Page 53 of Kept By The Agents

"You- It's- It's Cat," I mumbled, staring down at the street beneath my boots.

"It is," he agreed. "Look," he waited until I glanced up at him. "I wasn't going to say anything until I fixed things between her and I, but that might take some time. And Brando's already figured it out. You may as well be in on the plan as well."

"Plan?"

"I want us to keep Cat. Permanently."

Halting mid-stride, I stared at him in shock. That sounded like fucking heaven to me. I hardly knew her, but she was open and honest, kind, and giving. Not to mention she was fucking gorgeous and could suck your soul out through your cock without breaking a sweat. Not that I was going to mention the last thing. I didn't want to rub it in while Cat was still mad at him. This was the first time a woman preferred me over Suave. It was hard not to get an inflated ego over that. Of course I knew she loved him. They'd nearly gotten married, but right now? She trusted me. I liked that.

"What do you think?" he prompted.

"I...think...it's a great idea," I said, hesitating. "You sure you're okay with it?"

"Yeah. I love her." He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I don't have any problem sharing her with the two of you." He shot me a shit-eating grin. "If you think the whole neighborhood didn't hear the two of you fucking, you're an idiot."

The back of my neck heated up. "Yeah, Brando mentioned something about that," I muttered.

"He set this up, you know," he informed me.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think he stuck the two of you together in a room?" Suave pointed to where a bar was sitting at the end of a street. I nodded in the affirmative that it was the one I was looking for. "You think Brando's going to leave something like that to chance?" Suave asked, arching a brow before he shoved the door to the bar open.

I followed him inside, glancing around at the sleazy interior. It was dark and dank. The smell of stale beer permeated everything. "No," I admitted as we found an empty booth near the back. "But that would've been nice to know before now."

Suave snorted and held up two fingers when he caught the bartender's eye. "You would've panicked or some shit. Found some way to fuck it up."

"Would not," I told him. "Asshole." The last was said in a quiet tone as a woman brought over our beers.

Suave snorted again, this time the sound said he didn't believe me. "What are we looking for?"

"Don't know yet," I replied, eyes scanning the crowd. There were two men sitting in a booth near the back who kept looking toward us. They weren't interested in us, but they were watching something else. I followed their line of sight and saw three men huddled together at a table. I nodded toward them and Suave, using extreme caution, stretched then took a look at who I pointed out.

"Raleka?"

"Maybe," I commented, keeping my voice down. "But I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"The Raleka are Russian. Those guys look...foreign."

Suave grunted in acknowledgement. He was good with faces and I'd seen him pick out a guy from a lineup based off of one glance at a picture of him. "Think they could be helping the Raleka ship the women out?"

I shook my head, unsure. "I have no idea. I haven't been able to find anything that links anyone to the Raleka." Frustration rang in my tone. I was getting irritated. This organization was top tier at keeping themselves off anyone's radar. The only reason anyone knew anything was because women kept going missing. That was the only clue that they were committing crimes. No wonder the SVR hadn't been able to nail them with any charges.

"See anyone who could be your hacker?" Suave asked, looking around as he drained his beer.

"No," I sighed. Another strike out. This whole mission was one massive hit to my ego. Well, except for Cat. She was probably the only reason I had any confidence left. "We should get out of here." I dropped some bills on the table top and we walked out, taking one last look at the men in the corner as we passed.

I'd been looking for someone who was alone and seemed a bit nervous. Everyone there had been with at least one other person. I didn't expect the hacker to be wearing a neon sign over their head, announcing who they were. But for them not to be there? I was so frustrated. How was I supposed to crack this case if everywhere I turned was a dead end? I needed to find something that would allow us to put this case to rest because I wanted Cat safe. As much as I wanted to find the women who'd been taken, the urge to keep my woman safe was even stronger.

My steps faltered as I realized I considered Cat mine. "Holy shit."

"What?" Suave asked, eyes scanning the area. He thought I saw something.

"N-nothing," I replied, shaking my head.

He frowned over at me. "You sure you're okay?"

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