Targeted Risk (R.I.S.C. #7) - Anna Blakely Page 0,9
and everything, but when we’re not on an op, you seem...I don’t know. Down or something. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Liv’s worried about you, too.”
“My sister has always worried about me. Even more so since I’ve come back from the dead.”
“Because she loves you.”
“Yeah, I know.” Mike looked up at the darkening sky. He hesitated a half a second longer, and then sighed. “Fine. You want to know the truth, here it is. I met someone.”
“What?” Jake stood erect again. “That’s great! When? Who is she?”
Mike held up a hand. “Ease up on the twenty-questions, dude. It’s not like that. At least...not anymore, it’s not.”
“What do you mean?
“I mean, I met her when I was under.”
“Okay...” Jake let his voice trail. After a slight pause, his brows rose, and a look of understanding crossed his face. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
“So, she has no idea who you really are,” Jake surmised.
“She couldn’t.” Mike shrugged. “I was still ‘dead’, remember?”
“Okay, but what about after?”
Another shrug. “I left Vegas. So did she.”
“And you never told her? Not even then?”
Mike shook his head. “I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s...complicated.”
And you’re full of shit.
The look Jake was giving him now said he thought the same thing. “I’m a pretty smart guy, Mike. I’m sure I can keep up.”
Damn. He should’ve known Jake wouldn’t let this one go.
Mike swallowed past his innate desire to keep things close to the vest. An occupational hazard a lot of undercover operatives have to learn to overcome once their covert time is complete.
They had to re-train their brains to allow for trust again. Not an easy task after a decade of not being able to trust anyone.
Every day since coming back home, Mike had to remind himself he wasn’t alone. That Jake and the others were his friends. His new team. His family.
No time like the present.
“Fine. Do you remember the day Olivia found me with you in the barn?”
Jake snorted. “You mean the day my wife discovered the brother she thought she buried ten years before was alive...and I knew and didn’t tell her?” He gave him a sarcastic stare.
“Guess it would be hard to forget a day like that, huh?” Mike shoved his hands into his pockets. “We talked that day about my last case I was working. The one involving—”
“Alexandar Volkov,” Jake finished for him. “I remember. You were trying to turn one of his sons.”
“Mikhail.” He nodded. “Yeah. It worked, too. Mikhail’s testimony put both his father and his older brother away for life.”
“That’s good, but what does any of this have to do with whatever shit you’ve got going on up in there?” Jake pointed toward Mike’s head.
This is Jake. It’s not like he’s going to judge you. Just tell him, already.
“Volkov has a daughter.”
Okay, so that was more of a blurt than he’d intended.
Jake closed his eyes and hung his head. “Ah, hell, Mike. Please tell me you weren’t dumb enough to get involved with her.”
“Told you it was complicated.”
“Trigonometry is complicated. Fucking a Russian mob boss’s daughter while you’re trying to put the guy away is...shit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know. Suicidal maybe?”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen, okay?” Mike jumped to his own defense. “When I found out he had another kid, I thought maybe I could use her, too. Just in case my angle with Mikhail didn’t pan out.”
“Sounds like you used her, all right.”
Pushing off the railing, Mike faced his friend directly. “Fuck you. It wasn’t like that.”
“No? What was it like, then? Because you just said—”
“I know what I said, and I know what my intentions were with Juliet.” He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to calm his shit. “Look. It was no secret the Feds were closing in on Alexandar. I convinced Mikhail his sister could be a target simply because she was Volkov’s daughter. He contacted her. The guy kept my cover and talked her into letting me hang around to protect her.”
“And he had no idea he was setting her up to be investigated, too?”
Mike shook his head. “No. My plan was to get close enough to her to find out if she knew anything about her father’s business. Just in case Mikhail decided to turn tail and run or some shit. That’s it. But then I met her, and...I don’t know. The more I got to know her, the more we just sort of clicked. You know?”
“Yeah.” Jake glanced toward his living room window. “I know.”
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