“Zivon Petrakov pulled a scam on your family?”
His eyes narrowed. “I thought you knew everything about me and this mission.”
“That makes two of us,” I quietly grunted. “Were you planning on telling me Zivon Petrakov knows who you are?”
“I’m telling you now,” he said, mocking my words from earlier.
“Why the hell would the Company send you here?” I asked out loud, refusing to take Wallace’s bait. “And why wouldn’t the Deputy Director warn me about a potential identity breach?”
Wallace grinned. “Oh, I’m sorry. Given the know-it-all attitude you’ve been giving me all day, I assumed you… well, knew it all.”
I wanted to punch Wallace in his big dumb pretty face so bad it made my temples throb. Instead, I opted to take a couple of deep breaths and try another approach.
“I’m sorry for my attitude earlier. I’d hoped the sex would have served as an apology, but that’s a cop-out. I—”
Wallace interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, apology accepted,” he said, waving me off.
“Wait. What?” I asked, somewhat stunned. “You’re good? We’re good?”
“One hundred percent good. You said you haven’t seen Zivon around lately, right?”
I nodded. “He’s been a ghost.”
“Then there’s no reason to think he’d show his face at Sasha’s little cocktail party, is there?”
“Let’s hope not,” I replied, circling back to myapology. “Hey, about before, I really am sorry.”
“I told you not to worry about it. Neither of us was expecting a partner on this mission. You got a little salty, you apologized, I accepted. Done.”
“You can justdothat? How?”
“I have three older brothers and a baby sister. Do you know how many times a day one of us took a thumb in the eye, or a foul ball to the ribs? We beat the shit out of each other, intentionally or unintentionally every day of our lives growing up. Which, in my family’s case, also meant apologizing a lot. You learn to get over shit pretty quickly growing up like that. What about your family?”
I choked back a laugh. “What? Do my family members and I apologize and get over squabbles quickly?” I shook my head. “No, we’re Catholic. That’s not how it works.”
“Isn’t Jesus all about forgiveness?”
“Yes, Jesus is, but my family practices the ancient spiritual principles of the three D’s. Denial, deflection, and of course, deep-seeded resentment. Catholicism doesn’t get in the way of any of that, so we’re good.”
Wallace took my hand in his, and I flinched just the tiniest bit, but enough for him to notice. “If Sasha is anything like you say, a moment of hesitation like that could get us both killed, right?”
I nodded.
“Look, this forced partnership, or whatever you want to call it, has thrown both of us for a loop. I need some sleep, and you could probably stand a nap yourself. When we wake up, we’ll get into character.What do you say?”
“You sleep,” I replied. “I stand watch. I’m on Russia time, so I’m okay.”
“Sounds good. Don’t let me sleep more than ninety minutes. I’ll probably wake up fine on my own, but just in case, no more than ninety, okay?”
“Sweet dreams, my betrothed,” I said, blowing him a goodnight kiss.
I couldn’t believe how comfortable I felt around Officer Wallace. I mean, his whole ‘Mr. Perfect’ thing drove me crazy, but in so many ways, I’d opened up to him faster than any guy I’d ever met, and I’m not just talking about my legs. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt like I’d known him all my life. Like he was my high school boyfriend I hadn’t seen since graduation. On a personal level, I was going to have to be really careful not to catch feelings for this guy. With our sexual chemistry jump start in our rearview mirror, our relationship would have to remain purely professional.
On a professional level, I wanted to smother Wallace with a pillow while he slept, which he was already doing, by the way. I’d never seen anything like it before. He’d barely gotten the instructions to wake him up in ninety minutes out of his mouth before he started snoring. He simply curled up in his seat, turned his overhead light off, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleepy town. But the real reason I contemplated murdering my partner and leaving his body on this train, was out of fear. Wallace was smart and charming, but if Sasha sensed even a single trace of fear, he’d gut him alive. His handlerobviously felt Wallace was up to the task or they wouldn’t have sent him, but why the fuck was he given so little intel on the mission? Did his dog eat half of his mission brief? The more I thought about it, the more anxious I got, so I shifted gears. I closed my eyes and thought about who I was and why I was on a train bound for St. Petersburg.
I was Eleanor Finch. Fine art broker to the few who can afford my services. Acquirer of the un-acquirable for those who can afford more. I was attending tonight’s party as an invited guest of Sasha Fedya, my good friend and most valued client. With me is my handsome and charming fiancé and business partner, Noah Beck. This is his first time in Russia, and he is looking forward to meeting the man he’s heard so much about.
I glanced over at my sleeping partner. Correction, I meant to glance at my sleeping partner but found myself staring at him for God knows how long. To say that he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen didn’t seem quite right, but he certainly had a face I could look at all the time. Almost as if he were custom made to my specifications. His body and his mind were deceptively chiseled and sex with him was some of the best I’d ever had. I wasn’t going to have to pretend to be attracted to him, and although I knew it was a bad idea, I was already secretly hoping for the chance to sleep with him again.
