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“Get in the car,” he growls, keeping his voice low.
I’d never once thought that Mark would be the kind of guy to hurt me, but I don’t know what to think right now. In the end, though, curiosity wins, and I walk around and get into the car. I have so many questions, and my fingers are trembling with anxiety.
“Please tell me you only became an agent after we broke up,” I say, staring straight ahead. “Tell me!”
“Bella—”
I slam my fists down on the dashboard. “Was it all a lie?”
“Let’s go to some place where we can talk privately.”
We sit in silence as Mark drives, and we end up at River’s lake spot. The place he took me on the first night we met. The irony is not lost on me.
Mark turns the engine off and turns to me. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
“Oh, you best believe it.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “I get it. Let me go first. I was assigned to investigate the Angels properties. I’m in white-collar crime at the FBI and the government takes notice when a motorcycle club goes from having about twenty million dollars’ worth of properties to over two hundred and fifty million dollars’ worth in less than ten years.”
Goddamn you, Julianna, for being too goddamn good at your job.
“Originally Julianna was the mark. She was the one I was supposed to get close to. But I met you by accident.” I give him a look, knowing nothing can be an accident when he’s been searching into my family. “Okay, well, I was at the bar you and she used to like to go to and I was sitting waiting for her when you came in and ordered a drink. There was something honest about you. And, well, you know what happened. I bought you a drink and you turned it down and then we sat three seats apart just talking. And that’s when I knew I had a genuine connection with you, so I went to my boss and changed the plan.”
“Lucky me,” I say, the sarcasm dripping from my voice. “We dated for a fucking year, Mark. One year. What did you do? Go through my things when I was asleep? Spy on me?”
He has the decency to look offended. “What? No!”
He played me.
And he was actually more badass in real life than the character I was fucking dating.
“You proposed to me,” I whisper. “Was any of it real? And why are you telling me now?”
“I don’t have time to get into this now, I tried talking to you about it at your house,” he explains, and when I finally turn and look at him I see some pain and regret flash in his eyes. “I’m sorry, okay, but I did have feelings for you.”
“Save me the bullshit. Why?” I ask him, even though I already know the damn answer. He wanted information on the Angels MC. And he used me to get it. And you know what the messed-up part is? I trusted him enough that I did speak openly with him about a few things. Things he can now use against me and the club. Not-so-legal things he knows about that have my signature on them and might implicate me. “You know what, I know why. Just tell me why you’re telling me now and what kind of shit I’m in.”
“Yes, I was building a case for the feds,” he admits, a muscle working in his jaw. “And then you broke up with me, which kind of ruined everything.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” I snap, my tone sarcastic and salty. “That must have been very inconvenient for you—”
“Bella. Fucking stop,” he says in a voice he never once used with me. I need to wrap my head around the fact that the man I thought I knew is a fake. A facade. I also need to remember that I need to keep my mouth shut.
“You’re not asking the right questions. Don’t you want to know why it went on for a year with nothing?” I don’t say anything. “You were clean. Everything, you and Julianna and the real estate operations. They were clean. It’s why I got to stay with you for a year. The reason I proposed was because our operation was ending. I figured we could be free to be together.”
I refuse to say anything. Did he really think I’d never find out? I’m so proud of past me for turning down that proposal. I knew there was something off, even if it was just that he was boring.
“The operation was closed. I was putting in my final report. Until...”
I hold my breath because I know what he is going to say.
“Lansdale.”
Fuck you, Rosalind. But fuck me for being irresponsible and getting caught up with River instead of focusing on the paperwork.
“I can tell by your face that you know exactly what I’m talking about. A forged signature. That has many legal ramifications for the Angels. Not only federal, but local charges as well. So I’m here to offer you a deal,” he says, studying me.
“What deal?” I whisper-yell. “This is my family you’re talking about, Mark. I can’t believe you did this to me.”
