The Wife Assignment, page 24
“We’ll get her back,” Levi said with confidence. “But Nana is right. This time away from the kids gives us the opportunity to focus on us.”
My laugh was brittle. “Kind of hard to do with everything else going around.”
“I disagree,” Levi said. “With Callum showing up, his death is taken out of the equation.”
“I don’t understand. Are you saying we’re suddenly fixed because the source of our guilt is gone?”
“No, babe, Callum’s supposed death exposed a weakness in our marriage. It would have come out sooner or later because our issues are buried deep. I didn’t get it for a long time, but I’m getting it now. Why you wanted to separate.”
“I told you why,” I mumbled, getting up and walking to the window to draw the blinds. I stared at the concrete jungle of the Las Vegas strip.
Levi came up behind me. “My anger at myself was not good for the kids, but there was another reason, Kelly. I need you to tell me if you see that.”
“We’re seeing a therapist next week.”
“We don’t need a third person to see what our problem is if we could see it ourselves, don’t you think?”
He turned me around to face him. “I wrecked the security you had with me.”
“My feelings of abandonment.”
“Yes. It wasn’t until you told me about your epiphany with Sofia, understanding why she’d make that choice—even if you say you don’t blame her for no family support because you had the McGraths—it made me see where you’re coming from.”
“What do you mean?”
Levi exhaled heavily. “You had the McGraths. Mads and Robert are wonderful parents. I’ve seen you with Callum, Ronan, and Alana. I’ve definitely seen how you are with your grandparents, but I think …” He sighed again. “I think we have the same issues. I grew up in a group home, abandoned in the hospital. Both our biological mothers gave us up. Your biological dad couldn’t be a real dad. But our issues are different. I grew up around kids who had the same problem while you grew up seeing what could’ve been.”
I smiled. “I think we’ve established that.”
“That’s just it, babe, you didn’t see why it took us a while to get back together. It wasn’t only about me abandoning our marriage and making your scar deeper. It was because despite having the McGraths during your life—Whit, Ash, and I were your first real family, one you had all to yourself.”
My heart pounded. “I think you’re wrong there.”
He gave me a tiny smile. “I’m not sayin’ the McGraths treated you like an outsider.”
“I am lucky to call them family,” I said sharply.
“But it’s still different,” he said gently. “Kelly—the girls and I—we’re really yours. I fucked up the faith you had that you had a family to call your own. Just explaining. I understand why it took you a while to give me another chance.”
“You’re giving me too many passes in this separation.”
“We accepted that it was necessary. But we also needed to understand why it took us eighteen months to come to terms with it.”
“That’s the assignment our therapist gave us,” I laughed. “But damn, big guy, you’re more intuitive than I am.”
“It’s always the person on the outside who can see the big picture.”
I circled my arms around him and drew him closer. “You’re not on the outside anymore.”
“I certainly hope so,” he murmured. I raised my chin for his kiss, but he gave me a quick peck and stepped away.
I raised a brow.
“Room service is coming soon.”
“You didn’t have to step back,” I teased. I was familiar with the tension radiating from his body.
“I see the bruises on you and I’m not liking it, but on some perverted level, I’m also finding it sexy that I put my mark on you.”
He glanced away, and it almost made me laugh given his color-heightened face.
I was still naked underneath the blanket, and he was finding it hard to fight against going another round.
I recalled our sexual acrobatics last night. “We were pretty enthusiastic and I’m deliciously sore, but you’ll be sorely disappointed. Pardon the pun. I think you’ve wrecked my vagina.”
He chuckled. “Do we need to ice it?”
I teasingly opened the blanket and looked down—whisker burns everywhere, and yep, my pussy feels a bit puffy.
“It needs a break from you.”
He went down on his haunches, and drew in a breath as he pressed his mouth against the mound. “I can kiss it better.”
“We know where that’s leading, and like you said, we’ve got room service coming.”
He got up. “That’s true.”
“What did you order for me?”
“For us? Steak and Eggs. Waffles. Bacon. A big carafe of coffee.”
My mouth watered. I didn’t realize how ravenous I was.
“We need nourishment.” He waggled his brows; I rolled my eyes.
He nudged me toward the bedroom. “Throw some clothes on.” He bent forward and snagged his boxer briefs from the floor. I threw a look over my shoulder to see him watching me walk away. I shot him a sultry smile and he shook his head and looked at the ceiling before shooting me one of his self-deprecating ones.
Something changed between us when we had our marathon sex this last time. Something more liberating. A reconnection. I couldn’t wait for my family to put all the heartaches of the past five years behind.
* * *
Levi
“I’m really digging this super covert stuff,” Kelly said behind us.
Callum was driving, and he shot a look in the rearview mirror before glancing briefly at me. “What have we done?”
“You’re the one who insisted we needed Kelly,” I muttered.
“Hey, I heard that.” My wife scooted between our seats and poked my shoulder. “Remember, I saved your asses last year at StreamCon.”
“She’s right, bro,” Callum said. “That was the shit, Ki. So proud of you. Was that Locke Demon really that Garrison guy who Dmitry keeps talking about?”
“Yup,” Levi said. “The one who got mobbed by fans.”
“And you were the Marsh Man monster,” he chuckled.
“Another fan of Hodgetown I see,” Kelly said. “My girls love that series.”
My wife was beside herself with excitement when we switched vehicles at the parking garage where Callum was waiting for us. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was standard evasion maneuvers just in case someone was watching us. After lunch and another hour simply lazing around the suite—of course Kelly called it cuddling—we hit the strip and drove to the special effects emporium. I pushed the cart while Kelly shopped.
Afterward, we passed the time in the coffeeshop because my wife was still feeling the effects of our active night together.
“Where’s Dmitry,” I asked.
“He and Roth are meeting us at the warehouse.” Callum cast me a brief glance. “There’s been a development.”
The way he said ‘development’ gave me pause. “What development?”
“You’ll see.”
“I hate surprises,” I said. “Especially when Kelly is with us.”
“I like surprises, but I think I’ve had my limit,” she informed her brother.
Callum drove in silence which made the feeling of wanting him to turn the vehicle around worse.
Finally, he said, “A deal was made in exchange for Alana.” He checked the side mirror before changing lanes. “We agree she’s priority, right?”
“Not if it puts Kelly in danger,” I countered.
“Fuck you. You think I’d put one sister’s life in danger over the other?”
I didn’t say anything.
The silence spoke volumes and Callum said, “Ki, please tell me you don’t think I love you less.”
“Of course not!” Kelly snapped. “This is a team effort. Levi’s just reacting because I’m his wife. He’s not thinking whether you value Alana’s life more than mine.”
“Sorry if it came out wrong, but Kelly gets it,” I said. “After everything that’s happened, I’m paranoid about her safety.”
“It’s a controlled situation.”
I chuckled darkly. “It would help if you keep us in the loop.”
“I don’t have all the answers, but I trust Dmitry not to fuck us over. That’s why he wasn’t with us yesterday. He was ensuring a mutually beneficial alliance.”
Somehow, mutually beneficial alliance didn’t sit well with me either.
Before I could question him again, which would be a waste of time, he turned onto a familiar road. Even though I was in the back of the van last night, I recognized the fields and the way the road felt. It was a necessary skill to learn as a SEAL just in case we got captured, blindfolded, and taken elsewhere.
Callum pulled up beside a commercial truck. He used an SUV today. The van he drove the previous day was no where in sight.
Getting out of the vehicle, we followed him into the warehouse.
I stopped short. My arms circled Kelly when I saw the men inside.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered. “That’s Dmitry right? I remember you said he had gray hair and was huge.”
That was Dmitry all right. I hadn’t seen him since StreamCon. The Gray Wolf of Odessa watched us approach, his freakishly silver eyes almost made him look as if he was blind, but he wasn’t.
But all my attention was focused on the man standing beside him.
Simon Stepanov.
I wasn’t expecting him. The file Bristow accumulated on the man contained a few pictures. Most were blurry. Clearly, he wasn’t a man who liked to be photographed, but I had enough of his features burned in my memory to identify him on sight. He was wearing round frameless spectacles, wore his salt-and-pepper chin-length hair in a ponytail, and with his short goatee and tieless suit, he looked like a cross between a rocker and a scholar instead of the morally corrupt hitman broker for the mob and seedy businessmen.
“What the fuck is he doing here?”
Callum walked over to where Roth sat on the long couch and dropped down beside him. Kelly’s brother gestured to the other two in the room who would give an explanation.
“Who is he?” Kelly whispered.
“Simon Stepanov.”
My wife gasped and stopped in her tracks.
“Mr. and Mrs. James, glad you could join us,” Dmitry said. “I see Stepanov doesn’t need introductions.”
The man in question smirked before saying, “Pleasure.”
“Can’t say the same,” I snarled. “And if someone doesn’t explain what’s going on right now—”
“What? You’ll walk out of here?” Stepanov said. There was no sarcasm in his voice, merely a-matter-of-fact tone. “Ford has Alana McGrath.”
“Did you help him?” I asked.
“No, but I can help you get her back.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“I want my product back, that’s all,” he said.
Callum snorted. “We know that’s not all you want, Stepanov, so let’s cut the crap.”
“I’m tired of this game,” Stepanov said. “I want to be free.”
“Not understanding here,” I said. “You want to quit Murder Sanctum? Can’t you just turn it over to whoever has the most stakes?”
“Eisenberg was supposed to succeed me, but you all murdered him when you took my drugs.”
“He and Blaze conspired to hurt Kelly,” Roth growled.
Stepanov shrugged. “I’m not saying it wasn’t fair play, an eye-for-an-eye and all, but taking my product put me in a difficult position with Moscow.”
“Boo-fucking-hoo, asshole,” Callum sneered. “Not our fucking problem.”
I unwrapped my arms from around Kelly and stepped protectively in front of her. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”
“Get in line,” Callum clipped.
“He went after my wife,” I said.
Callum laughed in derision. “And he instigated the whole shit that cost me five years of my life.”
“I sent the man after Tom Roth,” Stepanov said. “Blaze and Eisenberg acted on their own without my knowledge.”
“But weren’t you the person Blaze was talking to on the phone during my captivity?” Kelly asked.
Stepanov nodded. “He made a mess of things and your abduction was all over the news. The Sanctum doesn’t care for that publicity.”
Taking a step toward him, I snarled, “Blaze nearly executed my wife. You’re telling me that order didn’t come from you?”
“I merely told him to fix his mess up.”
My arms shot out on their own, but Dmitry slid between me and Stepanov. “Let’s have cool heads, shall we?”
“You expect us to work with him?” I spat.
Kelly’s hand touched my bicep. “We need him to get Alana back.”
I stepped back, dragged my fury back into my lungs and exhaled a calming breath before cutting a brief nod.
“Listen to your wife,” Stepanov added. “I’m merely the middle man. It was not my intention to drag her into this, but Blaze Ulrich wants to be the new Sanctum boss and offered Ford another way to get proof that Callum McGrath is alive and to prove I failed.”
“So Blaze is with Ford right now?” I asked.
“From my latest intel, they’re together with several men from Moscow’s mafia,” Stepanov said. “Including a couple of oligarchs.”
“Ford is trying to escape the country,” Dmitry added. “He needs the help of his oligarch friends, but not when there’s four hundred million dollars in product missing.” A smile touched his lips as he nodded to the crates. “And we’re sitting on it.”
“Four hundred million,” Kelly whispered. “I thought it was twenty.”
“That’s the street price,” I said. “How exactly are you going to help?”
“The Russians want their money with interest,” Stepanov said. “I give them back their product plus a fifty percent restocking fee, I’ll be free and clear.”
The cogs in my mind were turning. “Did Ford nab Alana because of his vendetta against the McGraths?”
“Oh no,” Stepanov said. “That’s not the point now. Blaze told him Callum McGrath has the product. The Russians want Ford to get it back.”
“Why doesn’t he just pay them?” Kelly asked.
“He’s broke,” Dmitry said with relish. “The man who consorted with the oligarchs, who impoverished my town and killed most of my family, is finally broke.”
And just like that, Dmitry revealed why he wanted to bring down Walter Ford. Everyone had their stakes on the table.
“I have the information to prosecute him,” Stepanov said.
“But you were involved. Or were you going to say you were just a facilitator again?” I said.
“I have enough to put him away and plead immunity. All I want are the Russians off my back,” Stepanov said. “Besides, you want Miss McGrath, right?”
Callum shot me a look while Kelly’s fingers curled into mine, giving it a squeeze.
“What are you proposing we do to rescue Alana?”
28
Levi
“This is a stupid plan,” I muttered. “It’s not going to work.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Bristow told me. He grinned at me, obviously enjoying the set up of special effects magic Kelly was executing.
Bristow and Kelso arrived just in time to join the fun. Stepanov apparently had done his research as well and was no slouch in computerized special effects software that Kelly used. He offered three of his associates faces we could use to overlay our own and trick any facial recognition into thinking we were them.
Callum, Roth, and Bristow were the main actors picked to go along as Stepanov’s bodyguards.
Dmitry and I were too conspicuous because of our bulk and height.
Kelso was staying with Kelly in the command van along with Dmitry. Having run the Argonayts hacking ring before it disbanded, the Gray Wolf was more than qualified to help the detective operate comms and drones.
As for me …
“Why am I always relegated to driver,” I grunted my displeasure.
“Because you stick out like a sore thumb,” Bristow said.
“Rhetorical.”
He shot me another shit-eating-grin which I wanted to wipe off his face. I wanted to have a shot at the man who put his hands on my wife, to tear off Blaze Ulrich’s limbs from their sockets and tear off his head too.
Both of us were riveted on the work area Kelly had set up while she was testing proof-of-concept on her brother. After studying everyone’s bone structure, feeding photographs to the computer and generating matrix comparisons to the men Stepanov offered up, she said a life casting would be necessary.
Shit, that meant taking a cast of everyone’s faces. I sure as hell was glad I wasn’t needed for one. If we were to make the meeting in two days with Ford and the Russians—the next thirty-six hours would be critical for Kelly.
I’d seen my wife at work plenty of times, but she never ceased to amaze me. I wasn’t surprised with all the awards she’d earned in recent years. I was so fucking proud of her.
“Are you guys paying attention?” Stepanov clucked, tapping the impromptu map in front of us. He, Kelso, Roth, and Dmitry were discussing the plan to rescue Alana.
Ford had her in an associate’s compound a few miles outside Vegas.
“The gate is here.” Bristow switched to all business. He had brought up a satellite image of the property and used it side-by-side with the makeshift topographical map we had laid out on the table. “There’s a barn and several bunkhouses. The main house is a Spanish-style villa located here.” He pointed to a cereal box we used as a marker for the main structure.
“You think he has her in there?” I asked Stepanov.
The Russian shook his head. “Ford is a hypocrite, and so are his friends. They have the women in a different building.” He pointed to the cracker box.
“Wait, what do you mean women?”
