“Thank you. For telling me, I mean. I can’t wait to meet your sister.”

He scooped her up and rolled to his back again, so she was on top of him. “I can’t wait for that too. She knows about you.” He kissed her collarbone.

“Because of the dedication?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. She had questions.”

“Who are you going to dedicate the next book to?”

“Probably my niece. Or maybe Freya. She introduced us, after all.”

“I’ve never thanked her for that.”

“Me neither. I was too busy trying to play it cool and not let on I was obsessed with you.” His mouth explored her neck and shoulder.

“She saw right through us,” she said.

“Well, that’s Freya. It’s kind of her superpower.”

“One among many.”

“Does she scare you as much as she does me?”

Kira burst out laughing. “Oh my god…the day we met, I was so freaked out about seeing her—it had been a few months and the timing was last minute, no time to mentally prepare, and she always terrified me. And then there was Ian and you, and I get flustered around attractive men. I was hopeless.”

“You were hot and adorable. But I’m going to ignore that thing you said about Ian.”

“He’s objectively attractive. You’d have to be blind not to notice. And Freya doesn’t scare me so much now. At least, I don’t think she will.” She kissed his chest, then turned her cheek and rested her head, closing her eyes. “I’m looking forward to seeing her after this.”

He chuckled. “As long as it’s Freya and not Ian you’re eager to see.”

“Oh, I always enjoy seeing him. But that’s generic. If it makes a difference, I never once tried to imagine him naked like I did you.”

“Do I live up to your imagination?”

“You tell me. Remember what happened when I saw you shirtless the first time?”

“It’s one of my favorite memories of all time.”

“It was only twenty-four hours ago.”

“That changes nothing.”

She again ran her hand over his abs. “You’d better not go shirtless when we’re at Laskin’s. One look at your spectacular physique could give you away as a special operator.”

“Sweetheart, you noticed my muscles even when my clothes were on.”

She played with a nipple until it peaked. “Yes, but I didn’t know until you took your shirt off. I suppose you could say you’re a bodybuilder or fitness instructor for your day job.”

“That works. I’ll ask to see his home gym and give him all sorts of unsolicited advice.”

She snickered. “He’ll see you as irritating, but not a threat.”

The fact that Laskin had no reason to think Rand was anything other than what he’d claimed was on their side. Whoever had searched his hotel room had found manuscript pages with handwritten notes and nothing about his military service.

He’d locked down his privacy before he became a SEAL and had no social media presence. There were a few men with his name on LinkedIn and Freya had created a profile for him there—without a photo—last winter in case Gillibrand did some digging.

His website under the name Reece Foresman and the LinkedIn profile under his real name were now being embellished by tech wizards at FMV, adding biographical details should Laskin decide to do some searching.

“We need to tell Freya to add that to your bio.”

He nodded and reached for his phone and sent a text.

His mood had turned serious, and she could guess why. Everything hinged on Laskin’s focus remaining on Kira. Tomorrow, they’d take a massive gamble, and even if they got what they wanted, when all this was over, Laskin would remain untouched.

Taking down Grigory Laskin was not the goal. It wasn’t even a likely outcome.

Like all billionaires who funded terrorism and coups, Laskin would remain free and clear from whatever atrocity he had planned. The only way he’d pay a price would be if he was caught pulling the trigger or detonating a bomb himself. But men like Laskin never did their own killing. They sent in mercenaries or traitors to do their dirty work.

Rand was taking a huge risk in entering Laskin’s home. The oligarch wanted nothing more than to kill Navy SEALs and had a team of henchmen on his staff.

“If they manage to figure out who—what—I am, you need to be shocked. You don’t know me. I was conning you. Turn your back on me and get out.”

“I won’t do that⁠—”

“Promise me, Kira.”

“I can’t leave you.”

“If you don’t, then whatever happens to me will be for nothing. I’ll need you to finish the mission. Find out what Laskin and Kulik are planning and tell my team.”

“But what if I don’t know anything? What if I can’t finish the mission? How could I live with myself if I left you and we still fail?”

“Then do it for me. Do it because I love you and it would destroy me to watch them hurt you just to get at me. Promise me, Kira.”

Her eyes burned at the intensity of his words and gaze. He’d said it. He loved her.

She cupped his jaw and ran a thumb over his cheekbone. “I promise.”

Rand was just drifting to sleep when his cell phone rang. As a SEAL, he didn’t have the luxury of ignoring it, no matter how late. Especially when it was late.

Kira stirred beside him as he checked the phone. It was a call to the number Freya had set up and printed on the business card he’d passed out at the gallery.

Could be anyone, but he suspected he knew who was calling.

He hit the Accept button. “Fallon.”