“It’s not confidence.” Nita’s voice was soft as she leaned against the counter beside him. “It’s determination. I will make it work, one way or another. If this plan fails, I’ll try another one. And another, and another and another.” She put her hand on his face and turned it so he was looking her in the eye. “I won’t let INHUP kill you, and I won’t let the black market kill me. We will be feared, and we will be untouchable.”

Then, before she could hesitate or think too hard about what she was doing, she closed the gap, leaning forward and kissing him. It wasn’t a soft kiss, it wasn’t gentle or romantic or sweet. It was hard and firm, full of power and a need to express it.

Nita didn’t know why she’d kissed him before, when Henry died, couldn’t untangle the snarl of emotions inside her. It had felt right at the time, like she was full of emotions and she needed a way to express them, to show him just how much he meant to her, and the only way she’d ever seen those kind of big, complicated feelings expressed was through romance.

But this? This was something different. This was about power. Showing it, sharing it.

Kovit made a small sound in the back of his throat but rolled with it, matching her vicious kiss with equal force, as though taking the power she was pressing into him and drinking it in until he was as vicious as she. His fingers curled around her body for a moment, digging into her shoulders almost painfully before he pulled away.

Nita blinked, her mouth tingling, and her body somehow both hot and cold at the same time.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Nita, I . . .”

She frowned, concerned. “What is it?”

He stared at the ground, searching for words that didn’t come.

Nita tried to defuse some of the tension, even though she was still nervous. “Kovit, just tell me. Whatever it is, I’m not going to be mad, or abandon you, or throw plates, or whatever it is they do on those overdramatic sitcoms.”

He laughed at that, a grin spreading across his face. “But, Nita, what if I confess that I’m actually a long-lost identical twin who has woken from a decadelong coma to replace the original Kovit and that I’m madly in love with another?”

“Yeah, you’re actually in love with Gold.” She rolled her eyes, then paused. “You’re not, are you?”

He burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. “No, God, no.”

“Oh, good. That would have been awkward.”

He sighed softly. “No, you definitely don’t have to worry about that.” His face went solemn. “It’s nothing that simple.”

Nita shifted slightly, giving him space while still remaining close. “Okay. Do you want to try and explain it to me?”