for so long that I wondered whether he would even answer me.

Finally he said - "I told you. Because I went and fell in love with you, you bastard. And you helped me out plenty of times when you didn't have to. You could have refused to fight Mick for a start yet you went ahead and did it anyway. You kept your mouth shut when the cops came round after I shot Freddy. And that's without everything else you've done for me. You've proved yourself - now it's my turn. You're out of a job anyway. I'm a scary fucking mob boss. Neither of us have got anything to lose, now, have we?"

I merely raised both eyebrows at him as I didn't have a good enough response for him. Zak just grinned that cheeky grin of his at me - and once again, he reminded me of a well fed cat.

And so that's what we did.