7. Viktor
VIKTOR
Ididn’t stay in the room with Wren for long.
She was struggling. To believe me. To question those she was supposed to trust. To wonder what her fate would be between those two forces.
Rather than overdo the questioning when I was so rabid to touch her and explore that vague concept of “entertainment” with her, I left her to stew on how obvious it was that some things weren’t always as they seemed.
She could tweak her attitude, but I decided that sticking her in that room wasn’t the way to go about it. Not now.
Adrik came over at the time I’d given him, and we met in my office to go over what Wren knew. And didn’t know.
“She’s not changing her story?” he concluded.
I shook my head.
“Do you think she actually knows anything about that hit on me?” Steepling his fingers as he sat back on the leather chair facing my desk, he propped his feet up.
Something about seeing him in the office our father used to rule from made him look different.
Like he had to look like the proper heir and interim Pakhan there.
A man of leadership. But here, he could still be just my older brother.
Maybe the change in setting relieved him too.
I didn’t spend too much time at my desk, but it was my work space.
And it lacked the appearance of generational wealth that his office did.
I was a simpler guy. The less clutter and bullshit, the better. I didn’t mind art, though.
He zoned out and stared at an example of it now as we talked.
The abstract statue of a nude woman in the corner of the room was a custom-made piece of artwork that was too risqué to display anywhere else.
With her holding her pussy open, her head tipped back as another head attached to the shape of the person that made up the base of the statue kissed up her thigh, it was an eye-catcher.
“I’m not sure. She is new to the agency out here.” I rubbed my beard, musing what secrets I could get out of her if I kissed my way up to her cunt. The idea of seducing her was too irresistible to give up yet.
Because it’d work.
I saw how flushed she was. How just looking at her a certain way had her fidgeting.
“Then why are we keeping her?” he asked.
I shrugged, trying to look like it didn’t matter to me whether she was held hostage for intel or not.
It did fucking matter. Because I wasn’t through with her yet.
Keeping her hostage didn’t seem like high-stakes of a need anymore in terms of Adrik staying alive.
Because the more I asked her about what happened that night, nothing indicated that she knew that we’d even be there.
“I said she might not know anything about the hit placed on you.” That was a transgression we wouldn’t slack on finding answers to.
Men were delegated to investigate it. Normally, I’d be involved in that, asking around and searching for clues about who placed that hit.
But with Wren in my custody, I was detouring into seeing how she could’ve been involved. “She still might know something else.”
He pursed his lips and nodded. “Like what?”
“Anything we want to know about Smithson and his assholes.” We kept tabs on the agents, just like they did on us, but it was a complicated war of law versus crime.
“Anything that could pertain to Gregori,” I added.
“If she’s a rookie and just got into fieldwork, what the fuck would she know?” He sat up. “She would be too new for him to have bribed.”
“Give me time to see what I can find out.”
He raised his brows. “You want to dick around and keep her here?” He scoffed. “No one is even looking for her.” He wasn’t assuming that. We were looking out for alerts for her being missing and nothing was out there yet.
I paused in stroking my beard. “Doesn’t that stand out to you?”
He frowned. “I guess.”
“Because if none of the Feds are looking for her, that could imply that they think she wouldn’t be around to find. As in… they would expect her to be missing. Or dead.”
He huffed an incredulous laugh. “You think she’s telling the truth that a second shot was aimed at her?”
“I don’t know yet. But the idea that someone could have a hit ordered on you at the same time a hit would be taken out on her is too much of a puzzle for me to leave it alone.”
“You sure you’re not just looking for a woman to keep around and fuck?”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” I admitted with a shit-eating grin.
He rolled his eyes. “A Fed?” He shook his head.
“Give me some time to see what I can get out of her. If she has any intel about Gregori, it’ll be worth it.
I’ll bring her out of the holding cell and let her be my…
guest. I don’t think binding or locking her up will get me anywhere.
I’ll keep her close. Observing her and learning her tells will get me further than coercion. ”
“You think she’s that tough?” he asked dubiously.
“I think she’s been trained to tolerate some tough situations.”
“She’s a fucking rookie,” he argued.
“All right.” I held my hands up. “But I think there could be something to learn from her. With how aware she is of me so far, I think this will be the best way to pick at her mind.”
He nodded.
I knew there was something to learn about Wren Green. There was a lot I wanted to learn about the sexy redhead locked in my basement.
I was desperate to know what she tasted like. How loud she could be when I slammed my dick into her. If she would get herself off while she sucked me past her plump lips. What kind of a glorious sight her breasts would make as she bounced on me.
“Viktor.”
I blinked and faced my brother. I wouldn’t admit that I’d zoned out. If he’d asked me something important, he could ask me again.
“Is this about getting answers from her or just getting a good fuck?”
Can’t it be both?
“With Gregori applying more pressure on the Feds and cops, not to mention all the legal bullshit we’re facing…” He scowled and shook his head.
“And the fact that someone wanted to kill you,” I added to the laundry list of issues we were facing.
He grunted. “That’ll always be a threat.”
“How’s Elena holding up with that scare?” I asked, because I cared and because I wanted to change the topic off this instant lust that Wren provoked in me.
“She’s managing. Carina’s a godsend,” he admitted. “Besides, Luka keeps her busy.”
“I imagine. Is he sleeping more than two seconds yet?”
“I think he slept for two hours straight last night. But he’s—” He narrowed his eyes. “Nice fucking try. Don’t change the topic.” He stood, shaking his head. “If you think it’s worth it to keep this agent around for a while, fine. I trust you.”
Hearing him say that wasn’t necessary. I knew he trusted me. And I trusted myself. Something wasn’t lining up about that night when Adrik was shot at, the same night when Wren supposedly was too. If some kind of a clue could be revealed, it would be intel we could use. Or exploit.
“She’s got to have something we can use,” I repeated.
She wouldn’t be the first agent or officer we’d ever captured. But the ones we usually got were entrenched in corruption with our rivals and they never lived long after we had them in our clutches. And no one was ever sad to see them disappear.
Wren didn’t seem like another one of those, the corrupt civil servants who could be tempted with get-rich-quick schemes through befriending the denizens of crime bosses.
He rolled his eyes. “Something we can use as Bratva? Don’t be an ass and try to tell me you’re not also looking forward to using her for a quick fuck.”
“Who says it has to be quick?” I stood.
“That’s all I ever fucking have time for. Kids are a cockblock,” he muttered.
“I bet having someone trying to kill you is too,” I quipped as I exited the room with him, glad to have his so-called blessing to pursue my idea of an interrogative custody of Wren.
He shot me a stern side-eye. “So is having our uncle come back from the dead and threaten our empire and legacy.”
I patted his back in commiseration. “He won’t win.”
“No, he won’t,” he argued tiredly. “Because we’re all in this together.”
We were, and hopefully, I’d be able to extract helpful intel from Wren, information that would contribute to our ability to stay one step ahead of Gregori and his network. If she couldn’t provide that… I was sure she’d be able to satisfy me in the interim in other ways.
Wicked, torrid, naked, and sinful ways.