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I release her and rub my hand over my face. “Italy should be safe enough. Adelaide agreed to drop their bullshit charges, but I already had the lawyers on that. Tony did some work for me behind the scenes; a small, maybe risky deal as a show of faith to Adelaide.”
“What did you do?”
I cut her a sharp look. “A small deal. A nobody, a runner—”
“For this Russian you told me about? Nikolai—”
I interrupt her thought. “My people reached out to his about this runner. False information was given, and…the FBI have their lead.”
“Nikolai, you’re the smartest man I know, but this doesn’t sound on the up and up.”
I raise a brow. “You don’t say? Rocks and hard places over pits of vipers, Rose. Adelaide wanted help, so I gave it. This way, I don’t get labeled a snitch, and we get the fuck out of FBI jurisdiction in case what she wants changes.”
“Or who,” she mutters in a voice that could make Satan shake.
She’s not wrong. She means me, because sweet Rose has green glasses on, but the who might not be Milovic. Adelaide wants someone brought down, and a small runner with no information isn’t going to cut it.
Again, I can’t get past the feeling I’m missing something, but I can’t see it yet. This is different from other battles and wars and deals. I can’t forget that I have issues at home.
“Marriages are big deals in my world,” I say. “And this one is of particular interest. We need to be on our toes, Rose. There’s something brewing.”
“We’ll deal with it together.”
There’s another reason I want everything moved up, and it’s one I keep trying to slide by. “I know how my world works, Rose. It might not seem it, but…” I take a breath. “All this trouble, it points to one thing: someone, somewhere, is trying to bring me down, and I’m thinking they’ll use you and the wedding to do it.”
“Can’t scare me, Niko.” Her soft voice is a fucking balm. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
I look at her. “Nothing.”
“Nikolai—”
“You, here, is enough.”
I call Garcia, and he brings my computer. From there, I go over everything we have: all the information on Rose’s properties, the players, people looking into things. It’s not just one. The areas targeted are strategic to me and a percentage of my allies. I broaden the search. It’s not just criminal activities; it’s companies buying properties.
I call Tony. “I’m sending you a file. I have an idea about who’s behind this, and from where I sit, it looks like they’re targeting Rose’s holdings, too.”
She stares. “But I haven’t—”
I hold up a hand to stop her. “Everything Tony. Not just us. Look into who owns what, who’s selling what.”
I hang up. “We fly out late this evening,” I say to Rose.
Garcia nods, taking the computer and heading off to give orders. Rush will meet us on the plane.
We’re alone again, and Rose looks at me. I might be right, or I might be wrong, but I don’t think so.
“Rose, listen carefully. You dumped a lot of different businesses and properties. Different places bought them, and I’ve been looking for an enemy coming up to undermine my empire and use our wedding.”
“I don’t understand.”
I blow out a breath. “It’s hard to explain, but we need to play it cool. If I’m right, we’re going to need to make contingencies.”
“And if that’s not enough?”
I take her hand and lead her to the bathroom with its huge tub and run the water. I don’t have any rose oil, or I’d use it for her, but I strip us both down. We climb in, and I use my soap to clean her as she sits in front of me.
“Niko?”
