Page 65 of Conceal

“Want your time with Roman?” I finally offer.

She nods. “Yes, please.”

But before I let her go, I remind her. “I’m not done with you, knyazhna. Not by a long shot.”

Chapter forty

Roman

Tatiana’s hiding something, and I hate it. Something’s changed since the wedding, when she went radio silent. And I want to know what it is.

But her beautiful face stares back at me from Mik’s phone, and my heart cracks, knowing I won’t spend what little time I have on the phone with her interrogating her.

And the truth is, I’m also hiding a secret.

I found Irina’s brother. Ilya.

I’m not even sure Tatiana knows she has an uncle. He lives in the old world, but has connections in Boston. It might not be enough to get her free, but we’re trying to work an angle to get Tatiana into witness protection. A new identity. So that once she’s free, she can disappear, and we can disappear right along with her.

Her uncle is keen to help; it’s their connection in Boston that’s the wild card. There’s a District Attorney who has been rumored to be taking kickbacks from Child Protective Services cases, so Ilya’s connection is applying pressure there.

I wouldn’t mind taking the asshole down completely once he secures Tati a place in WITSEC.

But… one puzzle piece at a time.

I’m working backward. We need a place no one knows about; she needs a new identity so that her family won’t be able to find her. I’d love to have leverage on the Chernovs, too, to ensure they don’t come after us. It’s why I’ve been guarding Nikolai. I know what they do is illegal, and I know the warehouse locations and routes he uses to move contraband, but I need a paper trail to tie him and his father to their illegal businesses. They’re smart, though, so everything has layers of separation that could be legit - shell companies, invoices, packing slips, payroll.

I’m waiting for Nikolai to fuck up and give me something I can use as blackmail.

Tati fills me in on her workouts, and her routine, and how she’s safe. Giovanni bangs on her door at random hours when he returns from partying, but he’s never made a real attempt at opening her bedroom door. I worry about how long that will last, though.

She’s relieved to see Juliet, but she doesn’t talk about the future. I can tell there’s something she wants to tell me, but is holding back.

But more than that, I just miss her. Working to set things up to get her free has helped ease the pain a little - knowing that I’m working toward her freedom - but late at night the loneliness is suffocating. Her scent, her touch, her goodness are just gone from my life, and I’m struggling to cope with it.

I’m not drinking or fighting like Lev, but I also haven’t been able to get rid of the ghost of her. I still look for her everywhere we go. I see her in the crowd when we go to public places. I’ll think of a memory from the cabin and go to text her about it. I have nightmares that we’re back at Iron Craft, but this time I’m not fast enough, and Tati takes the bullet I protected her from. And she bleeds out in my arms. I scream, but nothing comes out.

And then I wake in a cold sweat.

I’d give anything to be back in that shower at the cabin. I’d give anything to hold her again - to bury my face in her neck and breathe her in.

I’d give anything just to be in the same room as her again. Because every room was brighter for having her in it.

Chapter forty-one

Nikki

Alarge, tall man in a suit stands in the doorway of the mansion, a rifle slung across his chest. Maybe I should have brought one of my brother’s men, but I didn’t want tensions to be even higher.

Axel’s watching and listening from a button camera he sewed into my shirt, just waiting for the word.

“Nicoletta Ricci, here to see Mrs. Vitale,” I announce as I approach.

I’m patted down, as I expected, and the gift bag I’ve brought is rudely torn from my hands.

Anger flashes through me.

“When your Don snorts himself into an early grave, remember who your donna is.”