“You left your bag at the table. There was also... your walk.”
“My walk?”
“Yes. It wasn’t your usual walk. You were stiff. Normally you’re extremely fluid.”
He’d noticed the way she walked? Probably more of that elite training. “I don’t suppose you brought my stuff?”
“No. I was focused on getting you back.” He looked at her, and she was surprised by how at odds his almost monotone, inflection-less voice was with the warmth in his eyes. The hazel had become more of a light brown, the green nearly drowned out by his pupils. “I need you.”
She licked her lips. No, she couldn’t be swayed by thatneed. Need for work purposes, just like everyone else. Because she was always a tool and a pawn, never a person.
She inhaled, then exhaled in a gusty rush again. “Right. You need me.”
“And I think it’s even clearer now that you need me.”
Sejal sucked her teeth, annoyed. Before she could reply, he continued speaking. “I assume that guy was the one from the airport?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a name for him?”
“Viktor.”
“Viktor what?”
“No idea.” That was the truth. Ken might know, he’d driventhem around enough, but she’d be damned if she’d bring Ken into this.
“How rich is your ex, exactly? Because that wasn’t some run-of-the-mill mercenary. That man looked like an assassin.”
“He’s pretty rich.”Youhave totell him. Viktor saw him. He’s in Viktor’s crosshairsnow. Krishhas toknow who’s after him.“And well, um, connected.”
Krish paused, then glanced at her. He tapped the side of his nose. “You mean... ?”
She nodded reluctantly.
“Cobra?”
“No. Russian.”
“Jesus... are you kidding me?” Krish’s hands jerked on the wheel, but he righted it. “We could potentially have two mobs after us right now?”
At least he wasn’t talking like an icy robot anymore. “You’re a hotshot special agent. Does one extra gangster matter to you?”
“How did you get involved with the Russian mafia?”
Her eye twitched. “I was eighteen when my dad kicked me out. I got mixed up with a bad crowd.”
“Russian mafia bad?”
“I thought Alexei was safe enough. He was the youngest son of the current head of the family. He wasn’t really in the business, you know? He was a dork. Liked sitting in front of his computer, playing games, ready to buy me stuff. He was just a bookkeeper for some nerds who ran a website.”
“A website that...”
She grimaced. “That sold drugs and guns.”
Krish pointed his finger at her. “There we go.”
“Anyway, I haven’t seen him in, like, twenty years. I have no idea what he wants from me, and Viktor wasn’t ready to tell me. But he wants me alive... so that’s good?”
