Page 60 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold (The Blonde Identity #2)

King

“I need clothes.”

Alex had spent the last few days in King’s old sweats and ratty sweaters and she hadn’t minded at all until that moment. He

wasn’t sure what had changed, but something had, and whatever it was, King didn’t like it.

“Where are my clothes?” she snapped.

“You mean the wet suit I had to cut you out of because you were in shock? Those clothes?”

She was looking under the bed. “Where are my shoes?”

“Alex?”

“I can’t leave without shoes.”

“Why are you leaving? Where are you going?” She was still frantically searching and then, just as quickly, she gave up and

pulled on a pair of his old sneakers. “Alex, what happened?”

“I need thicker socks.” She darted to the dresser and started shoving things around.

“Alex, stop!” It was an order and she froze, but she didn’t turn. He tried to soften his voice. He didn’t want to scare her.

“What happened?”

She was facing the mirror, but she didn’t look up. It was like she was afraid to look at him. Like she was afraid to say—“They

have my sister.”

Everything made sense in that moment, but he couldn’t let her panic. He had to pull her back. “Okay. But I need you to tell

me, what happened? ”

“I called Zoe.... There’s a service we used to use. She left a voicemail and... Paris. She’s on her way to Paris. Someone told her I’m there, and she thinks I need her and... I have to get to Paris.”

She closed her eyes tight, and he saw what she couldn’t say—what she had been hiding for years—that Alex needed Zoe. She always

had and she’d never said so—never admitted it—not even to herself. Guilt and fear were waging war inside of her, so King had

to think—he had to think for both of them.

“You can’t go.”

“Of course I’m going! I have to go!”

“Why, Alex? Think. Why would someone lure Zoe to Paris now ? They’re trying to flush you out. Because you’re right—they’re looking for you, and they can’t find you. And that’s just

proof that you’re safe here.”

“She’s my sister!”

“She’s bait .”

It was almost like he’d slapped her, she stumbled back so quickly, looking up at him like he was a stranger—like he was the

enemy.

“How dare you—”

“And that’s not all she is!”

Alex morphed from angry to afraid. “What do you mean?”

“Why are they doing this, Alex? Really? Because you’ve been in deep cover for five years, and now you’re running for your

life. What are the odds that Zoe would be able to get a message to you and flush you out? Think about it. Why else would they...”

But her face was morphing, changing. Her hand flew to her mouth, holding back a silent gasp. “What did you just realize?”

Alex blinked like a very scary movie was playing behind her eyes. “The bank. They need her to access the bank.”

“Bank?” But King’s mind was already leaping ahead, doing the math before he even had the numbers. “You put the flash drive

in a bank vault.” Slowly, Alex nodded. “Switzerland?”

“Zurich.”

“Good.” He was looking around. Now he needed to pack. “You wait here; I’ll go to Paris.”

“No.”

“Alex—”

“They have my sister!”

“They don’t have anyone yet. We’ll call Langley—”

“Langley has a mole, King.” That stopped him in his tracks. She hadn’t said a word about it, but she hadn’t said much about

anything. She was sick and tired and so burned out, he thought she might turn into ash and blow away, so he hadn’t pressed

her. “I heard Kozlov talking. That’s why I ran, but I didn’t know who it was and—”

Suddenly, the last few days flashed across King’s mind, but this time he saw everything differently.

She wouldn’t tell him where the flash drive was. She didn’t trust him. She...

“You thought it was me.”

“No.” Her face was red and her eyes were wet. “You’re the one person I knew I could trust.”

She trusted him. She’d never said she loved him, but somehow that was better, so he pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then pulled back. “Stay

here. I’ll go—”

“They have my sister!”

“Which is why you have to stay here!”

“But—”

“I’m not going to let them get you too!” He was shouting, but he felt like huffing and puffing and blowing the whole castle

down. And he would have if it hadn’t been for the look on her face. “I’m going to get your sister, and then we’re going together

to get that drive.” He threw open a dresser drawer. “What bank is it in?”

It was the wrong question at the wrong time—King knew it before the words were even out because, suddenly, Alex was as gray

and as hard as the castle’s walls.

“Why? So you can take it?”

“So one of us can be smart for once!” He wanted to pull the words back. Swallow them whole. Choke on them if he had to, but he was too mad to see straight, much less function. “Alex—”

“Yeah.” She gave a cold, dry laugh. “You got me. I’m still the girl in the Future Spy hoodie, and you’re still the guy with all the answers.”

“Wait.”

“You may be the Great Michael Kingsley”—she leaned into his space—“but I’m the one who took down Viktor Kozlov.”

“And I’m the guy you called to come save you!” King started to pull his own hair out. “No. I didn’t mean...”

But Alex was already backing away. She was shaking her head like he was just another in a long line of men who couldn’t wait

to betray her. She’d been undercover with Kozlov for five years. She’d almost died doing what the whole damn Agency hadn’t

been able to accomplish—and doing it alone.

Because she was alone. And in a way she always had been.

She was halfway down the stairs when he caught up to her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Where do you think?”

“You can’t go to Paris !”

“And how are you going to stop me? Tie me up?”

He was already shaking his head, saying, “Don’t tempt me.”

She huffed out the kind of laugh you only give when nothing is funny. “You’re not going to break me, Michael Kingsley.”

“That’s funny. Because you’ve been crushing me for years.” It must have been the tone that stopped her because she froze halfway

to the door. “As long as you have that drive... As long as they even think you have that drive, you aren’t safe. You’re not safe anywhere but here. So stay here . Please. I’ll go get Zoe. I’ll bring her here. I’ll fix it. Just give me time to fix it.”

“Fine. You can come with me—”

“No!” There was a room at the end of the hall that showed what happened when the woman you loved didn’t come home. King wasn’t

going to take the risk—not with Alex. Not when he finally had her. He wasn’t going to lose his heart and his mind and his

life. Not if he could help it. “I watched you almost die. Twice. I held your limp body in my arms and cleaned your wounds

and sewed your skin and willed your heart to keep beating. And I can’t... I can’t do it again.”

It would kill them both this time, and so he had to stop her. He had to stop this —this terrifying ride that he’d never wanted to take in the first place.

“Twenty-four hours, Alex. Please. Just give me twenty-four hours to put a plan together and—”

But she was already heading for the door. “I’ll call you from Paris. You can meet me and—”

“No.” He didn’t know where the word came from, but, this time, he didn’t want to stop it. “If you walk through that door...

Alex!” She turned and considered him. “If you leave, then don’t come back.”

So, of course, she never did.