over it. The crickets were beginning to chirp even though it wasn’t yet dark. “I found this in the laundry room.”
“You sure you want to sit so close to the water. Not worried about gators?”
She immediately started to spring up, but he leaned forward and hooked an arm around her side to keep her in place. “I’m kidding.” He unhanded her, reminding himself this wasn’t the time to finish the moment they’d shared in the kitchen earlier. He eased back to a seated position, hands going to each side of his body. “It’s rare to see a gator around here. We’re good.”
Her eyes darted suspiciously in the direction of the dark water. “You’re sure?”
“Now would I do anything to put you in harm’s way?” he asked, laying on his accent a little thicker.
She hesitantly relaxed. “I brought some crackers to help soak up the ice cream and wine.”
He followed her eyes to the roll of Ritz. “Certainly an interesting meal to discuss Russian espionage over,” he said in a joking tone to try and keep the dark weight of the world from crushing them. “In what order should we ruin our stomachs?”
“I’d say crackers first, but we don’t want the ice cream to melt.” Her fingers went to her cleavage, a slight sheen of sweat there. “Like I already am.”
He bit down on his back teeth, doing his best to return his focus to her eyes instead of wondering how her breasts would feel in his palms. When her wet braid had soaked the spot right over her nipple earlier, it had taken all of his restraint to keep his hands to himself. To not reach out and roll the peaked point between his thumb and forefinger.
“Ice cream,” he finally agreed. “Just don’t get yourself sticky since you hate that.”
“Right.” She offered him a spoon and removed the lid, then set the tub down within reach for the both of them.
He watched her take her first lick, then casually lowered his forearm to cover the bulge he anticipated might appear if she kept eating her ice cream like that. “So, Porter.”
Ana had been mid-dip into the tub of ice cream for another spoonful and froze at his words.
Mood killer, for sure.
She rested her spoon on top of the lid and shifted her legs, stretching them out in front of her. They were long for such a petite woman.
Ana nervously fidgeted with her braid. It was a “tell” about her mood he doubted she would’ve ever allowed before arriving in Alabama. “My parents and I were in Budapest a week before they died, then after their death, the Volkovs were all but slaughtered or forced into hiding. It looked as though my parents—”
“Were at the center of everything?” he asked, and she nodded. “How’d the death of your parents trigger the collapse of the Volkovs? I mean, I thought the Volkov leader had created the ledger and key specifically to keep him protected from the SVR.”
“How much do you know about the ledger?” she asked, sounding a little surprised at his knowledge of the book.
“Enough.” More than he wanted to at this point. And the fact POTUS wanted his hands on it spoke volumes. “How about you tell me what you know?”
She worried her lip between her teeth, eyes on the blanket. “When I was first questioned by the FBI after my parents died, they asked me if I’d ever seen a book. And a code-breaker. I had no clue about it at the time.” Ana’s green eyes focused once again on A.J. “Not too long after that, the Feds who’d been working the Volkov case for years decided there was never a ledger. I suppose since they couldn’t find any evidence of it. Meanwhile, the Russians began killing off Volkov spies. Not only to prevent the U.S. government from turning the Volkovs but because they were also worried Volkov spies would pin their work on the SVR. The Russian administration wanted to prevent going down with the ship, so to speak. And since the SVR had begun converting Americans into spies for money, they didn’t need the Volkovs anymore. Well, this is what I learned after joining the FBI, at least.”
“But that’s not your theory, I take it?” He tipped the brim of his hat a touch lower, shielding his eyes to better see her.
“No, I believe the ledger and its key are real.”
“What makes you think that?”
“When Porter approached me four months ago about taking this UC job, he