7. EXPOSED
SEVEN
exposed
Pippa
The warehouse hums with energy, like a storm about to break. The whiteboards in front of us are covered in names, colored thread, intel dumps, and coded shorthand. Our own war room built from secrets, sacrifice, and the kind of pain most could not endure.
Jules hovers over Luna, her posture all control and command.
Luna sits at her workstation, scrolling through files to find our angle into Victor Malin’s house. Our next operation is to take out the head of the secret service.
With the Speaker dying within the week, Malin’s death the following week will give us the opening we need for Jules’s security firm to be contracted as part of the gala’s security team.
I’ll also get pulled further into gala planning.
Each domino carefully planned and pushed at the exact right time to give me the access needed to take out Magnus Troy.
I pace the floor, restless energy pent up—a combination of anxiety, being so close to my own personal vengeance, and an uneasy feeling about being on the FBI’s radar. It feels like a bad omen, but I know we’ve worked on this plan too long to pivot now.
“I know we said we wouldn’t, but I really think we should put someone from my team on surveillance.
Getting access to his house may be too hard for the three of us to figure out in time.
” Jules has made this case in each of our last few meetings.
Malin’s house is a fortress. Luna was successful in hacking his security system, but we still don’t have enough information to enter his place safely next week.
“It’s too risky, Jules. Victor Malin isn’t your client. We’d expose your team if something went sideways,” I repeat my position. “Maybe we don’t need to do this at his house. What other angles could we work?”
“By next week?” Jules asks with her brow raised skeptically. She’s got a point.
“Maybe we have enough information already,” Luna starts. “Sure, there are still some unknowns, but if you let me join you in the field—”
“No!” Jules and I both bark in unison.
Luna huffs and rolls her eyes. “I do work for the FBI, for crying out loud,” she says under her breath as she returns her face to the screen. “I’ve had just as much combat and arms training as the two of you. I don’t see the problem.”
This has been an ongoing point of contention for the last couple of years. Luna thinks we are overprotective about her safety. She’s right. Jules and I are aligned to protect Luna at all costs.
BAM!
The warehouse door slams open.
Luna curses and turns to the security feed.
Jules and I whip around.
Enzo Luciano storms into the warehouse, gun raised, eyes locked on us.
Trailing right behind him are two more men with guns. I recognize the dark-haired guy from the night at The Vault. And the third guy…
John?
Our eyes lock and my heart stumbles.
Holy shit.
Enzo radiates masculine energy that feels more reckless than deliberate.
John’s tension reads like he’s trying to slow a crash he can’t prevent. They are twin storms colliding in the same space, and my sisters and I are standing in the crossfire.
I don’t even realize I’ve raised my gun. Next to me, Luna and Jules have mirrored the motion. Our three guns raised to their three.
“John?” slips from my mouth.
“Hudson?” Luna asks at the same time.
“Enzo fucking Luciano,” Jules hums, ready to go head-to-head with him.
Enzo doesn’t flinch. “Easy, ladies. We just want answers.”
“That’s rich, given you just stormed into our space, guns aimed. We have the upper hand here,” Jules fires back.
It’s a standoff. Six people, six guns, zero exit strategy.
Everyone starts talking over each other, shooting questions and accusations in every direction.
“Everyone shut the fuck up,” I yell, slicing through the chaos, and everyone obeys.
“Luna, did you say Hudson? Hudson-from-work Hudson?” I ask.
“Yes,” she confirms.
“The blonde or the brunette?” I ask, staring into the eyes of a man whose body I know almost as well as my own.
Luna confirms the blonde.
John/Hudson’s smile takes over his whole face.
I decide to ignore that particular clusterfuck for a moment and turn my attention to Enzo. “Hi, again. Couldn’t stay away, huh?” I feign flirtatiousness as a means of distraction. My sisters and I need a beat to make sense of what the fuck is going on here.
Jules jumps in. “Enzo, you working with the FBI now?”
“More importantly,” Luna follows, staring daggers at John—Hudson—whoever the fuck he is, “why are you walking in with Enzo Luciano?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Please. Of course, the head of organized crime is in bed with the mafia. Fucking Washington.”
“You know I’d much rather be in bed with you,” Hudson says with a wink at me.
Well, fuck, here we go.
I maintain my death-glare at him.
“Pippa?” Luna and Jules ask in unison.
I sigh. “John Doe from the casino.”
Jules closes her eyes for a moment, taking a calming breath, then opens them again.
Luna’s face goes ghost white.
Nearly imperceptibly, Enzo seems to flinch at that admission.
Hudson looks too proud of himself for a man holding a gun. “So, it seems my reputation precedes me,” he says as his smile widens. “Jane, I’m flattered.”
I roll my eyes.
“You’ve been hooking up with the head of the FBI’s organized crime unit?” Jules hisses sharply.
I shrug. “Technically, I met him as John, underground poker degenerate. You know I don’t put much stock into my random hook ups.”
“Ouch!” Hudson teases, though it’s lined with a hint of hurt.
“Who’s this guy?” I ask.
Luna answers, “Enzo’s head of security, Niko Moretti.”
Jules turns to Enzo. “Let me guess: After you met her at The Vault, you asked your buddy here at the FBI to run a file on her. You didn’t have enough information, so you decided to tail her?”
The men don’t reply, but we are all on the same page here. Enzo clocking me at The Vault was a bigger problem than any of us realized. Now we’ve been exposed.
Hudson’s tone turns serious. “The real question is, why are you here, Luna? Who are these women to you? And why the hell are there so many boards covered in what looks like high-profile targets and classified intel?”
My stomach sinks. He’s seen the target list. They all have. Shit. I take a deep breath. “Do we kill them?”
“Seriously?” Hudson snaps.
I tilt my head as my finger grazes the trigger, motioning I’m ready to pull it.
Instantly, everyone squares up, sights aligned. The air goes razor-thin, pressure about to snap.
“Everyone, calm down,” Luna pleads, stepping forward and raising a hand. “We’re not killing anyone.”
Enzo’s mouth curves, something dangerous flickering in his eyes. “That’s a relief.”
“You likely have more men outside, and I have no doubt your sister knows exactly where you are,” Luna responds in a commanding tone, showing she’s not to be underestimated.
Enzo stiffens at the mention of Eva.
“Luna is an expert in organized crime,” Hudson interjects before Enzo can react. “It’s her job to know about you, Eva, and your whole crew. I don’t believe Luna intended that as a threat.”
“Something tells me I’ve only seen half the picture with the Luciano family all these years, now,” Luna quips. “Shit, Hudson, I really thought you were one of the good ones.”
Hudson/John/whoever-the-fuck doesn’t respond, but his eyes soften.
I try to rack my brain to remember what I know about Assistant Director Hudson Cross. Luna talks about him regularly, but I can’t remember seeing any photos. How the fuck did I not know the men were one in the same?
“If Enzo disappears,” Luna continues, “Eva and the entire Luciano organization will come for us. And if Hudson goes missing? We’ll have the Bureau crawling all over town.
” No one disagrees. “I think we can all agree, it’s in everyone’s best interests to just take a breath. We should all put our guns down.”
Silence follows as everyone mulls over their options.
Hudson lowers his weapon first, slow and deliberate. “I’m not going to hurt Luna or Pippa,” he says softly.
Jules squares her shoulders, taking control.
“Here’s what’s going to happen—Pippa and I will lower our guns at the same time as Enzo and Niko.
I’m going to pat you all down and take your weapons while you sit at that table.
You’re going to give the three of us a minute to chat before we join you.
Then we’ll figure out what the fuck to do next. ”
Enzo tilts his chin up, and one by one, the guns lower.
The tension doesn’t disappear, but it shifts. Like the first breath after a long dive.
Jules, ever the calm military-turned-security professional, shows the men exactly who is in charge as she takes their weapons and phones.
Enzo negotiates a quick text to his driver, and the men are led to the lounge in the warehouse—where we have couches, tables, and chairs.
She directs them to the long meeting table.
The three of us head to the opposite side of the massive space, behind the room dividers where I manage my chemistry lab.
When we are out of sight, Luna whispers, “This is my fault. I wasn’t watching the camera alarms, and I should have had the audio on, and—”
“Luna,” I cut her off, “this is clearly my fault. I had a tail I didn’t clock. This situation is bad enough without beating ourselves up.”
We hold eye contact, agreeing to let the blame pass between us.
Jules turns to me. “You never looked into John Doe from poker? You’ve been hooking up with him for a while. Luna gave us Hudson’s file.”
She’s calling me out, and I don’t like it.
I throw up my hands. “We vetted Hudson Cross when Luna joined his unit, like five years ago! I only met him last year. You know what I’m like after a takedown.
I’m half-manic, half-feral. The club’s my off switch.
I don’t exactly have a filing system when I’m Jane Doe.
” I rake my hands through my hair. “Shit. I’m going to have to rethink how I unwind. ”