Page 59 of Marked By the Devil

I read through all that Trojan had sent me and Elena. The update unnerved me, but it wasn’t going to shake me off this goal of helping the Bratva.

“What this tells me is that he’s getting nervous,” Elena said later. “Smithson—and whoever he’s listening to—are getting nervous to escalate their attacks on your character and to say you’re wanted now.”

I nodded. “What it tells me is that there’s no going back.”

She faced me, raising her brows. “Was that something you considered?”

I sighed, setting my elbow on the desk and dropping my face into my hand. “I don’t know. No. Yes? No.” I sat up and shook my head. “Nothing about my being here is conventional. Viktor kidnapped me. And it’s been a confusing mess of getting to this point of wanting to stop this corruption from the other side of the fence.”

“Being unconventional isn’t a bad thing, though.” She smiled slightly. “I didn’t come to be in this family in any conventional way either, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

I took her words to heart for the rest of the day. Of course, she wouldn’t want to change anything. She was married and in love and happy and a new mom and had a wonderful baby and a solid job and⁠—

I could too, though.

The realization hit me hard, and I struggled not to be overwhelmed by it.

Later that night, though, when Carina had her baby—a girl they named Isabel—I couldn’t stop all the thoughts about how much my life was changing.

This Bratva was a family first. They weren’t a lawless gang of deviants and devils. Being included to the point that I had been so far showed me that the Volkovs could offer me an existence I never could have had if I were working for the agency, either back in Oregon with the desk job or here as the field agent I never fully became.

Can I truly open my heart and know that I have a place in their family, though?

Will they ever be able to fully invite me to be one of them?

Before, those questions made me uneasy.

Now, I had to have the courage to truly test myself and understand the meaning behind having a real purpose in life. And if it could be one I would commit to with Viktor at my side.

21

VIKTOR

After Carina gave birth to her daughter, Isabel, Maksim was understandably busier. He wasn’t off, officially, since protecting the Bratva was a job that never slept. But we all picked up the slack of what he had been working on the most.

That included looking into who had placed a hit on Adrik—and Wren—as well as the general defense against all that Gregori planned.

It was shitty timing that he was less available to help us when we received the heads up of a coordinated law enforcement operation and sting being plotted against us.

Wren was most effective in warning us of the incoming “attack”, and I hoped that this was going to be one more example of how she was with us, one more demonstration of how ludicrous it was for anyone to ever think she could be a spy.

“Between the DEA and the state patrols, they will be setting up blocks here and here.” Wren pointed to a map that she was referencing in Adrik’s office. The screen on her laptop was shown for the rest of us to see. “They’ve already been paid, per the transactions we found, and their goal is to stop the runners moving toward the San Fran area.” She faced us and crossed her arms as we all digested the news.

“Tomorrow?” Adrik asked, double-checking.

She nodded. “They’ve discussed the sting at length and there’s no question about the timing.”

“How the hell do they know that we’re planning that run tomorrow?” Lev asked. “We’ve changed the date several times. The handoff site has changed how many times now?”

“That’s what I want to know as well,” Adrik said.

If you’re trying to insinuate she’s been feeding them intel… I narrowed my eyes at my older brother.

Alexei must have been watching me. “Calm down,” he drawled, looking at me. “No one’s implying Wren is telling them anything.”

She volleyed her gaze between me and Adrik.

“No.” Adrik shook his head. “I’m not implying that.” He heaved out a sigh. “We would know if you were since you’ve been here or at Viktor’s, and all outgoing messages and calls are tracked.”