Theirs had been a dangerous profession, and they'd known it. Even so, he'd never expected it to end this way. As clever and ruthless as she'd been, the lengths she'd been willing to go to to avoid capture, he'd thought that she could survive virtually anything, that nothing would ever be able to stop her.

Now, to his utter disbelief, she was gone. As she'd ended the lives of others who'd gotten in her way, her own life had been abruptly taken.

Had he loved her? She'd been his partner in so many things: marriage, parenthood, the struggle to bring the proudest, mightiest nation in the world to its knees. They'd shared so many aspects of their lives, experienced so much together, both victories and defeats. If there hadn't been a true bond at first, one had certainly developed over the years.

He knew that because of her, his life would never be the same. A part of her would always remain with him.