Undercover (Billionaire Bodyguards Book 2)

by Via Mari

  She hesitates for a moment, but then seems to gather her resolve. “I’m afraid he’s been like that since we were kids, and I doubt it’s likely to change.”

  Marenah thinks I’m concerned, and I think that’s sweet. My little princess looking out for the mafia bad boy is humorous, but I nod and stroke her cheek.

  “There are things that I need to take care of. I know you would help, but I need to do this myself, Matt. If I am ever going to be free from all the drama that is my life, I need to take care of something. Something just isn’t adding up with all of this, and I need to find out exactly what it is that’s still bothering me. If not, I fear it will haunt me and whoever I am with for the rest of our lives.”

  I catch that she didn’t say that it would haunt us, and I swallow, knowing that walking away from her and giving her this time is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve done, but if this is what she needs, then I will honor her wishes. “Goodbye Marenah. Stay safe, Princess,” I say, kissing her lightly on the lips, turning, and walking out the door.

  Kroskov is talking with the guys when I walk out to the helipad, and his eyes narrow to slits as he sees me alone. “I’m not sure what she needs to take care of, but I trust that you will keep her safe while she’s doing it,” I say.

  He nods. “It shall be done,” he says, extending his hand to mine before I head to the helicopter. As soon as we’re boarded, the engines engage and we are on our way.

  “Brian and Chase both offered for us to stay in their condos this evening. The entire gang will be back tomorrow. In the meantime, Jay needs our help getting a few things lined up for tomorrow night,” Nate says.

  “What’s going on?” I say.

  “Sasha’s got a ballet performance tomorrow night, and everyone’s coming to Chicago to see it and then out for dinner,” Nate says, and Dereck rolls his eyes and leans back in his seat.

  “I’m going to head to my place,” I say. The need to be by myself with my thoughts of Marenah overshadowing everything right now, and we split up into different cars, each going our own ways when we reach the ground.

  * * *

  I’m just drying off from a long shower when my cell rings with Jenny’s ringtone. I wrap the towel around my waist and answer as I head into the living room to pour a stiff drink. “Matt, I was worried sick about you! What were you thinking, sending Brian a text like that? You can’t just send him a message that you’re resigning with no explanation. He went absolutely ballistic,” she says, and I can completely see the hothead doing just that if he thought it had anything to do with Jenny. I settle into the couch and take a sip of my drink, knowing that Jenny, the sister I’ve never had but have now, is not bound to end her tirade quickly, and that I probably deserve it for not providing anyone with a reason. I smile as she keeps on and on.

  “How is Marenah, if it’s not prying too much?” Jenny says, and again I smile, because the thought of Jenny ever not prying when she cares about someone just doesn’t happen.

  “She did a great job tonight. She took more chances than I wanted, but at the end of the day, we caught the people responsible, and a lot of innocent people are now safe,” I say, feeling a surge of pride for my princess, but at the same time an overwhelming sadness that she’s not in my arms letting me punish her for her brashness and reward her for her bravery.

  “Matt, can you still hear me?” Jenny says.

  “Oh, sorry, yeah, I can now,” I say, wondering if I’ve missed a part of the conversation, too caught up in my own thoughts.

  “I’m not exactly sure what’s happening, although my guess is Brian and Chase do, but Jay asked everyone to attend Sasha’s ballet performance tomorrow night in Chicago, so we’re in the city,” Jenny says.

  “You good with that?” I say, knowing that Sasha went out with Brian a few times before he knew Jenny and she didn’t really want to take no for an answer when he was ready to move on.

  “Sasha called me and apologized. Told me she was working on herself, and I believe her. Jay’s a good man, and if he sees the good in Sasha, then I am going to do my very best to bury my jealousy. She’s just so beautiful, and a ballerina, too. You know?” Jenny says, and she doesn’t need to tell me just how gorgeous she is because I am in love with her identical twin and adore every single inch of her body.

  “Jenny, if Brian had wanted her, he would have stayed with her. Simple as that. He wanted to move on, even before he met you. Brian doesn’t have eyes for anyone but you, Jenny,” I say, and I can almost see her little nod of acceptance through the telephone.

  “Yeah, and I trust him, Matt, so no, I don’t have a problem with this. You guys all mean the world to Chase and Brian and the rest of us. We want to be there for whatever Jay has planned. I’ll deal with the green-eyed monster,” Jenny says.

  “Good girl. Now, tell me the name of the place we’re meeting. I’ve got a few things I want to do tomorrow, so I’ll meet you there,” I say, knowing that I may not make it but keying the address into the phone as she gives it to me, just in case.

  “Matt, I hope you know how much I appreciate everything that you did to get me off the Bernatelli family’s target. Brian isn’t telling me much. Is it over, I mean is it over for you?” Jenny says.

  “It’s over as far as you’re concerned, Jenny, and they know if they come after any one of us, that all hell will break loose with the Russians, but the family interests are so intertwined now, we’ll see what happens,” I say.

  “Okay, as long as you’re okay, Matt,” Jenny says.

  “I’m fine. Take care of yourself and tell Brian thanks. Gotta go. Damian’s trying to get ahold of me,” I say.

  “What, wait, Matt, I have no clue what’s going on, but Brian asked him to check on my niece. I let her and her boyfriend move into my old house, but my mom and aunt haven’t heard from her in quite a bit. It’s been too long, Matt.”

  I scowl, not having heard anything about this. “I’ll give him a call and let you know what’s up. Try not to worry. I’ll see you tomorrow at the performance,” I say, disconnecting and hitting Damian’s number.

  He answers on the first ring. “Me and the guys are in town. Just got off the phone with Jenny, and she said you were checking up on her niece,” I say.

  “I am, but things aren’t looking good. I’ve got intel digging right now, but it appears as though she’s gone off the grid or someone’s taken her. I’ve followed her trail as far as it goes at this point,” Damian says.

  “What the fuck?”

  “I’m handling it but may need some help. She was last seen with her boyfriend, but after what I’ve learned about him, I’m not feeling any better. I need a few more hours to get the last of the intel together. I’ll be back in Chicago tomorrow in time to catch the show if something actionable doesn’t pop up,” Damian says.

  “Roger that. I’m in town tonight, staying at my place. The guys are over at Chase and Katarina’s. Let me know if you need any help,” I say, wishing there was better news for Jenny and her mom, but knowing that they’ve got the best intel in the world and one of the best agents we have on the trail of her niece.

  “Will do,” Damian says before disconnecting, and I text Scottie for an update on Marenah.

  I don’t know how this will end. Marenah signed up with Interpol to ensure atrocities such as trafficking do not occur and to find the leak in the organization, but what I don’t know is if her heart is so vested that she can never give it up, because she and I both know we can’t be together while in our current states of employment.

  Marenah

  I walk to the helicopter, still shivering from the trauma of the night, but filled with a sense of power, a rightness of making sure those people were released, but as much as that felt good, I know that this can’t be my life. I thought signing up would give me free rein to find out my father’s dirty secrets. Instead I found out that he was paying
people, important people, to cover his trail, to obliterate any evidence of his wrongdoing from this earth before anyone like myself could find it.

  I am wiser now and know exactly what I need to do as I pull myself up into the helicopter and take a seat right next to Scottie.

  “We need to go back and finalize things, you know that,” Scottie says.

  I wonder if he can see me swallow my emotions and fear, trying to bury them way deep inside, but I nod. “I know.”

  “Head to the satellite boat,” Scottie says to the pilot, and the whirring of the blades overhead becomes louder and louder and the chopper becomes airborne, seemingly in place for a space of a matter of minutes before it veers into the sky, leaving people, boats, trees, and the shoreline behind us, leaving me to contemplate what I want and need to do.

  * * *

  Over an hour later, we land on another large boat in the middle of nowhere. I look around, realizing I have nowhere to go if things head south. The only escape is the deep dark ocean swirling around us and the thought of jumping into the deep blue waters this far off land with no backup or safeguard is unthinkable. Scottie has brought me to a virtually impenetrable area, and I resign myself to my fate as I jump down after him and follow him across the deck and down the stairs. I have the worst sense of déjà vu. What if Scottie isn’t who he’s pretending to be and is bringing me back to these men? Why would he take me to their headquarters? To kill me or to turn me in? I take a deep breath. Scottie could have killed me multiple times, and he didn’t. It’s been a long day, and I am just being paranoid. He could have turned his loaded gun on either Matt or me, but he didn’t. It takes me the entire walk into the cabin to calm myself to the point that I am breathing regularly.

  When the dark-haired captain in uniform, the one that hired me and is sitting at the large mahogany desk, gestures for me to come closer, Scottie encourages me with a slight nod of his head.

  I didn’t follow protocol, not once, but disregarded them several times in my need to see those people freed. I steady myself, walking toward him, not fully knowing what reprimand and penance comes with such disregard of the game plan in the world that is Interpol.

  The man assesses me from across the desk and then turns his head down, reviewing the documents he has in front of him for what seems like hours but could only be a moment in time. “You want to tell me why you signed up, why you really signed up?” he says as his eyes pan across my face, settling on mine and holding them captured, ensuring I feel the entire magnitude of his displeasure.

  “I wanted to make a difference, and thought I could,” I say.

  “Enough! You thought you could gain inside information about your family, did you not?” he says as his dark eyes hold mine.

  I shiver, because there’s something in that look, in those eyes, in that voice, that takes me back to a different place, to a different time, and I can’t quite figure it out, until I finally do.

  I breathe deeply, inhaling, knowing that if I give him one reason to know that I recognize him from the men that were in my grandfather’s study, making deals around the world, not only will I be dead, but anyone we are trying to save will be likewise.

  I watch him, his deep grey eyes penetrating mine, and then I see it, the recognition, then his shock quickly covered, but I think he knows I know.

  This man that deals with my grandfather, the head of the Bratva, is in a senior position in Interpol, and I know exactly why Scottie is just watching, taking it all in.

  The man behind the desk snarls. “I recognize you! You’re the girl he introduced us to as his granddaughter. He sent you to keep tabs on us because he didn’t think we were capable of doing his dirty work right?” he shouts.

  I smile and watch him squirm. He thinks I am a plant for my grandfather, and he has unknowingly told me exactly who is responsible for the human trafficking that I’ve been following for Interpol, but he is afraid, and should be, because everyone knows that my grandfather will put anyone that he believes could talk or that crosses him into the ground.

  I just let recognition settle in, and then give him a little smile, letting him know he’s right in terms of who I am, because I want him scared. There’s a sick side of me that wants this maggot to feel just a small amount of the fear, only a sliver of what these young people he has been trafficking have endured. I realize in this moment that I may have inherited this trait from both my father and grandfather, and it doesn’t bother me in the least.

  He starts babbling about the boat being overtaken. I smile, because I know it’s for my grandfather’s benefit. He hopes that he will be granted mercy by my grandfather when he is behind bars in a prison that my family owns, but he will not be, because this is the cockroach that not only has been responsible for orchestrating the movement of human lives, but has been taking kickbacks and bribes that takes money out of the Bratva hands, and no one does that and sees the light of day.

  I let that thought settle with me, and I don’t feel remorse for this asshole, only happiness that he will see justice, but if I didn’t know it before today, I do know that I will never be part of either of my families, because I can’t stomach that they are both part of this life, making part of their living by plucking unsuspecting women and children out of their lives and selling them to the highest bidder. I will, instead, fight against this. It is finally right here and now that I understand who I am and what I stand for, family name be damned.

  I see the nod of the captain’s head, just a tilt, but it pulls me out of my head and into the moment as his henchmen stalk into the room with guns aimed at Scottie and me.

  One puts his Glock right behind Scottie’s neck and the other one marches to me, his gun leveled at me the entire time he walks toward me. I let him get closer, because he needs to be, and when he is in my face and tells me to put my hands up, I do, at both sides of my head, just as would be expected, but in a practiced sweep, I grip both sides of the razor-sharp hair clip and bury them hard into both sides of his neck. The sound of his scream does not phase me. It allows me time to grab my Glock and crash it into the side of the captain’s head, rendering him unconscious and allowing Scottie the moment of surprise he needs to spin and overtake the man that has him hostage, taking him in a choke hold that he’s not going to get out of until he has breathed his last breath, and only then does Scottie let the man’s limp and lifeless body slump to the ground, and I wipe the blades of my combs off on the dead man’s shirt.

  I hear the footsteps overhead before they ever reach the steps. I nod to Scottie, pointing up, and he knows without me saying a word exactly what I’ve heard. We march to opposite sides of the stairs that will bring our enemies into the lower level, and when all six men march down the stairs, we are prepared to take them out, but I shake my head to Scottie. These are supposed to be the good guys of Interpol, and I know this because they are the ones that have been chasing these fuckers, trying desperately to catch them in the act.

  I come out of my position behind the stairs, and all eyes turn to me. “The men on the floor were trafficking women and children,” I say, looking at the most senior of the Interpol men. “I’ve finished the job asked of me. You’ll find these are the men responsible. The captain should still be alive. Consider this my resignation,” I say, walking past them to get to the stairs. It’s not until I reach the upper deck that I take a deep breath and feel the heavy weight of my family’s history fall from me, finally free, at least to the extent anyone can be with a legacy such as ours.

  I am leaning over the railing, looking out at the darkness, when Scottie approaches from behind. “You did well, Lass,” he says, leaning on the rail beside me.

  “You always knew, didn’t you?” I say.

  He tilts his head and his lips curve upward ever so slightly, and just for a brief second, but I didn’t miss it. “You’re too smart for your own good. Yes, I always knew who your family was. What I couldn’t be
one hundred percent sure of tonight was where your allegiance would fall when you found out your grandfather was working with the Interpol faction that was responsible,” he says.

  “So I passed your test,” I say.

  “Marenah, you did well, that is all. I can’t apologize for my job. I had to be sure, especially with your relationship to Matt. The Italian Family will never condone the mistreatment of women and trafficking, and Matt works for them. One last thing: Kroskov isn’t aware of your grandfather’s involvement with trafficking. He wouldn’t condone it. We believe with the latest developments, he’ll be taking the reins sooner than even he anticipates,” he says.

  “Can you take me to Matt?”

  “Indeed I can, Lass. In fact, I have strict orders to get you on the helicopter even if I have to kidnap you,” he says.

  Matt

  I read the text and exhale the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. She walked away, resigned her position, and is on her way to see me, and my chest tightens with the unknown. My little princess has slayed her dragons and is coming my way to tell me, but what she doesn’t know yet is that going forward, her dragons will be mine to slay.

  She also doesn’t know that the minute Scottie felt things going south, he had a finger on a button that would bring in our backup, and Kroskov, true to his word, had the boat surrounded and men infiltrated on the lower level in the event things got out of hand. She is brave and trained well, and while it killed me to let her do it alone, I could not allow her to do it without a safety net behind her. I thank Scottie for everything he did and let him know where to take Marenah when they arrive in the city and get to work planning.