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)
“You really think Ivanov would make a direct strike?”
I hoped not, but I wasn’t going to chance it. “He sure as hell tried it six months ago.”
He had. He’d been right there, right in Rafe’s path, holding Dante’s boyfriend hostage. “He’s crazy. More so now.”
“That’s on us. We moved in too fast.”
“Well, we can’t do that again. I think it’s time to bring in some more players.”
Rafe shook his head. “I can’t tell my family I’m working with you.”
“We can take LeBlanc out ourselves, but we need help to bring down Ivanov’s whole operation. It’s my guys or yours. If you want this to be your family’s kill, then we’ve got to talk to them.”
“We?”
“I can’t hide my agency’s interest.”
“No way. If my family decides not to trust you, if they don’t understand, they could kill you.”
I shrugged. “Then I’d be out of your way, and you could finish the operation.”
“Are you fucking crazy? I don’t—”
He turned and looked out the window. I didn’t say anything. I just stood beside him and stared at the slow-moving Mississippi. A river cruise was moving leisurely past the casino.
I knew Rafe didn’t want me dead. We were well past that, but I also didn’t think he cared as much as his reaction indicated. The way he’d looked at me, the pain in his eyes. Fuck. Now my head was going to be even more messed up than it already was.
Rafe laid a hand on my arm. “Let me make a call.”
24
RAFE
We were moving in on Ivanov. LeBlanc would have information, even if it wasn’t directly about Ivanov. We’d know more, and we’d find him. I needed to focus on making a solid plan of attack, but all I could think about was how once this was over, Zach would disappear. He’d go back to being a fed, and I’d go back to random hookups that never… No. I couldn’t think about that.
I opened my contacts and tapped on X’s number.
“Rafael, what can I do for you?”
“I didn’t listen to your advice.” I wasn’t going to be able to ask for what I needed if I didn’t confess to working with Zach, so I decided to get that out of the way first.
X chuckled. “I never thought you would.”
“You thought I’d get involved with Zach?”
“Ah. I see you got his name out of him.”
“I know I was supposed to stay away, but—”
“You were too charming, too seductive?”
“Too something.” Stupid, probably.
“Do you want my blessing?”
I huffed. “No, but I do have some news, and I need some advice.”
“Advice from me and not your family?”
“I’m not ready to introduce Zach to my family.”
“Yeah, that’s a big step.”
Shit. I realized how that sounded. “Not because we’re in a relationship or something.” Zach’s eyebrows rose, and I turned away from him as heat rose in my face.
“So it’s casual?” X asked. “That’s good. It means you’ll be fine when you wrap this up and he leaves.”
No, I would not. “That’s not important right now. We found the mole Ivanov planted in the casino, or at least we’re as sure as we can be.”
“Impressive. Are you saying you’d like me to check your work?”
“I’d feel better if you did.”
“Send me what you’ve got, and I’ll have an answer for you within an hour.”
X didn’t play around. I was somewhat convinced he was magic, or his hacker husband was. I held out my hand to Zach, and he handed me the zip drive where he’d saved all the information. I plugged it in and sent X the relevant files, which Zach had encoded. “The info should be in your drive.”
I heard a few keyboard clicks. “Got it. What else?”
“We need a plan for how to proceed once we interrogate this man. We’re going to need to bring more people in and—”
“You don’t have to tell your family about Zach. You could plan everything with them and leave Zach out of it.”
“No. I… We have a deal.”
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
He chuckled. “Maybe a little.”
“I want you there to back me up. I don’t want there to be any chance that they cut him out.”
“No.”
I pulled the phone away for a second and took a breath. “What do you mean, no?”
“You found the mole. You can make a plan and present it. Everything will be fine.”
“I have to protect him.”
“You protect all your casual hookups?”
“No. I mean, yeah. Maybe not like this.”
More laughter. “I didn’t think so.”
“I don’t know how to tell Remington or my brothers. They aren’t going to like the deal I made, but I have to convince them. They need to understand why I did it.”
“I believe in you.”
“Xavier, please—”
“You want to prove yourself to them. Now go do it.”
He ended the call, and I stood there staring at the phone for several seconds before finally shoving it back in my pocket. What the fuck was I going to do now?