Page 68 of Captured By the Bratva

He was our stealthy man. Wearing disguises was his specialty.

He shook his head, glancing at Alek. “Amy’s struggling again with the pregnancy, and the doctor thinks it’s best if I stay by her and keep her blood pressure as low as possible this close to her due date.”

“I wouldn’t ask you,” Alek said quickly. He understood the tension of caring for a pregnant wife. Mila was going to deliver any day now.

I raised my hand, waving at them to remind them that I was right here. “No. I’ve got it.” The sex clubs had always been my responsibility. I hated to think these drugs were getting in because I was distracted by Becca. Falling in love was a new experience for me, but I had to do better with compartmentalizing. I wouldn’t fail my family now.

“But that’s what we’re saying,” Nik said. “It can’t be you.”

I smirked at him. “I know that. I can’t be identified. But I can use a disguise too.”

They nodded in agreement.

“Or instead of stopping in at one of our regular clubs,” I added, “I could try to go to that place we just sold. The club we sold uptown. Veronica told me she thinks she was drugged there. No one would expect to see me there, and people might not be on guard as much.”

Alek seemed to like that idea. “When you first mentioned a drugging happening there, I wondered if someone was trying toframe us even then. Because that clubhadbeen ours until very recently.”

I’d wondered that too. “If you consider the facts, it’s somewhere these fuckers already peddled the drugs. So I want to assume the odds are high that they might try again since they successfully did it once,” I explained.

“You sure you want to handle it?” Dmitri asked.

I furrowed my brow. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He shrugged. “Just with Becca and all. And her kid.”

“That kid has a name. Emily. And so, what about them?”

Alek cleared his throat. “In case you wanted to stay near them. Instead of being in the frontlines. We’ve got many men who can step up and help.”

I shook my head. “No. I said I’ll fucking handle it.”

“Want backup?” Dmitri asked.

I did. And I knew just who I’d ask.

When I drove to the villa, I debated how I’d ask Becca to come with me. I owed her an explanation about the other night. It seemed like it was her fault, jumping to assumptions and accusing me of sleeping with her to get intel. I thought I wasn’t in the wrong, but how would she know that? I realized she couldn’t have read my mind and known that I asked about Dom ever being in her studio because I had a jealous reaction to the thought of any man in her private space. A discussion was overdue. As headstrong as she could be, I figured she’d give me that silence again.

Tying her up at a club while I scoped out the scene would be a quick way to ensure I had her full attention to hear me out. I saw now that having a steady woman in my life was a new adventure. Because of that, I counted on needing to be able to communicate in some way to avoid these kinds of disagreements.

I walked in and found her on the phone. Her expression told me enough who she was likely speaking with.

She scowled at her phone, bitter and unhappy. Pacing around the table where her phone rested, she looked cagey and impatient. Peeved.

As I walked into the great room, she glanced up at me, acknowledging me before smirking again at the phone she had on speaker.

She’d figured out how to record on her own device. Margie’s phone was no longer needed to record the calls. But one glance at the device attached to her phone showed me that Murphy’s call was unreachable.

How does he always know to call when I’m not here?

I realized thatallof the calls Murphy made to Becca were when I wasn’t here, and I didn’t like that correlation one bit.

Was he watching to know when I was gone? I would have noticed a tail. And none of the men guarding here would be a mole and tell Murphy where I was.

Was it luck, a coincidence of timing? I’d never believed in those. Everything happened for a reason.

Did he want to get Becca on the phone alone because he would be able to reach her and manipulate her better if I wasn’t here?

Wait.I narrowed my eyes as the man shouted.

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