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“Take Lucia’s car. It should get past any Bratva looking for you,” Niko says.
“The Russian is in it. Zip-tied and belted in. He might still be unconscious. Oh, and he has a gunshot to the shoulder and one to the knee.”
I’d be impressed by Lucy’s quick thinking and willingness to take action, but I’ve got more important things to worry about.
“I’ll deal with it,” I say, guiding Kate through the warehouse where I can see Giovanni Fiori dead on the floor.
“Keys are in the car,” Lucy says.
I shove the unconscious man in the car into the back and help Kate into the passenger seat.
“Do you need a hospital?” The question sounds lame. What she needs is lifelong therapy, probably.
“No.” Her voice is shaky. I should comfort her. Take her hand, at least. But I don’t. I can’t. Not if I’m going to do what’s best for her.
As we drive, I make a few calls, the first to one of the only other men I trust in the FBI.
“Jesus fuck, Rostova… are you with the Mafia?”
I close my eyes for a second, wondering how my colleague knows. “I need a safehouse.”
“You need to come in and explain what’s going on. You’re undercover, right?”
Fuck. I’m on my own. I hang up and drive to Nowheresville, New Jersey and find a hotel.
“You’ll stay here for now,” I tell Kate once I’ve rented the room under a fake name and pay cash.
“You’re leaving me?” She panicks again.
I shove my hands into my pockets instead of holding her like I want to. “You’ll be safe. Fiori and Igor are dead. I need to make arrangements, and then you’ll never be in danger again, okay?”
She nods, and I see trust in her eyes. Trust I don’t deserve.
“Rest. I’ll be in touch.”
Leaving her alone is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
As I return to the car, shoot my passenger, and find a place to offload him, I vow to keep my promise to Kate.
She’ll never be in danger again. Even if I have to burn the world down to save her, I will.
2
KATE
The moment the door shuts behind Liam, my knees give out and I fall to the floor. The adrenaline from the day… being tied up by Giovanni Fiori and told I would be sold for sex… skulking through the building holding a gun Lucy Fiori gave me, terrified I’d accidentally shoot myself or Lucy with it… the relief at hearing and then seeing Liam… all of it crashes until I’m a boneless heap on the floor.
I’m not afraid right now, but that’s only a small comfort because I’m completely, utterly alone.
Liam barely looked at me, said barely a word to me, and now he has left me in this hotel room with only the clothes on my back.
When he first appeared in the corridor of the warehouse, I wanted to rush into his arms. He was the only person since the moment I’d been kidnapped the first time six months ago who I knew would protect me.
Back then, I’d been terrified to go into Witness Protection, but Liam spent time with me, helping me see how I could make a new start, enjoy life again without the threat of the Mafia. He’d even helped me not blame Elena for my predicament, which I’d done once I learned that she’d chosen to be a Mafia wife.
Liam comforted me when I learned my father, a police chief in New York, worked for another Mafia Family, Tiberius Abate’s. I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to. Liam was in the FBI. He worked to clean up the streets of organized crime. How could I not believe him?
It took me some time to settle into my new life as Katie Lawson. I never stopped looking over my shoulder, afraid someone working with my father would try and take me again.
