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Her lips parted. Surprise or something else.

He forced himself to focus on disarming the secondary security system instead of wondering what that mouth would taste like.

She paused by the panoramic windows, instinctively keeping to the side to avoid silhouetting herself. “Jesus, Leonid. This isn’t an apartment—it’s a fortress with a view.” Her voice held genuine surprise as she took in the minimalist Scandinavian furniture, the clean lines, the deliberate absence of anything personal.

“It serves its purpose.” Leo crossed to the kitchen and opened the fridge by habit. “Water? I’d offer something stronger, but we need clear heads.”

“Water’s fine.” Kat had already drifted to his bookshelf, fingers trailing along the spines. “Interesting collection.”

Leo filled two glasses and crossed to where she stood. This was his sanctuary. No one else had ever been here. But with Kat, it didn’t feel like trespass. It felt inevitable.

He took a long swig, needing the cold shock to clear his head.

“You can tell a lot about a person from their bookshelves.” She accepted the water, fingers brushing his.

Leo leaned against the shelves.

A single strand of auburn hair had slipped free from her ponytail, curling against the vulnerable line of her neck.

“So…” His voice rasped, catching in his throat. “What do mine tell you?”

She took a slow sip, her eyes cataloging the shelves.

“Military history. Security protocols. Engineering manuals—work, not pleasure. But then…” She paused on a worn spine. “Hemingway.The Old Man and the Sea.”

She turned to face him. Her eyes sparking bright with interest. “A man of contradictions.”

Her words landed harder than they should’ve. He pushed off the shelf, suddenly needing distance. “Aren’t we all?”

She smiled, head tilting. “The Dostoyevsky in original Russian might be showing off a little.”

“I grew up reading in Russian.” The truth slipped out—softer than usual.

“Of course.” Her accent was flawless, her Russian crisp and clear. It hit him low and hard—raw attraction, suddenly real.

He cleared his throat. Her pulse fluttered at the base of her throat. Her tongue flicked across her lip to catch a stray drop of water.

Christ. He needed to get it together.

“The bathroom’s through there if you want to clean up. Towels in the cabinet.” He stepped back, needing air. “I need to call my brothers.”

Kat nodded. “Thank you, Leonid.” She hesitated, voice dropping. “For everything today.”

Her voice cracked something open in him.

“It’s what I do.” He crossed his arms.

She held his gaze, her eyes searching. “Is that all it is?”

Before he could find words, she turned and headed to the bathroom.

He dragged his gaze from her—to the black window, and the man staring back. His fingers found the swollen cut on his lip—Gage’s reminder.

He’d spent years eliminating weaknesses, building himself into a man without soft edges. The darkness of his past had convinced him he didn’t deserve someone like Kat.

Yet here she was.

Years of professional boundaries blurred with each passing moment. Had isolation and distance truly served him? He’d joined special forces to make a difference, and accepted the risks. But had those walls kept others out—or kept him locked away?