Page 68 of Smoke and Mirrors

“Zalupa! I could have killed you!” Her Russian twang doesn’t go unnoticed by me as she lowers the rifle and steps off the porch toward us with a smile. “Kace, my old friend. It’s been a while, da?” she states coming up to us with her hands stretched out.

Kace smirks and drops his arms with a nod. He steps forward forcing my hand to detach from his bicep as he reaches forward taking Yana into his grip. They hug, and she runs her hands up and down his back a little too familiarly for my liking.

That’s not how friends hug.

She’s stunning, and I don’t mean a little bit, I mean swimsuit model, Miss World, Vogue magazine type of goddamn stunning. She oozes sex appeal with her curvy body, hair as black as ink, and bright red lips. She even has a beauty mole just above her top lip. She’s ridiculous. I’m sure she isn’t even real in all the right places if you know what I mean? Scowling slightly as they hug for a little too long, I clear my throat making them break apart.

“Shit! Sorry. Yana, this is Lily. Lily, Yana. She’s Russian. Don’t hold that against her,” Kace says with a chuckle. Yana scoffs and slaps his chest like it’s an old joke between them. Jealousy rears its ugly head, and I want to break all her fingers for touching his chest.

I’m his puzzle piece, his light, not you!

“Da. I might be Russian, Kace, but I can still kick your zhopa!”

“Doubtful. I’d never let you near my ass, Yana.”

She laughs a belly laugh and rolls her eyes. “Da, this is true. Come. I must know why you’re here,” she says, turning and walking toward the cabin.

Kace spins to look at me and smiles. I swallow hard and fake a smile back at him. Something about me doesn’t trust Yana. I know they’re obviously good friends and all, but something about her irks me.

“C’mon,” he says, reaching out for my hand. I let him take it, and we walk toward the cabin.

I can’t help but look over my shoulder. I’m waiting for Luca or Axel to pop out of the shadows at any minute. I’m on edge, and I hate this feeling.

We step inside the cabin, and it looks even more country than the outside. I wonder how a Russian can have a place that looks so not Russian. To be honest, I don’t even know what a Russian place is supposed to look like, but I don’t picture this. A giant open-planned cabin, the living room, kitchen, and dining are all in one. The couch has a circular rainbow patterned rug placed over it. The dining table with a plastic tablecloth draped over the sides and has doily table settings. The kitchen has bright yellow cabinetry.

This is blowing my mind a little.

“Don’t look so shocked, Lily. You don’t choose the place you’re sent to. Trust me, I wouldn’t live like this unless I had to,” Yana says as if to read my thoughts.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I nod and give her a curt smile as she pulls out a seat at the dining table gesturing for us to sit down. Kace pulls out a seat for me. I smile at him and his gentlemanliness and take my seat as he sits next to me.

“So, you obviously haven’t been kept in the loop?” Kace asks, and Yana rolls her eyes, shaking her head.

“Kace, the only time I’m in the loop is when they send me for a waste order.”

He nods.

I raise my eyebrow. “A waste order?”

Kace stiffens, and Yana smiles. “A kill job… Lyubimaya moya,” she replies, confusing me with her Russian tongue.

“Lubimaya… what now?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes as Kace smirks.

“Urgh. It means a waste order is a kill job, my love. There… you happy. God, why are civilians always so dense?”

I furrow my brows as Kace stiffens beside me. “Yana, stop! Lily is an innocent in all this. She doesn’t need to be insulted by you as well.”

She looks from Kace to me, then back to Kace, and a small smirk crosses her lips. “Da. Da. Okay. So talk to me. What’s going on?”

“Shit is happening with SO7 and The Agency. What can you tell me about them?”

She purses her lips and shrugs. “They weren’t really on the Russian government’s radar until a few years back. As far as I know, they deal mostly with domestic threats to the United States, which are far more common than the public realize. There was a movement at some point. They started branching out, trying to break down outside countries’ agencies before they came in with threats against America. Suddenly, they weren’t the protectors anymore… they became the aggressors. Anyway, this happened around the time when your mom took over, and your dad was killed.”

I open my eyes wide. I had no idea his dad was killed and his mother was a part of his agency, let alone took it over.

I guess she’s the boss?

No wonder he’s stressed.

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