Page 63 of Marked By the Devil

“I’m listening,” he said slowly.

“I could reach out to Brayden and see what he knows.” I shrugged. “It’s worth a shot, at least.”

He let out a deep breath and tucked me closer. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

When morning came and he mentioned it to the others, I realized that he wasn’t dismissing me. He hadn’t told me that we’d talk about it later as a way to shove me aside. I didn’t have to feel like a rookie with them. That alone was a highlight—being treated as a valuable member of a team.

“He’s a junior investigative agent,” I explained more clearly. “He’s new and still in training, but since he joined the department, it seems like Smithson has been shaping him up to be his protégé. That was the impression that I got of him when I was first introduced to some of the staff on my first day.”

“If he’s that close with Smithson,” Alexei said, “wouldn’t that mean he’d be too loyal to tell you anything?”

I shrugged. “I hope not. He’s too green and young to probably know what to do with anything he sees or learns.”

Adrik nodded once. “Go for it.”

“Just like that?” Viktor asked.

“Yes. Go for it,” the boss told me. “Nothing to lose in trying. If he tattles to Smithson that you’re asking around about him, then that’s nothing new. He’s already aware that you’ve been investigating for us.”

I didn’t think there was anything to lose, but Viktor’s grimace told me enough. He did. He thought that anything bad happening to me was a loss he couldn’t allow.

We used the rest of the day and night to prepare for how I could meet up with Brayden. He would be hesitant to just meet me somewhere, so with the help of Alexei and Nikolai, we had him watched. They ordered a stakeout to track his routine, and by the end of the week, we were ready to ambush him.

Viktor was involved in every step of the plan. He wouldn’t be far from me at any time. But he also could trust that I would keep myself safe too.

“Remember this?” He held up my gun. My old gun.

I smirked at him. “The last time I had that was when someone kidnapped me.”

“You'd better be talking about me.” He pulled me in for a carnal kiss.

“Are you… proud of the fact that you kidnapped me?” I asked, incredulous.

“I’m proud of having a reason to have you in my life.” He kissed me again. “In my bed.” Another kiss that had my toes curling. “Wrapped around my dick⁠—”

“Okay!” Nikolai clapped loudly. “That’s enough of a show for today, don’t you think?”

I smiled at the youngest Volkov brother. I wasn’t afraid of their seeing how Viktor treated me when he was in a playful mood. But I did want us to focus here.

I took the gun from Viktor’s hand and set it on the table. “I don’t know if it’s wise for me to carry that anymore.” A department-issued firearm? To be carried while I met with an active agent to get any intel I could out of him for the Mafia? Yeah, that wasn’t smart at all.

“Which is why you can use this, instead,” Viktor said as he gave me a different gun. “Just in case.”

I checked the wires I had on me, so slim and unnoticeable, I was in awe. “Just in case,” I agreed.

Brayden didn’t strike me as someone who’d have the brain or balls to arrest me, but I wasn’t going to lose anything to chance.

We moved out right on time, aiming to have Viktor’s car and backup parked around the gym where Brayden took a class. The HIIT workout must have been a new thing the young man wanted to test out because on that first day I met him in the office, he looked far too scrawny and lanky to have even passed academy.

Viktor and the others were connected to me via the comms unit in my ear, but I knew they were only doing this to hear if I needed help. Not because they didn’t trust me.

I hadn’t been out and about—and not on my own—since I was taken. So it did feel weird to loiter in the gym’s lobby to find Brayden. But I wasn’t looking at this as a newfound freedom I’d missed. All this time that I’d been working alongside Elena and Trojan suited me. And being with Viktor showed me that I wasn’t missing out on anything out in the “normal” world past the walls of his stately home.

They trust you.

You know they do.

They wouldn’t have armed me for this mission if they were worried I’d run or turn on them.