Page 46 of Marked By the Devil

But she didn’t take this as an opportunity to run away. She didn’t see this as an advantageous moment to escape me. Surprised and caught off-guard, she was almost docile, sitting in the backseat as the doors were closed on us.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded as the car took off, shaken but strong. “Yeah, I’m okay. I didn’t hit anything.”

I studied her closely as I called this in to my brothers.

Maksim answered instead of Adrik, but that wasn’t anything to be alarmed about. I told him how a car had just tried to ram into us, and he assured me that he would dispatch men to this area. We would have other people looking into the surveillance to try to figure out who had done that.

“Do you think that was Smithson?”

I regarded Wren with all seriousness as our car sped back toward my house. Back toward safety.

“If that car was aiming for me, that was another hit on my life.”

Maybe it was a little cocky of her to assume that she was at target, but I had a hard time wanting to disagree. We still didn’t have conclusive evidence that a second shot had been fired at her or in her direction that night that I had kidnapped her, but if that was true, then she was more exposed to being targeted than I currently was.

She shook her head, sending her red hair tumbling slightly. “Nobody else knows me. I haven’t been here for long enough for anyone to know who I am or that I’m an agent. Smithson is the only one who comes to mind. He knew that I was at that stakeout.”

Before I could say anything else, we pulled into the driveway at my house. I didn’t get out and I didn’t rush her. If she wanted to speak and share her thoughts, though, I would listen.

“Do you think they know I’m here? Do you think the agency is aware that I am working with you?”

Shaking her head again, she seemed more troubled about her situation.

“I have a strong feeling that they must have concluded that you were taken.” I rubbed my hand over my beard, contemplating what to tell her next.

“If Smithson ordered another hit on you, that would be my first conclusion, though. That he knows that you’re working with us and doesn’t want that to happen.”

With a nod, she reached for the door handle to open the door. I entered the house with her, keeping my hand on a small of her back even though nobody could be targeting her on my property. She was safe here. And it was that realization that convinced me that I had to double down my efforts of keeping her here.

She was safe under my protection. But being out in the public was a danger.

Her association with my family increased my responsibility over her. If I hadn’t kidnapped her and kept her here, she wouldn’t be as much of a target. But considering the opposite wasn’t something I was prepared to do.

Let her go?

Was that the only other option, let her go? And have her be more exposed to threats away from my protection?

Not happening.

I saw her into the house but didn’t stay myself. “Paul will assist you with anything that you might need. I am going to speak with my brothers, and I will be back soon.”

She was already walking into our room. She barely nodded to acknowledge me. She didn’t look over her shoulder, but she did swipe her hand in a dismissive flick.

I hated to leave from here so soon after an external threat had emerged against her. But I needed to speak with my brothers and understand what was going on.

Both of my older brothers were at the mansion, waiting for me as I strode into Adrik’s office.

“What the hell was that all about?”

The Bratva men had to have found something by now. If the guard who had been with us had failed to track down the car as it made a getaway, someone should be able to get into the surveillance cameras on the Strip and tell us something.

“It’s about Smithson,” Adrik said.

He didn’t look pleased about it, and he turned his phone around for me to view it. A small screen with his email application was clear. It didn’t take me long to skim through it.

I’ve heard a rumor that you have one of my own. If you want to keep my agent and await charges of kidnapping her, just bear in mind that she could be there as my top field spy.