Page 51 of His Forbidden Alliance

I pointed toward the door, and he laughed as he walked out.

I watched Zach get into the black sedan that came to pick him up. When he was out of sight, I rested my head against the window and tried to take deep breaths so I could slow the pounding of my heart.

It had been a hell of a night. I’d been held at knifepoint by a cocaine-addled psycho, sucked off a federal agent, run right toward an exploding car, then been fucked out of my mind. No wonder I’d freaked out when I got Zach on his knees.

He came after you. He followed Andretti to protect you and killed him without hesitation. He stole a car to chase after me. Obviously, he wasn’t interested in following any government rules.

Or he’s black ops like you first thought, and he’s just doing his job.

No, he didn’t have to touch me like that to do his fucking job. He might want information from me, but when he was on his knees, when he spread me out on the counter, that was real. It had to be.

Fuck. What if I was wrong? This whole situation was insane.

What if Remington saw the security footage from the warehouse? He’d see Zach hot-wiring the car. He’d see him take off after me. It wouldn’t take any effort to put together that he was the man I’d been with, the one I insisted was safe. He’d investigate, pick everything apart, and he’d never trust me again if he didn’t literally murder me.

Maybe I could tell him I let a friend borrow the car, and I couldn’t find the key. No, that sounded stupid as hell, and why was the friend chasing me?

It all sounded like shit I’d done when I was eighteen, but I wasn’t that reckless now. I couldn’t be. Yet I’d invited Zach into my house, knowing what he was.

Maybe I could go back to the warehouse and destroy the footage. Except I was sure there was a backup. I’d have to hope for the best.

I pushed away from the window, walked into the kitchen, poured myself an extra-large whiskey, and drank about half of it in one go.

I was going to need the whole bottle to stop thinking about how I’d lost my mind. A government agent? A fucking government agent. Could it get any worse? It didn’t matter what agency he was with; he could ruin everything. Including me in the best way.

And fuck if I didn’t want more right that second.

How was I going to keep his identity from my family? Remington eventually found out everything, and Dante already knew I’d caught Zach cheating at the casino. If he knew everything, he’d rat me out to Lorenzo, and they’d wreck everything I was working toward.

Dante had called several times while I’d been busy letting Zach fuck my brains out, then freaking out about how damn good it had been. I needed to call him back before he did something drastic like show up here again, but what the fuck was I going to say? He knew X had cleared the guy, but that wouldn’t be enough if he thought Zach was using me.

He wasn’t. I was using him. Right? Or maybe we were using each other. Either way, I was fine. I didn’t need Dante or Lorenzo or anyone else coming to the rescue.

X knew Zach was a fed, didn’t he? He had too. No matter what kind of secretive, deep-off-the-grid, black ops maneuvers Zach was involved in, X would know. Was that why he’d told me to stay away?

Yeah, no shit.

My own brain was laughing at me. I was a fucking idiot.

I took another drink, letting the alcohol burn its way down my throat. I wished it could scorch away the memory of what I’d done with Zach. Or, better yet, sear away my desire for him altogether. Why the fuck was it the best sex I’d ever had?

I enjoyed sucking guys off when it felt right, but I’d never wanted to fucking worship a guy’s cock like that. If he’d kept fucking my mouth, I might’ve come hands-free from his cock in my throat.

Who does things like that?

But now I had to face reality, one of my least favorite things.

Remington had given me an assignment, and I’d told him I could handle it. I wished I’d actually been as confident as I tried to sound. I resented that Ivanov had sent someone into the casino, thinking he could infiltrate us there because I was the weakest link. I’d been determined to prove I was better than that, but I’d just fucked a man who could rain hell down on my family. We’d beat him if we had to, but we didn’t need that fight.

Xavier told you he was safe.

He also told me to stay away from him.

If he thought Zach was going to turn your family over to the feds, he would’ve had him eliminated before you could blink.

That was true, but when I told Remington I could handle this, I’d assumed I’d have the family’s resources at my disposal. Now I was on my own unless I wanted to explain my arrangement with Zach.

I could tell Dante. He wouldn’t run to Remington, but I was the baby brother screwup. I was already known for putting the needs of my dick before everything else. I refused to solidify that reputation any more.