A sharp jawline and straight nose that gave no hint of the multiple times it’d probably been broken were the first features to catch the eye. Sean’s brown hair was newly shaved along the sides, the top still a little long and messy, not bound by field regulations to keep it short so it would fit under a helmet. His brown-eyed gaze was heavy and direct, a weight to it that could shift in an instant to portray whatever persona the missionrequired.
Sean used his entire body to become someone else, a trick that made Alexei just a little uncomfortable. It reminded him too much of Cora Everly’s shapeshifting ability, just without the physical morph. That personal dislike wouldn’t interfere with his desire to watch Sean’s six, because apparently, the agent was shit about taking care of himself in the field when he was running solo. Besides, Katie had vouched for Sean’s loyalty and Jamie trusted him. That was enough for Alexei, despite Sean’sbackground.
“You ready for this?” Seanasked.
Alexei shrugged. “Not different from London. Willbefine.”
“Right,” Sean said dubiously. “I know you’re capable of getting behind enemy lines and taking out a target, but this is a little different. If things get dicey, I need you to follow my lead. This isn’t like the direct fieldwork you’reusedto.”
“Think I not make others believe mycover?”
“I have no doubt you can pull off irritated bastard,” Sean said with a faint smile that Alexei could grudgingly admit took the sting out of the words, just a little. “But that attitude won’t get us far as often as you thinkitwill.”
“Am supposed to be businessman,da? Attitudeisfine.”
“I’m not questioning your attitude. I’m asking you to trust me when we’re in the middle of the op and to follow my lead, even if you don’t like what’sgoingon.”
Alexei studied him, unsurprised when Sean never broke his gaze. “You stillhandler.”
“In away,yes.”
“You know better than us what acting like this needs. Not argue with you.” Alexei paused, before admitting, “Notarguemuch.”
Sean leaned back in his seat. “I can workwiththat.”
“Can you? You have us in field now. Is different fromoldjob.”
“By a lot, but that doesn’t change how I approach themission.”
Alexei eyed himcuriously. “How?”
“I was a NOC when with the CIA doing deep cover work,” Sean said. “Non-official cover, no guarantee the United States would admit I was one of theirs if I were caught andfoundout.”
Alexei rolled his eyes, his opinion of the CIA tanking even more with that explanation. “You shit at ducking. No wonder where you get badhabitfrom.”
The look Sean shot him was a mix of exasperation and humor. It made him look a little younger, a little less stern. “You’re never going to let that go,areyou?”
“So smart for spy,” Alexeidrawled.
If it were Kyle he was teasing, Alexei would’ve had to dodge a playful punch. Sean just sighed in exasperation, but the hint of a smile twitching at his lips told Alexei he wasn’t as pissed as he pretendedtobe.
“I know I don’t need to tell you the mission comes first.” Sean paused, chewing on his bottom lip. “Look, there’s a pretty strong chance the Wolcotts think we’re more than business associates. I know you hated when Jansen thought we were fucking back in January, but that might be impossible to get around this time. I get I’m not your type, but you may have to pretend I am for thismission.”
“Not know my type,” Alexei scoffed, irritated for some reason about Sean’s quick dismissal of himself from the running in Alexei’s non-existentlovelife.
Sean shrugged, not quite meeting his gaze. “You don’t likespies.”
Which was true, in a sense, but Sean had been officially seconded to Alpha Team for the missions involving Root Source, Inc. and the Pavluhkins. Alexei wasn’t going to ignore the agent’s placement on the team for something Sean couldn’tchange.
“Not mind you,” Alexei replied slowly. “For missionornot.”
A hint of surprise flashed across Sean’seyes. “Okay?”
“Am fine to pretend. You think Wolcott talk with Jansen and he mentionLondon?”
Any calls by the team with the Wolcotts were recorded and saved to the mission files. The entire team had listened to the handful of calls that had happened over the past five days, from Sean’s initial request to visit, to Katie’s long conversation about her business while supposedly overseas. Buried in all those words was the casual mention of one Nikolaas Jansen, whom Katie had affirmed their workingrelationshipwith.
It was a safe bet that either Adrian or Declan had reached out to Jansen to verify their credentials. No one knew what Jansen may have told the brothers, or if they were walking into a trap. Stanislav Pavluhkin’s precognition power wasn’t something they could overlook, nor was it something they could easily fight. Being unpredictable could only help so much. No one knew where the line was between Stanislav’s sight and his blindness to thefuture.
