Conflicted (Undercover #2) by Helena Newbury

over and over. I couldn’t be sure, but it had sounded like he’d muttered spaseniye .
    I was his salvation.
     
    ***
     
    After dinner, Luka said he had to make a phone call. And then there was an awkward silence.
    We were too far away from shore, by now, to use a cell phone. And the ship-to-shore phone system aboard the yacht used handsets, built into the walls, so it wasn’t like Luka could go outside to make his call. He needed me to leave. But I wasn’t supposed to have any idea what he did for a living, so I had to play dumb.
    “Business?” I asked.
    He nodded. “I need to arrange things with my father. He’s meeting us.”
    I smiled innocently but my mind was racing. His father, Vasiliy. The one who’d built the family empire before passing over control to his son. For him to emerge from the shadows, something big must be happening. Was the arms deal going down on this trip? I needed to warn Adam...and I had no way to contact him.
    I couldn’t say any of this to Luka. I had to play the oblivious girlfriend. “Will I meet him?” I asked brightly.
    “Yes,” he said. But he sighed as he said it, as if that was a whole other problem. I felt an uneasy chill pass through me, a dense fog that threatened to numb all the parts that Luka was bringing back to life. What did that mean? That his father wouldn’t like me? That he wouldn’t... approve?
    Stop thinking of it like a relationship. I was undercover. I was just pretending.
    “I’ll go explore,” I said. “Or maybe go to the galley and find some dessert.” I felt a flash of guilt, at that. I’d just stuffed myself with pork and gravy, but there’d been some pavlova in the refrigerator that looked divine….
    He smiled at that. “Yes, get dessert,” he said. “Eat plenty. You’ll need your energy for later.”
    I caught my breath again, eyeing the huge bed, and backed out of the door.
    “Stay on this level,” he called after me. “Or go up top. Not down.”
    I nodded quickly and smiled, then closed the door to give him privacy for his call. I leaned against the wall in the companionway for a moment, thinking. I pushed all thoughts of me and Luka out of my head and focused on the mission. If the deal was going down on this trip, I needed to get my head in the game and do my job. While he was busy making his call, I had the perfect opportunity to scout around and find out what was on board. And he’d just told me exactly where to look.

 
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
    The yacht was divided quite clearly into two worlds. There were the decks where the guests were supposed to go, all polished wood and soft lighting. Then there were the lower decks, where only the crew would go.
    Down there, everything was bare steel and rooms were either lit up by harsh fluorescent lights or were shadowy pits with tangles of ropes and cables to trip over. Walking quietly on metal staircases in high heels was impossible, so I slipped them off and walked in stockinged feet, wincing at the touch of the freezing metal. Luckily, most of the guards seemed to be up top. That made sense, now that we were out at sea. Anyone trying to steal our cargo or harm Luka would have to board first. They didn’t realize that they’d invited the enemy right into their midst.
    Something twisted inside me, at that. A pang of guilt. Stupid. I wasn’t the enemy; Luka was the enemy.
    In the third room I checked, I found what I was looking for. A huge pile of crates, reaching higher than my head.
    I leaned closer. Russian lettering. Batch numbers, which I memorized, and the symbols for the Russian Army.
    Weapons, originally meant for the military. The deal, whoever it was with, was going down on this very trip...and I had no way to warn Adam, or call for help. We were way out of cell phone range.
    I heard footsteps coming from the next room. The rooms were arranged in a chain, one leading to the next, so there was no place to run but onward, into the next room. Another storeroom, this one