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I coughed once, a signal that I wanted more information.
“Alder thinks it’s either a sexual fetish or a blackmail scheme,” Jensen continued. “Either way, you’ll want to change clothes in the bathroom and refrain from any, uh, private activities in the bedroom until I take over the security feed later.”
Izak summoned a waiter to give Ashlee and me each a glass of champagne. We toasted with him and Luka, then our hosts thankfully moved on to greet other guests and we were free to make our own rounds in the room. Over the next ten minutes, the remainder of the guests arrived, and there were now twenty of us. Ashlee knew several of them, as the charity committee members who formed the basis of her human-interest series were there with their spouses. We also met Luka’s assistant from his design business, two embassy staffers, and an eccentric painter and her husband.
But it was the guest in a distant corner talking with Luka who drew my discreet attention, first because I realized he was fixated on Ashlee, and, if I had to guess, was unhappy to see her here. Then I realized who he was at the same time my team did.
“Senator John Calder,” Alder said on the channel that Ashlee could hear. “One of the subcommittee members.”
“Fuck me,” several team members said at once.
No way in hell that was a coincidence. I bent toward Ashlee so it looked like I was sharing lover’s confidences with her. “Start a deep dive on his staffers. Not all of them will have access to the subcommittee information, so find out who does and focus on them.”
“What about the senator?” Kessler asked. “Based on the way he’s acting, I like him for the mole.”
“I do, too,” I said. “But we’re going to need a special warrant to investigate him. Eliminate the staffers first. That will give X a better case when she and the lawyers go in front of the judge to request it.” I whispered in Ashlee’s ear. “Try to stay away from him. He’s dangerous to both of us.”
She smiled and dropped her eyes as if I’d said something flirtatious, just the way we’d practiced it, but the tightness of her lips showed the toll this was taking on her.
I kissed her cheek. “We’ve got this.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her smile looked more genuine. She had no idea what a gift it was every time she chose to trust me. I wouldn’t squander the faith she’d placed in me. I’d failed her and Aiden Brooks last February, even if she didn’t want to hear it, but I’d be damned if I ever let anything happen to her again.
* * *
Ashlee
I had survived the longest, most stressful dinner I’d ever endured. I’d smiled until my face hurt, then did it all over again when the party moved into the formal living area, where the night had begun, for dessert, coffee, and Slovenian schnapps. The only time I’d left TJ’s side was to use the powder room. I had run into the senator in the hallway while my comms unit was still turned off for privacy’s sake, which I still hadn’t mentioned to TJ. Now it was just past midnight, and TJ and I were finally in our guest room and blissfully alone. Almost.
“Confirm there’s no audio,” TJ said into his comms.
“None, Boss,” Jensen said. “Only video, northwest corner of the room. We’re set to go lights out in ten.”
“We’ll go dark here until then,” TJ said. He clicked off his comms.
I fiddled with my left earring to remove it and subtly pulled the comms unit out of my ear at the same time. I put my jewelry into a case and kicked off my heels. TJ kicked off his own shoes, then hung up his suit coat, tie, and white shirt. He pulled off his undershirt and dropped it into our small, shared suitcase.
I stepped close to him and ran my hands up his bare chest. “It’s a shame we’re being watched.”
“Possibly being watched.” He pulled me into his arms. “In which case, we have to play the part of an amorous couple.”
“Is it really playing a part if it’s true?” I asked. “But your team is also watching.”
TJ grinned. “That’s why we’ll dance. Kovac will see it as sexy, suggestive foreplay, and my team will still be able to look us in the eye in the morning.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapped it a few times to turn on some music, and set it on the dresser. He held out his hand to me.
I took it, and he enveloped me in his arms again, this time with one of my hands in his, and his other hand on the small of my back. He nuzzled my ear.
“I really did want to dance with you at the embassy,” he whispered.
“Yes, but that was just to stop me from ransacking Izak’s office.”
“Well, someone had to take one for the team, so to speak.”
“Hey!”
He laughed softly. “You know I don’t mean it. Hmm, this is even better than I imagined it would be.”
We held each other and swayed and kissed. It was pure bliss, and I didn’t want it to end. But all too soon, the lights went out for two full seconds, Jensen’s signal that we were counting down from ten for the local power grid to go down for the next hour, forcing the Kovacs’ emergency generator to kick in and the security system to roll over to a more quickly and easily hacked platform.
