Page 73 of Lord of Passion

I clutch the garbage can closer as my stomach lurches. "It's naughty to spy, Johann."

"I needed to be near you," he says. "You'll be there at five. You don't want anything to happen to Liria's beautiful babies-"

"Don't threaten them." I cut him off. "No matter how damaging your information is, Alexsey Morozov would set fire to half the planet before he'd let anyone hurt his children. Just. Don't. Five pm. I'll be there."

I wish Nikandr was here. He's nine hours away by the fastest of the Morozov jets, trying to recover the Balabanov trade deal. Everything is chaotic right now. There are break-ins at Morozov warehouses here and in St. Petersburg and shootings and more federal officers sniffing around.

Calling Liria, I rock back and forth. "Please pick up," I whisper.

"Hey fam!" She sounds so happy. "What's up?"

"I bet Alexsey has a shit ton of guards crawling all over the house because of how weird things are right now, huh?" I croak.

"Yes," Liria laughs. "It's getting on my nerves. Why? Is something wrong?"

I look at the news footage, it's on a nauseating loop, showing the torn-up earth, the bulldozer. "No. You know how I get those feelings sometimes and I'm usually wrong?"

"You're never wrong." She's not laughing anymore.

"Look, nothing to stress out about, okay? I just feel, you know. Unsettled. Everything's out of control right now. I just wanted to make sure you feel safe and possibly smothered by too many guards," I add a sickly little chuckle at the end.

"I'm fine, the babies are fine. They could totally use a visit from Auntie Caroline, though," she says. She switched to baby talk halfway through her sentence so I know she's probably bouncing one of them in her arms right now.

"Maybe tomorrow," I say. "I have a business meeting in Boston tonight. It will be endless, I'm sure."

"Okay," she agrees. "Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow. I love you!" It rushes out of me, and I can tell she's a little surprised.

"I love you too, fam," she says warmly.

***

It's easy to get Isaak and Rafail on a Morozov jet to Boston. Morrie, the controller at the airfield, apologized for giving me "the smallest one."

"This meeting wasn't on your week's schedule," Rafail says as we land in Boston. "I'd like to call in additional security from our Boston team."

"Oh, you'll frighten the client enough," I laugh. "This guy's an asshole, he just likes to make you come to him. Since the contract is worth eight hundred thousand, I'm happy to take a flight back home for it. When this is over, I'll buy you two a lobster roll."

Rafail's penetrating gaze relaxes a bit. Because he trusts me. Which makes this even worse. They're not expecting me to give them the slip, so when I "accidentally" spill my Diet Coke on my dress, we have to stop at the Prada store for me to pick out something new. I go into the dressing room to try it on, and weasel out the back door.

Checking my phone as I get in the Uber, it's 4:45 pm. I'll be on time.

Johann's pacing in front of Faneuil Hall, resplendent in a coal black suit. When he spots me, his boyish grin spreads across his face and he almost looks human.

"You came!" He hurries toward me like this is a fucking Hallmark movie.

When he bends his head, I step back. "You're not kissing me." Pouting, he takes my hand and I shake his briskly, pulling freebefore he can attempt to kiss mine. "I'm here," I force a smile. "Shall we sit down?"

"Well, we could do that," he says. "But I prefer to talk in private."

I'm sure they were there, hovering. But I never saw the six men who seem to materialize out of nowhere and surround us.

"I thought you were a man of your word, Johann," I snarl.

"I am." His voice sounds strange in our little echo chamber of bodyguards. "But I want to be alone with you."

"No one is following me!" I protest, but the huddle of guards shuffles us away.