24. Wren
WREN
Iwoke up feeling like the tide was changing. The recent shifts in my life seemed so minor to the deep connection that Viktor and I reached last night.
I expected to be working at the computer all night and digging through everything that Brayden had handed over to us.
I’d gone into that meetup with him, or rather, that ambush of him, thinking that I would need to convince him not to turn me in.
I had no way to know if he was that committed to serving the agency or if he had been wanting to turn on them as well. For the latter to be true was a relief.
I almost felt bad for him when he expressed how upset he was about all the corruption that even he had been noticing. It would’ve been impossible for Smithson to hide how duplicitous he was from his tagalong trainee, anyway. Brayden deciding that this was a line he couldn’t cross spoke volumes.
And he had handed over volumes.
Viktor had to go with Alexei to follow a lead about something to do with the Konstanov Family first thing in the morning, so he didn’t drive me to the mansion.
“But what car do I take?” I asked him as I sat up in bed, watching him get dressed. Holding the sheet up to cover my chest, I wished he could get back under it with me and hold me in his strong arms again.
“I don’t care, Red. Pick one.”
“Any of them?”
He smirked. “You do remember how to drive, don’t you?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Just be careful. And don’t get so damn carried away at the computer that you forget to stretch.” As if proving his point, he set his hand on my shoulder and massaged lower.
I canted my head to the side and moaned. “Oh… God… Right there.”
He gripped my hair suddenly and tilted my head back for a hard, possessive kiss that would make me wet if he kept it up. “You keep moaning like that and neither of us are going to get any work done.”
“You can work me as hard as you want,” I teased.
He leaned down, kissing me again and thrusting his hand lower. Without missing a beat, he shoved his hand between my legs and stroked me. Fingered me. Taunted me to suck on his tongue as he pistoned his digit in and out—
“Later, Red.” He strode off, smiling at me over his shoulder as he left.
I whined, flopping back to the bed at his holding out on me like that. “You’re mean.”
“Ah, fuck it.” He came back.
“Fuck me,” I begged, widening my legs and letting him see how I dripped for him.
“Tempting, but I’m already late.” Instead of giving me his dick, he pivoted me on the bed so my legs hung off the edge.
Then on his knees, he lowered his mouth to my pussy and made me come.
With licks, nips, sucks, and kisses, he tormented my clit and pussy until I was on the verge of screaming.
Keeping his dark gaze on me was how he pushed me over.
I came as I humped his face, holding his head to me.
Shattering apart at the intensity of his wicked lips, teeth, and tongue on me, I didn’t care how loud I was. There was simply no way to hold it in.
“Dammit.” He stood as I was still coming, shaking and gasping on the bed.
“I will fuck you.” He unzipped his pants and tugged me closer so he could ram his dick into me.
“I can’t go all day without… this…” He gritted his teeth as he fucked me hard and fast. This time, after he was satisfied, he left me lying on the bed after a second orgasm, his cum dripping out of my body and a loopy, sleepy smile on my lips.
The freedom to drive paled in comparison to how he’d woken me up. I did get out of the house, though, and I messed with the music on the radio as I drove to work with Elena.
Nothing could dull my day.
Nothing would bring me down.
With the breeze in my hair as I sped along the highway, with the endorphins from coming early threading through my system, and the sunshine high and bright, I was in a damned good mood.
Arriving at the mansion, I smiled as I headed in.
“Nice work,” Adrik said as he passed me by.
I stopped at the foyer and glanced down.
“Well, I’ll be damned…”
He did a double-take at my muttering as I looked at the marble floor. “Huh?”
“I just realized this is the first time that I just let myself in.” Without Viktor. Without an escort. Without… being checked.
“Yeah.” He furrowed his brow at me like I was being silly. “Anyway, good job with that kid yesterday. It seems like he was waiting for someone to talk to.”
I nodded. “I’m kind of worried about him.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not you too. I thought you didn’t even know him that well.”
“I didn’t. I don’t. I only met him one day and thought I’d be his coworker.” I frowned. “What do you mean, me too?”
“Elena’s already been nagging me about him. She’s worried he’ll be killed or targeted for giving you secrets.”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking too.”
He nodded reluctantly. “Fine. We can arrange some protective services for him.”
I smiled. He wasn’t so bad, after all. I supposed it was just common sense, though. If someone did you a favor, you do a favor back for them.
“There’s no way in hell I’m bringing him in to work for us.” He rolled his eyes.
“Because he’s a snitch?”
He huffed. “So are you.”
I shook my head. “I was kidnapped.”
“Oh.” He laughed. “There’s a difference?”
“There’s a difference.” I never thought I’d see the day when the fact that Viktor kidnapped me would become something like an inside joke. It wasn’t a laughing matter—usually. But I couldn’t lie and admit that I was suffering here.
I was… thriving.
The difference was that I’d found my place and purpose in the world here.
The bigger difference was that I’d found… love.
“I’ll have someone figure out protection for him.” He lifted his chin at Maksim as he entered the room. “He can handle one sniveling, helpful snitch of a junior agent.”
“What?” Maksim glanced between us. “Carina’s up with Elena,” he told me.
“Oh, good.” I smiled. “I can’t wait to meet Isabel.”
I headed up to where Elena and I worked together, and sure enough, there they were. Mother and daughter, mother and son. Mila was there too, smiling at Isabel.
“Wow, that is a full head of hair!” I whispered it but couldn’t tamp down on my excitement.
Carina looked tired but happy, proud too. “No wonder I had so much heartburn.”
“She looks just like you.” Mila didn’t speak up much, but even she was fond of the others growing their families. Viktor hadn’t told me much about Lev’s wife, but I understood that it was new.
“Here.” Carina offered Mila the baby as she shifted. “I need to run to the bathroom.”
Mila sat back and cradled Isabel in her arms. Right then, Nikolai stepped in. “Damn.” He blinked. “That’s a lot of babies and a lot of women.” He mocked being so overwhelmed that he was blinded. “Too much estrogen…”
“Just wait ’til it’s your turn, Nik,” Carina sassed as she excused herself.
“My turn?” He rolled his eyes, turning to call after her as she went down the hallway. “It won’t ever be my turn. I’m too much of a catch to limit myself to one woman. It’s not fair to the rest of womankind.”
I rolled my eyes at Mila, who smiled in reply.
“I came to find you two,” he said, facing the room again. “Elena, there’s something I needed you to check with a property that the Konstanovs seem to be claiming as theirs.” Then he faced me. “And I’m supposed to get ahold of some kid Adrik thinks we need to protect?”
“He’s not a kid,” I replied.
“Oh, good. Because I’m cool with them being that little.” He smiled at his niece and nephew. “But I don’t know a damn thing about dealing with an actual child.”
“He’s an adult. A junior agent who is helping us collect intel against Smithson and Gregori.” I pointed at the door. “And I’m pretty sure he’s talking about it with Maksim downstairs right now.”
He saluted us and left.
“I’m so glad Brayden wanted to help,” Elena said as she put Luka in the portable crib. “I’m so glad that you want to help to.”
“Is that all I’m doing?” I asked as I took my seat. “Helping?” I scoffed.
She beamed at me, sitting down to tackle more of the files that we had to read and connect. I hoped that more things would click and fill in some gaps about what we needed to know, what we needed to discover to bring down Gregori. To end Smithson and his cronies who wanted to hide behind aliases.
Carina came back in and she visited with Mila, but neither of them distracted me or Elena from working. Brayden had saved a ton of data and it wouldn’t be a quick read.
As I settled in and made it a productive day, I realized that no one could claim that I was merely helping or assisting. I was owning this. I was fully enmeshed in this investigation, and I was proud to have a part in it.
Assess. Ascertain. And act.
The action would have to come later, and when the time came for it, I bet that Viktor would insist that I not get involved in any field exercises so I would be safe. But for now, I was assessing a multitude of documents. I was ascertaining what mattered and how.
In the back of my mind, I knew that I was stepping over a line that I once swore I would never cross. I was blurring the lines and I was marching into the territory of forsaking those morals I previously thought I could never change my mind on.
But things change.
I’ve changed.
Deep down, my commitment to wanting to make the world a better place hadn’t changed at all.
Ending the power of those corrupt men in office would improve the lives of everyone.
I couldn’t be sure if it was because of what Brayden said yesterday or if it had more to do with Viktor officially getting my acquiescence in bed, to verbally choose him over my past. But I knew that I was doing something good. The ends would justify the means.
Because with this newfound confidence in being right to help the Volkovs in the face of so much evidence that my agency had turned rotten, I could also get over the fact that I had never imagined letting a man convince me that love was real.
I wanted to believe it was.
Because I was surrounded by it. In all its gritty ways, I was surrounded by so much love. These married couples. Their children being born.
I glanced up and scanned the room, smiling at Elena, Carina, and Mila being with me.
All these strong women made my choice so much easier.
The Volkovs couldn’t be my enemies when they seemed so much like the family I’d always wished to have. A close one where I could know that we’d all have each other’s backs even when we could be conflicted over how our lives and responsibilities could be tested and changed.