Page 11 of Endless Love

“I want to tell you I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I wish I could say that. Ishouldsay that, because you’re right. Your life is never going to be the same after this, and that wouldn’t have happened if I’d just left you alone. But?—”

Something about the look on his face, the hurt that I see there, softens something inside of me. I’m terrified, angry, and confused, but there’s still the part of me that cares about him, that thought that there was something between us that could have become so much more. The memories of laughing with him and picking apples and baking a pie, of sitting in a movie theater, of his mouth and hands on me, all of those things are still there, and even if it’s all tangled up in so many lies, I know at least some of it was real.

And it’s all about to be over.

“What about you?” I ask hurriedly, as I see one of the doors to the black car on the other side of the parking lot open. “What happens to you now? You said you weren’t on good terms with your family, and if I’ve gotten away?—”

“Don’t worry about that,” Ivan says tersely. “All that matters is that you’re safe, Charlotte. Everything else is secondary.”

The utter sincerity with which he says it makes me go very still, staring up at him. There’s no trace of anything else in his voice, nothing to make me think he isn’t telling the truth. And the way he dodged my question suddenly makes me afraid for him. “Ivan?—”

“Mr. Kariyev. Ms. Williams.” A sharp, businesslike voice cuts through the air, interrupting, and both Ivan and I turn at the same time.

A man is walking towards us, one that I can only imagine is Agent Bradley. He’s wearing ordinary clothes, jeans and a polo shirt, and yet he screamscop. Or, I guess, in this case,FBI agent. There’s a smirk on his face, but it lacks the charm of Ivan’s. There’s no humor in it—he just looks satisfied, like a cat who’s caught a particularly irritating mouse. And the way he’s looking at Ivan—as if Ivan is the mouse—instantly makes me feel uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with him,” I say quietly, under my breath. Staying with Ivan isn’t—can’t—be an option, either, but right now, all I know is that I don’t trust this man. I don’t want to get in that car with him. And I don’t want to entrust him with wiping away my entire identity and giving me a new one.

“He’ll help you,” Ivan insists. “No matter what, you’ll be safe, Charlotte. And that’s all that?—”

He breaks off as the back door to the black car opens. And my heart feels as if it falls out of my chest as I see the man who slides out, straightening in the afternoon sun stiffly and looking across the parking lot at me with that same self-satisfied smirk that’s on Agent Bradley’s face.

“Nate?” His name spills out of my mouth before I can even fully register what I’m seeing. “What are you doing here? What?—”

Bradley’s smirk deepens. “Well, that’s the thing, Ms. Williams. It seems that your little boyfriend’s criminal activitieshaven’t been limited to the vast and varied world of the Bratva’s jobs for him.”

“He’s not my—” I start to say, but Bradley keeps talking over me.

“He apparently has plenty of time for extracurriculars, too. For instance—” He motions for Nate to hurry up and get to his side. The moment Nate is standing next to him, Bradley turns and hooks a finger in the v of Nate’s t-shirt, yanking it down so sharply that Nate winces.

There, across his chest, is a bandage. And because of the text that Nate’s brother sent me, I know what’s under it.

Keep your mouth shut.

It seems that Nate didn’t do that.

“Ivan?” I whisper, looking over at him. Ivan doesn’t glance at me, doesn’t take his eyes off of Bradley for a moment, and that’s when I know with that still-sinking pit in my stomach that Ivan did, in fact, have something to do with it.

And he doesn’t look guilty. He doesn’t even look upset. He looksangry.

“I need you to get her out of here,” Ivan says, ignoring Nate as he speaks directly to Agent Bradley. “Just like you did for Sabrina. We talked about this, just a little while ago?—”

“Of course we did. I’ll deal with Ms. Williams shortly. I’ll need to know everything that she knows about you, of course, although I imagine you kept most of those secrets close to your chest.” Bradley smirks, and Nate winces. I can’t stop looking between the two of them, feeling dizzy and shell-shocked, unsure of what’s going on. Between everything I found out after waking up this morning, and now this, I’m not sure how much more I can take.

I want to drop to the ground, cover my face with my hands, and not get up for a long time. I want to sleep for a day, or more,maybe. And more than anything, I want everyone around me right now to disappear. Even Ivan.

Maybe, after everything I’ve learned today,especiallyIvan.

“Mr. Taylor here,” Bradley looks over at Nate, “was wise enough to go to the police after his assault. Or, at the very least, his brother was, just before Mr. Taylor was taken to the hospital. The local police were quite unable to determine who the assailant might have been, but they contacted the FBI, since there was a possibility of linking it to one of the criminal organizations in the city. We, of course, are well aware of Mr. Kariyev’s connection to you, Ms. Williams, and your former connection to Mr. Taylor. All put together, and with some simple tapping into your phone, we were able to put together that Mr. Taylor had recently sent you some unsavory messages. We were also aware that Mr. Kariyev had been tracking your phone and laptop activity. He must have been aware of Mr. Taylor’s—shall we say, threats to you, and engaged in some good, old-fashioned vigilante justice. Which, of course, we disapprove of, being the law.”

“You werewhat?” I pivot, looking at Ivan, my mouth dropping open. But he still won’t look at me. He’s staring directly at Bradley, never flinching, and the expression on his face is near-murderous. For the first time, I can see the man that Ivan says he is, clearly, in his face. I see a man who could work for an organization like the one he says he’s a part of. I see a man who could do what he seemingly did to Nate. And it terrifies me.

It also makes me wonder, in some small, wicked part of my mind, what it would be like to have a man like that in love with me. Protecting me. Keeping me safe, forever, from men like Nate. From men like Bradley, who I still don’t trust. Who I maybe trust even less now, after everything he’s said. Some deep, instinctual part of me says that I shouldn’t go with him. But I’m trapped, and I don’t think I’m going to be given a choice.

Bradley’s smile broadens as he finishes, but it still never meets his eyes. “Now, Mr. Kariyev, we have you on assault. Your information has been useful, but not useful enough. So you’ll also be brought up on kidnapping and trafficking charges, for the abduction and attempted trafficking of Ms. Williams?—”

“That’s not what happened!” I burst out, but once again, Bradley continues talking over me.

“If you don’t want to die within a few days of being sent to a supermax facility, Mr. Kariyev, you’ll give us more information than you have thus far. Of course, that information won’t buy you your freedom any longer. It will, at most, buy you your life. In solitary, of course. But that’s life, at least.”

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