Page 66 of Savage Surrender

“I don’t want you out of my sight because I worry one of your father’s soldiers could try to get you away from me.”

She kissed me this time, frowning at how quickly I pulled back.

“And I don’t want you out of my sight when I get word about your brother, so I can update you immediately.”

A soft exhale left her lips. “No word yet?”

I gave in to share what I could. “Lev’s team found evidence of his being at that dock apartment you told us about, but he’s not there now. We’ve got men checking the nearby surveillance and scoping the area for them.”

She sighed, slumping her shoulders.

“As soon as I get word, we will act.”

“Did Oleg confirm it, though? That he’ll see to Maxim’s safety in exchange for all my secrets?”

Dammit.She had to ask like that. “He will.”

She furrowed her brow, but before she could argue anymore, I urged her to get moving and leave with me. “The faster we take care of this, the faster we can resume the other stuff.”

On the ride to the campus, she asked me more about what I did know so far. That didn’t seem so risky. I filled her in on what I knew, which was limited to the second-hand information that I’d gotten from Lev and Eva, Rurik as well. I added more background, too, like how I wasn’t recognized because of my time in the whorehouses for so long.

“That’s how word got out and spread,” I told her. “Rurik alerted me to ‘everyone’ knowing you and I had hooked up.”

“That’s all it is to you? I’m just a hook-up?” she asked.

“You know that’s not true. But it was my fault. I took you with me to pick up that package at that place, then when we exited through the lobby?—”

“Holding hands and walking through that crowded space,” she added for me.

“Yes. Someone in there had to have noticed. A Baranov, Ilyin, or Petrov. Hell, even just someone who’s bought something from one of us.”

“Drugs?” she asked.

I shrugged. “They have been a common thread with whatever is going on at the school.”

“I will explain all that I know, Vik, but Igor’s never let me in too much. It’s just what he’s asked me to watch.”

I nodded. “We will appreciate all that you can share.” And I wouldn’t push her to do so until we’d come through on our end of the bargain. She was taking another huge risk for the Baranov family. She helped save Eva and Lev before. And if she wanted to join us officially, through a relationship with me, she had to be able to put her trust in us that we wouldn’t be using her for intel like Igor had been.

We got to the school and I parked close to the building I’d taught at for just a month. Not many students or staff were around in the building. No one was at my office, either.

“I wonder what Rurik was talking about,” I muttered, hands on my hips as I scanned the office. Nothing seemed disturbed, and the lock was intact.

“Shh.” Irina slanted her head to the side, watching the door closely. The front one was open, and no sounds came from the hallway. Instead, she was tuning in to what sounded like a conversation in the closet.

I watched her press her finger to her lips as she beckoned me to approach the door.

I opened it, proving it was just a closet.

But she shook her head, pointing to the top. Light shone through from the adjacent room.

“You really are good at this snooping business.”

She shot me a dirty look. “No, I’m really good at moving past my childhood when my father would shove me in a closet when he got sick of hearing my voice.”

That asshole.

She entered, walking further into the closet and moving things around. “It looks like this used to be a hallway.”

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