Hold You Close

by Jessica Linden

  He only wished he’d realized that earlier. They couldn’t stay with Natalie forever, though.

  “Do they know how?” Ginny asked. “Or why?”

  Tony shook his head. “No, but it’s pretty convenient timing that he was killed right before he was supposed to meet me.”

  “That’s what I was thinking, too.” Ginny sounded troubled.

  He hated that. He wanted to strip the worry out of her voice. He wanted to make her feel safe, protected. He wanted to give her a happily ever after.

  Unfortunately, before that was possible, Barkov had to go down.

  * * *

  Ginny and Tony sat on the couch at Natalie’s while Tony flipped through the channels, finally landing on a sports show. They were at a standstill, twiddling their thumbs until they could make another move. Now that they’d involved the police, though, it wasn’t entirely in their hands anymore.

  Ginny hated feeling helpless, but that’s exactly what she was right now. She was powerless to stop Fedor from hurting more innocent people. Isaiah may have been a drug addict, but he didn’t deserve to die. Whether Fedor had him murdered or he died as a result of his using High, it all came back to Fedor.

  Tony’s phone rang.

  “If it’s the detective, put it on speakerphone,” Ginny said, scooting closer to him.

  Tony complied.

  “I couldn’t get a warrant,” Detective Plasky said. Ginny closed her eyes as her shoulders slumped and her heart sank. Now what? If the police couldn’t help, then what could they do? Take on Fedor and his band of thugs themselves? Even if they had the resources, how would that make them any better than Fedor? They’d already skirted the law long enough by not going to the police. Ginny wasn’t about to throw it out the window all together.

  “Fuck.” Tony raked a hand through his hair. “Why not?”

  “The pictures weren’t enough evidence. The judge won’t issue any warrants for Barkov unless the reasons are airtight. She’s been burned in the past. Hell, the whole department has.”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Tony put the phone down on the coffee and stood, his hands curling into fists.

  Ginny automatically reached up to touch Tony’s arm. His gaze met hers and he settled a bit, sitting back down with a sigh.

  “But the pictures were enough to convince me.” The detective paused and both Ginny and Tony leaned closer to the phone. “So I went over to the warehouse. I was just going to peek in the windows, but it was wide open. And Tony, you’re not going to believe this, but it was empty.”

  “Empty?” Tony echoed.

  Ginny gasped. How was that possible? Less than twenty-four hours ago there was a full-scale drug operation there. Fedor and Tony’s father must have figured out they’d found it. That was the only explanation.

  The coincidences were adding up, but not the hard evidence they needed. No wonder Fedor had slipped through the cops’ fingers time and time again. He was always one step ahead.

  “Nothing there,” Detective Plasky said. “But I was definitely in the same place as the pictures you sent. It looked like it had recently been vacated. Lots of trash, scuff marks in the dirt. Things like that. Found a couple pills laying on the ground, too.”

  Tony and Ginny exchanged a look.

  “But here’s the thing,” the detective continued. “I can’t do anything with the pills. Anyone could have left them there.”

  “Anyone didn’t,” Tony said darkly.

  “You know that and I know that,” Detective Plasky said, “but that doesn’t mean dick in the justice system. Unless you have solid, concrete evidence, no one gives a damn.”

  Ginny’s stomach knotted and she closed her eyes. Plasky and Tony couldn’t get close enough to Fedor to get the evidence they needed.

  But she could.

  “What if we can get Fedor to admit to things?” Ginny asked in a low voice.

  Detective Plasky laughed. “We’ve been trying to do that for years. Honey, if we could do that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “I could do it,” Ginny said, keeping her gaze trained on her hands that were clasped in her lap. “Wire me up.”

  “Ginny, no—”

  “It’ll work.” Ginny looked up at Tony and the anguish in his eyes pulled at her insides.

  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” Tony said.

  “What am I missing here?” Detective Plasky interjected.

  “Until recently, I was engaged to Fedor. He still, uh, wants me back.” Ginny cringed at her ad-libbed explanation. Technically it was true. Although at this point, she doubted he still wanted to marry her. Or maybe he did. She didn’t pretend to understand him.

  Either way, he wouldn’t just let her walk away. The firebombing at her parents’ house had proven that. He wanted to punish her.

  “That might work,” the detective mused. Ginny’s hope soared while her stomach simultaneously clenched. She could end this, but she’d have to face him. Alone.

  It terrified her.

  But she wasn’t going to back down. He needed to pay for what he’d done, and she was the link that could make it possible.

  “Ginny, it’s too dangerous.” Tony shook his head vehemently. “We’ll find another way.”

  “How?” Ginny asked. “How far are we going to let this go? My family lost their home. I can’t take much more. I’m willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means talking to Fedor with a wire.”

  Tony clenched his jaw and his nostrils flared. She knew he didn’t like it, but she wouldn’t apologize. She needed to do this.

  “She’ll be as safe as I can make her,” Plasky said. “We’ll have ears on her the whole time.”

  “How soon can you set this up?” Ginny asked, ignoring Tony’s glare. The sooner the better. If she thought about it too long, she’d lose her nerve.

  There was a pause. “Tomorrow.”

  With a final look at Tony, Ginny swallowed. “Done.”

  * * *

  Tony paced while Ginny sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest.

  “I don’t like it, Ginny. I don’t like you sacrificing yourself.”

  “It’s not a sacrifice,” she said. “Because I’ll be fine. I won’t lie—I’m scared, but I’ll be safe. Fedor is the one who should be worried, not me.”

  Tony’s heart broke a little at her brave words. Yet, her voice had shook when she spoke them. It had to be hard for any woman to face a man who’d attacked her, but in Ginny’s case, it must be a million times harder. Barkov wasn’t an ordinary man.

  Part of him—a part buried so deep down he didn’t even want to recognize it—was proud of her. She was scared shitless, but that didn’t stop her from stepping up to doing what she thought needed to be done.

  The largest part of him wanted to throw her over his shoulder caveman style and lock her up until Barkov was dealt with.

  If anything happened to her, there would be no containing that side of him. The world would know exactly how brutal and exacting Tony Adamo could be. He would rip Barkov apart with his bare hands.

  Tony sat next to her, taking her hand. “I understand why you feel you need to do this, but you don’t have to. We’ll find another way.”

  “How?” There was hopelessness in her voice and it tore at him. “This isn’t the first time the police have been after him, and he’s always managed to slip through unscathed. How is this any different?”

  Tony opened his mouth to respond even though he didn’t have an answer. But Ginny cut him off before he could get any words out.

  “Because this time there’s me,” she said. “I don’t know what happened in all the past cases, but this time I’m here. I can get close to him like no one else can. He wants me to come to him. And he’ll underestimate me. He’s done nothing but manipulate me in the past, so he has no reason to think I’ll be the one doing the manipulating.”

  “I don’t want you to do it,” Tony said bluntly. “I don’t trust Barkov.”


  “That’s the reason I have to do this. We’re never going to be able to trust him. I can’t live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to strike.”

  “I wouldn’t let that happen,” Tony said, conviction in his words. “I would take you away from here. We could live somewhere no one knows us.”

  Ginny was quiet for a moment. “I couldn’t ask you to leave. Your family is here. Your business is here. Your life is here.”

  “You didn’t ask. I’m offering. I would leave it all for you. There’s nothing more important. You are my life.”

  * * *

  Ginny’s breath caught in her throat and she didn’t breathe for a few moments. Time stopped and the world stood still.

  “Tony, you don’t know what you’re saying,” she said when she finally found her voice. “We’ve only recently gotten together and with everything that’s going on—”

  “None of that matters. Ginny, I’ve cared for you for a long time. I was a fool years ago. I was with the wrong sister, but by the time I realized it, it was too late and I fucked everything up. I’m not fucking this up again. I’m not losing you.” His eyes met hers—dark, intense, raw, and full of emotion. “I love you.”

  Ginny’s heart swelled so full it threatened to explode. Everything she’d been through in the past few months was worth hearing those words.

  She’d fallen for Tony while he was engaged to Veronica, and she’d never dared to hope she’d end up with a happy ending. She’d trained herself not to even consider it.

  But she hadn’t expected this.

  Tony’s gaze hadn’t left hers and now he cleared his throat. “It’s okay if you don’t—”

  She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled back to press her forehead to his. “Tony, I’ve loved you longer than I had any right to.”

  His lips claimed hers and his message was clear: you are mine.

  I am his.

  These three simple words ran through Ginny’s mind over and over and she was complete.

  Chapter 28

  “What the hell do you mean it’s just us?” Tony demanded, inches from Detective Plasky’s face. They were at Natalie’s and the detective was prepping Ginny for meeting Barkov.

  Ginny put her hands between the two men to separate them. “It’s fine. We don’t need backup.”

  God, she hoped they didn’t. The plan was for her to borrow one of Natalie’s cars and drive herself to Fedor’s house. Tony and Detective Plasky would park in an unmarked car several blocks away while she did her thing—which included getting in and out as fast as possible.

  Ten, fifteen minutes, tops. There should be no need for backup.

  “This isn’t tied to an active case,” the detective said. “The department is understaffed. I’m lucky I could get the equipment.”

  “Fuck, Plasky, we can’t send her in like this.”

  Plasky put his hands on his hips. “That’s her call. But think about it, Tony. If she can do what she says she can, then we can put Barkov away. All it takes is one loose thread for the whole damn organization to unravel.”

  Like dominoes. After everything Fedor had put her and her family through, she wanted to be instrumental in his take-down, and moreover, she wanted him to know it was her.

  Petty? Maybe a little, but she couldn’t think of a better parting shot.

  Ginny squared her shoulders. “I can do it.”

  “Goddammit, Plasky!” Tony stalked to the other side of the room for a moment, and Ginny worried he’d put his fist through the wall.

  Tony was pissed and she was sorry about that, but she also couldn’t worry about it now. She needed to stay focused.

  “Show me how it works,” Ginny said to the detective. He opened his case, took out the equipment, and began explaining all the different pieces.

  Just before the detective was about to start applying the wire, Tony returned to her side.

  “Ginny.” He took her hands in his and locked his gaze on hers. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to back out.”

  He was giving her an out that would be so easy to take. But she was done with easy.

  She shook her head. “I’m not backing out. If I do that, he wins. Don’t you understand that? Even if the cops get him later, I’ll always remember that I was too afraid to face him. I have to do this.”

  Ginny was going to do this with or without Tony, but she’d rest easier knowing she had his support.

  Tony’s eyes were pleading, but he didn’t say anything else. He pulled her body against him and crushed his mouth to his in a kiss that was deep, emotional, and binding.

  When he released her, she was breathless.

  And also more determined than ever. She would get through this. She had to, because she had Tony waiting for her. She would not let him down, would not let him deal with the guilt and anguish if something happened to her.

  Tony stepped aside so the preparations could continue.

  “Sorry, but for this next part, I need you to take your shirt off,” Detective Plasky said in an apologetic tone.

  Tony crossed his arms, but said nothing.

  With shaking hands, Ginny lifted her shirt and pulled it over her head. She was wearing a peasant blouse that Natalie had loaned her. It was loose and would conceal the recording equipment.

  Detective Plasky held the wire to her stomach and applied a piece of tape to hold it in place.

  “Can you hold the microphone between your breasts, please?” Plasky’s voice was matter-of-fact and professional, giving Ginny the sense that he’d done this more than a few times. Good. At least one of them knew what they were doing.

  Once the microphone was affixed, he plugged it into the recording device, a thin black plastic case, no bigger than a cell phone. “This gets clipped on the inside of your pants.”

  Ginny spun around to allow him access to her pants, jumping as the cold plastic touched her skin.

  “Sorry,” the detective muttered. “Okay, all done.”

  Ginny fixed her clothes and looked in the mirror. She stretched and turned, but she couldn’t make out the equipment. Let’s hope Fedor doesn’t see it, either.

  Even though she put on a brave face, fear flowed through her veins. It would be dangerous to return to Fedor under normal circumstances and if he found out she was wired . . . it wouldn’t be pretty. Ginny refused to consider the consequences, because if she thought about them too long and too hard, she might not be able to go through with this.

  Calm. She needed to stay calm. Showing a small amount of nervousness would be okay, considering what had been going on, but any more than that and she might tip him off.

  “What happens if you lose the connection?” Tony asked, finally breaking his silence.

  Plasky gave him a pointed look, one that clearly said, Don’t ask dumbass questions. “We won’t.”

  “But what if you do?”

  Detective Plasky sighed. “Then Ginny will have to get the hell out of there as fast as she can, but we don’t go into situations thinking our equipment is going to fail. That’s just bad mojo, you know?”

  Ginny hadn’t even considered that possibility. Shit.

  “Will I know if the equipment has gone down?” she asked.

  The detective hesitated. “No. But seriously, that almost never happens. I’ve only heard of it happening once and it wasn’t on my watch. Now, let’s review. You’re going to enter the house.”

  “Yes,” Ginny said. “I’ll try to keep him in the parlor that’s closest to the front door.”

  “Good. The important thing is that you keep him talking. Once we get what we need, we’ll send you a text from your mother’s number. The text will say, ‘The gallery opening is going on as scheduled.’”

  “Right,” Ginny said. “Do you think we could come up with a code for if the equipment fails?”

  “Sure,” Detective Plasky said easily. “It won’t, but if it makes you feel better. How about . .
. ‘This painting has way too much red’?”

  Ginny’s nerves settled a notch. “Good. That does make me feel better.” She was a planner. Pulling off this sort of operation with only a day’s planning? Not ideal for her. But perhaps it was better she didn’t have time to overthink it.

  She didn’t know what to expect from Fedor. She’d texted to let him know she was coming by and had gotten a one word response: okay.

  “Just act as normal as possible,” Detective Plasky said.

  “Right,” Ginny muttered. Nothing about her relationship with Fedor was normal. She’d always been on guard, never showing him her true self. So this visit would be business as usual. If only it were that easy.

  She didn’t know how to play things—should she be meek and subservient? In other words, be the honey to his fly? Or she could be vinegar—challenging him and demanding answers. That was the more dangerous option, but if he lost his temper, he might let some things slip.

  Ginny hadn’t been lying when she’d told the detective she could do it—she was confident she could get close enough to Fedor to record a conversation. But he hadn’t stayed out of the police’s clutches this long for nothing. He wasn’t stupid. It would be a challenge to get him to admit to his crimes.

  She might very well be in over her head. So what else was new?

  At this time tomorrow, it will all be over. It had to be. She’d only have one shot at this, so she needed to make it count.

  * * *

  Ginny made her way south in a Bentley borrowed from Natalie. That by itself was enough to make her nervous—the car cost more than her entire college education. Her family was well-off, but they were Mercedes and BMW well-off, not Bentley well-off. The Fraziers were well respected, but they were definitely one of the least affluent families on the north side.

  Fedor’s estate straddled the line that divided the north side of the city from the south. Fitting. She pulled up to the gate and stopped, suppressing the urge to check in her rearview for Detective Plasky’s unmarked car.

  The guard approached and she rolled down her window. “Fedor is expecting me,” she said. Business as usual. This was the same guard who was always at the gate—he never seemed to get a day off. He was efficient but not overly friendly. She didn’t even know his name.