Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"What did you do, Charley, divide a quarter of a million dollars by the number of small accounts to come up with eight thousand dollars in each?"

"That's exactly what I did."

"I think what Svetlana was trying to tell you is that there's about a quarter of a million in each of those accounts."

As one part of his brain began to suspect that he had just made an ass of himself, another part did the math.

"Christ, that's almost eight million dollars," he said. "You were prepared to spend eight million dollars to throw the SVR off the scent?"

Svetlana nodded. He saw tears in her eyes.

Oh, Jesus, don't do that!

"Before God, it is the truth," she sobbed. "I can't stand it when you look at me with hate and suspicion in your eyes!"

"Oh, baby," Castillo heard himself say.

And then she was in his arms, sobbing.

"I think I will go see how they're doing with the tree," Pevsner said. "It might be wise to lock the door after I go."

"We have just had our first fight," Svetlana said. "And our first makeup, and our first you-know-what in my bed. Up to now, all the you-know-whats have been in your beds."

"Baby, I'm really sorry."

"I know. I can tell," she said. "Can I say something?"

"You can say anything you want."

"I know what it was, why you disbelieved me."

"Because I'm stupid?"

"Because you are a man," she said. "Like other men, insecure. When a woman throws herself at you, you are incapable of just accepting your good fortune. You don't think you are worthy of what you are being given, so the woman has to have some ulterior motive."

"What is that, Psychology 101?"

"It is the truth," Svetlana said. "And I have something else to say. I am not a foolish woman. I am probably less foolish than any woman you have ever known.

"And like you, I have been trained to look for the worst scenarios. I thought about the worst scenarios before I put the toothbrush in the lock of your bathroom."

"And what are the worst scenarios?"

"Actually, there were three," she said, propping herself on her elbow to look down at him, which caused her breast to rest on his chest. "The first was that I was wrong about what I thought I saw in your eyes, and that you felt nothing for me.

"The second was your professionalism would be so strong that you would reject me no matter how you felt. That really worried me."

"And the third?"

"That's still viable, my Charley. You know what the chances are of our spending our lives together? You've never thought about that?"

"I've thought about it," Castillo said softly.

"I don't think there's a chance in a thousand that we will be able to do that."

"Okay. So what do we do?"

"I will pray. I have been praying. Do you pray, Charley?"