The hour-long ride back to San Francisco was very quiet as neither Adrian nor Natalie brought up for discussion what had just happened between them. After a while, Monk reached over and turned on the radio which was set to a soft Jazz station playing the music of Cole Porter. Natalie had seen Monk's record collection many times but seldom heard music when around him. Now, all of the sudden, she noted to herself that he was dancing with her, playing music in his car, and even humming when he didn't think anyone was listening. It was as if he had shut himself off from that pleasure when Trudy died and now that he was getting better and had let go of his mourning for her, his love for music was coming back. Happily, she liked his style.

In addition to this, she noticed that for someone who never drove, he was doing marvelously well - with one exception. When they got in a traffic jam coming back into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, the bridge swayed slightly. When it did, she noted that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that not only were his knuckles white but a vein that she had never seen before was making an appearance down the center of his forehead. Instinctively, she reached over and gently placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"It's okay. Bridges are made for this sort of thing." She said softly.

Monk released his grip briefly as her voice had broken the silence but then regripped it.

"I know they are. But, I can't help remembering what happened in 1989 and the Loma Prieta Earthquake."

"I remember that. Mitch and I had just started dating and I was out at Jacksonville visiting him on base. I heard the news reports and was so worried about my family." she replied.

"Well, we were right in the heart of it." he responded, looking around at the cars. "In fact, we were on the Bay Bridge, Trudy and I, about five minutes before it struck. We crossed over the very part of the bridge that collapsed and could have been killed, if Trudy hadn't made us late by forgetting her purse."

"That's terrible - but good that you didn't get hurt." she replied.

"Yes, it is." he answered, looking straight ahead. "See..your crazy boss's phobias aren't all without rational justification."

"I never thought your fears were without reason." she replied softly. "You're one of the most reasonable men that I know, most of the time."

"Most of the time?" he asked.

She smirked. "Yes. Except your fear of nudity."

"Natalie!" he said, immediately blushing.

"Adrian, it's the naturalist thing in the world. You came into the world naked."

"Don't remind me." he frowned.

"You shower naked." she suggested.

"You don't know that." he replied, glancing over at her to see if she was buying it. She wasn't.

"I have seen no swim trunks in your garbage, nor in your hamper so I deduce that it is so." she responded.

"Well Ms. Holmes, you may be right, but to discuss such things is indecent." he said. "And, besides that, how did we go from talking about a bridge collapse to what I wear...or don't wear...in the shower?"

"Fears." she responded. "And whether or not your fears are rational."

"My fears are incredibly rational." he replied. "But, you wouldn't know that as you're pretty much fearless."

"I am not." she replied.

"Yes you are." he responded. "I've never seen a stronger woman."

"Voodoo dolls." she replied.

"Not any more. You were cured of that, right?"

"True." she said, thinking to herself.

"Julie getting her big break and moving away." she suggested.

"That's not a fear." he replied. "You want the best for your daughter and that would include her success. It's an undesirable consequence of her growing up in one way, but it's something you wouldn't avoid if you felt it truly was for her best so it's not really a fear."

"True." Natalie nodded. She couldn't argue with that. "Okay, how about this one? Fear of losing you." she said, watching for his reaction.

Monk swallowed then turned his head, looking at her with tenderness in his eyes. "Why on earth would you be afraid of that?"

Looking at him, she felt an urge to tell him everything that was going through her mind at that moment but knew it would overwhelm him. Plus, she still needed to straighten it out herself. The situation was complicated. Their excursion couldn't have been a clearer signal to her about how he felt but she didn't want to be the one to say it. She needed him to be the one to express it to her first. So, she balked.

"Because I thought I lost you once. I never want to go through that again." she responded.

Monk wanted to probe more, but seeing her look soberly out the window ,decided to lighten the mood a little. "Then get me off this bridge."

She chuckled. "We're almost to the end. Besides, we're on the top deck. We won't get crushed. And, if the bridge collapsed, I'd jump in the Bay and save you. You have nothing to worry about."

Monk took her hand capturing her full attention. "Natalie. No more talk like that. If this bridge were to collapse or you were in any other danger, you can depend on me to be the one to come save you - even at cost of my own life."

"Adrian-"

"No. Let me finish. You fear losing me. I can't even breathe without you, and that's the truth." he replied, as he let loose of her hand and began to drive through the traffic which had opened up.

Choking back emotion, she knew it was the truth. She reached up and touched his cheek. He leaned his head against her hand but neither said another word as he pulled into the city and made his way to the precinct.

Arriving at the station, the two quickly made their way to Stottlemeyer's office where the Captain was waiting for them. Leland asked them to shut the door then picked up some files he had waiting for them and set them down on his desk, facing Natalie and Monk.

"Sorry to have cut your day off a bit short, but I'm glad you both could make it." The Captain began, handing the file to Monk who opened it up and immediately took a glance.

"What's this about, Captain?" Natalie asked.

"It's about the two cases we've been working on – the Steubens case and the case of Svetlana Yaroslav. We did a little checking into the background of Mrs. Steubens and, as I mentioned on the phone, found out that Nadia Steubens is the sister of Svetlana Yaraslov. Figuring that was quite the quinkidink, I had Lieutenant Prince take it a step further and check with the FBI concerning these women's backgrounds and you're really not going to believe what we found."

"We're listening." Monk said.

"Alicia discovered a very interesting history trail. Svetlana moved here in 2000, which we knew, but she didn't come alone. She brought her sister, Nadia and Nadia's psychologically-impaired daughter. Their sponsor was a third sister who was already living in San Francisco. I need you to sit down." he said, looking between the two.

"Sit down? Why?" Monk asked. Stottlemeyer just motioned with his head towards the chair and Monk and Natalie dutifully sat.

"The sister's name was Gretchen. Gretchen Kazarinski."

"As in Joey Kazarinksi?!" Natalie exclaimed. "The man who almost killed Adrian?"

Leland nodded. "As in Joey's mother."

Monk sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. "Are you sure about that? Joey was a low-class hoodlum, hardly high-society like the Steubens."

"We're very sure. Turns out that Nadia was a secretary to a powerful diplomat while in Serbia and became the secretary of Andreas Steubens when she came to America. The Yaroslavs may have been working class at one point in Serbia, but Nadia was cavorting with some highly placed people in that government and apparently hooked up with her employer pretty quickly here in America and they got married. Now, given that the women are from the former Yugoslavia, it may be difficult to find out much about their history, but I have a friend over at Scotland Yard whom I've asked to reach out to his sources to see what he can find. Meanwhile, I've assigned a team to review both cases together. I would like you to co-lead it."

"Co-lead?" Natalie asked.

"Yes. Given what Kazarinski did to Monk, if we find out there is some connection between the cases, we don't want to give an appearance of bias due to the history that Monk has with the family. Alicia will be listed as lead and working with you on the case."

"Alicia?" Monk whined. "But Alicia doesn't like me."

"Alicia likes you fine, Monk." Leland replied. "And she'll be very professional. It's Natalie that she has a hard time with simply because she doesn't see why you need an assistant."

"I don't care if she sees that I need an assistant." Monk responded. "Natalie and I are a team."

Stottlemeyer smirked. "I know. No need to worry. I told her that she was to treat Natalie as the valuable member of our workforce that she is. If you have any trouble, I want to know about it right away. She may be well-connected but she still has a lot to learn and it's my responsibility to see that she learns it."

Natalie smiled. "Thank you, Captain."

"You are most welcome, young lady." Leland replied. "Now, if you don't mind, there's something else I need to talk to Monk about, so if you wouldn't mind stepping out of the room for a moment."

"Oh...okay." Natalie stood up and looked over at Adrian who nodded that it was okay. She then nervously chuckled, "I need to run to the ladies' anyway. Meet you back here?"

"I'll be there shortly." he smiled.

Stottlemeyer waited for the sound of the door shutting behind Natalie before opening up an additional folder and putting it on the desk in front of his friend. "There's more."

"I assumed as much." Adrian replied.

"I didn't tell Natalie the whole truth for reasons. My friend at the yard is checking out the European connection more, but what we know so far is that the FBI had an entire folder on Mrs. Steubens. It seems that she was the secretary of Vladimir Chorenko, an advisor to Slobodan Milosevic and a diplomat from the Republic of Serbia. Because of her rank and position, Mrs. Steubens, at the time known as Yaroslav, was on the CIA's radar – at least as a known entity in the war. However, she really captured their attention when she had several meetings in 1998, right at the start of the Kosovar war with a certain Naval Airman. " Stottlemeyer said.

Monk looked somberly at Leland, immediately having an inkling of who he was talking about. Reaching for the folder, he read a few sentences and his feeling was confirmed. He looked back at his friend awaiting explanation. "Mitch Teeger."

Stottlemeyer continued. "The Navy got word that Mitch had reached out to the Serbs and put a tail on him." Leland reached for the folder and turned a couple of pages, setting the folder down right in front of Monk. There, on the page were two photographs of Mitch Teeger in civilian clothing sitting in a café with a woman that Monk recognized as Nadia. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Leland stood and sat on the edge of his desk. "Now you see why I needed to talk to you privately."

"Were they...involved?" Monk asked, apprehensively.

"No idea. But, now you see why I need you on the case. But where you are, Natalie is. I felt you needed to be aware that this information is out there lurking so you can plan on how to react if it should come up. It may not have nothing to do with the current situation."

"Why would it? Mitch has been dead for fourteen years." Monk replied.

"It may not." Leland said. "Won't know until we start digging. But, as it is, we have two women who were potentially foreign spies who happen to be involved with people who have turned up dead. Now one of them has been murdered. Add to that the unbelievable coincidence that Joey K.' s mother happens to be their sister – well…it seems like a case tailor made for you, if it weren't for…"

"If it weren't for Mitch." Monk replied.

"Exactly."

Monk looked at the photo and returned to the front page and began to read. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take the folder with him so he sought to memorize as much of it as he possibly could before he rejoined Natalie.

Yaroslav was visited four times in March 1998 by Lieutenant Commander Mitchell Teeger, call-sign Eagle, a Navy airman and highly decorated veteran of Operation Desert Shield. Teeger was observed meeting with Miss Yaroslav at катрина'с цафе (Katrina's Cafe) on March 3rd, 5th, 10th, and 18th, passing written correspondence off to her of unknown content on the last two visits. At the time, it had been determined that Department of the Navy secure computer systems had been accessed and information from the systems concerning military coordinates were printed off. Whether this is what Teeger handed to Yaroslav is not known, though it is suspected that it was. No additional surveillance of Teeger was possible as on March 24th, Teeger's plane went missing and was later found to have crashed in a wooded area near Osojan in Kosovo. Two of Teeger's crewmates that accompanied him on the mission, Lieutenant Harrison 'Harry' Chambers and Ensign Lawrence Robinson, were rescued and indicated that upon crashing, Teeger took their supplies and radio and deserted. The two men searched for Teeger and found his body about a quarter of a mile from the crash site under a bridge. The cause of death was a gunshot wound through the front of his cervical spinal column. Instructions that he was carrying with him at the time were missing and are presumed to have fallen into enemy hands.

Raising his hand to his head, Monk rubbed his temple and closed his eyes. "I can't tell her this. It will kill her."

"I know." Leland said, sympathetically.

"But, if she finds out and discovers that I knew, "Monk continued. "then she's going to feel betrayed. Just when things were opening up." His mind wandered off.

"Any more on that situation?" Leland inquired.

"Yes. I took her up to my cousin's place in Northern Marin County. Used to go there as a kid. It's quite beautiful. We were going to have a relaxing day and I made us some lunch."

"That sounds like a nice, pleasant day." Stottlemeyer replied.

"Yeah. It was. We talked...and we danced." Monk continued.

"Danced?" Leland said, a slight grin beginning to appear on his face.

"Yes. Things were going great until she fell ill." he said.

"Oh, no. Is she okay?" Leland asked, concerned.

"She's fine now. We think she may have been dehydrated."

"I see." Leland smirked.

"So, I took her back up to my car, and held her for a while." Monk smiled softly.

Leland smiled. This was at least some progress. "Holding her is good. Nice first step."

"Yes, very nice." Monk smiled. "But, I'm not done."

"There's more?" Stottlemeyer asked.

"Yeah." Monk said, lowering his head and twisting his mouth into a mischievous grin.

Leland paused, then smirked. "Go on..."

"I almost..." Monk replied.

"Yes..."

"Well, I almost kissed her." Monk replied.

Stottlemeyer was shocked, blinking his eyes several times and shaking his head. "You almost kissed Natalie?!"

Monk looked irritated. "Well that is who we've been talking about!"

"Well, I know, but..."

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, I...well because...because, it's you, Monk!" Stottlemeyer exclaimed. "We were just talking about telling her how you feel and that was like pulling hen's teeth and now...you tell me...you almost kissed her? Where? On the cheek?"

"No. On the mouth. Our lips were probably two inches away and I was leaning in to kiss her." Adrian responded.

Stottlemeyer's eyes widened as he waited for his friend to tell him what happened.

"But then…" Monk stopped.

"Then, what?" Leland asked in slight frustration.

"Then, a certain Captain I know called us to ask us to come down the station!" Monk barked. "Great timing there, Leland!."

Leland threw his hand over his face and closed his eyes. "Awe, no. Awe Geez, really, buddy?"

"Yeah. Really." Monk frowned.

Stottlemeyer shook his head. "Oh. I am so, so sorry!"

"Not half as sorry as me. Next time I'm leaving my phone at home and making her leave hers as well. It's a wonder that the population continues growing with such technological challenges." Monk grumbled, then he shrugged but said nothing more. Quietly Leland was proud and happy at the progress this showed in his friend.

Monk again reached for the papers. "The report says that Mitch was shot in the neck?"

"Yes. So?" Leland replied.

"So was Steubens. Isn't that weird?" Adrian asked.

"I guess."

"No guesswork about it. When people are trained to shoot, they are trained to go for the torso. Bigger area, less chance of missing. Going for the neck takes a certain skill. It's very effective if you want to incapacitate someone immediately, but it's not the spot people usually aim for as you pretty much have to be a sharp shooter to ensure that you hit your target. If Mitch was armed, which he undoubtedly was, whoever shot him would not want to give him the capability of fighting back."

Leland nodded. "Sounds reasonable. I'll make that note. You thinking that whoever killed Steubens killed Mitch?"

"Who knows? It certainly is interesting that there is a connection between the two cases." Monk replied. "Leland, this may be our most significant case yet. National Security. Espionage."

"Indeed. Which is why I needed you on it." He responded. "Please know that putting Alicia on it as well is not a lack of confidence in you. I know the situation is a bit complicated. She's there to help you if you need it – and help you in a way that maintains your relationship with Natalie. She's also been instructed to not mention Mitch to Natalie at all."

"We can trust her?" Monk asked.

"I wouldn't be using her on this case if I didn't think we could." Leland replied. "As I said, she may be politically well connected, but she still has a lot to learn about police work and I'm not going to let her screw this up – for you or for the case."

Monk shook his head. "Okay. As long as she shows her respect, I'm okay with it." He replied. "Natalie has certainly earned everyone's respect. She's smart and resourceful and plays second fiddle to no one."

"I know. I had a talk with Alicia. She will stay in her lane. If she doesn't, please let me know."

"You can count on it." Adrian responded as he closed the folder, stood up from his seat and reflectively walked to the door.

Entering the squad room, he looked up and saw Natalie standing over near the water cooler talking with Sergeant Lisa Stringer, Prince's right-hand-woman, about their two daughters who were in college together. When Natalie saw him, she smiled and excused herself, but her smile turned to concern when she noticed a change in his countenance.

"Everything okay?" she asked, stroking his back. Monk did not respond at first and therefore Natalie took him by both arms and turned him towards her.

"What's wrong? What did the Captain say?" she asked.

While Natalie's back was to her desk, Monk looked up and saw Alicia Prince sitting and observing the whole scene. She rolled her eyes and Adrian clinched his jaw but held his peace.

"Everything's fine." He replied quietly, rolling his shoulder and extracting himself from Natalie's grip. She tried not to be hurt as he bypassed her and walked directly over to Lieutenant Prince. "Alicia, what's the game plan? The Captain told me about what all is going on with this case. I assume we're starting with Nadia Steubens?"

"After we gather more evidence." She stated. "We know that she lied about who killed her husband. Tagging her daughter with that crime was convenient, but we obviously don't believe that she did it."

"It was Svetlana." Natalie stated. "I have a hunch."

"That's what we're trying to determine. We know so far that Svetlana cancelled all of her dance lessons for the day at the last minute." Prince replied.

"For the whole day?" asked Monk.

"Yes. First one in the morning to last one in the afternoon." She responded.

"Sounds like maybe she had plans for the day…maybe a meeting over at her sister's house?" Monk suggested.

"Willful intent?" Natalie replied.

"Whatever it was, there would have had to be a certain urgency about it." Monk added. "Alicia, can you see if we can subpoena the phone records for Svetlana Yaroslav and Nadia Steubens for that week?"

"Already put in the order. Just waiting for the judge to sign the warrant."

"What do we do until then?" Natalie asked.

"Uh, Natalie...take my keys." Monk replied.

"To your new car?" she asked, surprised he'd let her touch them much less hand them over to her.

"Yes. I need you to see what you might find out about Svetlana and Gretchen Kazarinski through public sources. I'm going to go do some research on Nadia." He replied.

"You don't want me to go with you?" she asked, confused.

"No. I'll be okay." He stated, his eyes shifting. "We can meet later."

Monk began to walk away but Natalie quickly stood and followed him. "Wait up!" she stated, following him out into the hallway. "You don't need a ride?"

Monk looked nervous. "No. I'm okay. I'll catch a cab."

"A cab?" Now, she was confused. "Why not just take your car?"

"No. I want you to have it. I'll get it later." he replied.

"Well where are you going? When will you be back?" she asked, suddenly feeling very domestic.

"I'll be home tonight, dear." he said with a slightly playful smile, feeling the same vibe. He turned to walk towards the elevator. "I'll call you later, Natalie."

She stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Mr. Monk. Wait a minute. Don't go."

Monk stopped but did not turn around.

"What was said after I left?" she asked. "You're treating me differently. I thought you said where you go, I go. What was said in there that changed that?"

Monk turned to her but didn't look her in the eye. "Nothing has changed between us. We just need to do this separately. I promise, Natalie. I will call you later."

Leaving a confused Natalie in his wake, Monk walked out of the police station and to the corner, hailing a cab and pulling out his cell phone at the same time.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked.

Monk thumbed through his contacts list on his cell phone and opened the address book. "San Francisco Federal Building. Ninety, Seventh Street."

"You've got it." The man replied.

As he drove, Monk pressed 'call' on the contact listed within his phone and waited for the telephone operator to pick up. When she did, he requested that the operator patch him through to extension 3585, "Dr. Paul Gentry."

Paul Gentry was a former Berkeley alumnus who was a friend of Trudy's with whom Monk had occasionally interacted with before and after Trudy's death. He was also a civilian member of the military intelligence community that Trudy had sometimes used in her investigations when she had questions about how things worked within the federal structure as well as when she would need to take advantage of his vast network of contacts within said structure. Monk himself had not talked to Gentry in close to a decade but they had mutual respect for one another, and so Gentry took the call.

After Monk explained that he was investigating a double-homicide and needed access to records about a late Naval officer, Gentry agreed to meet with him and to help him in any way that he could where the records were found to be unclassified. Monk thanked him and told him that he would see him at the Federal Building in twenty minutes.

Once he arrived, Gentry led him to a research room where there was a table for people to review information without it actually leaving the facility. Even though the data was going to be unclassified, they wouldn't allow folders to leave the area for security purposes particularly after recent breeches had resulted in the loss of an unknown number of files.

Asking him to sit down, Gentry went to the custodian of records who then retrieved the files that Monk was most interested in seeing. Handing them to him, Gentry gave him time to peruse them while he looked to other business. Monk thumbed through Mitch's file until he reached the time frame in question. The papers were heavily redacted; but, knowing the players as he did, Monk could piece together parts of the puzzle. Almost immediately, Monk discovered that information requests were submitted by Lieutenant Commander Mitch Teeger concerning Nadia Yaroslav and her sister Svetlana.

Not exactly the moves of someone wishing to betray his country. Monk thought to himself.

But what really caught his eye was the information that was returned on Nadia's boss, Vladimir Chorenko. Chorenko had been a life-long Soviet agent and spy as well as a member of the KGB. A skilled politician, he managed to survive the cold war and collapse of the Soviet Union, being close friends of several top Russian officials going all the way back to the time of Leonid Brezhnev. It was therefore surprising that he was allowed to survive in polite society much less a high government position following the 'Evil Empire's' collapse. But, survive he did and indeed thrive as he was a chief consultant for various Socialist party officials and even appearing on stage at one point with Serbian President Milosevic at the Dayton Ohio Peace Accords.

Turning the page, he read all about the accords and saw photographs in which Chorenko stood in a group of individuals including President Milosevic and U.S. Deputy Security Advisor Peter Adams. Behind them, one could clearly see a much younger Nadia Steubens standing next to a man who looked very familiar. Sitting back in his chair, Monk pulled his glasses out of his pocket and used them to get a closer look at the photograph. He was astonished.

"Well what the heck is he doing there?" he asked, just as Gentry reentered the room.

A few hours later, Monk returned home and sat down in his arm chair, considering what he should do with his new found information. As he pondered this, his landline rang. Reaching over, he picked up the wireless receiver and looked at the caller I.D. He closed his eyes. It was now seven o'clock at night and he had forgotten to call Natalie.

"Hello." He answered, sheepishly.

"Oh! Mr. Monk, thank goodness!" the urgent voice on the other end of the line sounded frantic. "You didn't call and I started to get worried. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay? I told you I was going…" he asked, but was unable to finish as a rapid-fire explanation seemed to pour out from Natalie's lips.

"Well, you were acting so strangely after you talked with Leland. It felt like you didn't want me around and I got to thinking why that might be and all I could come up with is that you knew where you were going was dangerous and that you didn't want to put me into danger as well and so…I…I got worried. But…it seems that you're okay…so, I guess I shouldn't be worried anymore…you are…okay, right? I mean…we're okay…I mean, I didn't say or do anything to upset you did I? Because, if I did then I…"

"Natalie!" Monk interrupted. "What on earth are you talking about? We spent a lovely early afternoon together at cousin's place and then had a nice drive back…we're fine! I'm not upset with you at all. We're good... Very good."

She sighed a sigh of relief. "Good!"

"Good."

"We're okay?"

"We're great." He smiled.

She paused for a moment then asked, "Then why did you send me away?"

Monk's heart ached to tell her but he knew he couldn't tell her the truth, not just yet. But then again, he couldn't tell her a lie, and so he settled on a partial truth with a hint of deflection.

"Well…if you must know…" he started.

"I would like to know." She replied.

"It's like this…you are right. Where I went did have a hint of danger to it…but…not like you think. I'm not in any physical danger at this point. Nevertheless…because there is this danger, I really don't want to…put you at risk."

"Mr. Monk…"

"No, Natalie. It's important for you to listen to me this time. I have reasons for what I'm saying and you're just going to have to trust me for now, okay?"

Natalie didn't like it, but she acquiesced, but not without question. "So, if you're doing this investigation without me, where does that leave me?"

"I'm not doing it without you." He replied. "I need you to do some leg work on some very specific elements of it that are really pretty intriguing."

"Such as?" she asked.

"Such as, where I went today, I took some time to pursue what I could on Nadia Yaroslav and her life in Yugoslavia. Again, I can't get into it a lot but it turns out…you're not going to believe it…it turns out she is associated with Ibrahim Tahiri."

"The guy who was working with Rickover?"

"Precisely. She was pictured next to him at the Dayton Peace Accords" He replied. "This makes Molly's case all the more important to dig into. So, if you don't mind taking leave from me for a bit, I would like you to work with Molly and try to see what you can about that Macedonian charity and their workings here in the U.S."

Natalie nodded, though he couldn't see her. Not working with him was a disappointment; however, she recognized that he was doing something quite unusual in allowing her to handle an investigation by herself – well, almost by herself. She appreciated his vote of confidence.

"Will do, boss." She replied, trying to sound calmer and more chipper. "Anything else?"

"No, my dear Natalie. That's plenty right there... Are we okay now?" he asked. "I mean, you're not worried about me any more and you're satisfied that I'm okay?"

"Yes." She smiled. "Just don't want anything happening to you."

Monk grinned. "Impossible. Don't you know by now that I'm like a cat?"

"How's that?"

"I have ten lives."

She laughed. "I see. Except, you know of course that it's really nine."

"Yeah…but ten sounds so much better, don't you think?" he said, with a hint of flirtatiousness in his voice.

"But, of course, Adrian." She cooed. "But, of course."