“You look fabulous, I might add,” Helena said. “Still, please humor me. Come and talk to my daughter, Grace. She’s due in April—though I suppose you already know that since Garrett works for your husband.”
“Yes, ma’am, I do,” Kat said as she accompanied Helena over to where Grace sat with one of her sisters—Charity, Kat thought.
“Oh please, call me Helena tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am—Helena,” Kat finished, laughing.
“Mrs. Mendez,” Grace said with a smile as they approached. “I’m so glad you and the general could make it.”
Introductions were made—it was indeed Charity sitting with Grace—and then Kat took a seat with the women, accepting a virgin cranberry spritzer from a waiter.
“Your mother has made me call her Helena tonight,” she said. “I think you should call me Kat.”
Grace smiled. “Okay then. Kat.”
It wasn’t that the women didn’t know each other or like each other. It was just that Johnny was in charge of the Hostile Operations Team and she was his wife. In the military, the lines of formality were drawn rather strictly—and Garrett Spencer was enlisted, not an officer. It was protocol and tradition to separate the ranks, and Kat wasn’t about to insist it be otherwise. Yet tonight she could be Kat instead of Mrs. Mendez or the commander’s wife.
“Congratulations to you and your husband on his new rank,” Grace said.
Kat followed her gaze to where Johnny stood with the president and a couple of others, so tall and handsome in his suit. The gathering was casual, but nothing was ever truly casual when you were invited to the White House, so Johnny looked resplendent in a dark navy suit with a white shirt open at the throat. No tie for him. He’d refused to wear it. And she was glad because he looked absolutely stunning with that hint of skin showing. President Campbell wasn’t wearing a tie either, she’d noticed.
“Thank you,” Kat replied. “Nobody deserves it more in my extremely biased opinion.”
Grace laughed. “Well, I’m not as biased as you and I’d still agree. I don’t think there’s any man my husband admires more than yours.”
The talk turned to other things then. Due dates, genders, and potential names for their babies. It was the kind of talk that Kat wouldn’t have pictured herself being a part of just a few short months ago. She’d thought her window of opportunity had closed. She’d certainly never considered she would reunite with the man who was the love of her life and have his baby again.
Sadness wrapped around her heart at the thought of the son he’d never known. The son taken from them too soon. She put a hand over her belly almost without thought. She loved this little one who would soon make an appearance, but she missed her son. Roman had been a sweet boy. He’d reminded her of his father with his dark good looks, and he’d been wicked smart to boot. He’d be twenty-one now, with his whole life still in front of him. Anger threaded itself between the lines of her sadness, making her want to scream at the unfairness of life.
She didn’t know for certain, but she would always believe her son had been killed by her old FSB handler, Dmitri Leonov. Ordered to do it by mafia boss Sergei Turov because Kat would not shoot an innocent girl for him. Sergei had deliberately destroyed his hold over her because he’d thought she would break. She’d broke all right. She’d broke free, and then she’d spent years thwarting Sergei at every turn.
“Is everything okay, Kat?”
Kat looked up to find Grace staring at her, concern on her pretty face. Kat swallowed down her bitterness. It wasn’t good for the baby. “Yes, fine. I’m sorry. My mind wanders sometimes. Pregnancy brain.”
Grace laughed. “I’m beginning to realize that’s a thing. I didn’t believe my mother when she told me, but it sure is.”
Kat almost said something about her first pregnancy, then bit her lip and didn’t. Too hard to explain. Too emotional to have to.
A few minutes later, Helena announced the food was ready and Kat made her way to the buffet with the other women, intent on piling a plate to the max. Drowning her feelings about her lost son with food was a good start. She was happy, truly, but thinking of her first pregnancy made her sad. She didn’t want to be sad, not when she had so much to be thankful for.
A male voice spoke just behind her before she reached the buffet. “Hello, Kat.”
Kat nearly jumped out of her skin. Then she lumbered around to wrap Ian Black in a hug. “Ian. It’s so nice to see you.”
He gave her a quick squeeze and set her away from him. “You’ve put on some weight, I see.”
He said it with a grin, so she didn’t smack him. “Yes. I have eaten a basketball apparently.”
“You look great. And happy. I’m glad you’re happy.”
“I am,” she said, her heart so full she thought she might burst with it. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in at least two months.”
He shrugged. “Work keeps me busy.”
“Yes, well I suspect I also don’t see you because of this rivalry between you and Johnny. He likes you, Ian.”
“And I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. Which is why I’m not calling up his wife for a chat from time to time.”
Johnny appeared then, slipping an arm around her and drawing her in to the solid warmth of his body. Her every cell tingled at his touch. Her very soul glowed with warmth and belonging. He chased away the shadows and made her thrill to be alive.
“Hello, Ian. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Kat looked up at her husband. “I was just saying as much to him, Johnny.”
Johnny’s eyes filled with love. “Were you? Ian, you need to stop by more often. Kat misses you.”
If Ian was surprised, he didn’t show it. But she knew he must be. She did miss him. He’d helped her more than he knew. Saved her in many ways. If she hadn’t worked for him during the long lonely years after she’d lost Roman, she’d have gone mad. He’d given her a purpose when she’d lost everything. He’d also brought her and Johnny together again. She would always love him for that.
“I’ll make a point of it then,” he said.
“Good. Be sure you do. Whatever makes Kat happy is my priority.”
Ian’s gaze bounced between them. “Do you think I could get a minute of your time tonight, General?”
Kat groaned. “It’s always business, isn’t it? Neither of you can help yourselves.”
Johnny gave her a squeeze. “Maybe not tonight, Ian. Call me tomorrow. Or come by HOT—assuming you’re not pretending not to know us these days. And it’s John, not general.”
Ian snorted. “Not pretending a thing, John. Sorry, Kat, I can’t help myself. But yes, I’ll make a point of catching up to you this week. Before Christmas.”
“Great,” Kat said. “Now that you two have settled that, can we please eat?”
3
Kat fell asleep in the car. Mendez didn’t mind. Snow had started to fall softly, but the roads weren’t slick with it. Christmas carols played on the radio. Kat loved them, so Mendez put them on whenever they drove somewhere.