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“You know we were working on the investigation into the Spaniard.”

Eric narrowed his eyes.“I thought Hande and Ottoman were working on it, because the Spaniard told Vadisk to say hello to the admiral…”

The expression on Nikolett’s face caused a sinking feeling in Eric’s stomach.

“The Spaniard told Vadisk to say hello to the admiral,” he said slowly, watching her expression carefully.“Meaning, say hello toHande, since we know the blackmailer had information on the leadership of the Ottoman territory.”

“Technically, he told Vadisk, ‘say hello toyouradmiral,’ nottheadmiral.But the grammar of that statement can be tricky in Russian.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Nikolett?In the debrief, Vadisk said ‘the admiral.’”

“That is a possible translation for the statement.”

Rage—real rage born of fear—gripped him.Eric laced his fingers together and bowed his head, forcing himself to stay in control.He waited, expecting to feel her hand on his shoulder or arm.She could always tell when he needed that grounding touch.

Except this time, Nikolett didn’t touch him.

“We’ve been investigating the Spaniard for several weeks,” Nikolett said.“Tell me what happened in Dublin?”

Some dark, cruel part of him wanted to say,“Why don’t you call your husband and ask him directly?”

“How did your leg get broken?”Eric demanded instead.

Nikolett was quiet long enough he was tensing with increased frustration.

“A bear trap.”

Eric stared at her, confusion muting the frustration.

“Someone dropped a bear trap into the back garden using a drone and I stepped on it.”

He saw it in his mind’s eye—the massive metal jaws cracking closed on her leg.Nikolett falling to the ground, screaming in agony.

“No,” he breathed.“That’s… A bear trap?”

“Yes.”

“What about the others?Juliette said there were seven attempts in the past six months.She didn’t know about the snake a year ago, so what’s the real number, Nikolett?How many times has someone tried to kill you?”

For the first time, Nikolett wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Eric looked to Grigoris.Usually, it was Vadisk who stood silent witness to his and Nikolett’s fights.But Vadisk was gone, married to two Americans.

His gaze jumped back to Nikolett.“You tried to tell me,” he said, in dawning, horror-filled realization.“At the Trinity Council meeting, you said you needed Vadisk.You meant you actuallyneededhim.”

“It’s almost like I meant what I said,” Nikolett purred, eyes flashing.“And yes, I felt that losing my top security officer at this point in time was going to negatively impact my territory.Which is why I objected.”

“This…this happened because I took Vadisk and left you vulnerable,” Eric breathed.

“No, Fleet Admiral, I’m afraid you’ll have to find a different source for your self-indulgent guilt.”

“Self-indulgent guilt?!”Had she actually just said that?It wasn’t self-indulgent to feel guilty because he hadn’t saved his wives or Josephine.It washisfault, all his fault?—

“Even if Vadisk had been here,” Nikolett said briskly, “he wouldn’t have done a sweep of the garden before I went out to get fresh air.We believed the security we had there was sufficient.”

“Clearly it wasn’t.”Eric stared hard at Grigoris.

“We’ve upgraded the cameras with three-sixty motion tracking,” Grigoris said.