Page 67 of Escape You

“Holy shit.” Wesley pointed toward the door. “She’s the new boss in Jersey? Dom didn’t mention that.”

“She has one of the biggest crews.” I cleared my throat. Obviously, Vic hadn’t told Dom every detail about us. “Mia is also now my wife, and she’s pregnant with my child.”

“The fuck, Tyler?” Matt stared at me with his mouth open. “She’s the person of interest you slept with before you came to see me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m assuming Mia knows who you are since her henchman called Dom.”

“Yes, I told her on our wedding night.” Technically, I told her after the fact, but again, my brothers didn’t need to know that part. If their looks could kill…Before they asked anything else, I opted for the whole truth. “When Mia took over as boss, Rossi saw it as the perfect opportunity to take over the Rogue River crew, Mia’s crew. He created a rift within her crew to make her leadership weak, then more or less kidnapped her and gave her no choice but to marry Chase Rossi.”

“Who, in this fucked-up scenario, is you.” Wesley paced the room.

“Right. Mia had no choice but to accept. If anything, to buy herself some time. Neither one of us honestly thought the wedding would happen. I’d hoped the FBI would stop it. At the time, I didn’t know how far they were willing to go to get their big fish. I had to tell her the truth.”

“Why does Rossi need Mia’s crew?” Matt asked.

“Mia believes he’s going to take over all the crews in New Jersey, which in turn, sets him up to get that coveted seat with the Big 5. But we recently found out he’s planning to use her warehouses as processing facilities for their human trafficking.”

Wesley’s face turned red with anger. The same way it had done when Rebecca told us about her boss’s plan to make some real cash. As if the drugs he exported to the country were not bringing in millions. That day, Wesley promised Rebecca to protect her and bring Smith down. He didn’t exactly keep his promise since his superiors ordered him to stand down. Their special operation in Maracaibo was to observe and report only.

Wesley and Matt did the next best thing. They helped Rebecca escape. For that, they needed a getaway ride. So they called the only pilot they knew wouldn’t question their motives. They called me. My first day there, I got a good taste of what Smith and Marcel were capable of. They were all cut from the same cloth. They were soulless. They couldn’t get away with this.

“And Mia just let him?” Wesley gritted his teeth.

“Of course not. He didn’t exactly ask. With the marriage, he feels what’s hers is now his. You don’t know him. He’s a different kind of evil. He has no regard for people’s lives.” My blood boiled every time I thought about the FBI letting a scumbag like Rossi get away with so much in the name of the greater good. Rossi should be in jail. Or if Mia got her way, in some ditch somewhere. “Leaving is not an option. Think about it. If I leave, once he’s got his operation in place and running smoothly, he’s going to come after me for making a fool of him. For now, I’m safe, but for how long? We need to end this with Rossi.”

“Yes, we do. Why is Mia not here nursing you back to health? She was in a hurry to get out of our way. What happened there?” Matt joined Wesley at the foot of the hospital bed.

The smell of my own blood permeated the air. Neither one of them was bothered by it. They’d seen enough of it while on their special ops missions.

“I kicked her out because she told Rossi who I was.” Mia had her reason for what she did. I knew that.

“How do you know it was her?” Matt asked.

“Mia and Vic were the only ones who knew. I told her just this morning, and now I’m here. It’s too coincidental. I mean, I get it. She can’t keep her pregnancy a secret forever. Rossi is obsessed with having a successor. She wanted him to know her baby wasn’t his blood so our baby would be safe.”

Wesley pinched his nose, shaking his head. “You’ve been talking our ears off for the last hour about how the FBI doesn’t give a shit. Has it occurred to you that maybe they found out you and Mia were a thing for real and they figured the easiest way to cut ties with this already- compromised mission would be to tell Rossi the truth?”

“That’s possible.” The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Why would the FBI do that? They needed me in Rossi’s circle. Or did they already have all the information they wanted? Like the names of the different bosses that showed up to the engagement party and then the wedding reception? Shit.

“It is. But guilty or not, Mia can’t be out there on her own. Her life is in danger as much as yours. I don’t care how good Vic is. He’s still just one man.”

And that was the crux of it all. I wanted to stay because I couldn’t let Mia go at this on her own. I didn’t care if she betrayed me or if she was a criminal. She was my wife. The name on the marriage certificate may not be mine, but she said her vows to me. The intensity of her green gaze when she promised to love me forever told me she’d meant every word. Same as me. My heart would break into a thousand pieces if she died protecting her crew. I loved her. And she loved me too.

“I guess we’re staying.” Matt fished his phone from his pocket. After a quick glance at it, he shoved it back in his pants. “Fuck. Ela is going to be pissed at me. I’ll call her later and explain.” He glanced up. “Don’t worry. I’ll give her the condensed version of it. Ela and Mom don’t need to know what we’re doing here.”

“Exactly. We can’t let this thing get anywhere near them. It’s been a long-ass time, but we finally get the shot we’ve been waiting for.” A wicked smile pulled at Wesley’s lips. He was back in Marine Raiders mode. “Let’s finish the mission. I know you already have a plan. What do we do?”

“Rossi has a shipment coming in next week.”

Wesley slow-blinked. “Human beings.”

I nodded. “Mia is going to try and intercept it somehow. We need to beat her to it and get to all those people first.”

21

Guns Blazing

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