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It had nothing to do with his assignment.
It had to do with her. With a beautiful, strong, complex woman and the sorrow he’d seen in her eyes.
Kaz felt lightheaded, as if he were back in Afghanistan, standing on the edge of a mountain, looking down into a valley thousands of feet below. The age-old sensation that went with steep heights made his throat constrict.
One step, and he would fall.
Fall forever.
“Kazimir?”
He stared at her. Her eyes were tear-stained, her face pale. Her mouth was trembling.
He wanted to yell at her. Tell her she was not to run from him again. Tell her that if she didn’t behave, he’d tie their wrists together…
Liar.
What he really
wanted was to take her in his arms and comfort her.
The realization scared the crap out of him and he dealt with it the only logical way possible: he closed the slight distance between them, grasped her by the shoulders, and hauled her to her toes.
“Dammit,” he said, “don’t try that again!”
She looked up at him. Despite her tears, he could see her spirit, her bravery, shining through.
“A thousand dollars an hour,” she said. “Is that the going rate?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about money. I’ll pay you to let me go. I’ll vanish into the crowd. You can tell my father that I deceived you.”
His hands tightened on her. “Stop it!”
“I have jewelry. It’s worth a lot. What I have on right now—my ring, my earrings, my necklace… And I have more. All you have to do is let me go and give me a little time to get at it.”
“Are you trying to buy me? Dammit, what kind of man do you think I am?”
Her eyes searched his as the crowd swept past them. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear a bell ringing, a Christmas bell rung by a sidewalk Santa. It made everything that was happening even more surreal.
“That’s just it,” she whispered. “I don’t know what kind of man you are.”
“I am not doing this for money. I’ve already told you that.”
“Then, why? Why do it at all?”
“Because I said that I would. I gave my word.”
She laughed. At least, it sounded like a laugh, that choked little sound she made even as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Yes. And so did I. Forget what I said. You can’t let me go. Even if you did, I can’t run away. The betrothal ceremony, the marriage… They are my duty.”
“Jesus.” His voice roughened. “Ekaterina. Katie. I’m lost. You have to tell me what’s happening. Does your father know how you feel about this marriage?”
“He knows.”
“That you don’t want to go through with it?”
