Andrei rubbed his hand over his jaw and his eyes darkened. He released a breath through his nose and reached for his phone. “Here.”
“Hello?” Olivia answered after the first ring.
“Are you okay?”
“So far, so good. What’s going to happen now?” she asked, making no attempt to veil the fear in her voice.
“Everything will be okay, Olivia. I prom—” Andrei snatched the phone from my hand and hung up.
“Time to go.” He held out his hand for the USB.
I handed it to him, but I didn’t follow as he started for the Rover. “Andrei?”
“What?” His “W’s” came out sounding like a “V” every time he spoke.
“Was it you or Oleg who killed Olivia’s sister that night at the club?”
He walked back up the few steps he had climbed down and faced me. “I don’t remember. If me, it was accident, though. I don’t make habit of killing women.”
That was a surprise. Hell, I almost believed him.
“Oleg, on other hand—he don’t mind.” His thick accent poured over me, and I wondered if he was telling the truth. “Why you ask?”
“Just wondering who I need to kill.” I shrugged at him and started down the steps.
***
Olivia
I wasn’t sure if Oleg was following me. It had been awhile since I saw him, so I was beginning to believe Declan had other plans for me. For some reason, he wanted me to feel safe. Then he’d come after me when I didn’t expect it. There was no way he would just let me go.
Maybe it was Blake who would come after me. He had the most to lose if I ever opened my mouth.
I stopped in front of the sushi restaurant that Connor and I loved. It was early in the morning, so it was closed, but I had to believe Connor had meant for me to come there.
“Olivia.”
I spun around. “Jake,” I cried in surprise. A flood of relief slammed into me, and it took me a moment to comprehend the fact that I’d be okay.
He came from out of the shadows of a nearby store. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
“Where’s Connor?”
He took my hand, and we moved down the busy street. “He’ll be needing our help.”
“Why didn’t he just escape from the bank? You could have helped him, or he could have gotten away, I’m sure.” I gulped as he tore down the street, pulling me along with him.
“Sure, but you want to take down Konstantin, right?”
“Of course.” I tried not to think of the worst case scenario—the one that resulted in Connor’s death.
Chapter Thirty
Connor
We were at Brighton Beach. The blue sky allowed the sun to reflect off the water. The weather wasn’t quite warm enough to dip into the ocean, but the typical crew of people who jogged the beach were already pounding the sand.
The strip club we were about to enter was a notorious hangout for the Russian mafia. The untouchable Konstantin had been known to hang out at almost every spot on the beach, with little care or concern about being pinched by the cops.
Given that he had FBI agents under his thumb, I could only imagine how many NYPD officers were making bank off of him, as well.
Andrei led the way inside the dimly lit club, which I assumed to be closed, and Blake followed after.
The smell of tobacco assaulted my senses and the swirl of smoke made me blink. The club was a cheap reproduction of the other gentleman’s club that Konstantin owned in the meatpacking district. I’d only been to it once, by force, over ten years ago. That was before I’d ever met Olivia.
Alexander Konstantin sat on a red velvet couch, which was tucked away from the center dance stage. A Russian song was playing, a bartender was fixing coffee, and two women wearing only thongs and nothing else were on each side of Konstantin.
“This is him?” Konstantin was surprisingly fit. He was in his fifties and was well-built, with silvery gray hair, pockmarked skin, a bulbous nose, and flinty eyes.
He motioned for me to come closer as Declan entered the club from another door. Olivia wasn’t with him, so I had to hope she was with Jake.
“Connor Matthews, it is so nice to meet you.” Konstantin waved his hand and nodded at me. “Have a seat.”
The metal case that held the EMF gun was beneath the table near Konstantin’s legs.
“Here’s the USB and chip.” Andrei handed the two small objects to Konstantin.
“Your father didn’t need to die, but he didn’t give us much choice,” Konstantin said while tossing the USB over to Declan. “Get my computer out of the office. I want to see what’s on it.”
The women on each side of Konstantin rubbed their hands against his white collared dress shirt. Their red nails ran up and down his chest, but their eyes were on me. “He’s handsome, Alex,” the blonde all but purred.
“Sorry. Not my type,” I blurted, directing my attention to Konstantin.
“That’s right. You have a thing for FBI agents, huh? It is like Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers who will both die.” He smirked.
“Sir, should we test the weapon?” Oleg crouched down and reached for the gun.
“Now, on who do you propose we test it?” Konstantin pressed his palms to the table and his lips twitched.
“Sir, something’s not right.” Declan came into the room and set the laptop on the table in front of Konstantin.
The computer turned black and green HTML code began to scroll fast across the screen. “What the hell?” Konstantin shrieked.
I raised my hands, palms open, and lifted my shoulders. “Weird,” I said before a smirk found my lips.
“What’s happening?” Konstantin shoved the computer at me, and I caught it neatly in both hands.
“Just downloading every file that’s on your hard drive. You don’t have anything illegal on there, now do you?” I pushed to my feet, and Konstantin’s men were on me in an instant. I wasn’t sure how many weapons I had pointed at me.
Oleg popped open the case of the EMF gun and gripped the weapon in his hands. He studied it, trying to figure out how to lock the chip inside.
“Good luck with that,” I said before winking at him.
“What the hell did you do?” Declan was at my side, his breath at my ear.
I rolled my shoulders back and cracked my neck. “What? You actually thought I came to this little party unprepared?”
“Kill him!” Konstantin shouted.
As Oleg moved in to take the kill, two canisters flew into the room, and he glanced in the direction of the sound. The lights went out as I bobbed away from Oleg’s shot in the dark, and I twisted his arm around. I wanted nothing more than to kill the prick who’d stolen the life from Olivia’s sister and my father, but the gas from the canisters began to fill the room.
As we both slumped to the ground, I released my grip.
***
Olivia
“Is it enough?” I asked Jake as he walked away from the team of federal agents who were swarming the strip club. My hands rubbed up and down the sides of my pants as I bit my lip. Jake had made a call to the FBI field office in New York after he and his friend tossed the gas into the club, effectively knocking everyone out—including Connor.
Connor was still asleep on one of the medic stretchers.
“I’d say it’s more than enough to put every one of them behind bars. We might even be able to take out a few ISIS cells between the information Edward Matthews provided on the USB and everything on Konstantin’s computer.”
I dragged my hands over my face, feeling a true sense of relief for the first time since Jessie died. “Did you catch any heat?” I glanced over at the Irishman as he approached us.
“He’s not your typical civilian.” Jake grinned. “And I just told them this was all your idea, and you couldn’t let anyone know because Blake was working with Declan and Konstantin.”
If only that were true! “Any word on where my team member Sean is?”
<
br /> “Not yet, but when Blake wakes up, we’ll find out.”
God, I hoped to hell he was still alive. Too much blood had already been shed.
“Thank you, Aiden,” I said as he joined Jake and me in front of the club.
His sharp blue eyes focused on mine, and he patted my shoulder. “Happy I could help.”
I was still amazed that Connor had the kind of friends who would swoop in to perform such dangerous feats. And at the last minute, too. Jake and Connor had called Aiden for help just last night. He had bumped into Connor at the bank, planted a tracking device on him while swapping out the USB with one loaded with software that would hack Konstantin’s computer.
My lungs filled with air at the sight of Connor stepping out of the ambulance. He raked a hand through his hair and squinted in the sunlight as his eyes found me.
I charged over to him, and he met me half way, pulling me into his arms and nuzzling his face in my hair. “Connor,” I cried.
“I was so damn worried about you,” he said once he pulled away and touched my face with the back of his hand.
“Are you kidding? You’re the one who came close to dying.” I shook my head, and a smile skirted my lips. “Was it your idea to knock yourself out with gas?”
He started to laugh, but brought his hand to his mouth as a cough escaped, instead. “Of course.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and we walked with slow steps over to meet Aiden and Jake. “Looks like you met my friends.”
“Ava sends her regards,” Aiden said, slapping Connor on the back and shaking his head. “Michael was in L.A., or you know he would’ve been here.” Aiden glanced at me and then back at Connor. “We have to stop meeting up like this. Could we please arrange a normal reunion? Maybe a bloody picnic?”
Connor coughed again as he laughed. “Hey, no one died at Michael and Kate’s wedding. Well, almost. That one guy almost did when he got a little grabby with Kate.”
“Lucky for me, Michael didn’t want to get blood on his new bride,” Aiden commented.
“You called it. I was sure he’d slug the guy. Lost ten dollars to you on that one,” Jake added. “Although Connor and I knocked a little sense into him, later.” He winked at me.
I touched my bad eye and forced a smile. Connor had a whole other life since we’d been together. We’d lost so much time because of a lie. But maybe it was supposed to be like this.
Maybe Connor and I had been too young, then.
But what about now?
Before I could think any more about that, Blake was walking out of the strip club, his hands cuffed behind his back. He was arguing with the two FBI agents who flanked his sides, but he stopped talking as he came close to me. His beady eyes drew into thin slits, and I swallowed at the sight of him.
When I charged, Connor was right behind me, his hand on my hip. “You son-of-a-bitch. You make me sick,” I spat.
Blake jerked his head up and snickered at me. “You too, you bitch.”
Connor moved in front of me, and his fist slammed hard into Blake’s jaw.
I had wanted to stop him, to say something cliché like, “it’s not worth it,”—but it really was . . . the sound of his knuckles connecting with Blake’s face was almost sweet.
Blake lowered his head, and Connor turned to face me. “This is over, Liv. It’s finally over.” He rubbed my arms before touching the bruised skin by my eye. He leaned over and kissed the sensitive areas by my eye, cheek, and lips. “Everything’ll be okay.”
And I believed him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Connor
“And you understand the position is temporary? If it works out, my brother might make you president or CFO. But for now, I need someone to run the company until he takes over.”
The man pressed his hands on his lap and smiled. “I’d be more than happy to help out.”
He was the tenth person I’d interviewed this week, and I was hoping he’d be the last. I’d hired a new director of sales and operation to replace Lauren earlier that morning. She’d been shocked when I canned her. Although she hadn’t been in league with Declan or Konstantin, she had no qualms about the Saudi deal, even though she’d known it had been achieved through bribery . . . plus, she’d slept with my father. And, hell, I just didn’t like her.
“As long as your background checks out, you’re hired.”
The man rose to his feet, shook my hand, and thanked me. We chatted a few more minutes before I had Elsa show him out.
“You sure this is what you want?” Elsa came into my room after the soon-to-be CEO was gone.
I leaned back in the chair and squeezed my eyes shut. It had been three and a half weeks since the showdown at the strip club. Three and half weeks since I’d seen Olivia. I’d already accepted an interesting bodyguard case for a guy in Scotland, and I had no interest in staying at the office any longer.
I should’ve thought about the plan to hire a temp CEO a long time ago, but I would never have learned the truth about my father or been able to help Olivia.
It was still hard for me to believe my dad had died to save his family. I had yet to tell Mason—I was waiting until he came home. I hated lying to him, but I didn’t want to distract him when he was fighting in the Middle East.
He’d kill me, though, once he discovered all that I’d withheld.
“Connor?”
Shit, I still hadn’t spoken, had I? “I just can’t be here anymore. I’m sorry, Elsa.” I nodded at her, and she forced a tight-lipped smile before pulling the door closed.
I buried my face in my hands, pressing my elbows to my desk, and images of Olivia’s haunting eyes and beautiful hair flooded my mind. We had agreed to give each other time. She had to wrap up the undercover operation and sort through the craziness of Blake’s betrayal, and I needed to clean up the mess at Matthews Tech.
I had made the decision to hand over the EMF prototype to the military. It had no business being sold in the private sector. I had thought it would cost the company a fortune, but the government was so thankful that they awarded Matthews Tech with several new billion-dollar defense contracts.
I was doing my best to wait and let Olivia call me, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out.
The buzzing of my cell phone had my head rising, and my pulse increased with the hope it was her.
The number was blocked.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Is this Connor Matthews?” a deep voice asked.
I straightened in my chair. “Yes.” A slow unease built up inside me as I waited, tense, for the man to talk.
He cleared his throat. “You’re listed as Mason Matthews’s emergency contact.”
I jumped to my feet, clutching my phone to my ear as the blood drained from my face.
“There was an explosion, and I’m afraid your brother was injured. He was flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Kaiserslautern, Germany.”
“How is he?” I pressed my hand to my desk, trying to steady myself. Worry stripped me to the core, and my nerves twisted like heated steel.
***
Olivia
My heels clicked as I walked down the empty hall. I wasn’t sure what I would say when I got there, but when I’d heard the news, I had to come.
Just breathe, I reminded myself as I rounded the corner and stopped just outside the room.
I tapped on the door, and after a couple seconds and a jolt that felt like a triple shot of espresso, the door opened.
Connor stood before me in jeans and a black tee, blinking. “Is that really you? I’ve been up for three days straight, so I’m just wondering if my eyes are playing tricks on me,” he said in a throaty voice.
“Holy shit. Is that Olivia Scott? The Olivia?”
Connor’s lips cracked into a smile. I dropped my small suitcase and rushed over to Mason’s bed. “Thank God you’re okay. I thought you were still—”
“Sleeping Beauty?” Mason rubbed a hand over his bruised face. �
��Hell no, some bomb’s not going to take me out. But I’m beginning to wonder if it did some damage to my eyesight because I’m questioning whether you’re real or not.” I reached for Mason’s hand and held it between my palms.
“I’m real. Promise.” I smiled at him before peeking over my shoulder at Connor, who stood a foot behind me with folded arms. He’d grown a beard since I’d last saw him and he looked mentally and physically drained.
“He was in a coma for two days. Scared the shit out of me, but the doctors say he’ll be okay. He’s a tough SOB.” Connor came up next to me. “I can’t believe you flew all the way to Germany. How’d you know he was here?”
“Jake called me.”
“Of course he did . . .”
I released Mason’s hand and smoothed a smile to my face, but had to cover my mouth to try and stifle a yawn.
“Olivia, I appreciate you coming, but why don’t you get some rest. I’m fine. Hell, better than fine. Look at me.” Mason’s gray eyes focused intently on me, and a devious smile teased his lips. “Why don’t you check in at your hotel and get some sleep? Connor can drive you.”
Mason had been a freshman in high school the last time I saw him, and now he was a Marine. It was crazy how time flew by.
“He looks good,” I said as Connor tossed my bag into the backseat of the BMW.
“Thank God. I don’t know what I would’ve done if—” His hand dropped to his lap, and he shifted to face me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when Jessie . . .”
I reached out and touched his scruffy beard. “You don’t need to do that, Connor. I’m here for you and Mason, and all that matters right now is that he’s okay.”
He studied me, his brows slanting and his lips slightly parting. I wasn’t sure if he believed me—that, or guilt was weighing him down. “I missed you.” I pulled my hand away from his face, but he caught my wrist and brought my fingers to his mouth, brushing my hand against his lips.
I shut my eyes to savor the blitz of heat that shot through my system at his simple touch. I didn’t want to think about the mistakes of our past, anymore. Too much had happened, and I just wanted my “two minutes” with Connor. Only, I wanted them to last a lifetime.
Buried Lies Page 25
