23. Viktor
VIKTOR
It almost seemed too good to be true.
Brayden wasn’t only fully cooperative but also almost eager to have run into Wren. Like he’d been anticipating her to be his only source of hope.
It bothered me a bit. That maybe it was yet another setup. Wren was inclined to believe that the young man was only trying to do the right thing. When she asked him about the stakeout where she’d almost been killed, he told her that he had been propositioned too.
“He wanted me to go on that stakeout to spy on Rico Johnson,” he told her before she left him at the gym. Even through the earpiece, I could detect the anger and frustration in his tone. “He tried to get me to do that stakeout in his place.”
“Who arranged the stakeout?” she asked.
“Someone from another department. I don’t know, but it wasn’t Smithson’s idea. He was just expected to do it. But he didn’t want to.”
“Because he was going to be shot instead?” Wren asked bitterly.
“Shot?” Brayden asked. “Wait, it was a setup? Fuck. That means someone was trying to take him out. And he knew it and wanted me to go in his place!”
Wren growled. “It’s why he probably sent me in his place.”
“What the fuck…” Brayden cursed some more.
“I’m done. I’m so done with this shit. If this is what it would be like to work for the agency, fuck it.
” He scoffed. “I’m just glad I can put this in your hands and I can walk away with a good conscience.
I’m not signing up for a career where this crap happens.
I’ve been dreading what to do because if I speak up, I’m dead.
If I don’t, they’ll have me under their finger and prone to being screwed over anyway. ”
The fact that he had been so scared about knowing anything sealed the deal for Wren. She was in the same boat as him, stuck with wanting to do the right thing and also to survive.
When she came back to the car, she immediately called Trojan, who was ready and at standby to look up what Brayden had stored on his personal cloud.
“Fuck…” Trojan drawled the reply as I drove Wren back home. The other car with backup trailed after us as we circumvented the Strip traffic.
“Anything on there?” Wren asked.
He whistled via the call on speaker. “More like what’s not on there.”
I knew she was excited to dive into all this new intelligence, but she disconnected the call so Trojan could start scanning it all for her to process.
At the next light, I grabbed her and pulled her over the console so I could kiss her.
She grinned. “We hit the jackpot.”
No. I did. With you.
“I’m just fucking relieved nothing happened.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Nothing happened. I almost feel bad that he’s been waiting for someone to unload this on.”
“I can see now why he’d be hoping for you to find him,” I said. “Since you’ve clearly chosen your side and are not in with any of Smithson’s plans.”
She snorted. “Except his plan to have me killed.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she stared out the windshield on the ride back home. “There'd better be some clear evidence about that.”
“It sounds like he knew a hit would be placed on him and wanted Brayden to take his place.”
She nodded. “Which wouldn’t have happened because Brayden just didn’t have the clearance to do a job like that.
Obviously, their rules and protocols don’t mean much anymore since they are all corrupt, but I see how Smithson would’ve jumped on the chance to send the newbie on the force out.
” She faced me, so pensive and furrowing her brow.
“But this means that someone else wants Smithson dead.”
“I’m sure many do.”
She rolled her eyes. “Aside from you.”
“Think about it. He’s probably playing the system every which way he can. I wouldn’t put it past him to double-cross countless people, and they might not be so forgiving about that.”
“I bet not.”
When we got home, Elena called. “There is a lot to wade through with all of this that’s coming in from Trojan.”
“We will be very busy, indeed,” Wren said.
Before she could get carried away being too busy, though, I intended to square away one critical understanding between us.
She headed to her laptop in our room, but I walked up to her before she could sit at the desk. Putting two fingers on the top of the cover, I pushed it down.
“What are you doing? I want to see—”
I picked her up and carried her to the bed. She sat on the edge of the mattress and raised her brows at me as I stepped back and crossed my arms to watch her.
“Umm… what’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk.”
She smiled and looked off to the side. “Now?”
I nodded. Setting my hands on the bed on either side of her thighs, I leaned in and drew a deep breath. “Now.”
“About what?” She winced. “Viktor, there’s so much to check out and verify.”
“About us.”
She sobered, frowning at me. “What?”
“Do you realize this was the first time that you were without me?” I asked.
“I…” She furrowed her brow again. “That’s not true.”
I gave her a skeptical look.
“You were with me. I knew you were nearby as backup. The comms unit had us connected the whole time.”
“Correct. But this was the first time I let you go.”
She licked her lips, seeming to struggle to see where I was going with this.
“And I felt like I could because you seem to have made your choice.”
Again, she merely watched me.
“I’ve been struggling to understand how deep your loyalties go, Wren.”
“For fuck’s sake.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re not with Smithson. They’re not with that agency!” She frowned. “I’ve been working with Elena and Trojan for weeks now. What else can I do to prove that I am working with you?”
“Because you still think you’re a captive?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not… really. Because I care.”
“About…?”
She groaned. “About you. About your family. About taking down bad people. Maybe I’ve struggled with confronting how much my reality has changed, but it’s still the same drive.
I want to make the world a better place.
And if I can do that with your backing and as a member of your organization, then that’s how it’ll be. ”
Finally.
You’re finally getting it.
“You can’t deny the proof that your agency is compromised.”
She huffed and gave me an expression that suggested no shit.
“And I want you to know and trust that we will never be compromised like that.” I closed the distance between us and kissed her hard. “That if you choose me, if you choose us, then you will never have to doubt that, Wren. If you can tell me that you will choose me and state your—”
“Allegiance to your cock?” she joked.
I grinned as she kissed me.
“If you can stand with me…”
She kissed me again. Setting her hands on my face and then sliding them back until she looped her arms around my neck, she showed me with a kiss to end all kisses that she did.
She was choosing me, and she sealed it with the hungry seal of her mouth against mine.
“I choose you, Viktor.” She kissed me again, urging me to lower her down to the bed. “You can have my allegiance. To your dick. To you. To your family.”
Holding her in my arms, I rolled with it as she pushed for me to lie on my back.
“I want you, Viktor.” She hovered over me, straddling me as her red hair fell in a curtain. “I need you. And I choose you in every way there is to stand with anyone.”
I had it.
She finally said it.
But I wasn’t going to tell her to stop or to shut up as she took it even further.
She could say that she chose me, but as she stripped and helped me lose my clothes, she seemed intent on showing me as well.
I had no doubt she’d still struggle to complete a one-eighty, going from a law-enforcement minded do-gooder to assisting my Mafia members with questionable shit. But she would commit to me.
She rubbed my dick as she held herself over me, but too soon, she was desperate for more. Giving up on kissing me as I fingered her, she leaned up to seat herself on my dick. I watched her hold my cock as she angled it into her, and the slow sink down on it was both heaven and hell at once.
She went too slow, prolonging it and making me want to thrust up into her.
She went too fast, seating herself and taunting me to nut in her now.
But it was the steady dance of her gyrating on me that was the bliss I never wanted to give up.
Her tits bounced as she rode me.
Her fingers dug into my skin as she held on to my shoulders for leverage.
And her mouth parted in relief as she tilted her head back as she came.
At the first clenches of her slick pussy on my dick, I felt like it was only better. Each damn time we came together was better than the last. Hotter. More intense. Perfect.
“Viktor…” She moaned, sounding so filthy and wanton as she kept her head back.
The position arched her, thrusting her breasts out as she continued to ride me.
I gripped her ass, forcing her up and down a few more times until I flooded her with my cum.
Until I stamped my mark on her as my woman, my seed deep inside of her.
Until she collapsed, spent and sated, and I held her close, my heart beating in sync with hers as I closed my eyes and embraced the euphoria of having her choose me.
In battle.
In bed.
And hopefully, in the matter of her soul aligning with mine forever.