alone too long. “He is,” she whispered, eyes remaining on A.J.
“You know, my parents were going to turn themselves in,” she admitted, needing Kyle to know the truth for some reason. Well, hear it from her first. “They’d planned on handing over the ledger to the Bureau to protect me.”
“But Porter stopped them?”
“And Winters,” she added, and Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise. Guess he didn’t know about him yet. Mendez had kept his word.
“I have a copy of the ledger. A translated copy. And between Adrik’s testimony and the ledger, we’ll be able to clean house,” she said like a promise.
“Good.” He nodded, then turned A.J.’s direction. “Ana?” He stole a look back at her. “I’m glad you found someone who makes your heart work,” he said and then blinked a few times as if he hadn’t quite correctly articulated what he was thinking, but she understood.
And her cold, dead heart was very much alive, thanks to A.J. “I hope you find someone, too.” She smoothed her hands up and down her arms as she watched Kyle leave and A.J. come forward.
“You okay?” A.J. palmed her face and angled his head as he studied her.
“I will be once we have Winters in custody and the translated Daylight Ledger in the hands of the FBI as my parents had intended.” She looked up at him and hooked her arms around the back of his neck, lacing her fingers together. “I really like you, Alexander James,” she confessed, knowing her statement came out of the blue, but she’d needed to say it.
He threaded his hands through her hair, which was down over her shoulders now. “Well, I’m falling in love with you, Anastasia,” he said in a tender voice, dipping in for a kiss.
She pulled back once his mouth brushed hers to catch his eyes. “I’m falling, too,” she whispered, then kissed him again.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Washington, D.C., Forty Hours Later
Ana’s stomach felt like one of those tight sailor knots with all the twisty loops as the elevator ascended to her floor in the Hoover Building that Monday afternoon. It’d be her first time coming face-to-face with her unit since she’d gone on the run, and although the media had cleared her name and Mendez had formally explained the truth to everyone at Headquarters, it was still nerve-wracking to be there. She had no idea what kind of reception to expect from her co-workers.
Sweat formed between her breasts beneath her white silk blouse, and her palms were damp. She did her best not to slouch in fear, though.
She’d have felt better if A.J. could have come with her, but he wasn’t exactly allowed to parade around the FBI Headquarters, even though Mendez now knew the truth about his team and their clandestine work for the President.
A.J. had opened up on the plane ride back to the U.S. and revealed the cloak-and-dagger story about how Bravo and Echo began eight and a half years ago. Most of Ana’s theories had been correct, and the fact he finally opened up to her was more than a big deal—it was a welcome into his second and secretive family, one with his brothers and sisters in arms.
As soon as they’d landed in D.C., Mendez was at the airport to personally escort her home to locate the translated ledger.
When Ana pulled the box of her childhood belongings out of the storage area beneath the stairs in her townhouse, she was overcome with emotion. It hadn’t been opened since she’d packed it immediately after her parents died. She’d held back her tears in front of Mendez while digging through the items, but after handing over the stack of scroll-like papers to the FBI director, she broke down and cried in A.J.’s arms.
Thieves. Con artists. Sent to the U.S. as spies.
But she was going to choose to allow some love for them to exist in her heart once again. A.J. had revived that organ in her chest, and knowing her parents had done the right thing when it mattered was enough to offer them forgiveness in their deaths.
After she’d collected herself, she watched Mendez leave with all the papers while A.J. held her tight to his side, a nervous energy bubbling inside of her to finally be at the end of a journey she’d spent fifteen years on.
Ana had previously provided Mendez with a list of ingredients as well as the “recipe” for her father’s magic trick. Well, as best as she could recall. So as soon as Mendez returned with