“Bull. But also, that’s not your battle. I’ll deal with Freya when I get home. Go get the phone. When you come back, you can grab your stuff and move to the other room they offered you.”
“Kira—”
“I don’t feel safe with you when you refuse to tell me what the danger is. Don’t you see you made me less safe?”
He really couldn’t argue with that.
He turned for the door, then stopped and pulled his phone from his pocket. “I don’t like you being here without a phone. Take mine.”
She took it and touched the screen. “Doesn’t do a lot of good without your passcode. All I can do is answer calls.”
He didn’t hesitate and took the phone back. He said the six-digit code as he unlocked it. He went to settings and clicked the button to add a user and held up the screen camera to capture her face. It only took a moment before he pressed the device back into her hands. “There. You have the keys to the castle. Freya emailed me a dossier on Luka and Reuben Kulik. I suggest you read that while I’m gone.”
Stunned, Kira stood in the middle of the room clutching Rand’s phone for more than a minute after he left.
Giving her access to his phone was the greatest show of trust she could imagine.
Dammit, she was going to have to forgive him now. She needed him, and she’d be a fool to send him away because of hurt pride. Not that what he’d done was minor in any sense, but she did believe he wouldn’t do anything like that again.
He had two strikes, after all.
She held up the phone to her face, and it unlocked just like it was supposed to. It hadn’t been a trick. He’d really done it.
She went to his email and found the one on the Kuliks as he’d suggested. She read the summary provided by Freya. Reuben was two years older than her, exceedingly wealthy, and had big political ambitions in Russia. No mention of Luka having FSB or KGB ties, but he was likely connected to Bratva. There was an attachment that went into greater detail, but it would be easier to read on Rand’s computer.
She then read the messages about fake Cousin Andre. Freya didn’t have any intel on the man being FSB, but then, no one had his real name yet, and even if they did, it was unlikely he’d be flagged as FSB any more than an American operative would be tagged with CIA, DIA, NSA, or whatever intelligence agency they worked for.
These days, even FBI analysts couldn’t tout their credentials. When asked, they would say they worked for the Justice Department and leave it at that.
It hurt to see Freya’s words, and she took small comfort in Rand’s pushback. She noted he never promised to keep Kira in the dark. He just said he’d make the call as things developed.
The phone began to vibrate, and the screen changed to an incoming call.
Freya Lange.
Kira hesitated a moment, then answered. She had no idea how she felt about the woman who was technically her oldest friend and sometimes her client. Today, she didn’t feel like a friend and had assumed the role of boss without Kira’s consent. She opted for a neutral tone and said, “Hello, Freya.”
“Kira. I was expecting Rand.”
“Sorry. He’s not here.”
“Oh. Well then…when will he be back?”
“Freya, this is about me, so tell me.”
There was a long pause, then Freya said, “I’m sorry I told Rand to withhold what we learned about Andre Stoltz from you.”
“Good.” She wasn’t about to thank her or accept the apology. Not now. They could have it out back in DC. “Now why did you call?”
Freya let out a sharp laugh. “You know, I’ve always liked you, Kira, but I really, really like the strong woman you’ve become.”
“Right.”
“I mean it. I was playing you like you weren’t a member of the team because you’re so close to this emotionally. I wasn’t treating you like an operative. And that was wrong. My decision there had nothing to do with my thoughts or feelings about you. It was a straight-up judgment call I’d make about anyone who was emotionally invested in a situation.
“Someday, you’ll meet Bastian and his wife, Bree. Bastian was on Cal and Pax’s A-Team. Bree can tell you how I…well, shit. I don’t even want to admit what I ordered Bastian to do because I didn’t trust Bree could be logical when it came to her family. I was a great CIA officer and a terrible friend. At least with Bree, I was a covert operative first and the friendship came later. But with you, I think I screwed up because you’re important to me.”
Freya drew in a deep breath. “Kira, you’re the only person left alive who also loved Apollo. And I know he didn’t deserve you. I know how he hurt you. But it means something to me that I have a person in my life who knew my family and grieved for their loss. And I’m sorry I never said that to you. Sorry I didn’t hug you and tell you how mad I was at Apollo on your behalf. But I could only deal with my own grief at the time.”
Freya’s voice broke somewhere in there, and Kira sucked in a breath to try to hold back her own tears. She lost the battle and swiped at her eyes, glad this wasn’t a video chat and Rand wasn’t here. One public breakdown a day was enough.
She sniffed and waited until her voice was steady to speak. “Thank you. I did love him. And I hated him. And I know you weren’t in a place to face my mixed emotions when you’d just lost everyone.”
“I’m sorry you had to find out about his girlfriend the way you did. If I had known, I would have tried to find a way to spare you that. But I didn’t find your letter until weeks after his death.”
She swallowed. “Thank you.”
It was surreal to be having this conversation now, when it was Kira’s family that was the issue. More than two decades had passed, and the tears they were both spilling proved that the words were long overdue.
Kira needed to fully let go of the pain Apollo had caused and also allow herself to remember the boy she’d loved. Ever since Freya had returned to her life, she’d known they would have this conversation. It was part of why she’d feared the woman, but also wanted to be her friend.
“We can talk about this more when I’m back in DC.”
“Promise me we will?” Freya’s voice was soft. Almost yearning. It was a tone she hadn’t heard since they were kids. And even then, it had been rare. Freya had always seemed like she had it together compared to Kira’s awkwardness.
“We will. But you have to promise to tell me about Rand too.”
