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She couldn’t stop the silent tears that rolled over her cheeks. How could she take away Lann’s hope? She had to be brave.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He planted a chaste kiss on her lips. “Good girl.”
Joss checked his watch. “I have to call in the others. We have to make the call.”
“Are you ready, Katherine?” Lann asked.
What he really asked was if she agreed.
“Yes,” she said, her voice firm this time.
Lann pulled her roughly against him. His beautiful face was rigid when he turned to Joss. “We’re ready.”
When Joss signaled for the rest of the team, Lann kissed the crown of her head. “You’ll come back to me alive, and I’ll get our son. That’s a promise.”
Closing her eyes, she allowed his words to sink into her heart where she’d nurture and remember them whenever she needed hope.
Clelia and Maya entered. Clelia connected Cain on the satellite feed while Maya ran security checks.
A moment later, Vanessa’s voice came onto the line. “Did you get my gift?”
“We did,” Lann said in a clipped voice.
“I assume you have conditions.”
“I do.”
“We’ll start with mine. We meet in one hour in Paris. Kat will come alone. If anyone follows her, she’s dead. If anyone tries to follow her after today, she’s dead.”
“We won’t follow her,” Lann said, “but I’ll see her off. That’s non-negotiable.”
“Fine. I’ll allow it, but only because I love sad farewells.”
“Kat has to be treated well. You know what I mean by well. I want to speak to her every day.”
“As for treating her well, we want the baby to be healthy, so don’t worry. Your princess will be pampered in her tower. Every day? No can do. Weekly is as much as I can guarantee.”
“If anything, and I mean anything, happens to her, you know I’ll hunt you down.”
“That’s what Gideon’s for, or did you forget about my insurance policy?”
“Believe me, if anything happens to Katherine, Richardson and what he will or won’t do, will be the least of my worries.”
“Fine,” she said in a condescending tone. “Stop acting like a woman with wet knickers. Tell Kat she doesn’t need to pack. She comes with nothing but the clothes on her back. Now take down the address.”
Back in their room, Kat faced Lann. “What will you tell my parents?”
“I’m going to send them emails on your behalf. I’ll say we’re traveling around the world.”
“What if it doesn’t work out? What will you say?”
He gripped her shoulders. “It will work out.”
She understood. He needed her to be strong. She nodded.
They had less than five minutes. Bono was refueling as they spoke.
“I love you, Lann.”
What else could she say in five minutes? There were many things she wanted to talk about, such as Thomas’s room and how it had to be done, and the work she hadn’t yet finished with Marie, but nothing mattered as much as those words.
He kissed her with much tenderness. “I know. You’ll be fine, krasavitsa. Thomas too.”
Without a handbag or a suitcase, she felt strangely empty. When she slipped the bracelet from her wrist and placed it in Lann’s palm, his face contorted into a painful expression. He opened his mouth, but a knock on the door cut him short.
“Bono’s ready,” Clelia called. “You’ve got to go.”
Lann only looked at Kat for a few, strained seconds before saying in a hoarse voice, “I won’t see your belly grow with my child.” His eyes grew hard. “I’ll never forgive them for doing this to us.”
The emotion in his voice was like a blade twisting in her heart.
He placed the bracelet on the dresser, and took her hand. “Come, krasavitsa.”
Downstairs, Maya, Eve, Joss and Clelia waited for them. No one said a word as they each embraced her. They watched with solemn faces as she and Lann boarded. Even Bono was quiet during the flight.
Kat had promised herself that she wasn’t going to cry, and she was proud of herself for doing a good job so far. Dread made her throat thick. She was willingly walking into a prison, and nobody could guarantee the outcome.
When they touched down, Bono stayed in the helicopter while Lann drove Kat to their designated meeting point, a different airstrip farther north.
Knowing what was to come, they held hands in the car. Too soon, the storm would tear them apart. The lonely hangar came into sight too quickly. Five armed men guarded an unbranded jet.
Lann felt Kat’s gaze on him as he cut the engine. He turned to her, took her face between his hands, and kissed her long and hard. Her breath caught when he released her. He knew his woman well enough to know it was as much from fear as from the fact that she needed air.
“I’ll never let you go, krasavitsa,” he said, feeling the weight of what he had to do like a meteorite crashing down on him. He lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her belly. “Look after my son until I can come back for him.”
