Page 56 of Mob Bride

“I know, Shane. I want to be your woman, but you don’t have to worry about me spending time with Bartlomiej or anyone else in his family. They’ve made me. Jacek’s awake and told Bartlomiej I shot him, but it’s worse than that, Shane. There are photos.”

The dirty talk is done. My anger yields to fear, my jealousy morphs into possessiveness. I pull my hand from her pussy. Getting her off no longer tops our priority list.

“Daddy, there are photos of us at the lumberyard, outside the subway station, headed into my apartment. Pictures of you watching me speak to my handler and of us going into the warehouse. The most damning of all were the pictures taken of us when we stood outside the warehouse by our cars. All of it proves I’m not who I said I am. Bartlomiej doesn’t know which agency I’m with, but Jacek somehow found out I’m an agent. Obviously, they know about us. They think—or at least Jacek thinks—I might be a spy for your family. I don’t know what to do now because I have to admit to my handlers my cover’s blown. They’re going to want to know how and why. And then they’re going to want to know who I ran to rather than them.”

She runs her hand through her hair. Her fear matches mine, and I see it in her eyes. She called me Daddy when we’re intimate, and she’s called me that to reassure me. Now she’susing it because she needs the reassurance. I slide my arm around her waist and draw her closer.

“I don’t have a solid explanation because if I tell them I went to Misha’s, it’ll be my head on the chopping block since they’re my actual target. Shane, I think it’s time I tell you everything that’s going on.”

Exhaustion—the aftermath of her adrenalin surge—sets in as she sags against me. She needs me to take care of her more than she needs to tell me things that’ve already happened and can’t be changed. Whatever might happen can’t be stopped right this minute.

“I agree, but it doesn’t have to be right this second. We’re at Dillan’s, which means we’re safe. Let’s slow down for a moment and catch our breath.”

I lead her to the bed, and we perch on the edge. I kick off my shoes before inching back and holding my arms open to her. She climbs on and cuddles against me. I tell myself reality can wait because this is how it should be. This is what I want. But there’s a good chance I will never have this again because of whatever she explains to me.

I remember her telling her handler my family isn’t the next best target. But that won’t be her decision alone. Even without this falling apart, she wouldn’t be the next CI since someone could recognize her as Bartlomiej’s girlfriend. She won’t be on that case, so anything could happen.

I don’t want to ask her to quit her job. But that’s really the only way we can make this work. We both know that, even if neither one of us wanted to say it the other night. Now that’s doubly the case because she ran to one syndicate then another for protection.

We sit together and appreciate the silence for a little while as our mutual fear diminishes. She leans against me with her eyes closed, and I lean my head back against the headboard.I look down at her as I stroke her hair along her back. That’s more soothing to me than anything else. Just knowing she’s pressed against me and that she wanted my help—wanted me—is everything to me.

Eventually, we both feel calmer, and I know we can’t stay up here forever. We can’t avoid the conversation either.

“Carrie, I want to be prepared for whatever you tell my brothers and cousins. I’m sure it’ll shock me, but I don’t want to be blindsided in front of them.”

“All right, Shane. I’ll start from the beginning. I’ll tell you everything I know. Once I do this, there’s no going back. My career as an agent will be over. If I don’t get fired, then I’m going to have to quit.”

“Are you saying you choose me over your work?”

“Partly, but I won’t have any other choice. I’ve fucked over this investigation, and now I’m with you for protection. It will get around. If Jacek could discover our connection, then so will my handlers and the agency.”

She inhales so deeply her chest presses against my ribs.

“We’ve been studying the Poles for the last eighteen months, surveilling them and watching who they do business with. Some of it is with the Armenians, but most of it is with the Russians. They’ve been on pretty good terms, and the Russians employ a lot of the men from Bartlomiej’s community on their construction sites. But recently, the bratva has been branching out and trying to make peace with the Armenians. Bartlomiej discovered this. He tried to circumvent that relationship by swooping in to do the deal on those kilos the bratva was supposed to sell him. From there, he was going to reroute it through his organization, then sell the product at a markup to the Armenians.”

She takes another fortifying breath before she continues. This is the part she hates, and I know I’ll loathe hearing it.

“I needed a way in to discover all of this. Bartlomiej was always supposed to go down, but ultimately, my target has been the bratva. Since all the guys are married, except Sergei and Anton, there was no plausible way to start a relationship with them. It’s bound to be a matter of time before those two guys find women to marry, so there was no point to approaching them if this could have been an investigation that lasted over a year.”

That’s not the reason there’s no point. Just the opposite. A woman wouldn’t have been a roadblock.

“I embedded with Bartlomiej because I knew I could pretend to be the type of woman he wanted. Even though he tends to hook up with strippers, he likes the naiver ones. I was the perfect balance of naive good girl with enough backbone to help support his family. I was the type of woman you wife up, not fuck. So even though it took a lot of work to build his trust—enough for him to share things about the family he shouldn’t have—I was exactly what he needed. I became the woman he expected me to be. The kind he could take home to mom. It was all an act. It was something I knew I risked my life for. But we were certain he would lead us to the bratva, and he did. I blew my cover too soon for that to do us much good.”

“But what about Jacek? What about the night I met you?”

“Jacek has always been suspicious of everyone, especially women. He doesn’t trust them. He thinks they all have ulterior motives, and in my case, he wasn’t wrong. But I obviously couldn’t let anyone know that. I think part of it is he was jealous of Bartlomiej spending time with me he usually spent with Jacek. He certainly didn’t approve of Bartlomiej asking my opinions on things. It still amazes me Bartlomiej wanted my opinion and trusted it even when he thought I was so naïve, unworldly, and innocent. It just proved how deeply I’d wormed my way into his life. The night you met me, Jacek attacked mebecause he thought I was spying for the Armenians. I had no contact with them.”

“What made him think that?” The Armenians feel like a stretch despite watching their deal blow up with the Poles.

“I don’t know. But he sensed something was going wrong with the bratva, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. He assumed it was the Armenians, since that was supposed to be their next deal. While Bartlomiej was out, his men grabbed me and pinned me to the floor at Bartlomiej’s house. There was nothing I could do once they had me on the floor. Each question or accusation earned me a punch or a kick. Each one was about my potential connections to another syndicate family. Obviously, I had nothing to say that would’ve been true, nor would I have given up anything true, which pissed him off. I had to balance my ability to defend myself with the persona I’d created. It would’ve ruined everything if I’d fought back too hard. It would’ve justified his suspicions, so I took most of it. But when he threatened to assault me, that’s when I obviously drew the line. I got away and ran.”

Tried to assault her? I’m going to cut off his cock and shove it up his own arse.

“I really didn’t know where I was going to end up. I didn’t plan to hide at a construction site, but they chased me as far as I could get. I kept my head down and hopped on the subway. I only got off in Manhattan because I feared I would pass out if I didn’t stop and find somewhere to hide. I wanted to go where he’d least suspect me, but that I could get to easily. I believe he had men on the same train as me, but they never approached me. Once I was outside, I could ditch them because it was so dark out.”

“And a construction site seemed like a safe place?”

“It wasn’t well lit, and there wouldn’t be people there. I didn’t think about triggering an alarm system for the entire property. Ijust saw a place that was dark and obscure, so I went for it. When Bartlomiej came back, he treated me with kid gloves, wanted me closer to him, and that allowed me to hear more details about his deal with the bratva.”

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