Page 109 of Ford

“You’re not an agent. And you’re not…an operator. I can tell you’re afraid. So…”

It was a good question. She gave a lame answer that made her cringe and reach for the tea. “Ford asked me to come with him.”

Yanna made a sound of understanding.

“We work together. We’re friends.” Scarlett had put down the cup. Ran her finger around the rim. “He needed me.”

But even she knew how hollow that sounded. Ford needed her like he needed a sucking chest wound. She’d been nothing but trouble—even her so-called save in Prague was nothing but sheer luck.

He would have gotten his information from Roy without her. Roy just wanted to have some fun, probably.

To her surprise, however, Yanna said, “He does need you.”

Scarlett frowned.

“Hedidn’tneed David.” She raised an eyebrow, added a smile. “The man wasn’t going to stop until he found you.”

“It’s because he’s a SEAL. He has a creed.”

“He has a…what is it they say in America? A crush.”

Scarlett looked out the window, past Yanna, across the skyline of Moscow, the blue skies beyond. Oh, she had wanted to believe her.

Too much.

She was smarter than this. Her mother had taught her better than this. Scarlett knew men. Could see down the road, knew that eventually they broke a woman’s heart. Probably that’s what propelled her question to Yanna. “How can you marry a man who is, at least not formally, but in theory could be the enemy of your country? Aren’t you afraid of him betraying you?”

“No,” she said. “David would do anything for me.” She met Scarlett’s eyes. “He nearly died for me. Came to find me when I was in way over my head. And he loved me long before he could have me. He waited until I was ready.”

She took a sip of tea. “Actually, I would have given myself to him long before then, but he was a Christian and he hadrules.”

And right then, Scarlett liked her. “Ford has rules too.”

“Good.” Yanna handed her a stack of thick cookies. “These arepareniki. Molasses cookies.”

Scarlett took one. “My mother used to make these.”

“Not like we do in Russia. Sometimes, when we were young, we’d run out of sugar, and still the factories would pump them out. We’d all eat them and pretend we liked them.” She smiled. “But sometimes something looks so good, you just have to have it, right? And pretend to like it, even if it’s terrible, just to prove you didn’t make a mistake.”

Scarlett put the cookie down. “Are you saying I made a mistake coming to Russia?”

“Nyet. Just… It’s okay to be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid. I’m just…wary.”

“Of Russia? Good.”

She nodded, but no.

“Ah, see, you forget. I know when people are lying.” Yanna raised an eyebrow.

“Right. FSB.”

“No. Actually, I grew up with a mother who bought every lie a man told her. I knew how to recognize them.”

Scarlett stared at her. Frowned. “I…knew…someone like that.”

Yanna leaned back, folded her arms. “I see it now. The reason you didn’t panic when those men attacked you. You were good, you know. Calm.”