Page 22 of Saved By the SEAL

Kate checks her phone and gathers everything back up once more. I can see that she’s leaving me, which has me really freaked out. If she goes right now, then I’m left with nothing. Nothing but thoughts swirling around my head and a panic about what the hell I’m supposed to do next. What do I do with this information? I certainly can’t discount it when Kate had so much evidence to show me. She definitely has a powerful father, and a husband too, which means… well, everything else is a lie.

“Thank you for telling me all of this,” I say to Kate just before she leaves. “I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.”

“You’re welcome. I just hope that you take what I’ve told you and do the right thing with it.”

“I will.” I nod rapidly, knowing that I’ll at the very least discuss this with Max afterward. “Thank you.”

She leaves, and I slump back in my chair defeated. I don’t know where I go from here, what I’m supposed to do with the shattered heart sitting in my chest. At least one thing is for certain. I do know where Michelle is. She’s at work, in that office, none the wiser about everything I’ve just discovered. Oh, my God, everything has fallen apart in the worst possible way. There’s a little part of me that wants to cry, which isn’t like me at all. I can’t fucking fall apart like this.

I’m going tohaveto call Max. Ineedto make him aware of everything that Kate just told me, too. If Michelle really is trying to take us all down, then he is in danger too. My gut was right. I should have listened to it.

18

MICHELLE

“Where is this?” I gasp as I stumble back out of the van, with Alexander pulling my arm the whole time. “Where are we?”

“This is my house, Michelle. Have you never seen my American home? Don’t worry, you’re going to love it. Let’s just get inside, and I can give you a giant tour of the place. You’re going to love it. I mean, it’s nearly as big as my Russian mansion.”

I’ve never seen Alexander’s home, but I’ve heard about it. Many important people want to keep him on their good side, which is why he’s so freaking wealthy and powerful. It doesn’t shock me that he’s got a giant base here too. He wants to show himself off. He’s all about status and about being feared. Well, right now, I’m scared shitless.

“Oh, I’m so excited to show you everything.” Alexander claps his hands together like a little fucking child, which makes me know how much he’s acting. This big, scary dude is an asshole with the coldest heart ever. This is to put me on edge and scare me. “You are going to see just what being compliant in our organization will get you. Because you know you fucked up, right?”

As Alexander gives me a side-eyed, slightly evil look, I know what I need to say. “Yes, of course I know that. I just… I got scared, that’s all. I thought that I would be able to do all this spy stuff when I came here, but it’s too much for me.”

I don’t know what my thought process is because he isn’t going to feel sorry for me. A man like him doesn’t have any empathy. He isn’t going to like me for my weaknesses. He’ll hate me for not being what he needs of me.

“Oh, I know, but I’ve covered for you. You don’t need to worry about any of the big guys finding out about your running.”

Uh-oh. This doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t matter whether he’s covered my ass or not. It’s going to cost me, no matter what. I shrink in on myself, wishing that I wasn’t inside this man’s house now. I wish I hadn’t let myself be pulled inside Alexander’s van. This is torture. I kinda wish he would just fucking kill me already because this is overwhelming. It’s just too much. I already know that I’m going to end up dead. It’s just being dragged out in a horribly painful way. Alexander wants me to be punished in the worst possible way. He’s going to make mereallysee what I did wrong, as if I don’t already know.

“Er, right. Are you, erm, sending me back to Russia, then?” I say, just to say something. “For more training?”

“Oh, no, you aren’t going anywhere.” Alexander’s smile twists up angrily. “You’re staying here to work for me.”

“But I don’t know if I can do it,” I remind him quickly. “That’s what made me panic in the first place. That’s why I freaked out.”

“You want to live?” he growls, anger rolling off his tongue. “Or you want to dig your own grave right now? Because I’m trying to be nice about it. I brought you to my mansion and I offeredto give a tour of the place. I gave you a lifeline. Even though you fucked me over and caused me all kinds of issues, I’m giving you another try. But I’ll only do that once.”

“I… I…” Fucking hell, sickness swirls in my stomach. I don’t want to do this, but I can’t really see any other outcome.

“I need you to speak to this guy.” Alexander slaps a photo down in front of me of an old guy. “He’s very close to the American president and he has alotof information that we need. You’re going to get the right documents from him…”

“I don’t know, Alexander, this feels like a very important job, and I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“Youare.” He thumps the table in front of me so hard he almost cracks it. “You’re doing this, Lebedev, whether you like it or not. You’ll get this information for me, no matter what you think about it right now. You’ll find a way. I don’t care what you have to do. I don’t even give a shit if you have to take a knife to this guy’s throat and slash it. You’re going to do it. It’s the only way I’ll keep you alive. And I would like you to remember that you aren’t the only person with your life here, are you?”

I fall into silence with this one. This is an outright threat and it was one that I would take seriously. If he wasn’t just talking about me ending up dead, then I needed to be more careful. I couldn’t risk others. “Okay, okay. I understand.”

“You want your father and brother to go the same way as your mother?” I snap my eyes up to meet Alexander’s. Is he confirming what I already suspect? That my mother didn’t just die but that she was killed by these assholes? But not to punish her, to punish my father for not doing what was asked of him by corrupt people. My poor father who didn’t want any of that, asfar as I was aware, anyway, but who got roped into it a bit like me. “No, you don’t, do you? You don’t want them dead.”

“I don’t want anyone to die because of me,” I whisper back. “Please, don’t hurt my family. I’ll do anything.”

“I wasn’t going to do the dirty work myself.” He tosses his head back and laughs nastily. “You know I don’t do the dirty work with my own hands, but I have plenty of people who can do that for me. You know that as well as I do.”

I gulp back my terror and nod. Of course I know the extent to which Alexander’s reach stretches. I’m no idiot. So, this really leaves me with no choice. If it were only me who could end up dead, then that would be one thing, but I can’t let anyone else die because of me. I can’t let my dad and brother suffer any more than they already have because I’m too scared.

“Okay,” I eventually whisper. “I’ll do whatever you need me to. Please, don’t hurt anyone. I’ll do what you need.”

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