In his ear, Freya said, “Be receptive, but cautious.”

He was in view of the camera on the laptop and the camera in the room. Everyone was watching.

He studied her from head to toe, then smiled approvingly. “Did your boss really send you here?”

He was sixteen years older than her. He felt like a dirty old man.

She cocked her head and took another step toward him. When she was right in front of him, she leaned in and whispered, “No.” She ran a finger down his chest. “I thought you might be lonely.”

He gently removed her finger from his chest. “I’m here with Kira.”

She pouted. “Haven’t you heard? She’s going to marry Aleksandr.”

He let out a sharp laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, she will. He has assured me. I tried to stop her from coming here and stealing my Aleksandr, but she is here.”

The hair on the back of his neck came to attention. In his ear, Freya said, “The fuck?”

He definitely needed to get this woman to talk. “And because she’s taking your Aleksandr, you’re here for me?”

She grinned. “You are very handsome. And big.”

“I’m not a piece of meat.”

He imagined Teague and Chris and the others snickering as they watched. He’d bet anything one of them had used the word himbo in the last ten seconds. He’d laugh if the situation weren’t so deadly serious.

“Kira won’t marry Aleksandr. She hasn’t even met him.”

“She’s met him. While you are stuck here. He is very handsome and richer than you, and he doesn’t have to waste her vacation with boring work.”

“She’s not interested in money.”

“Oh, but she likes art. Aleksandr can give her her heart’s desire.”

“She’s been offered that before by a man just as rich. She said no. It happened very publicly. It was even on the news.”

Nadia pouted. “Yes. That was when Aleksandr saw her. The woman from the painting. We were watching the news in bed, and suddenly, he shouted, ‘It’s her! It’s her!’ then he left me and ran to speak to his father.”

He’d figured the Kuliks had found Kira because her face—so like her mother’s—had been on the news many times since December. This was the first confirmation they’d had of this theory. “When was this?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Months ago.”

“Before Christmas?” He’d heard Kira say her portrait had been stolen sometime after the new year, but Aleksandr could have seen the painting at the Kulik villa.

“After, I think. I don’t know.”

Kira’s face had been on the news periodically since then, as the investigation continued and trials drew near.

“And when did you find out Aleksandr intends to marry her?”

Her brow furrowed with thought. “A week ago. He told me she was coming and they would get engaged.”

“Last Monday? Or before?” Monday was the day before the gunman shot two sailors on base. The only person who knew Kira was going to Malta at that point was Cousin Andre. Not even Freya had known until she’d called and asked Kira to substitute for Diana.

“Yes. Sunday. Monday. Sometime then. I was big mad. Aleksandr said I could still be his mistress. Like Juliette.” Her lip curled. She clearly considered herself above the renowned glass artist.

“And you tried to stop Kira from coming. What did you do?”

She smiled and pressed close to him. “I’ll tell you, but first you have to kiss me.”

His hands landed on her hips, intending to nudge her backward, but her words stopped him. He figured at this point, she was doing this for the conference room camera. Probably hoping to cause Kira the same pain she was in over losing her shot at the princess-cut diamond ring.

He figured she’d say anything to get him to kiss her, but she happened to have said the one thing that would work.

She couldn’t know who he was or what he was after. No one outside of NSWC and FMV knew exactly what happened on the base last Tuesday. The shooting was attributed to a lone gunman and Kira’s name was nowhere to be found in the news reports.

But he couldn’t be obvious, or she’d wonder why he was eager to know her secret.

He stroked a thumb along her jaw. She was a beautiful young woman. Young being the operative word. “What’s your game here, Nadia?”

He was sick at the idea Kira would see this. It would bring back Apollo’s betrayal and the hurt of seeing him with Staci. But this was the job they’d both signed on for. He had to see it through.

“She can’t have him. He’s mine. For years, I have waited. She shouldn’t have come. I warned her.”

The text Kira received her first night in Malta. Nadia was the source. Freya had the number. Now she could match it to the phones connected to the villa’s Wi-Fi.

“You should be asking me to take her away, then, instead of trying to seduce me.”

“Grigory will never let you take her. He made a deal.”

“She doesn’t belong to Grigory. Or Luka. Or Reuben or even Aleksandr.”

“Do you think she belongs to you?”

“I wish. But no. Not even me. She’s not property. You are not property.”

“Ha! I have been property my whole life.”

He feared that was true.

“You should quit this job. Find another. Move out.”

“My passport is Russian and in the hands of my employers. I’m here at their whim.”

That was probably illegal, but he had no idea what Maltese laws were regarding household staff and foreign workers.

He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “What did you do, Nadia?”