Page 53 of Mob Bride

Her sharp tone takes me aback. It shouldn’t surprise me for all I know about the Four Families, that they would know thesame about Shane. That he’s not involved with anyone right now. At least not formally.

“Please, just text or call Shane. Tell him it’s about Carrie. He’ll understand. Let him come and get me, then I’ll disappear.”

Never mind the fact this is the exact family that’s my true target. It’s through Bartlomiej that I’m trying to gather intel on the bratva. If they protect me, there’s no way I can turn them in.

Chapter Twelve

Shane

“Dillan, I’m telling you, I have a bad feeling about this. Bartlomiej is going to figure out what’s going on, and if I wait too much longer, I won’t be able to pull her out in time.”

“Why is this your responsibility? She was an agent long before she met you.”

I glower at my cousin and cross my arms as our gazes lock. We’re both equally stubborn, and neither of us wants to back down. I understand, as our mob boss, Dillan has to make responsible decisions that will be financially as well as politically advantageous. But I couldn’t give a flying shite about that right now. What I care about is the woman I’m falling for.

“Dillan, it’s our responsibility because I got her into this, and I know I can’t get her out alone. If Bartlomiej figures out she’s been with me or that she’s a DEA agent, she’s as good as dead. I don’t want that on my conscience, and I don’t want my opportunity for what you and Mair have to disappear. I want what everybody else has found, and I think Carrie’s the one I’ll have it with. How will I know if she’s dead? And even if thatweren’t the case, she’s still Meredith’s daughter. We still have an obligation to them to protect Carrie.”

“What do you propose we do?” Finn intercedes as he walks over, the quiet voice of reason. I look at my older brother and shrug my shoulders.

“I don’t know yet, but it has to be something. I sense Bartlomiej isn’t the one who’ll act first. I believe Jacek knows more about what’s going on than he’s let on. Now that he’s out of the coma, he’ll tell Bartlomiej Carrie was the one who shot him. Once that happens, it’ll just be a slippery slope until he discovers the truth about her. There’s no way he’ll overlook it, and you know just as well as I do Bartlomiej doesn’t have the same boundaries we do. Hewillkill a woman, and hewillkill Carrie.”

My twin puts his hand on my shoulder as he looks at Dillan before turning his gaze on me. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get her out just fine. Give us some time to look into this and figure out how to work around her handlers. But are you sure if we do this, she’ll come willingly?”

That gives me pause. I know how I want to answer, but I can’t guarantee it’s the truth, and I can admit that much.

“I believe she will, even if it’s just temporarily to get her beyond Bartlomiej’s clutches, or even if she goes straight back to being an agent. I don’t believe she’ll give us up, and I don’t believe she’ll be a threat to us. I’m willing to take that risk.”

Seamus scoffs. “Of course you are. You’re half in love with her. But let’s think about this reasonably.”

I spin on my cousin. “Reasonably? How reasonable was it when you went down to Trenton with just Tiernan? How reasonable was it to stand up against the entire Trenton mob? They might be our bitches, but you were still there alone. Can you blame me for wanting to protect Carrie? At least I’m coming to the rest of you rather than trying to go out on my own to take care of it.”

I know my limitations. My temper is sorely tested right now, and I know I’ll push my brothers and cousins too hard in the wrong direction if I keep going. I need to rein in my temper if I want to convince them to help me.

“Look, I think Jacek is already informing Bartlomiej. I think if anything’s going to happen, it’s going to be within the next day or two. Her cover’s going to be blown, and I don’t know if she can get out of there in time. Bartlomiej will only dig his heels in deeper and hold on tighter if he thinks she’s a threat. He’ll isolate her from communicating with anybody outside his immediate circle, and he’ll tuck her away somewhere nobody can find her until he decides how he wants to kill her. Notifhe wants to, buthowhe wants to.”

My voice grows louder with each word until I’m almost yelling at the end. Cormac comes to stand beside me as the only other bachelor left in the group.

“Look, we get it, Shane. Nobody’s saying no. We just need to figure out logistics. We need to buy ourselves some time to read the situation and determine how immediate the need to act is.”

I throw my hands up in exasperation. “I’m telling you it’s immediate now. Jacek is out of his coma. He’ll tell Bartlomiej she shot him. I also suspect Jacek’s been watching her more closely than she or I realized. It certainly was no coincidence he wound up on the same trail as us, and I think he’s had men tailing me as well as Carrie.”

“What makes you think that? Usually, you’re pretty good and have a sixth sense about those things.” Sean’s concern ripples through the air.

“I am. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like someone’s watching me. Every time I turn around, there’s a sense eyes or a camera are on me, but I never see it. If they’ve put together Carrie and I not only know each other, but are involved with each other, then we can count down the hours till Bartlomiejkills her. She needs to come with us, or at least get to her handlers. Either way, she needs to be pulled out.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I reach in and mute it. This isn’t the time to get distracted.

“Look, are we at least agreed we’ll help her?” I direct that question back at Dillan as my phone goes off a second time. Just like before, I mute it.

“Of course we are. We won’t let her suffer alone. But how many resources we put into this is not something I’ve decided.”

I inhale a calming breath to keep from losing my shite. My phone vibrates a third time, and I pull it out to check to see who it is. Why the fuck is Misha calling me? I’ll deal with it later. I silence it once more and drop it back into my pocket.

“Something more interesting going on?” Finn juts his chin while looking down at my pocket.

“No, it was just Misha. Who knows why he was calling? He can wait.”

When my phone goes off again, I check. It’s Misha. He must really want something. When I slide down to look at the notifications, I realize all four calls have been from him. I hold up a finger to tell my cousins and brothers to wait a moment. I slide across my screen to answer.

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