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I cut him off with a sharp gesture. “I said I’ll handle it.”
He studies my face for a long moment, then nods once. “The Prague team leaves in two hours. I’ll coordinate from here.”
After he’s gone, the silence stretches between Sabrina and me like a chasm. I can feel her watching me, waiting for an explanation or reassurance or some indication of what happens next, but I don’t have any of those things to offer.
I have confirmation she’s innocent, and letting her go is the right thing to do even if it’s the last thing I want.
She speaks quietly, her voice carefully controlled. “They found her. The real Irina.”
I turn to face her, and the hope flickering in her expression cuts through me like a blade. She thinks this means freedom. She thinks confirmation of her innocence will make everything different between us.
She’s right, of course. It makes everything different. “Yes.”
She nods slowly, processing this information. “I told you I’m not her.” She angles up her chin with a hint of defiance.
“You did.” I give her a small smile. “Vehemently and repeatedly.”
She’s quiet for a moment. When she looks directly at me, I see the questions building behind her eyes. “What happens now?”
I can’t meet her gaze. I can’t look at her and explain her innocence doesn’t make this situation any less complicated. If anything, it makes it worse. She’s not a criminal I can eliminate without conscience. She’s an innocent woman, who’s seen too much of my world to simply walk away. I move toward the coffee table, needing something to do with my hands. “I’ll have breakfast brought up.”
She tilts her head, confusion flickering across her features. “Breakfast?”
“You need to eat. Keep up your strength.”
“For what?”
I don’t answer immediately because I’m still processing what Maksim told me. Instead, I pick up the phone and place an orderfor breakfast, buying myself time to figure out how to handle this conversation.
Twenty minutes later, I’m carrying a tray myself instead of sending a guard, bearing fresh fruit, pastries, eggs Benedict, and exquisite coffee. I set it on the coffee table and take the chair across from her, noting the way she’s watching my every movement with growing confusion.
She stares at the food like it might bite her.
I gesture toward the spread. “You should eat something.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not hungry.”
I study her face, memorizing every detail because I know this might be the last time I get to look at her like this, without barriers between us and what I have to do next crushing everything we built last night.
I don’t say a word about the night before. I can’t bring myself to acknowledge what happened between us when I know what I have to do next. Instead, I keep my voice carefully neutral. “Arrangements have been made.”
The words come out flat and businesslike, like she’s a problem that’s been solved rather than a woman I made love to just hours ago.
She straightens in her chair. “What kind of arrangements?”
“A car will take you home.”
She stares at me in disbelief. “Home?”
I nod curtly. “Yes.”
The silence that follows is deafening. She searches my face for some sign of the man who whispered her name in the darkness, who held her like she was something precious, but I’ve locked that part of myself away where it can’t complicate what needs to happen.
“I can leave?” Her voice comes out smaller than before.
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”