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“This isn’t my specialty—” For the first time, uncertainty threaded through her voice.

“Needs must.” Lund’s fingers formed a steeple on the table, the fluorescent light deepening the lines around his mouth into something harder. “But you’re what we have. That’s why Rook and his team will be your backup. You’ll keep Burke talking until the extraction team secures theNightwatchman.”

She processed his words with barely a flicker—just a tightening around her eyes that Leo knew too well. That moment of clarity when someone sees past the corporate speak and mission parameters. When they understand what really mattered to men like Lund.

The money.

Not the hostages.

And they would feed her to the wolves to protect it.

2

MI6 agent Katrina Landonhadn’t known what to expect when she’d been thrown into this mission. But it certainly wasn’t the two mercenaries dominating the room now that Lund and Tucker had left.

This wasn’t how she’d planned to spend Christmas Eve. She should have been at the Julemarked right now, sipping mulled wine and eating hot waffles with vanilla ice cream, before catching her flight home to London from her Oslo secondment. Not that home offered much comfort—just a neglected money plant and a stack of unopened mail that seemed to multiply every time she returned from an operation.

Like everything else in her life, her Christmas plans had crumbled under the weight of duty. Five years in MI6 had taught her that relationships—romantic or otherwise—were luxuries she couldn’t afford. Every date was an exercise in partial truths, each potential partner a security risk requiring endless paperwork and vetting. Her last attempt at connection had ended mid-dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant when duty called. She’d left him sitting there, her half-eaten spaghettigrowing cold. She hadn’t bothered to reschedule. It was easier that way.

She was adept at keeping her face neutral, but these men intrigued her as they ran through the mission parameters once last time. Rook had the solid build of someone who could handle himself in a fight, his black tactical gear doing nothing to hide it. Mismatched gray eyes met hers with a glint of silver and unmistakable cockiness.

But it was his partner that drew her eye. Military background radiated from his bearing, from the way he positioned himself in the room. His arms were locked across his broad chest, and though his body armor was practical, it couldn’t conceal the coiled strength beneath.

A scar traversed his rugged face but it didn’t detract from his attractiveness. His eyes drew her in. Ocean-green beneath dark lashes, watchful and intense. And right now, they were fixed on her.

She’d read his military file, except for the sealed parts she’d been unable to access.Classified.Leo Bychkov was a man with secrets.

A knot tightened in her gut. She was no rookie, but this operation was a step into the unknown—especially working with private contractors instead of her usual police and military backup. Paid mercenaries operated outside the rules of her training.

Once inside, she would meet with the hostage takers for an alleged negotiation while Leo and his team moved in parallel, slipping into position to neutralize the terrorists, extract the hostages and secure theNightwatchman.

Timing was everything.

Bychkov moved closer. Despite being such a big man, he moved with fluid grace. He pitched his voice quiet enough that Rook couldn’t hear. “Scared?”

She met his gaze, and the raw honesty in his face, at odds with his dangerous demeanor, locked the words on her tongue.

“Good. You’d be an idiot not to be.” His hand found her shoulder, the contact sending an inappropriate spark of awareness through her.

“I’ve extracted hostages from places where things went sideways fast.” He held her gaze, and she fought the urge to track the scar that marred his otherwise handsome features.“The plan isn’t the key. It’s keeping your head when the plan falls apart.”

His study of her made her pulse quicken, but whether from nerves or attraction, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “And when it falls apart?”

“You trust your training. And you trust us.” He tapped his chest, drawing her attention again to his solid frame.“My team deals with the obstacles. Your job is to keep them talking, keep them focused on you. We’ll handle the rest.”

“If you two are done with the pep talk?” Rook materialized beside them, his silver eyes glinting in the low light. “Team’s ready to move. Unless you’d prefer to hold hands and sing Kumbaya first?”

Leo shot him a look and retreated, putting deliberate distance between himself and Kat.Something in her chest constricted at the loss of his proximity.

Rook grinned, unperturbed. “Bychkov. Status?”

“Comms check complete,” Leo confirmed, his voice gruff. “Waiting on your go.”

“Copy that.” Rook’s metallic gaze settled on Kat. “Try not to get shot, Agent Landon. Paperwork’s a bitch when we lose an MI6 officer.”

She lifted her chin. She’d learned long ago that showing any hint of doubt only invited more scrutiny. “I’ll do my best not to inconvenience you.”

Rook beamed, all teeth and danger. “Well then. You might survive after all.”