Page 69 of His Forbidden Alliance

“He’s probably asleep,” Rafe said.

It was bold of him to sleep that hard when he was betraying the Theriots. “Do your magic.”

Rafe picked the lock easily, then pulled out bolt cutters and snipped the chain that barred our entrance. I covered him, my heart pounding. I’d cleared a hell of a lot of buildings, but I hadn’t been this nervous since I was a brand-new agent on my first assignment. At this point, I hardly cared if someone killed me, but I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Rafe, not even a scratch.

Rafe kicked the door open and waited for me to enter first like we’d planned. There was still no sound—not a footstep, not anything. Was LeBlanc gone? Or was he hiding? He couldn’t have slept through us breaking in, could he? The place was nice, but not that big. That was when the smell hit me. Fuck.

I cleared the living room, then indicated to Rafe that I was moving forward. I leaned around the doorway and froze. “Damn.”

Rafe tensed behind me. “Is it him?”

“Yes. He’s the stinking corpse.”

“Fuck.” Rafe moved around me and whistled when he saw LeBlanc. The body was a few days old and had begun to bloat in the warm, humid air coming in through the broken window. I was surprised the neighbors hadn’t smelled it or seen the damage and called the police.

He had been shot multiple times but had likely taken a while to die, as none of the shots were through the heart or head. Was that on purpose? Ivanov wouldn’t send an unqualified assassin.

“Look.” Rafe pointed to the rug near the body.

We both took a few steps closer. The man had used his blood to write “Iva” on the rug.

“Ivanov.” Rafe had to be right. LeBlanc wanted whoever found him to know. “You don’t think Ivanov was here, do you? That he killed the man himself?”

My pulse sped up. What if he was still here? No, the kill was days old. He wouldn’t be here, but was he watching the place? “We need to get out of here.”

“Why would Ivanov want him dead? He couldn’t know we’d figured out his plan.”

“We didn’t even have LeBlanc on our radar yet when he was killed. I have an idea, but that’s for later. We need to leave now.”

“Shouldn’t we look around, see if we can learn anything, take his computer, his phone, or⁠—”

It wasn’t worth the risk. “We’re in danger. Ivanov could be watching. Maybe he wanted us here.”

Rafe’s eyes widened, and then he nodded. “Yeah. Right. I… that’s right.”

“Come on.” I took Rafe’s hand and led him through the house to the back door, which opened into an alley. Thankfully, we didn’t see anyone as we returned to the car.

“How secure is your house?” I asked.

“We’re good there, and Remington had guards patrolling the area.”

“Good. Take us home. At a reasonable speed. Like we’re returning home from a normal night out.”

“I can’t drive after a normal night out.”

I blew out a breath and slumped against the seat. “Rafe. Just drive like a sane person.”

“I’ll see what I can do, but only if you start talking. Why would Ivanov bring this guy in, then kill him when he’s succeeding with his plans?”

“I’ve got a few theories.”

Rafe motioned for me to get on with it. “I want them all.”

“What if this guy is the one who rigged the bomb on your car? What if Ivanov told him to scare you so you’d already be on edge when he started the blackmail? What if he went too far? You could have died, and Ivanov wants you alive.”

Rafe glanced over at me. “He wants to use me. He thinks I’ll betray my family.”

“Yeah, I think your instincts on that were absolutely right.” I reached out a hand and laid it on his leg.