Page 59 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
“He is.” Merritt seemed a little more like herself when she said, “And as such, he’s been in the market for a mistress.”
“No.”
The word was so sharp—so sudden—that Alex expected to see a flash of lightning. The word wascharged, and maybe that’s why it took her a moment to realize the arms around her were going tight. It was like a switch had flipped and everything about King froze solid. Like he turned to stone.
“Absolutely not.” King’s arms turned to granite around her, but he kept his gaze on Merritt. “She won’t do it.”
“Who won’t do what?” Alex felt lost and she didn’t like it. She was trying to pry free, but he was too big and too strong and too... angry?
“Alex isnotgoing to go undercover as Viktor Kozlov’s plaything.”Wait. What?“She won’t—”
“Maybe I will?” Now she was the one getting angry.
“You won’t.” His voice was iron. It wasn’t a premonition. It was an order, and Alex didn’t like what it was doing to her. She was ready to breathe fire, but she was also... touched. For the first time in a longtime, someone was looking at her like they cared? Wait.Wasthat what caring looked like? Felt like? She had to be mistaken. But before she could ask for clarification, Merritt laughed.
“Of course Alex isn’t going to be the mistress.” Merritt gave an indifferent shrug with one frail shoulder.
“I’m not?”
“He’s already found one. And he bought her a lovely little place to hide away in.”
When the ferry went around a bend in the shore, they saw it. Alex followed Merritt’s gaze to the stark, steep cliff on the far side of the little inlet—the rocky beach and olive trees. And the most beautiful house that Alex had ever seen.
“Why are we here, Margaret?” King asked because he knew there was more to the story.
“I thought the two of you might like to break into it for me, but if you would rather not—”
“I’ll do it.”
The arms pulled away, and Alex didn’t realize how cold the wind would feel without them.
“May I talk to you?” He was glaring down, hand tugging, like he had to get her away from Merritt before she could spout any more bad ideas.
But bad ideas were Alex’s favorite kind sometimes, so she leaned close to Merritt and whispered, “What’s our time frame?”
“Now!” King tugged. He wanted to drag her away, but Alex wanted to be difficult, so she stayed right where she was, confident that he wouldn’t cause a scene. Because King was genetically opposed to scene-causing. “Sterling. Do you see that?” He pointed to the house that was slipping away as the ferry moved on. “The fortress with the fences and walls and literal cliffs? And... is that a guard tower?” He squinted into the distance.
“Oh, come on...” She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that hard.”
“It is incredibly hard.”
“We can do this.”
“I know we can.” He ran a hand over his face. His shirt was openat the collar and his coat was unbuttoned and his hair was just a little longer than it used to be. Maybe it was the sea air, but it was almost wavy. He looked like someone who was a little mysterious and a lot dangerous, and Alex couldn’t help herself: she liked it. “She can send a black bag team for this.”
“Can you?” she asked, and Merritt had the good taste to look slightly guilty.
“I would rather not.” She’d chosen the words with so much care that Alex had to wonder what she wasn’t saying.
“Sterling.” King’s voice was low. And dark. And careful. “This isn’t like the island. They don’t need us for this.”
“Actually, Michael, I do.”
They both turned and looked at Merritt. She was old and weak and growing weaker. They would have gone anywhere for her—done anything. Even this. But King just asked, “Why us?”
It was an odd thing, to watch someone shrink in front of your eyes, but that’s what Merritt did then. “Because all the people I trust are dead. Because I am an old woman, and I’m alone. Because there’s one more thing I need to mark off my to-do list before it’s too late.” It physically pained her to admit, “Because I’m too old and too weak to do it myself.”
Alex was young and strong and in her prime, but she still knew the feeling, and so she said, “I’m in.”
