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I long ago got over the concern about using my federal job to do Mafia work. I hadn’t set out to cross the line in my job. I’d grown up in Bratva, was the presumed heir, but I left, burning bridges as I joined the FBI.
I’d intended to stay on the right side of the law. And I would have, if it weren’t for Don Niko Leone. I can count on one hand the people I care enough to die for, and Niko is one.
A good friend since childhood, he’d saved me more than once. So for him, I advise, I manipulate, I protect, I do dirty work, and I keep him safe from law enforcement.
“Are you sure I’m safe?” she asks once we’re on the plane heading back to New York.
“No one is ever really safe.” I’m looking at my phone, acting like I’m working, but mostly, I’m just trying to avoid looking at her. I hate the feeling of wanting to wrap her up and bury myself inside her. To drown in her.
She sighs. “Any word on my father?” I can tell by her tone that she still doesn’t believe he’s dirty. I wonder if she’d believe I’m dirty. She knows her arrangement was made to keep her safe from Mafia goons, but she’s not aware that it was at the request of Niko. Maybe I should tell her, and she’d stop looking at me like I was Superman.
“No.”
“But you think he’s dead?”
“Yes.” I want so fucking badly to look at her. Instead, I look out the window, willing for us to arrive in New York.
“Elena is okay?”
“She’s great.”
“Are you angry at me?”
I close my eyes, hating how she thinks my asshole behavior is her fault. It is her fault, but only because something about her exposes my weakness. “No.” Finally, I look at her, and those crazy sensations flood my body. “I won’t lie to you, Kate. I can’t guarantee that you won’t be a target. But my intel suggests that you won’t be. You’re probably more likely to be mugged. Elena misses you, and so?—”
“I don’t understand why you’re helping her. She’s in the Mafia.”
I nod. “I explained to you already that you had a choice. You could stay in Witness Protection, be Katie Lawson, book editor in Nowheresville, USA.”
She swallows and looks down. “I know. I thought about it. I mean, I knew Elena’s family was bad, but I hadn’t ever imagined they were Mafia. And the things she did to get free…” She looks at me. “Why didn’t you put her in protection? She’s now in the life she wanted to leave.”
I laugh. “She’s exactly where she wants to be.”
She shakes her head. “I find that hard to believe.”
“When you see her, she’ll tell you. She’s happy with Niko, and there isn’t anything Niko won’t do for her. Including bringing you back into her life.”
Her eyes widen. “This was his idea? This could be a ruse to get to me.”
Panic shines in her eyes, and I can’t help but move from my seat as far away from her to the one right in front of her.
“No. He’s sincere in his love for her. He’ll also help keep you safe as much as he can. If you’re not okay with that, tell me now and I’ll take you back.”
She lets out a breath as she looks out the window. She’s torn.
I want her to go back, but only because I’m a selfish bastard who is using all his control to keep from touching her.
“Why are you helping him?”
I sit back in my seat, weighing how much I should tell her.
“Is he an informant?” she asks.
Before I can respond, the pilot informs me that we’re about to land in New York. “You’re almost home, Kate.” I move to another seat, grateful that we were interrupted.
Once we land, I load her into a waiting SUV and drive her to her new apartment in the East Village of Manhattan. Like a lovesick puppy, I chose this area of the city because I know she likes it. I, not the FBI, have funded this move and her new place.
I carry her bags into the elevator, and we ride up to the third floor. The apartment isn’t large, but it has all she needs.
