“All right.” Still, he paused and looked at her again. “I’d like to talk with you later.”

“Of course.” She would move heaven and earth to avoid it.

She remained where she was when he left. Reeve glanced over his shoulder before he came closer. “Is there a problem, Lady Hannah?”

“No.” She drew a deep breath, but didn’t relax. “Why should there be?”

“Bennett can be . . . distracting.”

This time when her eyes met his, she made certain they were slightly amused. A layer, the thinnest of the layers of her outer covering was dismissed. “I’m not easily distracted, particularly when I’m working.”

“So I’ve been told,” Reeve said easily enough. He was still looking for flaws and was afraid he might have found the first in the way she had looked at Bennett. “But you’ve never worked on an assignment quite like this one.”

“As a senior agent for the ISS, I’m capable of handling any assignment.” Her voice was brisk again, not the voice of a woman who’d been moved, almost unbearably, by a kiss. “You’ll have my report by tomorrow. Now I think we’d better join the others.”

She started by, but he took her arm and stopped her. “There’s a great deal riding on this. On you.”

Hannah only nodded. “I’m aware of that. You requested the best, and I am.”

“Maybe.” But the closer it came, the more he worried. “You’ve got a hell of a reputation, Hannah, but you’ve never come up against anyone like Deboque before.”

“Nor he anyone like me.” She glanced toward the hallway again, then lowered her voice. “I’m an established member of his organization now. It’s taken me two years to get this close. I saved him two and a half million by seeing that that munitions deal wasn’t botched six months ago. A man like Deboque appreciates initiative. In the last few months, I’ve been planting the seeds that will discredit his second in command.”

“Or get your throat cut.”

“That’s for me to worry about. In a matter of weeks, I’ll be his right hand. Then I’ll serve him to you on a platter.”

“Confidence is an excellent weapon, if it isn’t overdone.”

“I don’t overdo.” She thought of Bennett and strengthened her resolve. “I’ve never failed with an assignment, Reeve. I don’t intend to begin with this one.”

“Just make sure you keep in contact. I’m sure you’ll understand when I say I don’t trust anyone.”

“I understand perfectly, because neither do I. Shall we go?”

Chapter 4

Hannah’s plans to avoid driving with Bennett to Le Havre were neatly demolished. She’d justified her decision by convincing herself she could detail more useful information by concentrating on the palace. In order to remain behind, she’d come up with the credible, if unoriginal excuse of a headache.