get traced back to here. Even if it did, Nathan could threaten to come after the bureau.”
Nathan would never do that, but it’s a similar threat to what he’d implicated that night. An FBI agent on an off-book assassination mission is a black eye they definitely don’t want.
“I’m sorry about Matt. I know the shock and everything he did still hurts. He was your partner and he betrayed you. Thank you for trusting Nathan and me that night. I know it was a big risk, but I think you can see that it was the right thing. He’s a good man. I love him.”
I know I’ve already told her that repeatedly, but I think she’ll need to hear it a billion more times for it to truly sink in.
She smiles ever so slightly, glancing over at me. “I guess we’d better get the rest of your stuff packed if you’re moving in with him. Unless you want to move in with me? You’re always welcome at my place.”
I return her smile, shaking my head. “I don’t want you to be subjected to walking in on us. But I’ll take you up on that for a sister sleepover sometime. For now, though, I’m ready to go home.”
Home.
Something I don’t know if I’ve ever truly felt. With my parents, I was always just a little outside. With my friends, even Carly to some degree, I didn’t know myself enough to truly fit in.
But now I feel like I’ve discovered who I am. Not because of Nathan but because I’m finally willing to be honest with myself. He was just the shove I needed to fully jump off the safe path I’d been tip-toe traversing for so long.
Now, I’m skydiving without a parachute . . . and I love it.
Chapter 48
Nathan
I’m on edge. I’m not used to a waiting game while others make moves.
Emma is packing her apartment up to come here.
Permanently.
A smile crosses my face at the thought, though a wiggle in the back of my head makes me question whether she’s going to show back up. I’d even offered to go with her and help as a way of reassuring myself, but she’d said she needed to do it with her sister.
I wonder if it will always be that way, a majority of my heart trusting but that scared little boy in my past setting up screens and shields. Because that’s what it was, and Emma’s smile as she kissed me this morning told me she recognized it, shredded it, and tossed it in the trash.
I’ve kept myself busy this morning, checking on what progress is being made thousands of miles away in Russia. Another man is dealing with his own Daddy issues at my behest.
It can’t be easy for Nikolai, though his family dynamic isn’t exactly healthy either. But murdering your father will leave a stain on your soul for eternity. I wonder how dark his soul already is to undertake this as a business transaction.
My phone rings, and I answer, hoping that it’s news and not a double-cross. “Hello.”
Nikolai is stoic, his voice level. “It is done. We are, as you say, fair and square. Da?”
I’m glad he can’t see me because my jaw drops in surprise. I know he’d agreed, but to see it through . . .
“To be clear, you are telling me that your father, Papa Romanov, the one who ordered the murder of my father and Anna Russo, is dead. And this is confirmable information.”
I’m not stupid. The Romanovs have wealth and privilege, fear and power on their side. To fake a death and keep Papa Romanov in hiding is well within their means.
“I said it is done, so it is done,” Nikolai barks. “I will not send you pictures of my father’s corpse, but his death will be in the news.”
Nikolai sighs. “It is a great loss for our country.”
He may sound sad about it, but the satisfaction is audible underneath his outer mourning. I may have used him to do my dirty work, but he used me as an excuse to do exactly what he’s wanted to for years.
I only hope that doesn’t come back to haunt me. There could come a time when blaming a foreign competitor would prove advantageous to a pressed Nikolai. I’ll be prepared, in any event.
In the meantime, I play on his ego, the one constant with him. “I can understand that, but I’m sure they will soon see that the better Romanov is in control now. Your