you really work for the CIA?”
“No.” When her brows turned inward, he quickly added, “But I used to. I work for a private security company called R.I.S.C. The acronym stands for recue, intel, security, and capture. We’re basically a privately-owned black ops team, but we also work with different government agencies from time to time.”
“Were you working for the CIA when we met?”
“Yes.” He swallowed, then voluntarily offered up more about his past. “I was in the military before that. Delta Force. Jake and I were on the same team.”
“So, his name really is Jake?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t grow up together.”
“We did. I’ve known him since we were kids. Jake, my sister, and I used to always hang out together. Then, we grew up, and he married my sister.”
“Your sister?” She blinked again. “I thought he was married to the nurse who took care of me.” Mike opened his mouth to explain, but she figured it out before he got the chance. “Oh. Right. I can see it, now. The resemblance.”
The corners of Mike’s lips rose slightly. “Olivia’s my little sister.”
“She seemed...nice. Then again, she didn’t bother to tell me the truth either, so...”
“Because she knew I needed to tell you myself. And for the record, she gave me a royal ass-chewing that night at the hospital.”
“Why?”
“When Liv found out you and I were...together...she reamed my ass up one side and down the other for lying to you.”
Juliet sat back in her chair. “Nice to see at least one Bradshaw has a set of balls.”
Mike did smile, then. Just a tiny one that fell almost as quickly as it had risen. “Anyway, after high school, Jake and I joined the Army. We went to Ranger school together, and then we were assigned to the same Delta team.”
“Delta...that’s like special ops, right?”
“It is. We served together right up until the day a man from the CIA visited me. Took me behind closed doors, told me they needed me for a special undercover assignment. Apparently, they’d worked it all out with my CO, and the paperwork for early release from my military contract had already been approved. They just needed me to agree to it.”
“And?”
“And...I did. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill cover assignment, though. It was especially dangerous.”
“How so?”
“The man we were after would make your dad and Ivan look like a couple of teddy bears. And they had arms that reached all over the world. Because of this, the CIA said I needed to take every precaution I could to protect my family.”
“What did you do?”
“I let everyone I knew and loved think I was dead. My dad and sister...Jake. They were all told I’d been killed in a training accident. It was supposed to be temporary...a month-long assignment. Two at the most.”
“How long did it actually last?”
“Ten years.”
“Ten years?” Juliet sat straight up. “You let your family think you were dead for an entire decade?”
“I didn’t have a choice. They fucked me over with some bullshit clause in my contract I didn’t know existed. One that stated they had the right to extend it for any length of time the U.S. government deemed necessary. If I went against it and tried to quit, my ass would’ve been tossed into Leavenworth, and my family would still think I was dead.”
Juliet sat quiet for several minutes before asking, “You said you no longer worked for the CIA. So, when did you...”
“Get out?” he finished for her. “Two years ago.”
“Two years...”
Mike could practically see her wheels turning. “The investigation into your dad and his operation was my last job.”
She let out a loud breath. “Of course. It all makes perfect sense, now.”
“It does?”
“Sure it does. You got what you wanted. Dad and Ivan went to prison, I was forced into protective custody, and Mikhail...” Her eyes widened. “Did he know?”
“Not at first,” Mike answered honestly. “I told him later.”
Juliet’s lips curled into one of the saddest smiles he’d ever seen. “You’re the reason he testified.”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re the reason he’s dead.”
Mike swallowed a huge-ass ball of guilt and told her the truth. “If you want to blame me for Mikhail’s suicide, you can. But the truth is your dad did put that wheel in motion before you or I were ever even born.”
Her hand went to her mouth and tears fell down her cheeks. “You destroyed my family.”
“Alexandar did that. He and Ivan both. Not me.”
“My god.” She pushed herself to her feet and walked woodenly into the living room. “Why were you at my house