“You stay out of my relationship with Nina.” He had to draw firm boundaries with his brother. “I don’t know why you’ve got it in your head that you need to stick your nose in this, but I’ve got it handled. I’m not going to screw up this mission.”
“But you are. You already have.”
He wished he’d never agreed to this party. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means this was supposed to be an easy cover,” Michael pointed out. “She was going in as an assistant. We could have found another place for her. She still could have gone in as a staff member. Hell, she could still have gone in as Dad’s assistant. Did you think of that? She could have gone down to take notes for him. No one would have questioned it at all. No one would have even noticed her, but you had to turn a spotlight her way. That’s the worst thing in the world for a spy.”
He didn’t like the thought of Nina being in the shadows. “She’s handling it fine.”
“She shouldn’t have had to.”
“What was I supposed to do? I didn’t plan on Deanna, Jordy, and Patrick showing up on my doorstep,” he argued. “I was out getting us breakfast or I assure you I would have protected her.”
Michael pointed like JT had just made his point. “And she wouldn’t have answered the damn door in the first place if she hadn’t been distracted by you.”
It would have bought her a little time, but Deanna could be insistent. She wouldn’t have left simply because no one answered the door. “I’m sorry you think I screwed this up, but Nina herself told them we were involved. It was the only thing that made sense at the time. I couldn’t say she was a casual hookup and bring her along to the retreat.”
Michael frowned. “And you couldn’t let her not go to the retreat because you couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her again.”
“Nina made that decision.” He wasn’t about to admit that he would have done anything to keep her close. “You’re not going to get me to change my mind. I’m going to find out who murdered Bill and stole our tech.”
“I thought you were going to let Nina handle everything.”
“I’m going to help her. That’s what I meant. I’m going to give her the cover she needs to figure it out.”
“I wish I could believe you.” Michael was quiet for a moment. “I told her about Dana.”
His heart tightened when he heard her name, but he’d come to an uneasy acceptance. “I know she’s not Dana. I know this isn’t anything like what happened with Dana. Nina isn’t a nineteen-year-old rebel who picks the wrong men. And I hope you didn’t make it seem like I was crazy in love with her. She was my friend, my best friend most of my life.”
Michael seemed to soften. “I know. She was mine, too. I wish she was with us, but we have to move on. You have to move on. I wonder if the reason you haven’t gotten serious is you’re still mourning Dana.”
It was hard to mourn when they’d never found her body. He’d accepted that she wasn’t coming home, but it was hard to never know what happened. “You’re not exactly dripping in long-term women yourself.”
A hint of a smile crossed his brother’s face. “I’m not interested in getting married. But you are. You’re the one who always wanted a family.”
He didn’t see why that was a problem. “I’m not jumping on the first woman I see, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“I know. The truth is I like her,” Michael admitted. “I like the fact that she’s already willing to back you up even when it comes to me.”
“She is?”
“She pretty much told me to mind my own damn business and to stop treating you like a child.”
Good for Nina. “Maybe you should listen to her.” He sighed. He hated that the last few years had been somewhat tense between them. “I really like this woman. I want to see where things can go. I promise I won’t screw this up and I won’t do anything that could put her in more danger. That’s the very last thing I want.”
Michael stared his way for a moment as though trying to figure out how to handle him. “I know that’s your intention. You need to remember that she’s the expert at this. Not you.” He was quiet for a moment. “She thinks you didn’t know who she was when you met her at the hotel. But Genny sent you her dossier and a picture. Genny also told you she’d be at the same hotel where Dad keeps a suite.”
“I knew who she was.” A kernel of guilt formed in his gut, but he didn’t care. He really didn’t. At least he told himself that. “But she didn’t know me. She came on to me and I wanted her. I wasn’t about to shut it all down to explain something that really didn’t matter.”
Michael groaned, a frustrated sound. “It mattered to her. Do you know why she left Interpol?”
He wasn’t buying that argument. “I’m not her coworker. I’m nothing but handy cover. And I’m not using Nina. I’m trying to have a relationship with her. I can’t explain it, Mike. I looked at her and I knew she was something special. I knew I had to get to know her. I still feel that way but times about a million. I can be good for her. I’m going to be good for her, but I need time with her, and I can’t do that if she takes off for London the minute this job is over. That’s exactly what she’ll do if I don’t give us a strong foundation for a relationship.”
“All right, but you should understand that if the truth comes out, she might not be happy about it.
