“An operation of this type will require further planning,” the Major said thoughtfully.

Anna scowled. “I don’t understand.”

“If I agree to go along with this…suggestion and escort you through that door, then what?”

“I…” Anna threw a quick glance over to the door. “I don’t know.”

“Precisely. I will plan this operation from here on out. And you will do exactly as I say. Is that clear, Lieutenant?”

Anna came to attention automatically. “Yes, sir.”

The Major nodded approvingly. “Sit.”

Anna did as ordered. She sat down, put her hands in her lap and patiently waited.

The Major lit a cigarette and fell into a contemplative silence. After several minutes, he turned to the woman on the bench. “I’m going to take you back into the ballroom,” he informed calmly. “Once we’re inside, this is what you will do…”

* * *

In a crowded tavern, the Major sat alone, silently eating his lunch. Despite the crowd, no one dared venture near him, let alone ask to join him and invite the quiet wrath of Iron Klaus. He looked at his watch and then out the window. This portion of his own personal covert operation could not have been better timed. He had been given a mission that very morning and would be out of the country for at least a week. A small smile curled the edges of his mouth when two women in NATO uniforms came through the door.

“Why does Iron Klaus always have to demand top priority documents at lunch time?” one was saying in an annoyed tone. The woman to whom this question was directed was Anna Schmidt, arriving exactly as instructed.

“Finally! Over here, you two!” a voice called from the other side of a wooden partition that was directly behind the Major’s head.

Anna was being pulled along by her friend, who was so intent upon getting to the table behind the Major that she failed to notice him. Anna, on the other hand, gave the Major a steady look. He nodded and then casually turned his gaze to the newspaper on the table.

“Good afternoon, Major von dem Eberbach,” Anna said politely as she came to stand beside the table.

The Major lifted his gaze, giving the women a slightly disapproving look. “Fräulein Schmidt. Lieutenant Gray,” he replied tersely.

“Your priority request was expedited before we left, sir,” Anna said calmly.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” the Major said approvingly. He then returned his attention to the newspaper, dismissing her presence entirely.

Anna looked at the woman beside her. She seemed rooted to the spot. “Come on, Evie. You promised me beer.” She pulled her friend by the arm, having to practically drag her away. “Jenna, move over so I can sit down,” she said to the woman who had called out, sliding into the seat beside her.

“Anna!” Evie admonished in a horrified whisper. “What are you doing?”

“I’m having lunch. What do you think I’m doing?” Anna said innocently. “What’s the special today?”

Before her friend could respond, the Major rose to his feet. He took a moment to collect the newspaper and then looked up, his eyes meeting Anna’s only briefly before he turned and strode out the door.

“Oh, my God, did you see that!” Jenna gasped.

Anna’s eyes flickered. “See what? Christ, you two are the limit today.” She waved a hand to attract the attention of a waiter, any waiter. “Now, about lunch…”

“Look at her! So calm.”

“I’m not going to be calm if that damn waiter doesn’t come over here. I’m starving. And I want my beer!”

Jenna leaned on the table but was prevented from going on when the waiter appeared. The three ordered their lunch and then quickly took up where they had left off.

“Anna, Major von dem Eberbach called you Fräulein Schmidt!”

“Yes, thank you, Jenna, for pointing out the fact that Major von dem Eberbach actually knows my name. And Evie’s, too, for that matter,” Anna replied blandly.

“Oh, you can be so thick, Anna!” Jenna snorted. “He didn’t call you Lieutenant.”

“Yes, he did.”

“No, you idiot, the first time. And he said thank-you!”

“He was just being polite.”

“Iron Klaus is never polite!”

“Well, he was at that ridiculous party his father arranged at Schloss Eberbach last weekend.”

Evie gave a small squeal, a hand going to her mouth. “Then it’s true!”

Anna gave her friend her best baffled look. “What’s true?”

“You. The Major. At that…party. It’s true!”

Anna gave a bright smile when her drink arrived before turning back to her friend. “Evie, I’m not following your cryptic dialogue. My mother dragged me to another of her society gatherings last weekend. It just happened to be at Schloss Eberbach.” She waved a hand in disgust before taking a sip of her beer, a wry smile on her face. “And so were those gropers I told you about. God, those men won’t leave me alone.”

Jenna gave her a sideways glance. “I heard they’re not the only ones…” she sing-songed and then burst into a fit of the giggles.

“Oh, Jenna, not again!” Anna moaned dramatically. “Now what foolishness have you heard?”

* * *

Anna had scarcely crossed the threshold of her parent’s home when her mother came rushing up to her. “Anna, what have you been doing while we were away?” she demanded.

“Throwing wild parties, Mama,” Anna replied tersely. “Orgies. Lots of naked men and women. Couldn’t you tell by the state of the place?”

“This is no time for any of your foolishness,” her mother snapped back. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do with you. Your father and I try to give you all of the advantages.”

Anna rolled her eyes. Advantages, my ass! Her mother was an Olympic level social climber. If she could have bought a title at some point in time, Anna had no doubt she would have. Now she had turned her focus on getting her daughters married into “a good family,” meaning, of course, an old established bloodline of one form or another. Try as she might, Anna could not convince her mother that titles in Germany meant nothing anymore.

“We send you get a proper education, and you come back in the Army!”

“Mama, I’m in NATO…”

“And you carry a gun!”

Anna sighed heavily. She refrained from pointing out that her parents had pulled every string that they could to get her assigned to the Bonn office. “What on earth brought this on?”

“There’s a man her to see you,” her mother announced.

Anna frowned. Her parents had been visiting her sister and their newest grandchild in Paris for the last month. She had expected to get the usual lecture about needing to start a family of her own the moment they returned and wondered if her mother was trying a different tactic. “Mama, is this one of your…?”

Frau Schmidt did not even pause. “Now, don’t tell me that you weren’t expecting him. He asked for you by name.”

Anna gave her mother a searching look. She seemed genuinely certain that this mystery visitor was someone Anna had arranged to meet.

“How long has he been here?”

“Only a few minutes.”

Anna sighed heavily. Great. Now what? Ever since the rumors started, Major von dem Eberbach seemed to have women practically throwing themselves at him. Apparently, the general consensus was that he was now ready to “settle down,” and Anna could easily be replaced in his “affections.” She, too, had been having similar difficulties, although having a strange man appear on her doorstep was something new. Obviously, her idea about starting rumors had backfired in the worst possible way and the Major was currently in the process of formulating a way to end their covert operation before the both of them went mad.

“Where is he, then?” Anna asked. Considering how hard her mother had been pushing for her to get a man, she would not have been surprised if the reply was her bedroom.

“In the parlor, of course,” her mother said sweetly. “He’s a very nice looking young man, Anna.”

The approving tone made Anna wince. “Great.” She went to the partially open parlor doorway and peered in. Nice looking did not even begin to describe the blond vision in the Armani suit on the far side of the room. Anna recognized the Earl of Gloria instantly, although she had never met him in person. Everyone at NATO knew of his relentless pursuit of Iron Klaus. The descriptions of the Earl paled in comparison to seeing him in person. The man was positively striking.

“He’s quite respectable looking, don’t you think?” Anna heard her mother saying. She could not help herself and laughed out loud, attracting the Earl’s attention.

“Ah, so this is your lovely daughter, Frau Schmidt,” the Earl cooed in impeccable German, a brilliant smile lighting up his face. He crossed to Anna, taking her by the hand. “Charming lady. I’m—”

“I know who you are,” Anna said tersely, pulling her hand from his grasp. “Would you excuse us, please, Mother?” She did not even wait for a reply before turning and closing the door. She turned back, looking the man before her up and down before practically demanding, in English, “What are you doing here, Lord Gloria? Or would you prefer that I call you Eroica?”

Eroica’s eyebrows went up. “Very direct. The Major would approve,” he remarked as he crossed to a chair and sat down.

“I’m overjoyed to hear it. And you haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

Eroica gave Anna an appraising look from his place across the room. “Since you know who I am, I should think the answer was obvious.”

Of course it was glaringly obvious, but Anna was not about to let on. She gave Eroica her best innocent look. “We have nothing worth stealing. At least, nothing that you would consider worth stealing.”

“Very amusing, Fräulein. You know perfectly well what I’m talking about,” Eroica said sulkily. “You’re not the Major’s type. You’re just wasting your time.”

A smile started to twitch on the edges of Anna’s mouth. She looked at the man across the room, and could not contain the laugh that was forcing its way from her throat. “My God, even you believe all those ridiculous rumors! Incredible!”

Eroica could not have looked more shocked if she had slapped him across the face. “Rumors usually have a grain of truth in them,” he said evenly.

“Oh? Like the ones you insist on perpetuating about yourself and—” Anna broke off, a hand going to her mouth as an extraordinary thought struck her. “You’re jealous!”

Eroica snorted indignantly and made a show of pushing his hair back. “I don’t have a jealous bone in my body.”

Anna gave a loud scoffing laugh. “Oh, please! You’re the vainest man on the planet. You’re jealous because the newest rumors have superseded yours! You just have to be the center of attention, don’t you? Even in a lie. You can’t stand the fact that society would rather talk about a possible relationship between Iron Klaus and a woman than with a…a…”

“Degenerate faggot.”

Anna caught her breath and spun around, seeing Klaus standing in the doorway, a look of thunder on his face. By this time, her mother had given up trying to figure out exactly what her daughter had been doing for the past month and had vanished to another part of the house.

Christ! What the hell is he doing here! “Major von dem Eberbach!” Anna gasped. “Sir, what...?”

The Major did not reply. He was too busy glaring at Eroica. Then he slowly turned his gaze to the stupefied woman. “It seems, Lieutenant, that I’m not the only one concerned with the recent explosion of rumors.”

Dorian brightened considerably upon hearing this. “Oh, Major, does that mean you really aren’t involved with this—” He broke off when he received a cold, threatening scowl and decided to remain polite rather than invite a black eye. “This…lady?”

“Major,” Anna began hesitantly, hoping she was following the officer’s lead correctly. “Sir, you know I’ve done nothing to encourage these rumors.” She received a steady look that told her she had responded correctly.

The Major’s expression hardened. “The source has been traced directly to this house,” he informed startlingly.

“What?” Before the thunderstruck Anna could think of anything else to say, her mother entered with a small cart loaded down with tea and sweets. “I thought your guests might like a little refreshment,” Frau Schmidt said urbanely.

Anna gave an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. Behind her, she heard the Earl give a delighted noise as he bounded to his feet. He crossed to the tray and happily accepted a cup of tea. The Major responded with a low growl of disapproval before giving Anna another steady look. He slowly turned his gaze to her mother and then back.

“God’s teeth!”

“Anna!” her mother exclaimed. “We have guests.”

“Who have heard far worse than that,” Anna retorted as she crossed to her mother. “You’re the one spreading all those rumors about Herr von dem Eberbach and me, aren’t you?”

“Anna, dear, this isn’t the time…”

“This is precisely the time, Frau Schmidt,” the Major replied firmly. He suddenly realized that he had everyone’s attention, including Eroica’s. At first, this annoyed him. Then he wondered if he could make use of the thief’s presence to swiftly end the operation and immediately changed tactics. “Do you realize the difficult position you’ve placed your daughter in by perpetuating this falsehood?”

“My daughter? What are you saying?”

Yes, what are you saying? Anna thought. What did you come up with to end this operation?

Klaus turned to look Anna’s mother directly in the eye, feeling slightly pleased when the woman flinched. “I’m saying that if you do not stop perpetuating these unfounded rumors, your daughter may well end up before a disciplinary committee.”

“What!” the Schmidt women said in unison.

“If I can trace the source of the rumors back to this house, so can anyone else,” Klaus stated flatly. Of course, this was a lie. Very few could follow a thin lead to its source the way he could, but Frau Schmidt did not know that.

Anna did, however, and felt this was her cue to assist. “It’s true, Mama. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Do you want to get me thrown out of NATO?” Seeing an all too familiar look flash across her mother’s face, she added, “Would you really cause a scandal just to get me to stop working?”

Her mother gasped, a hand going to her mouth. “Scandal!”

“Oh, it’d be unavoidable,” Dorian drawled as he took a sip of his tea. “Society loves a good scandal.”

“You should know,” Klaus growled. It was obvious the Earl was enjoying the confrontation, and equally obvious that he would do more than his part in ending the rumors swirling around the Major and Anna in order to return the focus squarely onto himself. Narcissistic bastard. Fortunately, this was precisely the input the situation needed in order to convince the obstinate woman to stop the rumor mill before it ground everyone completely down.

Frau Schmidt gave the Earl a horrified look, completely misinterpreting the Major’s remark. She pointed a finger at him, her face flushed with anger. “You… You…!” she sputtered as she crossed the room. “You come here claiming to be a respectable member of society. An aristocrat! You’re just one of those reporters from the scandal sheets using your title to wheedle your way into my home!”

“What?” Dorian gasped. This was a new one, even for him. “I can assure you, Frau Schmidt…”

Klaus could not quite believe his eyes when the enraged woman took the cup from the Earl’s hands before slapping him across the face. The officer threw an astonished look in Anna’s direction, seeing that she was equally stunned. Pulling himself together, he felt he should probably rescue the idiot before he got himself beaten to a pulp by the overwrought Hausfrau. Then they would really have a scandal on their hands.

The Major crossed the room, pulling the thief to his feet. “Alright, you’ve had your fun with these good people, Lord Gloria,” he said sternly. “Time you left.”

“Major!” Dorian protested as he was practically dragged to the door.

Klaus stopped on the threshold. “Oh, just one thing before I throw you into the street. I want you to assure Frau Schmidt that nothing of what was said here will appear in print.”

Dorian blinked and stared at the Major a moment before finally catching on. “Uh, yes…of course, Major von dem Eberbach. Whatever you say. Everything is completely off the record.”

The Major nodded approvingly. “There will be no more rumors coming from this house.” He turned to Frau Schmidt, giving her a steady look before leaving, dragging the Earl with him.

Anna heard the front door slam and heaved a sigh of relief. She had heard that being near the Major for any length of time with Eroica present was like being caught up in a whirlwind. At that moment, she could not have agreed more. She felt completely overwhelmed by the past half hour and looked over at her mother, seeing an odd look on her face. “Mama?”

“Oh, Anna,” her mother said, shaking her head. “What ever did you see in that man?”

* * *