Page 82 of Single Mom's Daddies
There’s a long pause before he gives me a tight smile and turns back toward his car. “Have a good night, Mr. Orlov.”
“You too, Agent.”
He drives off. The red glow of his taillights bleeds across the pavement, then disappears around the corner.
Max spits in the dirt. “We should kill him.”
I let out a breath that fogs the air. “No.”
“He’s got your scent. He’s sniffing around every inch of this city. If you don’t deal with him now?—”
“Roman said no.”
“Roman’s not the one he’s watching.”
“He’s watching all of us.”
“Me included,” Max snaps. “If you think I’m going to let some bitch agent take me down, you are mistaken.”
I hold his gaze. “And blow this entire thing up in the process? You kill a federal agent, Max, and we’re not laundering paintings anymore. We’re in federal court praying they don’t indict us as a criminal enterprise.”
“You afraid of prison?”
“I’m afraid of Ivy’s name showing up on some stray report because one of us decided to play God.”
That shuts him up. For a second. Then he squints at me. “You’ve been looking into that list again, haven’t you?”
I don’t answer. I head for the car instead.
“I know you, Nikolai. You’re like me. If there’s something you can do, you’ll do it.”
I sigh. “I was. But I stopped.”
He frowns. “Why?”
I look down the street, where Ruger’s taillights were just moments ago. The cold presses in around me, sharp as regret. “Because if I screw this up, if even one thing goes sideways—Ivy pays the price.”
“You could save her.”
“Or I could kill her,” I snap. “Don’t you get it? One wrong name on one wrong form, and she’s off the list permanently. I will not be the reason my daughter dies.”
“You’d rather wait? Watch her get worse?”
“I’d rather be powerless than dangerous.”
Max shakes his head. “You sound like your father.”
“Good.”
“Your father was a coward.”
I cast a dark look at him. “You have too many teeth, Uncle. I can help you with that. Say another word against my father, and it won’t be a problem anymore.”
He studies me. “If you don’t act, you’ll hate yourself.”
“If I act, I could get her killed.”
Max snorts, but he doesn’t argue again. We walk back to the car in silence, our breath trailing like smoke in the cold. “I liked you better when you only had two children.”
