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I nod “He wants us to meet his children in Florida this summer”

Concern plays over her face “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course” Again, provided I’ll be back in the States I push the disturbing thought aside “He see” My experience with Alex makes me say, “Promise me you won’t make any rash decisions”

“You know o with a squeeze and pulls the juice closer “Ito anything”

I don’t want her to think I’-term relationship with William “I only want you to be happy”

“I am,” she says with an easy smile “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you too, Katie I’m truly happy you’ve finally found your match”

Avoiding answering, I take the juice she poured and hide lass

When it’s ti bothhim promise not to work too hard She waves until we turn the corner

It’s then that the emptiness hits me

It’s then that I think that maybe I should’ve run when I had the chance

28

Alex

We fly to a sruntled Katerina on the plane with enough uard her I don’t tell her where I’n with Nikolai Molotov If I did, I’d have to tell her why I’ her, and I don’t want her to worry about the fact that I don’t trust Nikolai Though I’ve been working with Konstantin for months and have no reason to think his brother wishes me harm, I don’t put my faith in anyone I don’t know personally

I don’t leave until we’ve set up peri on his laptop A secure connection feeds the inforor, and the pilot knows our flight schedule It’s unlikely that anyone will co for us here, but I repeat uard Katerina with their lives Igor assures me he’ll follow protocol thehe’ll send a reconnaissance team to find out who’s on the way The pilot is ready for takeoff in case of an eency His order is to leave immediately if there’s any threat I can always find my oay back I kno to take care of myself

The drive to the compound is tense Yuri is behind the wheel and Leonid rides shotgun It’s a cold, gray day with fog hanging thick in the air I can barely see ten meters ahead