[MAX]
"I'm supposed to tell you Phoenix says hi, by the way." Now that I had downed the entire coffee and several hours had passed, human interaction didn't feel so much like torture. "To you and Svetlana."
Alexei grinned at that, his blue eyes filled with warmth. His smile shone cleanly across his otherwise stubble-covered cheeks. "And I am to tell you that Svetlana says hello. I'll be sure to pass on Feniks' greeting to her."
I nodded and a small smile played at my own lips. Though I didn't express it, I was impressed that a man who was of such high ranking in GRU — Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye, Russia's external espionage agency — had such a strong marriage. If I were any other person I may have even called it sweet. Svetlana Zima was a part of Russia's internal intelligence agency, the SVR, which dealt more with civilian affairs. They were definitely a formidable pair, and I was often grateful that Svetlana was so strong-minded and understanding, given the frequency with which I borrowed her husband.
Granted, GRU 'borrowed' him often as well, and usually sent him to places more dangerous than I did, but still.
"After we land in D.C.," Alexei spoke again when I remained silent, "how long will you need?"
"Let's say four hours," I answered. "Five would be if something went sideways, but I'm fairly certain I'll be able to do everything in four."
"And are you needing to stop in Boston before we head to our next destination?"
Boston was my hometown, in more ways than one. I'd been born there, and lived there with my parents until they died, and now it was the only place in the world where I rightfully owned a living space. An apartment, to be precise — and a fairly big one. Reznor did his 'thing' in order to keep that information away from any and all intelligence agencies and prying eyes. It was the only place that I had to call home, and any material possessions I had in the world, if they mattered to me and were not on me, could be found there. Alexei was one of a handful who knew about it.
"No," I shook my head slowly, "not this time. I have somewhere else I can stop to pick up a change of clothes and weapons."
"And still be done in four hours?" Alexei asked with amusement underlining his tone. Sometimes I was pretty sure he liked to challenge me and my abilities as a test, to see if I was still up to par. Other times I thought he did it to push my buttons. I was pretty sure this was the latter.
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Lexi, though I appreciate the rousing vote of confidence."
His laughter was loud but short, a bark of released humor whilst the rest glowed in his eyes and hid in the creases that surrounded them. "You know I tease." He grinned.
I waved a hand and continued to put on a show of being annoyed.
But Alexei knew me well, and wasn't perturbed in the slightest. He merely shook his head, his grin settling into a pleased smile, and his focus returned to the skies.
The rest of our flight passed in silence. Once the Airbus had landed, no further conversation between Alexei and I needed to occur; we'd done this enough times, we both knew how it worked. So I parted with a nod and a crooked smile, quietly pleased when he did his mock-salute in return. That was all we needed — he went off to deal with tasks regarding the plane, the likes of which I didn't really comprehend beyond refueling, and I went off to pick up our only other passenger.
It should also perhaps be noted that I would be surprising her ... which, really, in this particular situation, was going to be half the fun.
Because Harper van Roma is a psychiatrist who just so happens to work for the FBI.
