“Then he’s probably listening to this call,” Novak said wearily. “It’s just as well. All cards on the table. By the time I get to Samlir, I’ll have done the research and have a basic knowledge of what to expect from Korgan. I can make my own judgments. You might trust him, but I’ve heard he can be persuasive as hell.”

“Absolutely. I didn’t expect anything else from you. Let me know when you’re about to arrive.” She added haltingly, “I didn’t want to ask this of you. Thanks for considering it, Novak.”

“I couldn’t do anything else. You’re important to me. I owe you. The only thing left to decide is whether what you’re asking is as worthwhile as what you did for me. I’ll see you in the morning, Alisa.” He cut the connection.

“Novak might do it.” She put her phone down on the table. “It probably depends on whether he believes he can work with you. I knew it would come down to that when I asked him.”

“Because you know him so well.” He tilted his head. “And you’re important to him. It was interesting listening to the two of you. There was an intimacy…” His gaze never left her face as he asked softly, “How intimate were you, Alisa? Did you sleep with him?”

Shock. She went still. “That’s none of your business.”

“Do you think I don’t realize that?” His voice was no longer soft, but rough. “It’s not my business, and it shouldn’t matter anyway. But it does, and so I asked. I was having a purely barbaric, male moment and you should feel free to ignore it.”

“I will.”

“After you answer me,” he added recklessly. “Novak said all cards on the table. You want our meeting to be civilized and friendly in the morning. I’ll be much more civilized if you satisfy my curiosity.”

“Curiosity is seldom barbaric. So I don’t believe you can call it that.” She shrugged impatiently. “You’re being weird, but this isn’t worth arguing about. I never slept with Novak. I like and respect him, and I think he’s the best CIA operative in the agency. And even if it had occurred to me that I might like to do it, I knew how many trips he took to get together with a journalist named Jill Cassidy.” She added, “Any other questions? Are we done?”

“We’re done.” He rose to his feet. “And now I’m going for a walk to give you some time to forget how weird I can be. It was that cerebral versus physical conflict again. But it might not have manifested itself tonight if you’d had something on besides that blanket.” He headed for the door. “You’ll be waiting for Sasha’s call?”

She nodded. “If she calls. I hope she does.”