The sky was like black ink leaking from an old-fashioned pen, covering everything. It was dark. Ominous. There were no stars—just a pool of inky nothingness.

“We need to do this tonight. You think you can get him to his hotel room?”

Alexa pulled her gaze from the sky outside the window and observed her partner, whose dark hair was gelled to the side. His gray eyes were the color of steel, and yet they were warm. Was he worried about her on this mission? Oh, who was she kidding? Xander always worried about her when she went into the field. He’d rather her sit behind a computer nestled in a shroud of safety. But none of them were ever really safe, were they?

How much time did she have left in life?

Being thirty-three and single for, well, it felt like forever, was starting to bother her more and more lately, especially when she spoke with her sister. Lori would get on her case about needing to meet a man, and then she’d remind Alexa of the American—the one her sister insisted was “the one who got away.” How cliché . . .

Besides, that guy had been in her life for all of a week before he returned to the States. She had met him at a party in London on New Year’s Eve. It wasn’t exactly a story for the ages.

But for some reason, Alexa couldn’t seem to get “Mr. New Year’s Eve” out of her head. Even now, apparently, at a time like this.

“Alexa?” Xander was snapping his fingers in front of her face, and she blinked, her dark lashes fluttering.

“Sorry. What were you saying?” Alexa stared down at her ring finger, sliding the forefinger of her right hand along its length. Would there ever be a ring there?

She rolled her eyes at her thoughts, hating herself at that moment for wallowing in such ridiculous self-pity when she was on an operation. Of course, it’s not like there would ever be a good time or place to think of such things, given her current lifestyle.

“You think you can get Gregov to his room?” Xander asked her again, and she finally flashed her hazel eyes to meet his.

“Can’t I stay in the van and you go and seduce the Russian?” A smile skated across her lips, and he playfully nudged her in the shoulder with a fist.

“If I was his type, I’d take the bullet for you and do it, mate. But, based on our research, he prefers gorgeous women. Especially those with long, black hair.”

“Then we should have had Matt wear the wig,” Alexa was quick to respond.

“Funny,” Matt blurted through her earpiece.

“You’ve got this—no worries,” Xander added.

“Yeah, well, I forgot to take Seduction 101,” she joked. “But I’ll do my best.” She reached for the door handle, but Xander’s hand on her shoulder had her pausing and looking over at him.

“Be careful.” Xander’s hard jaw strained with worry.

“Always.” She winked and got out of the van, careful not to slip on any of the ice that lingered after the storm that had passed through earlier. As she walked, she shivered from the cold, which settled through her jacket to chill her bones. An inch of soft snow coated the sidewalk, but it wasn’t the fun, powdery snow that children dream about. No, it was the evil kind—lined with a shield of ice.

A few hundred meters away, Alexa turned sharply and entered the beer hall, which was busy as ever. The live band was playing Bavarian music, and massive wooden tables were filled with people.

Whenever she entered the beer hall, Alexa had felt like she was stepping back in time. It was over a hundred years old, and part of her liked the aged feel of it, but it also creeped her out. The arched, dark wood ceilings were gorgeous, but the paintings on the walls . . . well, many of them were mounted to cover up the Nazi swastika signs from WWII. So, she had been told, at least, by some tourist with a pamphlet of fun facts in his hand.

But tonight, the icy breath lashing at her skin wasn’t from the cold outside or the reminder of where she was. No. Tonight, her nerves were raw because she needed to make contact with her target.

It didn’t matter how often she went out on an OP—she always got nervous.

She spotted Gregov at the bar as she made her way through the crowd of people. He was sitting there like he had every other night this week, with a stein in hand filled to the brim with dark, wheat beer. She was grateful that he was a man of routine.

Alexa swallowed a lump of emotion and focused on her target as she approached the bar. The man had thick, black hair that was long in the back. He was in his fifties, but his toned physique and the muscles framed beneath his clothes could have been those of a much younger man. He wasn’t the typical computer geek, but no one she’d been tracking on her current case had met the stereotypical character profiles the agency had previously used to locate high-value targets. The world was changing.

Alexa sat in the empty seat beside him and motioned for the bartender. “Ein Weissbier, bitte,” she ordered.

She could feel Gregov’s eyes on her, and she straightened in her seat a little. She realized she hadn’t remembered to take off her jacket. Now how was she going to utilize her “assets” (as Xander had joked earlier this morning) to help seduce him?

She untied the straps of her wool coat and shrugged it off, draping it over the top of the seat behind her. As she shifted back to face the bar, she realized Gregov was now focused on the swell of flesh at the V of her red sweater dress. Well, that was easy enough.

He cleared his throat as his eyes drifted up to meet her hazel ones. “American or British?”

Was my German accent that bad? she wondered. “English,” she responded, and then nodded her thanks to the bartender when he returned with her beer. “And you must be from . . .?”

He took a sip of his beer, and then smiled at her, his dark eyes remaining on hers as he drank. “What do you think?” he asked after setting his stein down on the counter.

“Hm.” She tapped a red fingernail at her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I’d guess you’re from Texas.” She wondered if she could warm him up with a joke. If his personality was anything like his steely composure, she was in for a long night.

He tipped his head back and laughed as a large hand slapped the bar in front of him. “Cowboy, eh? Maybe I could be your Russian cowboy?” His accent, thick and deep, rumbled through her as his dark brown eyes steadied on her mouth.

So, he’s not so stiff. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Why? You think you might be able to lasso me in?” she joked.

He took another drink before reaching into his pocket for some bills. He tossed the euros on the counter—enough to cover both their beers. “You know I’ve seen you in this bar several nights for the last week. Always looking over at me. I have to say I’m impressed you had the nerve to finally approach me.”

Alexa wet her lips and forced a smile to her face. “Who said I was trying to approach you? Can’t a girl sit at a bar and have a beer?”

“Ha.” He placed a hand to his chest. “Now you joke, right?”

She leaned in closer to him. “I guess it’s up to you to find out,” she said in a low, sultry voice.

He pressed his palms to the counter and Alexa caught sight of a gold wedding band on his ring finger.

“My place, then.” The Russian dragged his attention down to her breasts again.

“Oh, come on. Make him beg.” Alexa straightened in her seat and tried not to roll her eyes at the voice of Matt in her ear.

Alexa stood up and reached for her coat. “If you promise not to keep me up too late. I have an early flight.”

She wished she’d known before joining the agency that having a minor in theater would have been more helpful to her in situations like this than her bachelor’s in computer science. Of course, she wasn’t doing all that bad tonight, given her target was about to leave the bar with her in under ten minutes. That had to be her new record.

“Maybe you don’t go to bed at all.” He raised a brow and rose to his feet as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of her coat. The man reached for her, gathering the mass of her long black hair, freeing it from where her wool coat had captured it against the skin of her neck. The intimate gesture made her skin crawl, and she hid a wince by lowering her chin to her chest.

“What’s your name, by the way?” he asked as they started for the exit. His hand touched her back before slipping lower.

Oh, please don’t.

His palm rested on the curve of her ass, and she bit her lip to hide her disgust.

“Sylvia Reynolds. Yours?” She feigned interest and looked up at him as he pushed open the doors of the beer hall.

“Boris Gregov,” he answered before she walked past him through the exit.

She was surprised by his honesty. Then again, he had no clue who she was. He didn’t know that he needed to lie.

Alexa peered back up at the dark sky before her eyes flitted to her surroundings. She scanned each and every person they passed, and her shoulders relaxed a little at the sight of Matt leaning against a building fifty meters away, his eyes casually looking up from the mobile he held in his hand to greet hers.

Alexa dragged out a lungful of air, and her breath floated out in front of her in a small cloud of steam. “I bet Munich was lovely at Christmas.” She could still barely believe it was January. Where had the year gone? Another year alone. And she assumed it’d probably be the same this year, as well. Of course, if they finally closed their current case—maybe she could take a week or two of vacation. The last time she’d been on holiday was—well, when she met Mr. New Year’s Eve, but she hadn’t even left London. No, this time she’d go somewhere warm. Maybe Bali. Get lost in a good book on the beach with some delicious cocktail in hand. A romance book, maybe—since that’d be the closest she’d come to romance for a while.

“Do you live in Munich? Or are you here on business?” She stared at the thin veil of icy snow beneath her boots as she walked, doubting the man would answer honestly.

“Business, and I also leave soon. My employer moves me around a lot.”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing all that fascinating. I work with computers.”

“Yeah?” She raised her voice an octave to sound surprised. “So do I.” Well, that was her cover story, anyway. “I’m with Henderson Intel. Heard of them? We’re not that big, but we’re working on building our brand.” They were one of the agency’s shell corporations.

“Ah. Then you are my competition. I must not reveal our secrets.”

“Well, maybe if I tell you a secret, then you’ll consider telling me a thing or two.” She flashed him a smile.

Gregov stopped walking and banded her waist with his long arm, pulling her close to him until her chest pressed to his.

Alexa looked up at him, confident in how her smoky black liner played up her hazel eyes. Her brightly painted lips opened for him. As he angled his head and lowered his lips, she stepped back and chuckled. “Mm. You need to warm me up with a drink, first.” She raised her shoulder and winked at him, but he pulled her back, tugging at her arm, jerking her sharp against him.

“You’re naughty, and I like it,” he growled.

“Feckin’ wanker,” Matt said into her ear, and Alexa pressed her lips together instead of physically responding to Matt’s insults.

Gregov tipped his head to the left, and Alexa glanced over at the double glass doors. She hadn’t realized that they’d stopped in front of his hotel. That wasn’t like her—she was accustomed to noticing every little detail.

“This is me,” he said in a low voice.

Great . . .

Once Alexa and Gregov reached his massive suite, he started straight for the small bar alongside the wall opposite of the living area, which had a sofa, TV, and desk. A desk with no computer. Damn.

“I’d like something strong,” Alexa said from behind as she continued to observe the room. If she couldn’t get her hands on the computer, the mission would be a bust. His laptop would probably be in the safe, she decided, trying to calm the worry that had started to pull at her. The safes at the hotel required a palm scan, but Matt and Xander were in position, and they’d be able to help her lug the Russian into the bedroom when it was time.

“So, Boris . . .”

He was standing next to her now, and he smoothed a hand through her hair before gently pulling at the tips.

Oh, shit. Not the wig. “You like it rough, huh?” She tried to ignore the impulse to swallow. Without giving her a chance to react, Gregov’s mouth moved in. His lips slammed against hers, sloppy and wet. He smeared her lipstick as she fumbled around deep into her coat pocket for the needle. She allowed his tongue to intrude inside her mouth. God, the things she did for this job.

A moment later, he pulled his lips from hers and took a step back as she attempted to gain her footing . . . her fingers finally wrapped around the needle.

“You gonna lasso me in or what?” Her voice was like a soft hiss, and he lunged for her again, grabbing her hips, pressing his body flush against hers—right where she wanted him.

She snaked one hand up to his head as he kissed her. “Mm,” she murmured against his lips as she brought her other hand up and around to his neck.

She pricked him with the needle, and he pulled away, a big hand shooting to the side of his neck. “What the . . .?” His brows pinched together as he dropped to his knees in one fast movement, looking up at her in a daze.

She stepped back when his eyes shut and he fell face forward to land at her feet.

“He’s out,” she informed her partners as she stared at Gregov’s motionless body.

“Be there in a minute,” Matt responded in her ear.

She started to search the room, rifling through his luggage and finding nothing but a string of unused condoms. “Ugh. Well, at least he was prepared. Lots of rubbers.”

“You could still have your way with the cowboy, if you’d like,” Matt teased in her ear. “Another snog.”

Alexa shook her head at his comment and tried to flush away the memory of the kiss with Gregov, a man she’d been tracking for over a year now. A man she hoped to hell her lips never had to touch again.

“Oh come on, Alexa, I thought that was a pretty good comeback of mine, especially after your comment in the van. Long black hair would look bloody awful on me.” Despite being the agent runner, and the man in charge, Matt had a sense of humor, and it helped keep Alexa a bit grounded, at times. Going on missions, always focused on the mark, it could make things dark. Morbid.

Alexa laughed. “I don’t know. I think you’d look utterly smashing.”

“Huh. We can’t all look like models like you and pretty boy Xander, here,” Matt said.

“Shut up, you git,” Xander answered, and Alexa could visualize the grin spreading across Xander’s face. Of course, Matt was far from bad looking. If he wasn’t her boss, and maybe in another life—she would have hooked up with him in a heartbeat.

“Would you two stop playing around and get your arses up here? We’ve only got two hours before he wakes.” Alexa kneeled in front of the safe and eyed the palm scan. “Maybe even less. He’s a big bugger.”

“Outside the door, love,” Xander said a moment later.

She pressed off her knees. “Coming.” Alexa made her way back to the suite’s door and swung it open.

Xander nodded at her with approval of a job well done as he and Matt entered the room.

“Now help me drag his heavy arse to the safe,” Alexa said as she squatted by the body, reaching for Gregov’s ankles.

“You know, you could have at least waited to knock him out until you got into the bedroom,” Xander said as he grabbed hold of Gregov’s forearms.

“Sure, and have to snog him even longer?” She shook her head. “No, thank you.” Her eyes steadied on Matt’s coffee brown ones. “You gonna watch us or help?” Then she stood and stepped back, folding her arms. “Better yet, you two go ahead without me. I did the hard part. You can handle the poor bloke.” Alexa watched as Xander and Matt dragged Gregov’s dead weight down the hall, and then she followed after.

“Let’s hope his computer is in this thing,” she said as Xander held Gregov’s hand to the palm screen of the safe.

There was a beep followed by a click, and the door of the large safe opened. “Jackpot.” Matt rubbed his hands together and grabbed the razor thin laptop before handing it off to Alexa.

“Thanks. Why don’t you guys set him up in the bed with the booze and undress him while I work?”

“I don’t want to undress him.” Xander lifted a brow and stood.

“Well, I have a lot on my plate hacking this thing,” she said sweetly, “and if we want him to think he passed out drunk after shagging me . . .” Alexa couldn’t fight the smile that spread fast across her face.

“Jesus Christ,” Xander grumbled and bent back down.

Alexa went back out into the living area and sat at the desk. She flipped open the computer and powered it on.

She bypassed the username and passcode using the command prompt function, then began creating a login so she’d be able to access the hard drive. “Net user,” she mumbled while typing. Soon, she was deep in her own world, oblivious to the sounds of Matt and Xander in the other room. Her fingers moved deftly across the keys, jabbing with grace as she hacked into his computer. “I have administrative access now. I’m in. Now the hard part,” she called out to her team.

“You think we’ll find anything useful on there?” Xander entered the room a few minutes later and stood over her shoulder, watching as she typed code.

“I don’t have time to know what’s useful, but I’ll create a code that will allow us to copy his hard drive. Hopefully he’ll never know we were in here.”

“How long will it take?” Xander checked his watch.

Her fingers were moving fast, entering appropriate responses to every black box that popped up on screen. “An hour. Maybe longer. His firewalls are impressive—it’ll take me a little more time than usual to get them down.”

“The other team will be arriving here in an hour. They’ll monitor his activity from here on out,” Xander said.

“Okay. Good.” Alexa didn’t want to waste time in Munich. If she successfully downloaded Boris Gregov’s files, she’d want to get back to London ASAP to analyze them and decrypt as needed. There was a terrorist attack to thwart, after all.

Xander reached into his pocket for a USB and set it next to the computer as Matt’s mobile began ringing from the bedroom. “For when you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” she said, already back in the zone.

Matt’s voice rang in her ear as he moved back into the living room. “That was HQ.”

“Everything good?” Xander asked.

“No.”

Alexa lifted her fingers from the keys and looked over her shoulder at Matt. “What’s wrong?”

Matt swiped a hand down his jaw, and Alexa noticed the slight tremble in his fingers.

“What is it, Matt?” Alexa asked again, her brows snapping together.

Matt glanced at Xander before focusing back on her. “There’s been an explosion in London.”