“Because I’m not ready to hear it. And I don’t think you’re ready to say it.” I start walking toward the gate. “Let’s just let today be what it was. Something good. Something simple. We don’t need to complicate it.”
He catches up to me in three long strides. We reach the gate and the guards wave us through. Back to the compound. Back to the mission and the surveillance and the dance of figuring out who’s betraying whom.
But something’s changed. I feel it in the way Tony walks beside me. In the way I’m not constantly bracing for him to hurt me again.
Maybe Katya was right. Maybe the man matters more than the mission. Maybe actions after the truth comes out count for more than the lies that came before.
I’m not ready to fully trust him yet. Not ready to stop protecting my heart.
But for the first time since I learned the truth about his contract with Adrian, I’m willing to believe that maybe—just maybe—we’re building something real.
And that possibility terrifies me more than any threat from Adrian ever could.
Because Adrian can only hurt my family. Tony has the power to destroy me.
The question is whether I’m brave enough to let him try not to.
26
Tony
Adrian’s name on my phone screen is the last thing I want to see right now.
Sasha and I are sprawled across her bed with surveillance reports and financial documents spread between us. She’s wearing leggings and an oversized sweater, with her hair piled in a messy bun, and she looks more relaxed than I’ve seen her in weeks. We’ve been reviewing the Luxembourg trap for the past hour, cross-referencing Ivan’s access logs with the timeline of Adrian’s questions.
“You should answer that,” she prompts without looking up from the file in her hands.
I grab it and swipe to answer, then tap the speaker button. Dmitri wants all Adrian communications monitored, and Sasha might as well hear this firsthand.
“What can I do for you, Adrian?”
“I was starting to think you’d forgotten who signs your paychecks.” His voice fills the room, dripping with thatparticular brand of condescension that makes me want to reach through the phone and throttle him. “We need to discuss timelines.”
“I’m listening.”
Sasha glances up from her documents. I give her a slight nod to confirm she should stay quiet.
“The Luxembourg expansion you mentioned,” Adrian continues. “I need more details. Transfer schedules. Names of the contacts Dmitri’s using to?—”
“I’m working on it. These things take time.”
“Time is something we’re running short on. I’ve been patient, Tony. More patient than you deserve considering how long this operation has dragged on.”
Sasha sets down her file. She’s watching me now with an odd look I can’t quite read. Something playful lurks behind her eyes.
“The Kozlovs don’t trust easily,” I explain to Adrian. “If I push too hard, they’ll?—”
Adrian cuts me off. “I’m paying you for results, not excuses. What I need is actionable intelligence that I can use to?—”
Sasha stands up from the bed.
“Adrian, I understand your frustration, but?—”
She reaches for the hem of her sweater and toys with the fabric for a moment. Then she pulls it over her head.
My brain short-circuits.
She’s not wearing a bra, so she’s just standing there in nothing but those leggings, watching me with a smirk that says she knows exactly what she’s doing.
