Inara stares at me like she doesn’t recognize the man in front of her. “You okay, Ry?”
“No.” West and Inara wear twin expressions of shock at my admission, and I run my hand over my scalp, feeling the rough stubble from too many days without a razor. “How did you deal with it? When Royce…?”
“Badly.” Inara leans back against the table and her fingers close around the pendant at her throat. “I was a wreck. Shit. Every time he tried to get up, I was at his side. And he had a seizure the next day after dinner. I held it together until he’d recovered, but then I hid in the shower for ten minutes crying. And I donotcry.”
If she’s trying to reassure me, it’s not working. “How’d you get through it?”
“I talked to him. Eventually. Took me a couple of days. But dealing with things on my own was what got us into that situation in the first place.” Inara looks from me to West and back again. “I never apologized. I’m…sorry.”
West rests a hand on her shoulder and squeezes. “We’re a team, Inara. You didn’t do anything Ryker and I haven’t done before. In Ry’s case…this week, even.”
I don’t miss the dig, but the understanding in his deep blue eyes tells me we’re on mostly solid ground. “I don’tdothe whole talking thing. Don’t know how.”
“You’re learning,” Inara says with a pat to my forearm. “It takes time.” Leaning closer, she lowers her voice. “If you love her, you try. Even if you mess it up half the time.”
Wren pokes her head in from the kitchen. “Anyone else want tea?”
“I’ll take some,” Inara says. “West’s coffee supply is running low and we’re going to need all the caffeine we can get tomorrow night.”
The former SEAL rolls his eyes. “You live in Seattle too, you know. Try packing some beans inyourbag next time.”
Inara laughs and jabs him in the side. “And risk you ridiculing my choices? No way.”
West feigns offense, and all four of us laugh—though I think my rough attempt sounds more like a barking dog than a human. But the feeling of family fills the room, and as I meet Wren’s gaze, light touches her green eyes for the first time since she was taken, and a piece of my soul settles.
Maybe…we’ll all be okay.
* * *
When we havemugs of strong tea in our hands, we gather around the table so West and Inara can go over the plan.
“Kolya’s men found all of the cameras,” Inara says. “And the battery in the thermal cam across the street went dead a few hours ago.”
“Fuck. Why haven’t you replaced it? He could be anywhere right now.” Trying to contain my frustration, I clench my free hand so tightly the knuckles pop. Wren’s fingers slide over mine, finding the beads around my wrist and tracing them slowly, and I force myself to breathe.
“Calm down,” West orders. “We don’t need to know where he is right now, because we know he’s going to be at the mansion tomorrow night. And we’re pretty sure Elena and half a dozen girls are going to be with him.” West taps the keyboard, and an email thread pops up on the screen.
“This is an exchange between Kolya and a guy named Andrian Popov,” Inara says. “Kolya’s inviting Popov to an auction tomorrow night. And it’s pretty clear from his wording that he’s never met Popov before.”
“The wording?” I ask.
Inara gestures vaguely, her hand in the air. “It’s formal. Like Popov is someone Kolya respects. Given what I’ve seen in the rest of his correspondence, this isn’t his usual MO. He’s the alpha. The god among men. But in this thread, he’s deferential, careful. Almost meticulous in his sentence structure. And he signs off with ‘you honor me with your response.’ The phrase doesn’t translate directly, but that’s basically what it means.”
Understanding dawns. “You want toimpersonatePopov?” I take a step back, regarding West with unease. “Do you even speak Russian?”
“Three, four words. Maybe? But my arm candy for the night is fluent.” He nudges Inara’s shoulder, and she glares at him. “You’re going to have to work on that expression. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I’m playing your bodyguard, Sampson. Not yourdate.” She snorts. “As if I could pull off the brainless bimbo in any universe. I’d kill someone before we got more than two steps inside the door.”
“Hey, I was supposed to get married tomorrow. Cut a guy a little slack.” West smiles, but his eyes reflect pain.
I can’t repay them for this. Ever. I’ll be in their debt for the rest of my life if we pull this off. Wren presses closer to my side, and her fingers graze my hip.
“I can encrypt a video channel,” she says quietly. “So you can see each other without risking anyone intercepting the signal.”
West meets my gaze. I have rules. No phones. No contact. Safer for everyone. But the idea of going four days without talking to Wren, seeing her, after what we’ve been through…I’d come out of my skin. At my single nod, West blows out a breath. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
“Inara and Royce too,” I add. “And can you set that up for us every job? Anything more than an in-and-out, at least?”
