Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“I could also kill you if you don’t tell me.”
“Then my people would come after yours, and they would start a huge war, and neither of us wants that.”
“You wouldn’t have to worry about that if you were dead.”
“I’d prefer not to be dead.”
He smiled. “Yeah, me too, and I’d sure as hell like to be there when Ivanov goes down.
“Alliance?” I held out my hand for him to shake.
“I was warned to stay away from you.”
My pulse increased. “By who?”
“‘By whom,’ actually. Sorry, that’s my brother’s influence. He’s a professor, but I’m sure you know that.”
I glared at him. “Who warned you off, and why?”
“I can’t tell you, but they want to protect me.”
Did someone in his family know? Would it be better if I went all in with him the way I’d planned to? Or was this the stupidest plan I’d ever devised? Maria tried to tell me it was, but the longer we worked together, the greater the chance Rafe would figure it out anyway.
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Who do you work for?”
Here goes nothing. “The government.”
Rafe’s eyes widened. He took a few steps back before pulling his gun on me.
“This is becoming a habit with us,” I said.
“It’s not going to be a habit for much longer if you don’t get the fuck out of here. If I see you again, I will kill you.”
“If I was after you, I would’ve already made the arrest or the kill or whatever my overlord’s ordered me to do.”
“Are you part of some fucking black ops assignment?”
I shrugged. “Something like that.”
I wasn’t about to let him know I was with the FBI. I’d taken enough risks admitting I was working for Uncle Sam or his evil twin or whatever.
“You really think I’m going to work with you now? You came into my casino, robbed me with your cheating ways, then proposed we work together. I’ll let you in, but you were just a snake the whole time.”
I took several steps toward him.
“Back off.”
I shook my head and moved even closer. There was confusion in his eyes. “I saved your life.”
“That doesn’t mean a fucking thing.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I took the last step. His gun was pressed against my chest. A shot would kill me instantly. “Are you going to do it?”
He didn’t respond.
“If you’re going to take me out, do it now. Or… you could trust me, and we could find Ivanov and end him. There won’t be any consequences for you or your family. You’re not part of my assignment.”
“But you want me to pay, right?” He looked me up and down. “One way or another.”
“I do.” I meant it. I wasn’t acting out a role. I truly wanted him. “But if I was after your family, would I have told you why I’m here?” The uncertainty in his eyes was making me hotter. I liked that I’d rattled him. He might be a hardened criminal, but he could be seduced. “Come on. You know you want this.”
12
RAFE
My cock was so hard I thought it might split the seams of my pants. I did want this. I wanted Gerald Gino Gardner. I wanted him to fuck me, which probably meant I’d lost my mind.
What if he really could help me find Ivanov? I wanted my family to believe I was a grown-ass man who could do serious work like the rest of them. Nothing would do that like finding Ivanov and delivering him to my family to torment. We all wanted to take a piece out of him.
But working with a government agent, letting him see behind the curtain? That was crazy. It was wrong, and if it went south, Remington would possibly kill me and certainly exile me. I wouldn’t see my brothers anymore. I shouldn’t do this. “I was trying to be good.”
I realized I’d said the words out loud when G’s smile grew wider.
“Why bother? You were made to be bad.”
“So you’re not trying to reform me?”
He raised his brows. “Is that what you want?”
“Fuck if I know.”
He pushed his chest into the barrel of my gun, forcing me to bend my arm more. I should shove him away or shoot him, but I wasn’t going to do either. I didn’t need a dead government agent on my hands, not that I doubted my family could disappear his body. But I didn’t want him dead. I didn’t even want him to leave.
He put his hand over mine, and I let him have the gun. He laid it aside on a table and walked me back against the wall.
He was taking charge, and my body screamed for me to let him. But I had to have some agency in this, so I grabbed his face and pulled him in for the kiss I’d been dying for since the last time.