Page 77 of Conceal

Stunned is an understatement. I knew my family was involved in illegal shit, but if they...

“Not the trafficking.” My voice is so quiet I’m afraid he can’t hear me as the engine turns over and the van begins to move.

His dark brown eyes simply stare back at me.

My stomach sinks. No. I refuse to believe it. My brother? Did my mother know? I’m not sure why I’m so surprised, considering they essentially sold me to a man for a business deal. But disgust grips me tightly, thinking I’d been living under their roof and completely oblivious. I’d been so concerned with vain, superficial shit like skincare and dating. Disney and painting. Sparkles and Juliet. My family was complicit in the most evil thing humans could do, and I was, what? Worried about my history of fine arts grade?

I swallow several times to try to keep the bile down. I have nowhere to throw up right now.

Then I put the pieces together.

“You’re detaining me, so I can’t warn them.”

Guilt flashes across his face for a second, and that’s all the answer I need.

“You don’t need to. If they’re really involved in the trafficking of women and children, they need to be stopped. Blood or not.”

He nods his head in approval.

Finally, the weight of the day, the stress from the shootout, the freedom so close I can taste it but being not free yet, it all comes to a head.

I’m exhausted.

I close my aching eyes and rest my head back against the van wall, letting the rocking of the vehicle lull me into a light sleep.

Chapter forty-eight

Mikhail

Panic gripped my chest watching Tatiana be led out by an agent. Rage followed closely behind as he put her in the back of a van, still handcuffed. I was stepping forward to rip the man’s head off when he came back out of the van and approached us with a cautious smile.

He held up both hands placatingly. I’m sure he saw three men ready to go to war for their woman.

“She’s just being detained temporarily. She’ll be okay. We have units on the way to the Chernov place. After they’ve been taken down, she’ll be free to go. We’ll want to bring her in for questioning later, but she’s been through enough today.”

Ice slices through my veins. What does he mean? They’re taking down the Chernovs, too? What does he mean she’s been through enough? What must she have gone through during the FBI’s raid of the mansion? My stomach churns.

What is happening?

“You didn’t know,” the agent says.

I look at Lev and Ro, but they both look just as confused.

“The Vitales were trafficking women and children using the Chernov’s ports and warehouses. We have to assume they were working together.”

I might throw up.

Roman doubles over as if he’s been physically hit in the stomach.

Lev just shakes his head. “No... no. There’s no way...” but he voices trails off as his confidence fades.

Lev and Ro share a look. A sickening realization that while they were guarding Tati, they were being excluded from a line of the Chernov business. Only questions remain. Who knew? How much were they implicated in what was going on? Were they active in trafficking people or just complacent and allowing the Vitales? Who the hell do they actually work for?

A silent conversation passes between the two men, and maybe it’s the years of being in each other's orbits, but I think I know what they’re saying. They’re saying they want to see it themselves. They want to look Dmitri and Nikolai in the face when they’re arrested. They want to see for themselves how monstrous they truly are.

I straddle my bike as Lev straddles his, kicking the stands and turning over the engines. Roman’s in the black SUV and takes off before Lev and I can maneuver our bikes to take off back toward the Chenov compound.

Lev takes off, speeding through parked cars and traffic, splitting lanes recklessly, and I send up a curse and a prayer that he stays safe. Tatiana’s seconds from being fully free. If he gets hurt now, she’ll be pissed at him.