Chapter 17

“I’m sorry, Gregor. The last thing I want is to upset Mother.” That made it sound as if either I was a mama’s boy or she was overprotective, but that was far from the truth in both instances. Portia Sebring Mann had been part of the intelligence community herself, deciphering Russian codes for the NSA during the Cold War. She’d lost my father, a CIA officer, when that Air India jet had crashed in 1978, and she hadn’t been happy when her brothers had recruited me into the same organization. However, she’d let me follow my own path.

A relaxed smile lit Gregor’s brown eyes, and he patted my shoulder. “You’ve been given leave, of course.”

I groaned. “Please don’t tell me Mother spoke to Rayner.”

“No.” The corner of his mouth quirked up in a grin, and I knew better than to ask whether that meant no, Mother hadn’t spoken to Rayner, who was Director of Counterintelligence, or not. He wouldn’t tell me. “I’ll give you a hand to the car. Would you like me to drive you home?”