She narrowed her eyes at my reflection. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
There was a brief pause, during which I could literally see the gears in her head grinding. She exhaled slowly, briefly closing her eyes.
“You’re very calm for someone who is technically a fugitive.”
“What can I say? I’ve been planning this for a long time, and I tend to perform well under pressure.”
“That’s … not really comforting.”
“It should be.”
Leaning closer across the console, she lowered her voice as though about to ask something truly unhinged. “Do you have, like … people?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kyrill’s shoulders shake but I held her gaze firmly. “Everyone has people.”
“Not what I meant. Since I’m about to get on a boat in the middle of the night with an escaped felon who answers questions like a Bond villain and travels with a backup Bond villain, I would just like to have all the specifics.”
Kyrill scrunched his nose. “I prefer antihero.”
She groaned and dropped her head back against her seat. “If I end up on an international watchlist, I’m blaming you.”
Too late.
“You’re safe,” I assured her in a low voice.
Addy stared at me, searching my gaze for something.
“That’s either incredibly romantic,” she said slowly, “or deeply concerning.”
“It can be both.” I shrugged.
The boat was waiting where it should be, clean and unremarkable in the way expensive things are when they’re not supposed to be noticed by normal people. There was no flashy name across the hull; nothing really standing out or making it too remarkable.
“Thatis not a boat.”
“It is,” I replied, unbothered as I stepped out of the car and opened her door.
No need to let her find out it had been locked the whole ride. I didn’t expect her to throw herself out of the vehicle, but she was too important to risk it.
Addy got out cautiously, gaping at the final step of our escape route, and slowly shook her head. “No. No, that’s a yacht. That’s the kind of boat people buy after insider trading.”
Kyrill slammed his door shut, making her jump. “It’s not that big.”
She whipped around to face him. “It hasasecond level.”
I reached for her bag before she could grab it. “You said you didn’t pack much.”
“That’s not the point,” she hissed, still staring at the yacht. “You guys are escaped felons. You were in prison. Very recently. Why do you have access to something looking like it comes with a champagne butler?”
Addy slowly turned toward me.
“Like I said.” I winked at her. “I know people.”
There it was, the narrowing of her eyes making my cock stand at fucking attention. She was driving me insane and she had no idea.
“Literally the least reassuring answer you could have given.”