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RAVEN
“Maybe I should go in with you,” Nicholas said for the tenth time.
Rolling my eyes, I shoved my knife in the strap at my boot. “If you went in with me, it would defeat the purpose of the meet. It’s supposed to look like I came alone, with only Ivan as my intermediary.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”
“Nicholas, your entire team is going to have my back. That’s why we agreed to meet at this location.”
I started to walk away, but he grabbed me by the arm, swinging me back to face him. “This is serious. These are Russians. They could kill you as soon as you walk through the door, then bury your body where no one would ever find you.”
“But you’ll be there in the shadows and you won’t let that happen,” I said slowly. “Besides, there’s no point in dragging anyone else into this. The plan is solid. It’ll work.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“It will,” I said, placing my hand on his cheek to soothe him. I ran my fingertips over the scruff lining his jaw. His eyes slid closed, but the tension in his body was still strung tight.
“It fucking better work.”
His lips met mine in a flurry of passion and need for just a moment. Then he turned on his heel and stormed away, slamming the door behind him.
I watched the door for a moment, still lost in the kiss. What would happen when this was over? Would we go our separate ways and never see each other again? Or would we find a way to make this work?
“He is in love with you.”
I nearly gasped at the deep sound of Ivan’s voice. I didn’t know he’d walked into the room or that he had been listening. Turning, I pretended not to be affected at all by Nicholas or his kiss.
“He’s worried about the job. That’s it.” I grabbed the bag and made sure the eggs were secured inside.
“He is worried about you.” Ivan walked around the table, picking up a glass and the bottle of scotch. “Is good thing to have a man like him.”
Ignoring him, I continued to get ready for the job. My outfit was all black, tight and concealing multiple weapons. With my hair down, I had a more innocent appearance, though I doubted it would fool them. And even though I hated carrying a gun, I slid one into the holster at the small of my back and pulled on my leather jacket to cover it.
“He will not stop, Raven.”
“Won’t stop what?” I asked, playing stupid.
“He will not stop running to you. A man like him, you could shoot him in the chest and he would still fight for you.”
Somehow, his thick Russian accent made that sound so much more…heartwarming than if an American had said it. Maybe it was because of the perceived notion that Russians loved harder, but I actually believed it when he said it.
“I guess we’ll find out when this is over.” Turning to him, I put on my game face. “Are you ready?”
“I am always ready.”
We drove to the meet, and even though I knew I had OPS at my back and even Ivan, I couldn’t help the feeling of apprehension that washed over me. This could be it. I might never have another stolen kiss with Nicholas or feel his skin under my fingertips again. I tried so hard to keep him at a distance that I hadn’t considered what would happen if he was taken away.
And yet, I couldn’t regret how I got here.
I loved my work. I loved the thrill of figuring out how to pull the next job. Death had never been a part of it before, though I knew deep down that the consequences for getting caught could be deadly. Still, most of my concerns centered around silencing the alarms or breaking into a safe. And the really fun jobs were in more high-security areas like museums.
I knew that if we pulled this off, it would be damn hard to walk away from my life. And that’s why I shoved everything aside to think about later. It didn’t matter what would happen. I had to wait for the outcome, only then would it even be worth considering the multiple possibilities of my future. Until then, it was just idle speculation.
“They are early,” Ivan said, his eyes slowly meeting mine.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“That depends if you trust the Russians.”
