Page 122 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
“Kingsley.” Sawyer’s voice was even, but his finger was still on the trigger and it wasn’t going anywhere yet. “To what do we owe the honor?” Which was “spy” forYou have two minutes to tell me why you’re here before I blow your head off.
Zoe looked between Alex and King, eyes wide and practically mouthing the wordlover. Then she turned her attention to Alex and grew serious. “What kind of situation are we talking about? Undercovering? Coverting? Because, I don’t want to brag, but I amreallygood at coverting.”
But King was still standing there, slack-jawed, as he looked between Alex and Zoe. “I mean, I knew you had a twin. I knew it, but seeing it...”
“I’m in!” Zoe was saying. “Whatever you need, I’m—”
“Hold on.” Sawyer was still holding Zoe back, but he kept his eyes locked on King because he was the biggest threat at the moment, and Sawyer was no fool. “If you think I’m going to let you put my wife in danger—”
“Gasp.” Alex couldn’t hold the word back as she looked at her sister. “He called you his wife.”
Zoe gave a cocky grin. “Hot, right?”
“Can someone please tell me what kind of coverting the love of my life is going to be expected to do?” Sawyer shouted, but all eyes turned to King.
“It’s a long story, but the short version is pretty simple: I can’t be in two places at one time...”
Alex couldn’t help but smile as she watched her sister get it. “But I can.”
Chapter Seventy
Present Day
Paris, France
Alex
Alex watched the team from Interpol as they hauled Tyler away and tried to remind herself that she was supposed to be feeling... something. Pity or anger or even regret. Part of her knew she should have been mourning the sweeter-than-average guy who had been nice to her ten years before, but, more than anything, she was proud that, deep down, she’d always known that she’d be better off as Michael Kingsley’s enemy than as that guy’s friend.
“So that’s it?” Zoe sidled up to them. Sawyer stood not far away, still in his commando black while Zoe was still dressed exactly like Alex. With hair exactly like Alex’s. But the look on her face was entirely, one hundred percent Zoe, and Alex wondered what it would feel like to be more like her sister.
Because Zoe was the strong one. Zoe was the brave one. Zoe was the one who had grabbed life with both hands and taken control. Zoe had said that love and happiness were just as important as strength and success, just as essential and endangered. And now Zoe had peace. Zoe had joy.
Zoe had Sawyer.
“He’s dreamy, right?” Zoe cut her eyes at Sawyer. “Go ahead. You can say it. I know you want to say it.”
“Is he... Is it...” Alex didn’t even know what she was trying to ask, but Zoe did. Because Zoe knew who Alex was beneath the covers and the lies.
“Is it as great as it’s supposed to be?” her sister guessed. “It’s better.” She sounded almost defiant as she looked at Alex—as if, for once, Alex was the one who needed to be stronger. She’d always thought that settling down meantsettling. It was right there in the name! But the look on Zoe’s face as she watched Sawyer do something as basic as talk on the phone was a kind of bliss that Alex hadn’t even known was possible. “He’s not my epilogue, you know. He’smy novel.”
And for the first time, Alex had to wonder if maybe happy endings weren’t just possible—if maybe they were possible for someonelike her.
“So, amnesia, huh?” There was something like pity in her sister’s eyes. Pity and understanding and... intrigue. Like after a decade in covert operations, Alex’s life had finally gotten interesting. “Do you rememberanything?”
“I remember you. And Mom and Dad. And how to build an independent suspension system from scratch.” Zoe laughed, and Alex had to think about it. “I always knew who I was.”
“That’s good.” Zoe looked pensive, then a little sad, and then resigned. “Not knowing who you are sucks. But sometimes...” Her gaze drifted to Sawyer, and it was like she had turned to watch the sun. Light fell over her face and her features softened. “Sometimes you have to forget who you are to figure out who you want to be, you know?”
Alex did know. She’d been making and remaking herself for so long—over and over again—since before she’d ever heard of the Farm or Michael Kingsley. Alex had spent her whole life trying to be stronger and faster and better. But maybe all she ever needed to be was herself?
“Okay.” Zoe slapped her hands together. “Now what’s our plan to find this ring?”
King looked like he was going to choke as he walked in their direction. “Ourplan?”
“Oh, we’re a team. Two Sterlings are way better than one.”
Alex wasn’t sure if she agreed, but she definitely couldn’t argue,because she was still trying to reconcile the sight of her sister and King in the same place at the same time. Her worlds were colliding, so she wasn’t necessarily thinking clearly.
