Page 46 of Escape You

“The way Tyler looks at you, it was easy to see he had a thing for you, same as you.” He waved in Mia’s direction, and she let out a squirmy breath.

“So?”

“Chase wasn’t into women.”

“Oh. And Rossi didn’t know?” She turned her attention to me.

I shook my head. “The FBI keeps all their information close to their chest. I was brought in after I met you.” I put a long emphasis on the wordafter.

“I don’t think he ever cared enough to ask,” Vic continued. “He needed someone to marry you. When Chase showed up, he jumped on the opportunity. After all, who would be stupid enough to come in here and pretend to be someone they’re not. It’s suicidal, really.” He turned his dark gaze to me. For a beat, his features softened as if he approved of my lack of self-preservation. “Did you take the job because you knew she was pregnant?”

“I didn’t know Rossi had plans for Chase. But when my superior told me she was pregnant, I decided to come here to be close to her.”

“You son of a bitch.” Mia raked a hand through her hair. “Last night you knew I was pregnant, and you still pushed me to have…” She glanced at Vic, then at me. “You lied to me.”

“You know I didn’t. You could’ve stopped me last night, and you chose not to.”

She slapped me. When I didn’t react, she did it again. I deserved that. I gripped her elbow. “I get that this makes me sound crazy and callous.”

“It makes you sound like a suit, an agent. You don’t care about people. Just your medals and whatever other bullshit you get for putting away supposed criminals. If you really wanted to make a difference, you’d be catching corrupt politicians and dirty cops. Not us, the ones actually protecting our people.”

“I took the job because hundreds of innocent people’s lives are at stake.” That was still the goal. This situation with Mia complicated things, but I hadn’t forgotten about why I signed up for this suicidal mission.

“The ATF knows I’m pregnant.” Mia took the chair next to Vic. “I’m on their radar.”

“We can fix that.”

“What? You mean cooperate? I’m not a rat. I’m not turning on my family.”

“You don’t have to. Let me explain. Five minutes. Alone.” I needed to talk to Mia as a partner, not as an agent. Vic’s presence here made me feel more like the agent than Mia’s husband. Even if we weren’t really married, I felt as though I were, as though we needed to be for our baby’s sake.

Vic rose to his feet. “I’ll be back tonight.”

“Wait.” I blocked him. “You said you met me ten years ago. Where? I was sixteen then.”

“Ten years ago, your brother Derek met an associate of mine. I had to vet him and his entire family.”

I ran both hands through my hair. Vic inspired my trust because I’d met him before in a familiar setting, when I didn’t know about reading a room or memorizing a face that could possibly come back to bite me in the ass. “You’re Dom’s driver.”

“I was. Now I’m Mia’s driver.” He patted me on the back. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. You were just a kid then.”

“Why didn’t you turn me in as soon as you figured out who I was? Why let this marriage go through.”

“Mia needs a father for her baby.” He shrugged.

“I don’t need a goddam thing from him.” She stepped toward him. “From the beginning you’ve been trying to marry me off. Do you have such little trust in me?”

“It wasn’t that. And you know that. But I knew this was going to be Rossi’s play. Him and Mickey talked about it once.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew Chase would never go for it. I looked in on him back then. He knew his own mind.”

“Still I needed to know.”

“You had a shit ton on your plate. I would’ve mentioned it if I thought it warranted your time. I’m sorry. I should’ve seen the ATF coming.”

“Technically, it was the FBI,” I said.

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