Just one button. Probably because it’s hot.
But still.
My eyes drop like a traitor.
Hard chest. Tan skin. Defined like someone sketched him out of frustration.
I yank my gaze back up so fast I might’ve sprained something.
He catches me looking.
“You’ll be training every day,” he says.
My mouth opens. Closes. “I’m sorry. What?”
“You need it. Shooting’s not enough. You need strength. Control. Some self-defense.”
“I work in a bank,” I protest weakly. “I don’t need to turn into Jason Bourne.”
“No,” Boris says, finally chiming in as he tosses a napkin into the trash. “But you need to stay alive long enough to keep accessing Caleb’s digital footprint. If we lose access, we lose the trail.”
“She’s already halfway there,” Lev adds, slouched in his chair. “Except for the part where she almost got caught planting the world’s most obvious spy stick.”
I roll my eyes, but Anton keeps going.
“You’ll start tomorrow. Early.”
“Define early.”
“Before your excuses start forming.”
I let out a groan and drop my head onto the counter. “This feels like hazing.”
Lev laughs, but then says, a little softer, “We all started somewhere. I was twelve. Dima was ten, maybe? Boris was in some hacker dungeon, probably.”
“I wasn’t allowed to touch a gun until I could strip it blindfolded,” Boris mutters. “First time I held one, I had to build it myself.”
I blink. “Is that… normal?”
“Normal if your life depends on it,” Anton answers.
I immediately regret asking.
My lips part like I might say something back, then I think better of it and shove a takeout napkin across the counter like I’m suddenly very interested in wiping down a nonexistent spill.
Shut up, Mary. Just… shut up.
It’s quiet for a beat too long. I can feel it in my teeth.
Then Lev shifts in his chair, the kind of restless movement people make when things get too quiet for too long and nobody wants to be the first to say something weird.
But who am I kidding?
Lev’s always the first to say something weird.
“His first kill was at sixteen,” Lev says casually, jerking his chin toward Anton.
My head jerks up. I look at Anton.
