Page 46 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
“The kids love her,” I snapped, not sure why I was defending her anymore. “She’s no danger to them.” But was thattrue? I swallowed my pride along with the bile that rose in my throat. “Leave it until morning. I’ll keep an eye on her tonight.”
Why wasn’t I telling him what I’d learned about Axon being connected to the Collective? No matter how many dead ends I ran into, how many sticky spider webs of misdirection I had to backtrack out of, all paths lead to Axon being high up on our enemy’s roster. I wanted to hear it from her myself before I let her face my furious cousins once they were armed with this new information.
Anatoli agreed to wait until morning on the promise that I was responsible for Paisley’s whereabouts in the meantime. Her trust was already shattered as far as he was concerned and it was clear he didn’t feel good about his decision. But he trusted me, and for that I was forced to be grateful.
As soon as he left, I stormed down the hall, not bothering to knock as I flung open Paisley’s door. Everything was quiet and the bundle of blankets illuminated by the watery moonlight pouring through a space in the curtains didn’t stir. I hurried inside and shut the door behind me.
“Paisley,” I said, voice too loud, too angry. Too afraid. This woman had me in her grip and I wasn’t even sure who she was anymore.
When I moved to her bedside and put my hand on the blankets, they collapsed. The bed was empty. Paisley was gone.
Chapter 30 - Paisley
I woke up with a start, unaware I had fallen asleep. The bed was cold, Dan was gone. Of course he couldn’t spend the whole night with me and risk being seen, but I still felt a twinge in my chest as I buried my face in the blankets, trying to capture his scent.
It was all over my body as I hurriedly threw my clothes on and then sat on the edge of the rumpled bed to send a message to Agent Pierce. He had to be freaking out since I told him about the explosion and then went silent. Once I told him I was ready to leave Aspen, he messaged me back, strongly advising me to get to LA. I took a deep breath, ready to retreat back under the covers and hide. His next message told me he’d meet me at the airport. I wouldn’t have to be alone for long, and his promise that I’d be under federal protection got me standing and heading for the door.
It was time to go. As much as it hurt to have the Fokins think I was running out on them, it was better than staying and continuing to make them a target. I packed my things and with my bag slung over my shoulder, I snuck quietly out of the still, sleeping lodge.
Conflict raged in me as I grabbed the keys to the small car off the table in the hall. Taking one last look at the half decorated tree, my heart clenched. I had really grown attached to those rowdy, wonderful kids. Alina was certain to be a talented snowboarder if she continued with the sport, and little Artie would be a born leader one day with his confident, watchful attitude. The littlest ones’ trusting hugs and big smiles were the highlight of my days. I’d only been working for the family for a little more than two weeks, but they made me feel like I was one of them.
Now I was stealing their car, but it was better than bringing down Axon’s rage on them. At the outskirts of town, I pulled into the first resort and parked the car in the lot, going inside to order a taxi to the airport. As I waited, my eyes darted everywhere in the nearly deserted lobby, seeing enemies everywhere.
Should I have confided in Dan? I kept looking around for him, too, wishing in the deepest part of my terrified heart that he would have noticed me leaving and followed me. Then I remembered the cuts he got from shielding me from the explosion, how it might have easily been so much worse. I craved the safety he promised, but he didn’t really know what I was up against. There was no way I could drag him into it.
On the way to the airport, I tried hard to remember what it felt like to hate him. It would have been easier, but it was impossible now. I had gotten to know him better, and he had been different ever since we got stuck in the cabin during the snow storm. It seemed like the moment I opened up about my bad experience at Axon, he dialed down his teasing. He wasn’t a jerk or a pig, not at all.
I missed his jokes now and could have used some of them, even the raunchiest ones, to keep my mind off the fact I was being hunted. Anyone who passed me, or sat down beside me while I waited for the late night flight back to LA, could be the person who was sent to end my life. All to keep me from talking about something I didn’t know a thing about.
The list itself, and the fact I knew those employees were dead, was enough to seal my fate. I obviously hadn’t been careful enough about keeping my new location a secret, so anyone could be following me now. I searched the crowd, still hopeful to see Dan, even if he was pissed off at me for leaving.
He had somehow sensed I was in danger, seconds before the bomb went off, pushing me to the floor and saving my life. I needed more of that, if it was real. Another perfect, amazing, romp in bed had made me forget every little thing he’d ever done to annoy me, that was all this was. Time would solve it, though it seemed impossible to stop thinking about him now. I wouldn’t have minded staying around longer so he could start bugging me again and then I could get over him. That would be better than this fruitless yearning I couldn’t push aside even in the face of danger.
Even the flight attendants on the short flight had a sinister air about them. Everyone was an enemy. Axon was a huge, multinational corporation. They were obviously hiding something big, working to silence anyone they thought would stand in their way. Why wouldn’t they try to slip poison in my soda can on the plane?
I could no longer laugh at myself for being paranoid. I hadn’t been paranoid enough and led them to the lodge, endangering an innocent family.
It was worse in LA. The grumpy, late night travelers all seemed to give me dirty looks as I stood in the area Agent Pierce had told me he’d find me. I scanned the crowd, looking for the man I saw on our first video chat, hardly able to stand still, but not wanting to look manic and attract the attention of the wary security guards. My heart beat as if I had been on a treadmill after a hard workout even though I leaned as unobtrusively as possible against a pillar.
The half an hour or so that I waited in the airport felt more like half the night, and the longer it took, the more scared I got. Should I just ditch him? Then what? There was no safe place to go. I already learned that the hard way.
When I finally saw Agent Pierce’s buzz cut above the heads of everyone else in a crowd of people jostling to get to baggage claim, I breathed a sigh of relief. Hoisting my bag over my shoulder, I hurried toward him. He held out his arms like he was a long lost relative, and I went along with it.
“Just act natural,” he said as he briefly hugged me.
A chill went down my spine, but he took my bag and looped my hand around his outstretched arm and we walked briskly toward the short term parking lot.
“I would have thought the FBI could rock up to the curb,” I said.
He shook his head. “That’s not exactly acting natural, is it?”
He had a point, and I already felt safer in his presence. His car was a standard sedan, dark with tinted windows, just like in every TV show with undercover cops.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we headed away from the airport.
“I’ve arranged a safe place for you to stay,” he said, eyes on the road, all business. His hands were tight on the steering wheel, pale scars across his knuckles. “We can go over everything you know about Axon once you’re settled in.”
I didn’t bother telling him now that there wasn’t anything to tell besides my knowledge of the list. They already knew about that, and once they realized I wasn’t going to be useful to them, I might be out on my own. At least I could get a good night’s sleep in this safe place and maybe I could convince them to put me in a protective program until they caught the people who were after me.
