“You’re worried about me?”
“Of course I’m worried about you. Adrian has spent months planning this. He’s obsessed with hurting you, and we’re going to hand him the opportunity.”
“That’s the point. Draw him out so we can end this.”
“And if something goes wrong? If Boris’s teams aren’t fast enough, or Adrian has more resources than we anticipated?—”
“Tony,” she cuts me off gently, “I can’t think about all the ways this could fail, or I’ll lose my nerve.”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “I should never have taken Adrian’s contract. If I had just walked away when he first approached me, none of this would be happening.”
“You know that isn’t true. Adrian was already planning something before you came along. He would’ve just found someone else to do his dirty work.”
“Maybe. But I made it easier for him.” I shake my head. “Every time I think about what could have happened if I’d followed through on his plan…”
“But you didn’t. You made a different choice.”
“After I’d already lied to you. After I’d already betrayed your trust.”
“And now you’re trying to make it right.” She stands and crosses to my chair, settling onto the arm. “That counts for something, even if it’s taken me this long to realize it.”
I look up at her. This close, I can see the faint freckles across her nose, the gold flecks in her green eyes, and the small scar on her right palm from a childhood accident she told me about in St. Petersburg.
“I’m scared,” I admit. “Not of Adrian, not of the danger. I’m scared of losing you before I’ve had a chance to show you who I really am.”
Sasha squeezes my hand. “Then prove it in London. Stand beside me. Watch my back like I’ll watch yours. And when this is over, we’ll figure out the rest together.”
“Together?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
“That’s what partners do, isn’t it?” A small smile crosses her face. “Handle things together.”
The word settles something in my chest. Partners. Not spy and target. Partners.
“Whatever happens in London, I need you to know something.” I hold her gaze. “You changed everything for me. The way I see myself, the way I see the future. You did that.”
“You don’t have to say anything back. I just needed you to hear it before London. Before whatever comes next.”
She studies my face for a long moment, and I can see her working through something behind those green eyes. Then she leans forward and presses her lips to mine. The kiss is soft, unhurried, nothing like the encounters we’ve been sharinglately. This one feels like a conversation. Like she’s telling me something she doesn’t have words for yet.
When she pulls back, her fingers trail along my jaw. “You should try to sleep. Boris wants us at the airport by seven tomorrow.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll stay here a little longer.” She glances at the shelves surrounding us. “My mother used to say books were better company than worries. Maybe she was right.”
I stand but don’t move toward the door. Part of me wants to stay, to sit with her until dawn breaks and we have to face whatever Adrian has planned. But she needs this time alone with her mother’s memory, and I need to respect that.
“Goodnight, Sasha.”
“Goodnight, Tony.”
I pause at the door and look back. She’s already reaching for one of the worn books on the side table. Tomorrow we walk into danger to face a man who wants to destroy everything she loves.
But tonight, she looks almost peaceful.
I hold onto that image as I make my way back to my room. Whatever happens in London, I’ll fight like hell to make sure she gets more nights like this one.
Quiet.
