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Ruskin lay down to be hidden by the edge of the roof and remained in the right position. He carefully took his weapon out of its bag and placed it down next to himself. His gun was his best friend and he always felt comforted in its presence. After all, it never failed him during the work. Ruskin was an assassin, one of the bests. And he came here, in front of the building of Great Britain's most important publisher, the Heim News Agency. His current target was the owner of the place and he knew that he went to his office today. He was one of the most powerful people in this country - at least, he will be until four o'clock in the afternoon.
The so-called King of Media, Charles Augustus Milverton.
Ruskin speculated that the man's business rivals hired him to get him out of their way, but he didn't want to know more. He never cared about who hired him, only how much they paid him.
This job promised a lot of money, so Ruskin was looking forward to it. The men who hired him gave him a photograph about Milverton - it was not a good quality one, but it fit the purpose - and a list of his daily schedule. Ruskin planned the assassination based on that. He wanted to shoot the media mogul when he stepped out of the door of the office building. It will happen in half an hour - only one bullet to the man's brain and everything will be over. For him, of course. And Ruskin will be wealthier with a few thousand pounds.
Ruskin didn't let the picture of victory to blind him. After all, the job was not done yet. He needs to stay still and focus until he can finally pull the trigger.
The seconds passed slowly, but steadily. Ruskin listened to the sounds of the street - then, when he heard the bell of the nearby church, he picked up the gun. He put his finger on the trigger and pointed the barrel towards the door while his eyes peeked through the telescope fixed to his weapon. The door moved - and Ruskin was prepared. But what he saw in the next moment, crossed all his calculations and cut his breath away.
His target stepped out. For Ruskin, he looked nothing like the photograph. He could never expect that the curly hair he only saw black and white would glow so bright in the sun. The lights made it sparkle in silver which contrasted the man's pale skin perfectly. Milverton's face was handsome - but there was something more to that handsomeness, something which was definitely not human. Ruskin couldn't explain it. There was a smile at the corner of the media mogul's mouth. When Ruskin's gaze fell to the man's golden eyes, he knew that he couldn't shoot. His finger didn't move.
Something just didn't let him kill this beautiful man. And Ruskin knew what that was. He fell in love with him for the first sight.
He remained motionless and just watched as Milverton walked to his carriage and sat inside. The chance to commit the assassination was already lost. Not even the promised money could make Ruskin end his life. The reward didn't matter anymore.
When the carriage disappeared on the street, Ruskin finally moved. He put his weapon away and started to climb down from the roof. He was aware that in the moment his eyes met the other man's golden gaze, he lost his soul - but for some reason, he didn't want to claim it back. And he knew one more thing. That after his failure, the client will hire someone else to kill Milverton.
But he will not let that happen. He will go and take their lives before they can do it.
He will never let his beloved get hurt.