Page 21 of Saved By the SEAL

“Oh, right… Kate.” It takes me a couple of seconds to remember her name. “Er, yeah, I’m just… here again.”

“Watching Michelle Lebedev. I know what you’re doing.” Her words make my blood run cold. Iknewthat there was something off about this woman. I just didn’t know she was going to come back to haunt me. “But I don’t think you are quite so aware of everything. I’m sure you believe you’ve been given all the information about this, but I can assure you, you haven’t.”

“Who… who are you?” She’s thrown me off-kilter and it’s obvious. “What are you talking about here?”

“Youneedto take the time to hear me out,” she half-whispers in an almost panicked tone of voice. “I have information for you that no one else will be able to give you. Not even Max.” Oh, my God, she knows so much. “You need to hear me out.”

I debate this for only a moment before I nod and agree with this stranger. If Katedoesknow more about what’s happening with the Russians, then this will give me a leg up on everything that’s happening, allowing me to keep Michelle even safer, and if she doesn’t… well, I’m not dumb enough to fall for any traps she might want to set for me, so I don’t give a damn.

“Sure. We can go somewhere to talk,” I tell her seriously. “But we’re going toRosie’s. I don’t want to be far away.”

Kate’s lips slide into a thin line for a second, letting me know this doesn’t make her happy, but she can clearly see that I won’t be shaken easily, so she nods. “Sure, but some of the stuff I need to show you is classified, so we’ll have to be careful.”

My heart races as we head back into the café where we first had that odd encounter not so long ago. I wonder if I should tell Kate that her weird flirting definitely didn’t work for me, but I decide against it at the last moment. There’s no point in making this any more awkward than it already is. We might as well just get through this meeting first and foremost, wherever it will lead.

Unfortunately, all the tables by the window within viewing distance of the office building are taken, so I can’t pick the best seat to spot Michelle if she comes out at any point, not that she’ll do so for a few hours yet, but I’ll be aware. It’s going to be fine.

“Sit over there,” Kate commands, pointing to one of the tables near the back of the room. “We can talk there.”

I do as she asks, hoping that all of this is going to be worth it as Kate orders us some drinks. Whether they will be touched or not, I don’t know, but I suppose if we’re going to fly under the radar to look like this is just a normal business meeting or whatever, then we’ll need some beverages to fool anyone who may or may not be interested in us.

“So…” Kate takes a seat and pulls a giant folder out of her bag. It looks professional, whatever it is. “What I’m going to show you will change a lot of your perceptions. But please, remember that we’re both in a public place and don’t want to catch the eyes of anyone. So, you’ll need to keep any reactions that you have under control. Can you do that?”

“Yes, of course.” I can’t hide my offense. “I know what I’m doing, you know. So, show me what you have.”

Photos come first, along with documents. They are all in Russian but with translations beside them. Kate sorts through it all like she’s trying to figure out which part to show me in what order. I struggle not to become impatient.

“Right, this is where I want to begin.” Finally, she gives me something. “This is Viktor Lebedev. Michelle’s father. Now, he is a very important man in the Russian government, which is why Michelle is working as a spy.”

Oh!Now she didn’t tell me that much, and I don’t think Max knows, either. That does silence me, I have to admit it. I can’t even disagree with it because there are family documents in front of me and photographs, too. In some, there is another boy who I can only assume is Michelle’s sibling, and her mother. Although only in a few of them.

“Her father is basically in charge of the espionage operations, so yes, she was brought into it that way. The story that she has been given, to add a little twist to things, is that it was forced upon her and she never wanted it.”

How could Kate know that if it wasn’t the truth? This is scary. I don’t like it one bit. She’s putting me on edge.

“And something else which I don’t think anyone has been informed of is Michelle’s marriage.” Holy shit, I’m going to be sick. “Here, you can see her with her husband on her wedding day. She has averycomfortable life waiting for her back in Russia. She isn’t the helpless woman she makes herself out to be. I mean, how do you think she has the money that she needs to run the life she does here? Immigrants don’t come seeking asylum with tons of cash, do they?”

I can’t say a word, and Kate knows that she has me stuck because how can I disagree with what she’s telling me? It all adds up in a way that I really don’t like. The jigsaw pieces slot in together far too nicely for my liking.

“She’s married?” How much else does Kate know? She seems to be aware of far too much. What if she’s aware of the secret relationship between us and she’s about to use it against me? I don’t know what Kate’s angle is here.

“Oh, she sure is. She’s been married for ages.” I can almost see pleasure in Kate’s eyes as she witnesses how little I knew about Michelle. She’s been proven right. She is letting me in on information I wasn’t party to before. She’s achieving what she set out to do. “And this is an important man in Russia too. I don’t need to go into details about it. It’s all a little complicated and doesn’t make any difference, anyway. The point is that Michelle Lebedev has a whole other side to her. She’s living a double lifehere in America. I presume that you know she was sent as a spy to seduce all kinds of powerful men?”

I gulp back a thick ball of emotion and nod. “Yes, I was aware of that part of her life. But she doesn’t want to do that…”

“Doesn’t she?” Kate cocks an eyebrow at me as if I’m not getting something totally obvious. “Because it seems to me that’s what she’s been doing the whole time. I don’t know how much you know about your company? I presume you aren’t clued in with every single job that other agents have been involved in during their careers.” I don’t even need to answer that. It seems like she already knows. She’s probably aware that I’ve only just started in the company since she seems to know everything else. “Right, well you should probably know that Max has halted Russian operations before. Many a time. He’s obviously a very powerful man. So, I guess Michelle is a part of the big revenge plan and you’re caught up in that. I don’t know what’s happened between you two, but I would be very careful around her. She’s manipulative and seductive and you need to watch your back.”

“Oh… right.” I don’t know what to say about that one. Kate is making me rethink everything. She has my head spinning because I’ve fallen into bed with Michelle on more than one occasion, which might not be exactly what I thought it was going to be. “Well, that’s, erm, it’s a lot for me to process at the moment. I’m not quite sure what to say…”

“I don’t expect you to say anything,” Kate replies with a brand-new softness to her voice. “I just want to give you all the information because I don’t like the idea of your being roped into something you don’t fully understand. Once you have all the details, you can make the right choices for yourself. You seem like you’re just trying to do what’s right…”

“Why are you helping me?” I don’t mean to sound quite as sharp as I do. I’m just on edge now. “What’s in it for you?”

“I’m working for the US Espionage Department. I can’t give you any more details than that for obvious reasons, but the people Michelle works for are the ones we’re working against. I don’t want you to end up getting mixed up in things you don’t understand. This is a very dangerous world, and you should extract yourself as quickly as you can. It might be better for you to leave right now. You know where Michelle is at the moment, don’t you? She’s in the office, which means you can get away.”

“Get away?” I know that makes sense, but at the same time, I don’t know if I can just walk away from Michelle. “Like, leave?”

“The longer that you stick around, the more you put yourself at risk. I would just to be safe. Like I said to you before, this is a very dangerous situation that you are in right now, and you can’t make it worse. You need to be careful.”

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