“There’s time enough for that tomorrow.” His voice was gentle as he extracted the phone from her hand.

She frowned at him. “Why? We’ve nothing else to do now.”

His expression turned playful. “Oh?”

And then before she could blink, he’d grabbed her hand and flipped her down onto the couch. She yelped in surprise as she spiraled and then thudded into the cushion.

She blinked, looking up at Kovit. He had a smile playing on his face, and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Her heart pounded, and her mind whirled. They’d kissed earlier today, a broken moment of pain and fear, emotions running high. She didn’t know what it meant, or how things went from here, or even where she wanted them to go.

But instead he whispered, “Go to sleep, Nita. Enough planning for today. You can’t scheme if you drop dead from exhaustion.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. He was right. She was tired. Today had been so very long—she could barely believe it was the same day she’d woken up to. She’d murdered an INHUP agent, been arrested, freed by her mother, captured by Henry, and had a showdown with Adair. Even thinking about it all made her whole body heavy with the desire to sleep for the next decade.

But there was still so much to do.

“Nita,” Kovit whispered, curling up beside her. “You need to sleep. Everything else can wait until tomorrow morning.”

Finally, she sighed softly and rested her head on his shoulder. “Fine. You’re right, I should sleep.”

They lay down on the couch like that, curled together in a gentle embrace. Nita’s eyelids were heavy, and her body sank into the warmth of Kovit’s arms as sleep began to pull at her.

Before she drifted away, she murmured, “Kovit?”

“Yeah?” His voice was sleepy and relaxed.

She hesitated. “For now, let’s not hurt Fabricio anymore.”

There was a long silence before he whispered, “Getting cold feet?”

“No,” she lied. “I’m just . . . planning.”

He laughed softly. “All right. I won’t touch him.”

A small knot in her stomach released, and she whispered a sleepy thanks before she closed her eyes and drifted off.

Nita woke in the middle of the night to the snick of the front door closing.

Her mind was instantly alert, adrenaline rushing through her blood. Quietly, so quietly, she removed Kovit’s arm, draped over her hips, and crawled off the couch.

There was no one in the room.

She enhanced the rods and cones in her eyes to give herself better night vision, but still, no one.

Her eyes moved from the front door to the path that led outside. She tiptoed over, turned the handle carefully, and opened the door.