Page 45 of His Forbidden Alliance

“I’m not. I don’t.”

“But you do need someone to push you to take care of yourself. So now you’re going to get some sleep and give your hand a chance to heal, and I’m going to start working my way through the casino patrons and employees to find our spy. Then we’re going to make a plan.”

“You think it’s that easy. You thought it was Andretti.”

“I hated him from the moment we met. I think I wanted it to be him, but that’s never how things work. I’ll work smarter now.”

“You don’t have access to records or surveillance from the casino.”

“Not all of it, but you’re going to give it to me.”

That was going way too far. “No I’m not.”

“Then I’ll have to break in, but that will take a lot longer.”

I exhaled, slid from the counter, and found my pants. I couldn’t keep up this conversation with my dick out.

“Andretti wasn’t my only lead.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

“I have others I want to investigate, employees mostly.”

How much was he keeping from me? “When were you going to tell me this?”

He shrugged, and I stomped over to where he stood. “I want every fucking detail right now. I’m not keeping someone on my staff who might be getting information for Ivanov. I want him taken out.”

19

ZACH

Ionly had a few hunches, nothing more, but I needed Rafe to believe I had information he wanted. I wasn’t letting this opportunity slip away from me, and I also wasn’t done with him. Fuck. I’d never come like that in my life. “It’s a few leads. I don’t have any proof.”

“Who is it, Zach? Tell me now.”

“Not before we make a deal.”

“A deal? You just came in my ass. That’s all the deal you get.”

I grinned and shook my head. “That was the prize you won for bringing me here.”

“You followed me.”

“You begged me to.”

“Fuck off.”

I pulled my clothes on as I said, “I need to know that we’re working toward the same goal. That when this is over, we’ll both walk away, alive and well, with no consequences to either of our careers.” Something flashed in his eyes. Disappointment? Fuck. My chest tightened. I didn’t want to walk away either, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t fucking date one of the Theriots and keep my job.

The job you hate? The one that holds you back?

“I won’t bring you or any of your family members in, and you don’t reveal anything to them about me.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “You want that in writing? Are you going to take that to your handler?”

I almost said SAC to correct him but stopped myself in time. He didn’t know what agency I was with, and he didn’t need to. “Didn’t you insist your family always keep their word?”

He scowled. “We do.”