22. Wren
WREN
Viktor wasn’t happy about the idea of my having a more active role in this fight against Smithson and Gregori.
I tried not to see it as his being controlling and too protective.
Those were good things. Instead, I tweaked my perspective to realize that he saw me as one of them.
As a Volkov member whose security and well-being had to be a part of any job or task.
He wasn’t looking at me as an expendable captive, a thing to own and order around.
He hadn’t been looking at me like that for a while now.
As we lay in bed after a long, passionate fuck, he gazed at me with that look. The deep, pensive, probing one that made me wonder how far he could fall for me. The soulful, serious stare that reminded me that he was too good at reading me to not know me.
It had happened so swiftly.
One day, I was looking forward to moving. The next, I was kidnapped. And now, I was here, naked and flush against him, cozied in for a good sleep. I wished I could say I was without a care in the world, but that wasn’t true.
I was in too deep as it was.
“How are Carina and Isabel doing?” I asked, just to break the silence with how intense these feelings were that he stirred within me.
“Good. They’re both home and adjusting as well as they can,” he replied, stroking my cheek and watching me like I was the only masterpiece he wanted to admire in life. “Maksim will be fine too.”
I smiled. “He didn’t seem fazed about having a child.”
“He was. Is. But I know what you mean. He wasn’t the first one. He saw how Adrik and Elena adjusted with Luka and kind of knew a little more of what to expect.”
“They’re so close together in age.” I smiled slightly. “They’ll always have someone to grow up with now.”
“Sometimes, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he muttered.
I laughed. “I can only imagine. All six of you in a close range.”
“My mother and aunt never lived to see it. But my grandmother…” He smirked. “She was a tough soul.”
“Did she pass away when you were older?”
When he frowned, I wondered if I was being too intrusive.
“Not that old.” He cleared his throat. “Gregori killed her and my grandfather together.”
I froze, stunned by this news. “Gregori as in…”
He nodded, scowling. “As in the Gregori who formed that network and is trying to destroy the Bratva.”
“No wonder you guys don’t like him.”
He sighed, hugging me closer. “That’s not even the half of it. You can see us all as a family, a business, a close-knit group.”
“You are,” I replied, resting against him and enjoying the familiar heat of his body against mine.
“We are, but Gregori has never been a true part of it. He was my uncle, my father’s younger brother.
And it was due to his greed to have the throne that he tried to kill my father, my grandfather, and several other prominent bosses.
He succeeded in killing most. My grandfather passed away trying to stem the bleeding from my grandmother’s wounds.
My father was injured but survived. And Gregori was believed to have been dead, killed in the same explosion. ”
“My God…” I frowned up at him. “I’m sorry.
I… I can’t imagine.” I really couldn’t. I’d never had a big family to get used to.
My grandparents were already gone and my mom had no siblings.
My dad didn’t either. It was just me and my mom, and I missed her terribly.
That was part of why I always hoped for a sense of family or comradery in the workplace.
But to have more family members to lose?
That was a lot of loss. A lot of heartbreak. A lot of anger, too.
“When Elena was given to Adrik, she began to point out the fraud and mismanagement of funds that led us to discover the network. We were shocked that Gregori was not only alive but also that he was in the position to challenge us at all.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said sincerely. “Because I can see how much you protect your own.”
“That extends to you, Wren.” He kissed me tenderly. “That’s why I’m not crazy about them wanting to use you as bait or anything else like that.”
I smiled slowly. “I can tell.” Damn, did these butterflies in my stomach excite me. This idea that Viktor saw me as his thrilled me. And it encouraged me to say what was on my mind. “However…”
“No. There is no room for negotiation when it comes to your safety.”
“However,” I said again. “I could try to be a double agent, after all. Not through anything directly linked with Smithson. Or anything near Rico Johnson.”
“Then how?”
“There’s one name that I haven’t seen at all in everything I’ve been hacking into and investigating. He’s too new, even newer than me, but he’s been close to Smithson. Brayden Hunton is his protégé, and if I reach out to meet with him, I bet I could get some kind of intel out of him.”
He watched me so seriously for several minutes that I began to lose hope of his agreeing.
His expression was too cold, too somber, to suggest that he was going to be the least bit open-minded about my idea.
While it was hot to know he cared this much about me, I sort of despised not being able to contribute more.
The way Smithson and others had referred to me by calling me a traitor stung.
If I could hit back at them, it would make me feel good too.
Seeing them paying for their crimes of corruption would be justice in and of itself.
“I’m listening,” he said slowly.
“I could reach out to Brayden and see what he knows.” I shrugged. “It’s worth a shot, at least.”
He let out a deep breath and tucked me closer. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
When morning came and he mentioned it to the others, I realized that he wasn’t dismissing me. He hadn’t told me that we’d talk about it later as a way to shove me aside. I didn’t have to feel like a rookie with them. That alone was a highlight—being treated as a valuable member of a team.
“He’s a junior investigative agent,” I explained more clearly.
“He’s new and still in training, but since he joined the department, it seems like Smithson has been shaping him up to be his protégé.
That was the impression that I got of him when I was first introduced to some of the staff on my first day. ”
“If he’s that close with Smithson,” Alexei said, “wouldn’t that mean he’d be too loyal to tell you anything?”
I shrugged. “I hope not. He’s too green and young to probably know what to do with anything he sees or learns.”
Adrik nodded once. “Go for it.”
“Just like that?” Viktor asked.
“Yes. Go for it,” the boss told me. “Nothing to lose in trying. If he tattles to Smithson that you’re asking around about him, then that’s nothing new. He’s already aware that you’ve been investigating for us.”
I didn’t think there was anything to lose, but Viktor’s grimace told me enough. He did. He thought that anything bad happening to me was a loss he couldn’t allow.
We used the rest of the day and night to prepare for how I could meet up with Brayden. He would be hesitant to just meet me somewhere, so with the help of Alexei and Nikolai, we had him watched. They ordered a stakeout to track his routine, and by the end of the week, we were ready to ambush him.
Viktor was involved in every step of the plan. He wouldn’t be far from me at any time. But he also could trust that I would keep myself safe too.
“Remember this?” He held up my gun. My old gun.
I smirked at him. “The last time I had that was when someone kidnapped me.”
“You'd better be talking about me.” He pulled me in for a carnal kiss.
“Are you… proud of the fact that you kidnapped me?” I asked, incredulous.
“I’m proud of having a reason to have you in my life.” He kissed me again. “In my bed.” Another kiss that had my toes curling. “Wrapped around my dick—”
“Okay!” Nikolai clapped loudly. “That’s enough of a show for today, don’t you think?”
I smiled at the youngest Volkov brother. I wasn’t afraid of their seeing how Viktor treated me when he was in a playful mood. But I did want us to focus here.
I took the gun from Viktor’s hand and set it on the table. “I don’t know if it’s wise for me to carry that anymore.” A department-issued firearm? To be carried while I met with an active agent to get any intel I could out of him for the Mafia? Yeah, that wasn’t smart at all.
“Which is why you can use this, instead,” Viktor said as he gave me a different gun. “Just in case.”
I checked the wires I had on me, so slim and unnoticeable, I was in awe. “Just in case,” I agreed.
Brayden didn’t strike me as someone who’d have the brain or balls to arrest me, but I wasn’t going to lose anything to chance.
We moved out right on time, aiming to have Viktor’s car and backup parked around the gym where Brayden took a class.
The HIIT workout must have been a new thing the young man wanted to test out because on that first day I met him in the office, he looked far too scrawny and lanky to have even passed academy.
Viktor and the others were connected to me via the comms unit in my ear, but I knew they were only doing this to hear if I needed help. Not because they didn’t trust me.
I hadn’t been out and about—and not on my own—since I was taken.
So it did feel weird to loiter in the gym’s lobby to find Brayden.
But I wasn’t looking at this as a newfound freedom I’d missed.
All this time that I’d been working alongside Elena and Trojan suited me.
And being with Viktor showed me that I wasn’t missing out on anything out in the “normal” world past the walls of his stately home.
They trust you.
You know they do.
They wouldn’t have armed me for this mission if they were worried I’d run or turn on them.
Elena never would have let me hold her son if she was convinced I was only a dedicated federal agent.
Adrik wouldn’t have allowed me to be in an office with his wife every day if he assumed I’d hurt her.
With this trust to talk to Brayden, I wanted to show them that they weren’t wrong to judge me as someone they could count on, either.
I waited in the lobby, dressed like I was going to work out.
Stretching and idling near the entrance to the men’s locker room, I stalled and looked out for the young man.
As soon as I spotted him, I slipped into the men’s area, crept up behind him, and caught him in a secure hold, keeping my hand over his mouth.
Turning him into a sauna, I aimed my gun at him and raised my brows.
He swallowed hard and held his hands up. “That’s… that’s not necessary.”
“Convince me it isn’t.” The steam of the room had me sweating already.
“I’ve been hoping you’d show up.” He darted his gaze past me as if he feared someone would see in through the small window on the door. “Smithson’s been saying you ran to the Bratva. He’s got a warrant out for your arrest. And that told me that you’d be my only hope.”
“How?”
He cringed, wiping sweat from his brow. “You aren’t in with him.”
“I’m not even a part of the force anymore.”
“Well, yeah. They had to technically fire you and all. But since you’ve disappeared and they think you’re with the Bratva, you’re clearly not in with him. You’re the only one I can know who isn’t.”
I lowered my gun. “Why would that matter to you?”
“Because I don’t know how to stop him.” He shook his head, frantic. “I don’t know how to stop any of them.”
“Stop them from what?” I asked, refusing to offer up any information in what I asked.
“Everything! They’re taking hit orders from the Cartel.
They’re lying about court documents. They’re covering up these human trafficking rings.
” He shook his head again, clearly distraught.
“I can’t say anything. I can’t even take this to the top because I think the Special Agents above him are in on this too! ”
“Can you back this up?” I asked. Fuck, it was hot in here.
“Yes.” He licked his lips and looked nervous but also eager for a solution.
“I’ve been copying and saving all that I can.
I’ve been recording what I can. But I don’t know who to take it to.
And I have no way to reach you. All I know is that it’s wrong.
I didn’t want to sign up for this. I wanted to make a difference and do something good for the world.
” He scowled. “Now I see how na?ve I was. Money makes the world go round and there’s no stopping on that ride. ”
“Where have you been saving all this information?” I was already in on the inter-office programs, but his name and account weren’t there. I figured it was because he was so junior in the hierarchy that he wouldn’t have access to the messaging program yet.
“On my personal devices.”
I smiled. Perfect. “I think I can find an audience for all that you’ve uncovered.”