Who Said Witness Protection Was Boring? (Mobster Mayhem #2)

18. Kieran

18

Kieran

“What the fuck do we do now?” Matt asks for the tenth time, pacing from one end of the storage unit to the other. “There’s no coming back from this. We’re royally screwed. They’ll find out about this and skin us alive!” He pauses in front of the red sports bike and stares at it.

Yep, it’s pretty grim. But it also sounds about right. Worrying, too. Because… What if there’s a possibility Bucks figured out Christine Bauer was onto him? If he knew, then the attack…

But I don’t really want to go there. Not yet and not unless I really have to. Besides, Matt’s aunt died because of the asset. Because someone who wanted it as much as the CIA figured out she knew where it was. We know it’s some kind of substance and that even the Defense Secretary was twitchy about it.

“Can we even go to the police? All we have is a recording. Plus, that asshole Bucks said he had guys working for him at the precincts. What if they ‘lose’ the evidence?” Matt plops on the floor by the desk’s side, burying his head in his palms. “What about the FBI? The CIA is clearly compromised and out of the question.”

I consider our options as I reach for the backpack and take my cigarettes out. I spin the chair so I can properly face Matt, light one up and take a drag, the nicotine like balm to my nerves. The truth is that it’s not safe to go to anyone. We have little to no leverage unless we’re willing to put the formula into play. And, quite frankly, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It’s what the CIA’s Deputy Director seems to be searching for, so the moment he finds out we have it, what’s stopping him from just taking it from us? After he shuts us up… permanently.

Yeah, no. We need a plan before we attempt to expose any of this. The players are way out of our league. And the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that my parents probably arrived at a similar conclusion. They figured out how deep this conspiracy ran and intended to expose it. Only, the bad guys got to them first and made it look like an accident.

“We can’t go to anyone with this. Not until we know whom we can trust,” I say with a heavy stomach. But how do we even know who is part of this and who isn’t? If the Department of Defense is compromised, then other sectors of the government might be, too.

“But… There’s gotta be someone that can help us.”

“I think…” I take a shuddering breath. “I think this is why my parents died. I think they got to this point and tried to expose what the CIA and the government were doing. They wouldn’t have been able to do it on their own. Just like the two of us now. They’d have gone to someone. But they got killed without any of this getting out.”

My heart aches. For them. For us. We truly are screwed. It’s me and Matt against the behemoths who rule the world. Or this part of it, anyway.

Matt groans, tucking his head against the side of the desk as he stares at the white ceiling. “Fuuuuuck.”

Fuck indeed. But I’m not giving up. It’s too late for us to simply walk away and pretend we know nothing. We are part of this, pawns on the board of the big players. And we are about to reach our expiration date. We can only impede the investigation for so long. A week, maybe two. Three, if we are creative. But the Agency won’t be fooled forever.

“We need to find this Adrian guy,” Matt decides, clapping his hands on his thighs. He pulls his knees in and places his head on them, not breaking eye contact with me.

Exhaling cigarette smoke, I replay Christine’s recording in my head. “The one your aunt was planning to approach? We don’t know if she did.”

“I don’t think it matters. The point is, Chrissy had her eye on him. And she’s really good with people that way. If she thought he could help her, I think we need to go to him.”

Can a mid-tier gangster really help us? I zero in on the backpack. There’s a hidden compartment. I’ve holstered my gun there. I don’t think Matt knows I took it; I didn’t want him to worry. But I am glad that I didn’t leave it at the house.

“And if he ends up being a bust?” I ask, arching an eyebrow at him.

He fingers along the leg seam of the motorcycle’s suit. “We off him?”

Okay. At least he’s not being na?ve about the way things have to be from now on. Though I am unsure if he realizes the gravity of things quite yet. What we discovered here changed the rules of the game.

If I’m being honest, I never imagined I’d be here. About to cross over to the dark side because the light one sucks ass. But strangely, I’m not scared. I don’t feel like I’ve lost control of my life or that this is the end.

“Hey, let me take a drag?” Matt says, pointing at my mouth. “This shit’s too much for my nerves.”

I hold the cigarette between two fingers. “No.”

He glares at me and pouts. “Why the fuck not?”

“It’s bad for you.”

“It’s bad for you, too!”

I shrug. This and that are different. It’s one thing to poison my own lungs, but he doesn’t need to develop a nasty habit, too. He’s better than that.

His eyes go wide. “Are you serious?” He gives my cigarette another pointed look.

“Yes.”

Shooting up faster than I can react, he snatches it from my hand and throws it on the ground. Then he stomps it out and glowers at me like an angry puppy. “If you are going to be a hypocritical asshole in my face, you aren’t allowed to smoke from now on. At all.”

My heart leaps, doing a flip. I smirk, both at him and me, then grab him by the wrist and yank with such force, he loses his balance and plops into my lap.

“Okay. I quit.”

He blinks, shock written all over his pretty face. “ You what ?”

I hold up the mostly full pack of cigarettes, scrunching it a little for emphasis. It hurts my soul, but I’ve already decided. “I’m quitting. I won’t smoke anymore.”

He opens his mouth, then closes it, confusion swimming in his eyes. “You’re quitting? Just like that?” he eventually strings together, throwing one arm around my neck. I don’t think he realizes that part though; it seems to be unintentional, like he’s doing it out of habit without even registering it.

I find that extremely hot. In a wholesome way. He feels at ease being with me. Comfortable. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world even though we’ve known each other for less than a week. It’s mind-blowing. But the craziest part is that I feel exactly the same.

So dark side or not, I’m not scared. On the contrary. I’m excited. Pumped up. I’m not going to let anything happen to this man. We’ll make it out of this shitshow alive, no matter what it takes.

“Yes. If that’s what it takes so you don’t smoke, I’m quitting, just like that.”

“Oh man.” He wiggles his ass in my lap. “That’s kind of extreme. But also, like, super hot. I don’t think anyone has gone to such lengths for me.”

I wrap an arm around his lower back and pull him in. My dick jerks in approval. “Better get used to it then.”

He beams at me and crashes his mouth into mine. Okay, yes, perfect. I can work with that .

The moment I taste him, I go feral. I’ve never had that reaction to anyone. I want to devour him. To live under his skin. To always have him next to me. He’s just… everything. It’s wild. It riles me up like oil fueling fire. I want him and I’m never letting him go. Maybe I got here too fast, maybe it won’t make sense to anyone else, but what is right is right. Matt is mine and I’ll destroy anything that gets in the way of us. I don’t care who they are, I don’t care if I have to make an enemy out of those who call the shots.

I don’t believe in fate. I never have. But I don’t know what else to call this. Us. We slot together like pieces meant to come in a pair. Like two sides of a coin. Like two parts of a whole.

“Can I tell you something crazy?” Matt murmurs, his sweet and hot tongue retreating as he pulls my bottom lip between his teeth.

“Shoot, jellybeans.”

“I, uh. So, you know that I have a crush on you, right?” I nod. I’m pretty sure he’s aware he’s not the only one dealing with one either. “Okay, well, it might go a little beyond that? Or like, a lot? But I don’t want to scare you or anything. It’s totally harmless and under control. For the most part. I think. You are, like, my dream man. And, uh, now that I’ve found you, you are stuck with me. No backsies either. I warned you.”

I’m dead. I close my eyes and count sheep. Why is he so freakishly adorable?

“Okay. That’s not quite the response I was expecting. But I’ll take the silence as your unequivocal agreement,” he states when I say nothing.

“You wanna hear something even crazier?” I peek at him with one eye.

He frowns suspiciously. “I mean. I doubt anything can beat my kind-of-confession?”

I smile, nuzzling his cheek with my nose until my mouth is at his ear. “How about love at first sight? I’m pretty sure that beats your little crush.”

He shivers, just like I expected he would. It’s delightful and I absorb every tremble, every little vibration. I just can’t get enough of him. Of us. I want more. I want to take him to bed and show him just how profoundly he’s changed my life.

“Nice try. But I called dibs the moment I realized you weren’t trying to kill me. And that was before I even knew you ride.”

It’s my turn to buzz with pleasure. We need a timeout. Some alone time in the middle of this bigass conspiracy or I’m going to explode.

Just as I am about to suggest we find a hotel, my phone rings. It’s Kelly.

“Uh-oh. Why’s Asshat Number Two calling? I thought we had until the evening,” Matt chirps sweetly, scoffing at the end.

I answer the call and put my boss on speaker. “Hello, Director Kelly. How is the search going?”

“Agent Stevenson. We found a note. It’s encoded. We are already working on it, but we might need Mr. Bauer’s assistance. Can you put him on the phone?”

Well, fuck. That was fast. I need to stall. “He’s asleep right now. Took pills. I think the stress is getting to him.”

“I’m heading back to New York once we are done here. I’ll stop by the house in the evening. Make sure he’s awake to answer a few questions.”

“Of course,” I assure him and hang up.

Matt slides off my lap and hugs himself. “I don’t think this is a good idea anymore.”

Neither do I. But we have to keep up the charade for as long as we can.

Swiveling in the chair, I open a browser on my laptop and type Adrian’s name. A list of social media accounts pops up, but the first five are a bust.

“What are you doing?”

“We’ve got some time before we need to be back at the house. Maybe we can pay this Adrian a visit?”

The seventh result takes me to the profile of a twenty-two-year-old college dropout. He’s wearing baggy clothes and hoodies in most of his pictures, so it’s a bit hard to get a good look at his face. From what I can tell, he’s got semi-long black hair and brown eyes. His profile info says he’s from Flushing, and the latest photo he has uploaded is from three months ago.

Bingo. I think we have our guy.

Matt leans in over my shoulder. “You found him?”

“Yeah, I think so.” I stand, close the laptop and tuck it back into the bag. “You feel like a quick trip to Bayside?”

“Duh. Do you even need to ask?”