Chapter 2 Sofia #2
Maybe all his important correspondence and notes are digital. Then what?
Uncle Roberto could give me an ultimatum to spy as a maid and take a picture of anything tangible or physical. But he wasn’t going to get far if he expected me to act like a spy and hack into any computer.
No. Don’t think like that.
Worrying that this would be more time-consuming than I first thought, I grimaced and endured the twisting knots in my stomach.
Don’t be negative.
Realistically, though, I’d be looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack here.
Don’t give up.
My determination to see through this spying exercise was founded on caring for my cousin.
I wasn’t doing this for my uncle. I wasn’t doing this out of loyalty to the shitty family I was cursed to belong to.
I was only here and would give it my best so that Esmeralda could continue to live and hopefully not suffer.
I let out a deep breath, racking my mind for a plan of action. Rifling through the clutter and mess wouldn’t get me far. I needed order. Steps. An outline and map of organization so that when I was through with this, I’d know that I’d done my best and left no stone unturned.
Start at the corner of the desk and go through the contents on top.
Then move on to the drawers, the left side and then the right.
After that—
The sound of the door opening spooked me.
I stiffened, my hand midair before I could start to touch anything at all.
The door hinges creaked a bit, and the heavy wood panel swung in.
Yusef!
Shit!
I dropped down and spun behind the huge leather chair pushed into the desk.
“I’m going to find that fucking map if it’s the last thing I do,” he growled to himself as he closed the door behind him.
Shivering in terror, I hugged my arms around my knees and tried to be as small of a ball as I could humanly be. Tucked under the desk and out of sight. Trembling in fear at the risk of being caught.
Or handled otherwise. It sounded like Yusef was planning to spy as well, to find something he likely wasn’t supposed to get his hands on.
Any infighting in the Orlov Family didn’t apply to me.
I was only here to spy and get a copy of what my uncle wanted—any documents with details about drug deals that he could use to his advantage.
Yusef wasn’t quiet or tidy as he rifled through the paperwork on Andre’s desk. He grunted and huffed. Papers ruffled and were scrunched up. A book was dropped back down on the surface over my head. I tensed, ducking at the loud thud.
Time blurred in a stretch of anxiety as I hid out of sight. But it wasn’t long before someone else entered the room.
“What the—” A groan of pain cut off the newcomer’s greeting. Staggered steps moved further into the room. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Andre. Are you all right?” Yusef had lost the snarl that he’d had in his grumbles as he looked for a map. His feet turned, all that I could see from my vantage point under the desk.
Oh, shit.
Andre?
Andre Orlov is here?
And I’m stuck hiding in his office?
My terror coalesced and thickened with outright panic. Shivering at the new and more potent danger of being caught, I held my breath and stared at their feet.
Andre’s legs stopped near the door. His feet remained in place, but his labored breathing didn’t sound good.
“No, I’m not fucking all right,” Andre growled.
Yusef didn’t argue. His feet backed up a couple of steps. “You’ve been shot.”
“I’m not all right with my fucking guard snooping through my shit,” Andre shouted.
“No, Boss. No. I’m not—” Yusef backed up again.
I swallowed hard. My heart hammered against my ribcage as I locked my sight on their feet on the other side of the desk.
“You’re the fucking mole? You’re the one selling secrets to the fucking Giovannis?” Andre accused.
“I—”
A pop cut off whatever Yusef might have wanted to insist. Andre had shot him.
Once, with a silencer. The telltale muffled sound was unmistakable, but I had more proof in the killing act when Yusef dropped.
He slumped to the floor, face-forward. As gravity settled his tall frame to the carpet, his head rolled just enough so that his vacant stare glazed at me.
The neat hole between his dead eyes glistened and bled out mere feet from where I hid.
I tensed. All my muscles braced for impact. Shock sliced through me at the horror that had just happened within my reach.
But before I could let the fear and dread consume me, I turned to watch Andre fall too.
Groaning and seeming to clutch an armchair for support, the Orlov leader slumped to one knee. Then both. More of his huge, muscled body came into my view as I huddled in a ball, hiding under his desk.
His suit was disheveled. Blood streaked from him, staining the once-white shirt he wore.
Another heaving groan left his lips as he surrendered his hold on the chair.
“Fuck,” he moaned after he dropped to the carpet, pressing a hand to his shoulder. “That hurt.”
I dared to exhale a short breath, watching as he struggled to get back up after collapsing.
This is it.
With him in pain and squeezing his eyes shut on the floor, I could slip out of here. He wasn’t watching. He was vulnerable in pain, wounded and not quick enough to stop me.
This had to be my window to escape this office full of death and blood.
I hadn’t succeeded in finding anything for my uncle, and with Esmeralda as the leverage he’d use against me, I was still beholden to spy.
Just not tonight.
I’d have to stay and try again another time.
Biting my lip, I crawled out from my hiding spot. I watched Andre as if he could spring up at any moment and catch me hiding. He lived. He was still awake, with his chest rising and falling as he clamped his hand to his wound.
Not tonight.
Tonight was a failure, but I could try again later.
Creeping out slowly, I winced at the sound and sight of him in pain.
I could come back another night…
“Fuck,” Andre grunted again.
So much pain and desperation were packed into that one word. And that was all it took to stop me from leaving. The instinct to care and nurture was too strong of a force for me to deny. Hearing him wheezing and growling in pain snagged me.
Oh, dammit.
I bit my lip harder as I rose onto my shaky legs.
He still had his eyes closed. Lines of agony were etched into his face.
I have to at least help him…
My bleeding heart would forever be my biggest flaw.
After one glance at Yusef, dead on the floor, then a quicker glance over my shoulder at the closed door, I cringed and hurried to approach this Mafia man, driven to act like a nurse, not a spy.