His Forbidden Alliance (Forbidden Mafia #3)

Chapter 1 Zach

ZACH

“The Theriots have to be involved. Look at the patterns we’re seeing.”

Maria, my special agent in charge, shook her head.

“You’re going in the wrong direction. Yes, this is Bratva business, and we know the Theriots alternate between alliances and all-out war with them, but the Koslovs have put out a hit on Ivanov.

He has few allies left in the crime world.

If we try to bring in some of the Theriots or the Koslovs, we’ll never get charges to stick, and we’ll get no support from DC.

Ivanov is the focus. We can bring him in and leave the Theriots out of this. ”

“Did they pay you to say that?”

Maria glared at me, eyes hard and cold. “Because I respect you as an agent, I’m going to let that comment slide this one time. Never accuse me again unless you’re serious about it.”

I blew out a breath and ran a hand through my hair.

“Sorry.” Maria was an amazing agent. She’d had my back through a hell of a lot.

This wouldn’t be the first time I’d refused to confine myself to an assignment.

I tended to go off the rails during most investigations, but my hunches were usually right, and I had a gut feeling the Theriots were involved.

“They know something. I’m sure of it. They could lead us right to Ivanov. ”

“Hell, yes, they know something. They know something about everything that goes on in New Orleans a hell of a lot more than we do, unfortunately.”

“Exactly. They’re the key to this.”

Maria closed her eyes and blew out a long breath. “What are you suggesting? Do you want to march up, ring the bell at Remington Theriot’s house, and ask him how he’s involved with a man who’s been trafficking teenage boys?”

I rolled my eyes. “He’d kill you instantly, and we’d never find a single piece of your body.”

Maria was right, but— “There’s a younger cousin, Rafael. He runs their casino. He’s barely managed to keep himself out of police custody. If it wasn’t for his family, he’d be in prison.”

“As much as I’d like to worry about everything that goes on in this city, money laundering at a casino is far down the list of importance.”

“That’s not what I’m interested in. Though it’s always good for leverage.”

“With the Theriots’ power here, I don’t think you can count that as leverage.”

I huffed. “Maybe not, but I want to get in with him. I want to join one of his backroom, high-roller games. There are rumors of a connection to the casino. Ivanov’s been sniffing around there.”

Maria frowned. “What have you found?”

I handed her a thumb drive. “Check this out.”

She took it from me and accessed the pertinent files.

“Read what I’ve highlighted, and you’ll see.”

Maria hummed as she read. “I see the potential connection, but there’s no indication here that Rafael’s involved directly. Do you think he’s part of Ivanov’s organization?”

“Possibly. Either he’s in on it, or Ivanov is taking advantage of him.

Either way, I need to look into him. Rafael is very selective about who’s allowed to participate in these games.

They put offers on the table that aren’t just money.

It’s definitely a place Ivanov could be moving some inventory. ”

She narrowed her eyes. “How do you propose to get involved?”

“I want to go in as a player. I need to be on the inside to learn more.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re going to need identification and a whole undercover setup.”

“Yes, and you can get me that.”

“I could, but—”

“Let me do this. Even if it’s a dead end, the undercover persona will be useful as I look for other connections.”

“All right. You’ll have the documentation you need in forty-eight hours. Be careful. You know the Theriots aren’t people to play with.”

I didn’t need Maria thinking too much about that. “This guy is just a kid. He’s a loose cannon.”

“And if he’s involved with Ivanov, I want us to bring him down, but Ivanov is our ultimate target. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t, but we’ve got to strike where we can. That’s the name of the game, especially in New Orleans.”

I left Maria’s office before she could change her mind and headed back to my desk to lay out what I knew about the case.

Andrei Ivanov had been trafficking in boys as young as thirteen as well as college students.

There was evidence going back years. Maria refused to tell me how we’d gotten hold of all that evidence, but it was clear Ivanov was not only the leader of the organization, but he’d also kept some of the boys for himself, hiring them as household staff, luring some in with promises of money, and kidnapping others.

The boys and young men he forced to stay with him usually died in unexplained accidents or simply disappeared.

It made my stomach turn to consider how many atrocities he’d committed. Several months ago, a fire destroyed his home, and he disappeared off the radar. There was clear evidence the Theriots were present at his home that night.

Some of his top lieutenants had been systematically killed or disappeared over the next few days. All those incidents had links to the Theriots, so either they were involved, or they were also trying to bring Ivanov down.

I needed to know which it was before I could go any further.

If they were working to eliminate him too, then I could move more aggressively, knowing we were on the same side.

If they were in league with him, my choices were limited.

If I could bring them down, I’d be able to write my ticket to whatever position I wanted, but I didn’t want to deal with all that fucking bureaucracy.

I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I liked putting people away, not dealing with politicians and government bullshit.

I didn’t know how much longer I was going to last anyway. Ten years of this had nearly killed me.

If this was my last time undercover, I was sure as hell going to make it count. Rafael was my ticket to learning more about the Theriots’ involvement and identifying some of Ivanov’s contacts.

I pulled up my file on him. I’d been studying him for days, seeking out every article, picture, and video of him I could. There was one of him at a club that I hadn’t been able to stop watching. He might be a fucking mobster, but the way he moved his body on the dance floor was intoxicating.

I was surprised he’d been chosen by Remington to run the casino and even more surprised at what a good job he’d done. The place was far more successful than it had been a few years before. Based on his reputation, I would have expected him to run it into the ground.

Maybe he just knew how to hire good people to make the business decisions.

Or someone in his family did. I had no proof he was actually hands-on with running the place.

From what I could tell, he was far more interested in his own pleasure than in anything else.

He spent plenty of nights at the casino, but he also spent time hopping from club to club, picking up both men and women, sometimes at the same time.

He was an up-for-anything kind of guy. I could play to that.

I might be straight, but I had no problem flirting with him, luring him in, and making him want me.

Doesn’t that mean you’re not so straight after all?

I pushed that thought away. I didn’t have time for a personal crisis now.