“No.”

Cassian didn’t even look up from the mission file.

Across the briefing table, Kane sighed heavily into both hands.

“You didn’t even hear the assignment.”

“I heard enough.”

Evie leaned sideways in her chair.

“Oh, this already sounds fun.”

Dominic looked openly delighted.

Sofia looked exhausted in advance.

Kane tapped the folder dramatically.

“Local arms broker. Private charity gala. Couples-only guest list.”

Cassian finally looked up.

Already irritated.

“No.”

Kane pointed immediately.

“See? That reaction right there? That’s exactly why you’re perfect for this.”

Evie grabbed the file before Cassian could.

A photo of the hotel slipped out first.

Five-star waterfront resort.

Champagne terrace.

Rich people architecture.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “They have decorative towels.”

Cassian closed the folder again.

“We’re not doing this.”

Kane looked genuinely confused.

“You infiltrated a Serbian weapons convoy wearing a priest costume last year.”

“That was tactical.”

“And fake marriage isn’t?”

Cassian stared at him.

Dominic leaned back in his chair.

“Personally, I think the honeymoon suite builds character.”

Cassian looked like he wanted to shoot everybody individually.

Evie opened the guest list slowly.

Then froze.

“Oh no.”

Kane brightened immediately.

“What.”

She looked up at Cassian with visible delight.

“We’re married.”

Dominic slammed both hands onto the table laughing.

Sofia closed her eyes briefly.

Cassian stayed completely motionless.

Which honestly looked more dangerous than yelling.

Evie kept reading.

“Marcus and Evelyn Vale.” She glanced toward Cassian. “Wow. Marcus. You absolutely pay taxes reluctantly.”

“No.”

Kane ignored him.

“You’ll arrive together, maintain cover, identify the broker’s buyers, and access the encrypted guest records upstairs.”

Evie pointed at the hotel photo.

“They have a spa.”

“This is not a vacation.”

“That sounds anti-spa.”

Cassian stood abruptly.

“Find another team.”

“No married couples available,” Kane answered immediately.

Dominic raised one hand.

“I offered.”

“You suggested bringing three women and pretending to be emotionally polyamorous.”

“Commitment to realism.”

Cassian grabbed the mission file.

“You are all incompetent.”

“Correct,” Kane replied. “Which is why we need the scary one.”

The hotel lobby smelled like expensive flowers and money laundering.

Evie stepped out of the elevator wearing a black dress she’d spent thirty minutes claiming she hated despite checking the mirror every twelve seconds.

Cassian walked beside her in a fitted charcoal suit that made several women near reception visibly lose focus mid-conversation.

Evie noticed immediately.

Unfortunately for him.

“Oh, this is hilarious.”

Cassian adjusted the cuff of his jacket once.

“What.”

“You look like a billionaire who emotionally ruins journalists.”

“We’re working.”

“You’re also making half the lobby ovulate.”

Cassian nearly missed a step.

Tiny movement.

Evie smiled to herself.

Excellent.

The receptionist looked up as they approached.

Then visibly straightened.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Vale.”

Cassian handed over the fake IDs silently.

Evie leaned casually against the counter.

“We’re celebrating our anniversary.”

Cassian turned toward her slowly.

The receptionist smiled warmly.

“Oh! How many years?”

Evie looked directly at Cassian.

“Feels like fifty.”

The receptionist laughed.

Cassian did not.

Though his hand tightened slightly around the room key.

Evie caught it anyway.

The elevator ride upstairs stayed quiet.

Not awkward exactly.

Just full of tension thick enough to physically lean against.

Cassian loosened his tie slightly once the doors shut.

Evie watched the movement openly.

“You clean up weirdly well.”

“You’re staring.”

“You look expensive.”

Cassian pressed the button for their floor harder than necessary.

Evie smiled wider.

“You’re blushing emotionally.”

“I’m not.”

“You absolutely are.”

The elevator doors opened before he could defend himself further.

Cowardly timing.

The ballroom glowed gold beneath crystal chandeliers and soft live jazz.

Rich people drifted between champagne trays pretending nobody there sold illegal weapons internationally.

Evie accepted champagne immediately.

Cassian stayed beside her scanning exits and security placements with the expression of a man attending his own execution.

“You know,” Evie murmured quietly, “normal husbands usually look less homicidal at formal events.”

“This room contains seven armed guards.”

“And one extremely attractive wife.”

Cassian looked at her.

Evie sipped champagne innocently.

A man approached them near the balcony ten minutes later.

Mid-forties.

Too tan.

Too confident.

Exactly the type of rich man Evie enjoyed psychologically terrorizing.

“Marcus Vale,” the man said warmly, shaking Cassian’s hand. “Heard your wife was beautiful. Nobody mentioned dangerous.”

Evie smiled sweetly.

“Oh, I’m mostly decorative.”

The man laughed.

Cassian did not.

His eyes stayed fixed on the man’s hand lingering too long near Evie’s waist.

Tiny shift in posture.

Subtle.

Still enough for Evie to notice immediately.

Interesting.

The man turned toward her fully.

“So how did you two meet?”

Evie answered before Cassian could.

“Violence.”

Cassian picked up his drink.

The man laughed again.

“I like her.”

Cassian’s voice came flat across the conversation.

“I don’t.”

Silence.

Tiny.

Sharp.

The man blinked once.

Evie bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to stop herself laughing directly into the champagne glass.

The man recovered awkwardly.

“Well. Enjoy the evening.”

Then escaped toward safer social territory.

Evie watched him leave.

Then slowly turned toward Cassian.

“…Wow.”

Cassian looked toward the ballroom exits again.

“What.”

“You got jealous.”

“I assessed a security threat.”

“You assessed him into another zip code emotionally.”

Cassian drank his whiskey without answering.

Evie moved closer beside him near the balcony railing.

Close enough that her bare arm brushed lightly against the sleeve of his suit jacket.

“Admit it,” she murmured.

Cassian looked down at her.

Jazz drifted softly through the ballroom while city lights shimmered beyond the balcony windows behind them.

“You enjoyed that.”

“No.”

“Liar.”

Cassian’s hand settled briefly against the small of her back as another group passed too closely behind them.

Automatic movement.

Protective.

Warm through the fabric of her dress.

Neither of them spoke for a second afterward.

Evie looked down toward his hand.

Then back up at him slowly.

Cassian noticed immediately.

His hand disappeared at once.

Too late now.

Evie smiled into her champagne glass.

“Oh, this mission is gonna be SO fun.”

The hotel room had one bed.

Cassian stopped inside the doorway immediately.

Evie looked from the bed.

Then toward him.

Then back at the bed again.

“…Kane planned this personally, didn’t he.”

Cassian shut the door slowly behind them while rain rolled softly against the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the harbor.

Neither of them moved farther into the room yet.

The silence shifted slightly.

Different now.