Closing the door behind him, Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he found himself slightly isolated from the horrendous music. The disharmonious symphony was a knife to his eardrums. It was a spacious room filled with a dozen of other coats, all neatly placed on hangers. Least someone here had a sense of doing something according to the book. His thoughts went back to the girl that had greeted them after entering the villa. By all he'd seen, it was surely her doing. A scowl had appeared on Aleks' face though. The girl was not the problem, but that rascal of a fox he found himself with. Where in the world did she even go? So much about staying close to him for the time being. 

Aleks found an empty hanger and carefully put his coat away, somewhere out of the eyes of any potential passerby. Only thing he had to do was remember where he put it, in case he had to get a hold of that gun sooner rather than later. If all went well, there would be no need for that, but did things ever go as planned? 

His eyes scanned the room and found another door, at the far end of this makeshift wardrobe. Curiosity got the best of him, so Aleks walked towards it and tried the lock. It wasn't secured, but only a staircase had greeted him on the other side. Dark, wooden steps leading down into the abyss. There was a faint sound coming from inside, but low and downright indistinguishable. It reeked of mold and... wine. "A wine cellar?" Aleks said to himself as he took one step downwards, creaking of the step bringing him to a stop. What was he even doing? He had a task at hand, yet was acting as playful and curious as his companion would. He shook his head and stepped back, closing the door. Lilith was a bad influence on him.

Turning around, he was greeted by a figure leaning on the wall opposite of him. "Lost?" the low and sharp tone of the man made its way to Aleks' ears. The same man from before. Calm, present and with a clean head. Both figuratively and literally. "A bit," Aleks begun, a small smile appearing on his face, "The layout of this villa is confusing me. Not to mention I can barely concentrate with the music in the background. Didn't drink enough for that." 

"Yeah," the man replied, cracking his neck from side to side, "I wouldn't get lost if I was you." There was no trace of the man taking Aleks' joking remarks to the heart. The tension could have been cut with a knife, as the two men stood there, just looking at each other. Both of them were far too calm for the party and Aleks was sure the mercenary was aware of the fact as well.

"You do know who I am, right?" Aleks asked as he moved into the man's personal space, "You do know whose family I belong to? Be a good dog and know your place." The man kept his intense stare directed at Aleks as he pushed himself off the wall. 

"I do," he replied, scanning Aleks from bottom to top, "A good dog can smell a Titov from a mile away. And an even better dog is good at protecting his owner's son."

Another couple of moments had passed before either one of them made their move. The man was taller than Aleks, but they were able to keep their presences in balance. Aleks broke the silence by laughing and tapping the mercenary on the shoulder. "Good, just what I wanted to hear. Means we won't have any excesses tonight. Which consequently means I'll get to have fun [i]without[/i] someone breathing down my neck." 

Finishing the sentence, Aleks moved away, turning towards the door. Out of the pocket of his pants, he took a single bill, folding it into a small square. "Why don't you get yourself a drink, yeah? Relax a bit." The less time he spent here with this man, the better. Aleks walked to the door, before looking at the man one more time, flicking the bill towards him.

"Go fetch."