AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He knew lust, and it was running hot through his veins, but there was something more. Something beyond the burning ache he felt for her. Something fiercer, with an edge of desperation he was trying to ignore and could barely comprehend. If it was love, there would be so many obstacles. If it wasn’t, then why was he so desperate?
Suddenly, she was pushing at him with both hands flat against his chest. When he stepped back, she ducked under his arms and started to tuck her shirt back in. “You are unbelievable. In the embassy? I can’t do this.”
“Do what?”
She waved a hand between them. “This.” She started to straighten her clothes.
“Let me help. I’m responsible for getting you into trouble.”
“I wasn’t exactly protesting,” she said, tugging at her shirt.
“It’s a crime to cover you up.” He sighed, his hands entwining with hers.
“Please.” She untangled his hands. “There are a lot of crimes here.”
“I think I’ll always be starved for you.” He was kissing her again and she was responding, then suddenly she pushed him away and shook her head.
“I swear, I have no restraint around you. It’s crazy.” Her cell phone rang, and she flung herself toward it. Snatching it up, she answered. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, then hung up. “They’re on their way. No more unprofessional behavior.”
The door opened and Isabelle, a woman with auburn hair, and Gator came through.
“Aleksei, this is Katherine Cross. She’s heading up the Ogden investigation.”
He nodded to her. “Miss Cross.”
“Mrs., actually, but you can just call me Kat.”
He took a seat next to Harley, who picked up the remote in the room and clicked it. A woman’s face appeared. She was seated at a desk and in the background was a view that included the Washington Monument.
“Mr. Volkov,” the woman said in greeting. “I’m Marion Welter, a state department representative. I’m here to discuss your request.”
“I am grateful for your consideration and please, it’s Aleksei.”
“Marion, then. We’re the ones who are grateful. It is our primary goal to bring the people who murdered the ambassador and his family to justice. It’s imperative. After what Isabelle told me, I am floored that your father is involved.”
“My father hates the West, Marion, and always has. He’s not my role model or who I aspire to be. That is why I’m here.”
She sighed. “On that matter, the Secretary of State is committed to getting your mother and sister out of Moscow, but we need the intelligence you hold first.”
“Forgive me. I cannot comply. As soon as I release this information, I run the risk that it would leak to Leonid. He will kill my family.” His hands curled into white-knuckled fists in his lap. “I must insist that you get them out immediately. As soon as they are safe, I will give you the information you want.”
Marion’s eyebrows lifted. “I certainly understand your position.”
“The moment you extract my mother and sister, they will know I’m defecting. They will come after us. I hold other secrets and information that could be vital to your country. I have my own contingency plans, but I need some assurances—”
“We will protect you.”
He nodded. He was going to need it. He might be good with fencing and firearms, but he wasn’t trained as a spy or a special operator. “I require Ms. Quill as my bodyguard.”
Marion looked at Isabelle. “That will be up to Kat and the ambassador.” He caught Harley’s wary gaze from the corner of his eye. He wanted her close to him, and he suspected she was quite capable of guarding him and his body. “Thank you for risking so much to do the right thing, Aleksei.”
The screen went blank.
He turned toward Isabelle. “It’s nonnegotiable.”
Her mouth twisted. She looked at Harley, but the woman gave nothing away. “Okay, Aleksei. We’ll set up an op to get your mother and sister out of Russia. We’ll need your cooperation to plan this.”
He was satisfied with this outcome. His family would be secured, and he’d have Harley to protect him. It was going to take the might of the Americans to foil the Olenskas. They might think they knew what they were up against, but they didn’t. Not by a long shot. When he made the decision to defect, he knew that he would be risking his life, but with the evidence he’d collected against the Olenskas, he was well aware that even his loved ones would be targeted for death, and in the Olenskas’ eyes, he was a dead man walking.
