Suddenly a Spy (16 page)

Marko offered her a drink from the bar, which
she passed on for a bottle of water. The last thing she needed at
this point was more alcohol. Vance smirked, and she knew that he
and Rick had probably shared a laugh over her morning hangover. She
inwardly fumed over the fact that they found so much amusement in
her.

Outwardly, she smiled at Marko and pretended
to care about the tour he was giving her. The sunshine and the
fresh sea air were infectious, and she soon found that her smile
was genuine.

“Can I take your wrap?” Marko shrugged out of
his shirt and turned to Veronica expectantly.

“Sure,” she agreed after a beat.

“That’s not something you see every day,” he
skimmed his fingertips along her shoulder.

“Crazy ex-boyfriend. He didn’t take the
breakup well.”

Anger flashed in Marko’s eyes and his jaw
line twitched. He took a steadying breath before answering.

“I hope someone has already killed the
bastard. If not, I’m happy to be of service.”

“That won’t be necessary, but thank you,” she
was surprisingly touched by the offer. “Right now I just want to
soak up some sun and forget about the monsters of the world.”

He brushed a kiss against the wound on the
back of her shoulder, leaving goose bumps in his wake. She turned
her head towards him and noticed for the first time that he bore
scars of his own.

Instinctively, she reached out to touch the
ghost of two bullet holes on his waist—ones she knew had come from
her gun. He sucked in his breath, wrapping his fingers around hers
as he smiled.

“Do that again and I can’t promise you’ll
have any time left to soak up the sun.”

“You assume you’re even close to forgiven,”
she drummed her fingers playfully along the two scars before moving
to claim a lounge chair on the sun deck.

Marko conceded with a grin, handing her wrap
to the nearest servant before stretching out on the lounge next to
hers. He seemed content to enjoy a moment of silence, and Veronica
took full use of the time to process.

Those scars removed any doubt; it had been
Marko using Anuli as a human shield in Italy. It had been Marko
who’d given her the wound he’d just promised to avenge. Two neat
holes in his side served as a reminder of who he was—and why she
was on that boat.

Because of that, she was especially alert.
Every look exchanged between the half-brothers, every whispered
conversation, was cataloged away in her mind. She was determined to
accurately relay them to Rick later. Some conversations were
savored.

“Your intel is wrong,” Petrov’s typically
disdainful expression had turned to more of a sneer. “It wasn’t
her.”

“And you are being led by something other
than your brain. I’d like to speak to her myself before I make a
decision,” Marko effectively ended the conversation.

Veronica had a guess who they were
discussing. Even if Adrianna was able to prove her innocence, it
would gall her to be questioned. Smug cow.

Her afternoon on the boat gave her a great
tan and a wealth of information to file away for later. She was
feeling like quite the successful spy by the time they docked
again. When Marko had attempted to kiss her goodbye, she flitted
out of his grasp.

“It’ll take more than a boat ride to make up
for breaking and entering,” she teasingly admonished.

“You’re killing me, princess.”

“It’s good for you,” she laughed impishly as
she sank into the seat of the car he had waiting for her.

“I have some work to do tomorrow night,” he
knelt beside the open car door.

“I’m sure I can find a way to amuse myself
for an evening,” she assured him.

“No good. I want to see you. Maybe we can
squeeze in dinner?”

“I should tell you no. I’m being entirely too
easy a catch,” she pursed her lips as if in thought.

“You really are trying to kill me.”

“Fine, dinner it is. You’ll send the
car?”

“Eight sharp.”

Veronica allowed him to kiss her forehead
before closing the door. The driver’s disapproving eyes met hers in
the rearview mirror. She sighed and settled back in the seat for
the ride home, not entirely caring why Marko’s driver chose to
dislike her.

Having already been well fed on the boat,
Veronica didn’t see much need for dinner. She put on her most
comfortable pajamas and curled up in front of her laptop to type up
her notes from the day. When she was done, she locked it up and hid
it in the false bottom of her suitcase—just in case Marko decided
to let himself in her room again.

She wished Rick would let himself in her
room, but there was no word from him. In fact, there was no word
from him for the rest of the week. She did, however, see Marko each
day. Their odd little relationship grew, as did the bickering
between Marko and Petrov.

Those conversations grew continually more
heated. From what Veronica was able to piece together, Adrianna was
only one source of strife between them.

And every morning, Veronica strolled along
the streets, soaking up the vibrant atmosphere and admiring the
handiwork of the various street vendors. She had yet to tire of the
place and always found something new.

“Elizabeth!” A woman waved from a vendor
across the street.

Veronica vaguely recalled her from one of
Marko’s dinner parties. She plastered a smile on her face and
crossed the street to say hello.

“Hi it’s me, Isabelle. I’m surprised to see
you here. How are you?” the words seemed to tumble out of her
mouth. Veronica had to think for a moment to process what had been
said.

“I’m good… why are you surprised to see
me?”

“It’s nothing,” the woman seemed to regret
her words.

“Are you and Tom coming tomorrow night?”

“We can’t; we’re busy,” Isabelle looked away.
Veronica knew the woman was lying. The couple was distancing
themselves.

“You heard about the other night,” Ronnie
turned her own focus to a particularly beautiful scarf. She
fingered the sangria colored material absentmindedly as she fished
for more information.

“Tom was there—at that party. It scared the
life out of him. He thought for sure Marko would have you under
lockdown. He’s so protective of you.”

“I have babysitters following me,” Veronica
admitted. “I’m not supposed to know they’re there.”

“We don’t want to cause any ripples or
anything. We adore Marko, we really do. But I think we just need a
little… time off.”

“I understand,” Veronica feigned sympathy.
Inwardly, she was thinking maybe Tom deserved to have the life
scared out of him for being there in the first place. “Look, I’d
better run. Marko’s sending a car for me in an hour. You take care;
it was good seeing you.”

The women hugged and went their separate
ways, but not before Veronica bought herself the pretty red
scarf.

Two days later, her lunch was interrupted by
another from Marko’s social circle.

“Elizabeth, good to see you,” he joined her
table without waiting for an invitation.

“Hey Peter. You look well.”

“Still a little shaken up from the other
night. That was nuts.”

“Absolutely. You’re lucky you survived,” she
agreed, wide-eyed.

“I hear the brothers are at each other’s
throats over it.”

“I really couldn’t say…” the rest of the
lunch went about the same. He tried to dig for information, she
deflected. Still, the conversation confirmed that Marko’s inner
circle was alight with conversations about how the last
invitation-only sale had gone horribly awry.

She was eventually able to extract herself
from the lunch, although it seemed to be happening more and more
that she ran into people she knew around town. She realized she’d
settled in. There were even moments when she forgot it was a cover.
They never lasted long, but all in all, she was at ease in this new
skin. And she understood how a man like Rick could end up in bed
with a woman like Adrianna.

If she was this cozy after weeks, how much a
part of this life had Rick become after a year? How had Vance
walked both sides of that line for so long?

Her waking hours might have been filled with
Marko, but Rick commanded her nights. At least, his memory did.
Each night, she would curl up with her pillow and wallow in missing
him. Sometimes she would miss her dogs, her friends and her family.
But it was Rick who permeated her thoughts.

As devoted as she was to her husband, she
couldn’t deny the chemistry she shared with Marko. It was palpable
when they were in the room together. No matter how firmly she set
her mind to the contrary, no matter how much her brain detested the
person she knew Marko to be, the time they were spending together
only sharpened the growing bond between them.

She’d managed to stay out of his bed and even
keep the amount of stolen kisses to a minimum. As long as she kept
him confident of her attraction, he seemed to enjoy drawing out the
anticipation. He was a man used to getting what he wanted when he
wanted it. She made waiting a game; it was a new twist on life.

On this particular night, she was also making
him dinner.

“You’re doing well.”

Veronica looked up from the vegetables she
was chopping to give Vance a small nod of acknowledgement. His
voice had been so low she wondered if he’d truly spoken. He shifted
so as not to be picked up by a camera and she knew he was speaking
to her—she hadn’t imagined it.

“I have a bad feeling.”

Veronica slowly pushed the vegetables to the
side and reached for the steaks, waiting for Vance to continue. Any
movement of her mouth would be picked up by the cameras.

“If my cover is blown, then you get yourself
out of here. I don’t know what I’ll be able to do if yours is.”

Veronica bumped the cutting board with her
hip, causing the vegetables to clatter to the ground. She knelt to
clean her mess and looked up at Vance as she did.

“If my cover is blown, you will let me handle
it. Don’t throw yours away, too,” she whispered from the safety of
the floor before standing to toss a handful of greens in the
trash.

“I don’t know if I can do that. I can’t just
stand by….”

“And let me do my job?” she was kneeling once
again. “You can and you will. I’d do the same to you.”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“Maybe not—but that’s why you’re better at
this than I am.”

“Better at what?”

She could hear the smile in Marko’s voice
even before she peeked over the counter to see him.

“Better at cooking. He’s not as clumsy as
me.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry to see the vegetables
hit the floor,” Marko admitted, blinking in astonishment when a red
pepper hit him smack between the eyes. “Did you just throw food at
me?”

“Possibly,” she pegged him in the chest with
a piece of broccoli.

He closed the distance between them and
snagged her by the waist. Vance stepped back with an eye roll, but
Veronica had already wiggled from Marko’s grasp.

“Behave—I’m busy.”

“You behave, princess,” he bumped her hip
with his causing her to giggle. He was so tall he had to lean at an
odd angle to do it, and the entire process was a bit comical.

“You act like a teenage boy in love these
days,” Vance offered an unusual commentary.

“Maybe I am. Well, not a teenager anyway,” he
winked. “Who wants a glass of wine?”

Without waiting for a reply, he poured them
each a glass of red wine. Veronica took a gulp of hers, trying to
pretend she hadn’t just heard that.

It was to this cozy little scene that Petrov
walked in with Adrianna on his arm.

Chapter Seventeen

“You,” Adrianna narrowed her eyes and
hissed.

“Crap,” Veronica sighed before springing into
action. She grabbed the glass bowl closest to her and hurled it
Frisbee-fashion at Petrov’s head. Without pause, she grabbed its
sister and did the same to Adrianna. Both hit the floor. Before
Vance could shake his surprised stupor, she grabbed the cutting
board and hit him square in the face with it. Though she doubted
she’d truly knocked him cold, he hit the floor as well.

Marko shook off the fog of confusion and
reached for his gun. She placed one hand on his to still it,
placing the other hand on his waist.

“Twice now, I haven’t killed you when I could
have. You owe me one,” she stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss across
his lips before darting out the back door.

Petrov had regained his footing and stumbled
through the yard after her. She hopped up on the stone fence and
turned to offer him a half wave before dropping to the ground on
the other side.

By the time Marko’s men were after her in
full force, she had already melted into the woods. She emerged down
the road, letting herself into a nondescript little car that had
been left parked for just such a night as this. She used the phone
in the glove box to call Rick.

“Are you okay?” Rick knew from the number on
his caller ID that her cover had been blown.

“Peachy. Care to grab my bag and meet me in
the parking lot?”

“I’ll be right down.”

Veronica hung up the phone, hoping he would
be there quickly. She had no idea how long she had before Marko’s
goons showed up at her hotel.

She’d barely pulled into the parking lot
before Rick was there, tossing her suitcase in the back seat along
with his. She crawled over to the passenger seat to let him drive;
her nerves were already shot. The last thing she needed to deal
with was crazy Bulgarian drivers.

“You want to tell me what happened?” Rick
reached out to cup her face, reassuring himself that she was, in
fact, okay.

“Adrianna showed up. She recognized me right
away.”

“I bet she was pissed to find you right under
Marko’s nose.”