The club was packed, and if this were a completely different enterprise, Neal would be happy to be in charge, but the girls in the back were underage, the house was cheating at cards, and the watered-down alcohol made for nasty cocktails. Everything about this operation was third rate, but the forbidden nature of the business drew crowds who wanted to be in on the secret. Dominique and Mikhail couldn’t be happier. Either that or they were hopped up on the coke that flowed freely in the back rooms. Neal was almost tempted to tip off Royal’s former employer as a final solution.
“Take a break,” Dominique said, her mouth too close to Neal’s ear. “You’ve been on your feet all night. Don’t be afraid to sample the merchandise.”
“I’m good. Thanks.” Neal tapped one of the waiters on the arm and pointed to a table full of fat old men who were holding up fists full of money. “Take care of them,” she told him before turning back to Dominique. “Why don’t you take a break? I’ve got this.”
“I will if you will.” Dominique pointed to the door behind the bar. “Come hang out with me.” She grabbed the lapels of Neal’s jacket. “That’s an order.”
Neal reluctantly followed Dominique to the hidden room where the money was collected and counted as it came in. A big job since there was a lot of it. Dominique pointed to one of the chairs and motioned for her to sit.
“I’m going to make you a drink. It’s something special I’ve been trying out.” She slurred her words slightly as she staggered over to a well-stocked bar in the corner. Not a great look for the club owner, but Neal wasn’t here to critique Dominique on her professionalism.
“That’s great.”
She was two sips into the overly sweet concoction when Mikhail barreled into the room in his I’m-the-most-important-person-in-the-world way. She went instantly on edge and started breathing slow deep breaths to remain steady.
“What is she doing in here?” Mikhail bellowed, pointing in her direction. “You know she wants to fuck my wife, right?”
“Is that so?” Dominique asked in a bored voice. “You think everyone wants to fuck your wife. Maybe you should fuck her more to keep her happy enough not to want to stray.”
“She only likes women. It’s sad for her, but this one,” he pointed at her again. “This one is tall enough to be a man, but it’s not the same. Right?”
Neal pushed to the edge of her seat, ready to kick his ass, but Dominique merely rolled her eyes.
“She used to play basketball, but then she refused to pay her end of a debt, so a loan shark broke her leg and she had to quit.”
Neal fought to keep her expression neutral, but her head was spinning. Siobhan had told her no one in the family besides her and Don Carlo knew the reason she’d quit the team at Tulane, but one of them must’ve told Dominique.
Ana knew.
She shook away the pesky thought. Ana had known for all of twenty-four hours and she’d spent almost every minute of that time in her presence. No way had Ana had time to cozy up to Dominique with inside information. With no opportunity and no motive, the whole idea was crazy.
What if she’s playing you, and Siobhan, and Royal? Taking out Mikhail would leave Dominique in charge of this new enterprise. Or maybe Ana was subbing in for Mikhail as Dominique’s new business partner.
Crazy.
No crazier than the consigliere of a powerful family falling for an FBI agent. Or the FBI agent leaving her job in the middle of an undercover operation and living out in the open like no one from the agency would even care. Siobhan and Royal were acting like they were impervious to law enforcement. What was up with that?
A buzzer went off somewhere in the room and Dominique stiffened mid-pour. She shoved the bottle across the bar and barked at the guy counting the money, telling him to go as she pointed to the back door. Neal stood up and whirled around, looking for the source of the sound and Dominique’s panic, but before she could process what was happening, the doors to the room flew open and a swarm of federal agents poured into the room. ATF, DEA, and FBI—an alphabet soup of a task force and, judging by the number of agents, this was no last-minute raid. Seconds later, with her face on the floor and her hands zip-tied behind her back, Neal was certain someone close had betrayed her. The only question was who.
* * *
Ana paced the living room of her home, anxious to know what was happening with Neal. She’d contemplated simply showing up at Dominique’s club, pretending Mikhail had told her about it, but the risk was too great that he would be there. He might not be the smartest person alive, but he had a weird sixth sense when it came to her and other women, like he knew which ones were important to her, and he’d managed to drive them all away. With most of them it had been easy, but none of them were like Neal who was trained to deal with danger. Mikhail’s verbal threats would have little effect on her, but the chance he’d resort to violence made her ill and she wasn’t going to risk it for the mere chance of seeing Neal. She would hold out for the long game instead.
“There you are.” Katia rushed into the room, her face furrowed with concern. “I was so worried about you and Mikhail was distressed.”
“Were you?”
“Of course, I was.” Katia stood with her hands on her hips. “You’ve never disappeared like that. I was afraid that woman you met at Sanctuary had lured you into something dangerous.”
A chill went up her spine at the mention of Neal, but she feigned ignorance. “What woman?”
“The really tall one with the strange name. Strange for a woman anyway.”
There was no use pretending since Katia had been with her both at Sanctuary and the restaurant where she’d met with Neal to discuss terms of an alliance. “Neal? Please, she was interested in me only to get close to Mikhail’s business ventures.” She tilted her head. “You seem very invested in my personal life.”
Katia pouted. “I’m your best friend. It’s my job to look out for you.”
“And you’ve always done such a great job.” The lie was easier than the confrontation and more effective since Katia beamed at the praise. She decided to reward her with a nugget of knowledge. “I needed a night away.” She breathed deeply. “Mikhail has never begrudged me that. Do you?”
Katia looked surprised. “Me? I’m your most loyal friend. I don’t begrudge you anything. You know you can trust me, right?”
Her words were the hallmark of someone who can’t be trusted, but Ana acted like nothing was wrong. “Absolutely. May I tell you a secret?”
“Of course you can.”
“I think Mikhail might be having an affair with Dominique Mancuso.” She dropped the bomb and let it reverberate. If Katia’s loyalties were with Mikhail instead of her, she’d waste no time telling him what she’d just said. She already knew the answer, but confirmation would make it easier to cut ties with Katia completely, and in the name of their former friendship, it was the least she could do.
“An affair?” Katia laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”
Ana was genuinely surprised by her reaction. “What? You think he only has eyes for me? Have you met him?”
“He may do things men do, but he always comes home to you.”
“‘Things men do’? That’s a poor excuse for bad behavior. You think that should be enough?”
“When it’s a man who works as hard as he does to make a nice life for his family? Absolutely.”
Ana wanted to back away from Katia, order her out of the room. Katia’s words made her sick. Had they ever really been friends or had there only been the illusion of closeness formed over the years? A convenient connection fostered by her own isolation. There had been a time when she’d trusted Katia with her life, but now she didn’t even trust her to make a phone call on her behalf. But not trusting her meant the smartest move she could make was to keep her close. “What are you up to today?”
“Francine’s called and said our dresses are ready. I know you’re probably not interested in shopping, but I could use a few things.”
“I’m interested.” Ana injected what she hoped sounded like sincere enthusiasm into her voice. “Let’s make a day of it.” Shopping was better than sitting around, wondering what was happening with Neal. She reached for the house phone. “I’ll have Sergei get the car ready.” Best to have Mikhail’s man drive her around to document she was up to nothing other than a frivolous shopping spree. She pressed the button to reach Sergei when someone pounded on her door.
She placed a hand over the phone. “What is it?”
“Open the door. Now.”
Recognizing Sergei’s voice, she motioned to Katia to open the door, and steeled herself for the intrusion. He strode into the room, took the phone from her hand, and spoke into it. “Go into lockdown. Now. No one gets in or out except for Mikhail. Do you understand?”
“What’s going on?” Ana asked, her voice shaking. She didn’t have to fake the anxiety—something bad had happened and she was about to be stuck in this house, unable to do anything about it and limited to the information Mikhail’s men chose to share.
“Nothing that concerns you.” He wagged a finger between her and Katia. “Stay put. No one leaves the house.”
He turned and walked out of the room without further comment. Ana wanted to yell after him, command him to stay and explain what was happening, but Sergei was loyal only to Mikhail. If she wanted information, she’d have to find another way to get it.
“What’s happening?” Katia asked.
“How should I know? I’ve been sitting right here with you.”
Katia frowned. “No need to snap at me.”
“I’m sorry.” Ana ran through a list of possible scenarios. She needed to be alone to think, but she also had to be careful not to alert Katia she suspected something really big was happening. Had Neal taken out Mikhail? They hadn’t even formulated a plan. Perhaps she’d seen a window of opportunity and taken it, plans be damned. She needed to talk to Neal, and she needed to do it now, but Katia showed no signs of leaving her suite. “I didn’t mean to bark at you like that. You know how Sergei always rubs me the wrong way. It’s probably some misunderstanding.” She bit her bottom lip and assumed a serious expression. “You know, he likes you. Maybe you could talk to him. See if he’ll tell you what’s happening.” She injected a slight quiver in her voice. “It would put my mind at ease to know Mikhail is okay.”
“I’m not sure you’re right, but I suppose I could try and get him to talk to me.” Katia placed a hand on hers. “If it would comfort you.”
Ana resisted the urge to jerk her hand out of Katia’s grasp and endured the charade. “It would be a great comfort,” she said, injecting as much innuendo as she could muster into the simple statement.
She waited a full sixty seconds from the time Katia cleared her door before she dug her spare phone out of her bag. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard while she thought about what to say, but when she considered someone else might be able to read the message, nothing worked. A call would be better. No record of what was said, and she’d know right away from the tone of Neal’s voice whether or not she was in trouble. She pressed the buttons on the screen and waited through the rings. One, two, three, four—way past reasonable, but she couldn’t make herself hang up. Five, six…
“Who is this?”
Not Neal’s voice. A man. An impatient, gruff man. She could choose to speak and try and find out who he was, or she could hang up and hope she’d gotten the wrong number. She glanced at the phone. The number wasn’t wrong. She lowered her voice and prayed she’d be able to hide her distinctive accent. “Who is this?”
“Who are you? This number belongs to a felon. Why are you calling her?”
Whoever he was, he was more interested in using scare tactics than coaxing information out of her. She faked a sob. “That’s what I was afraid of. Did you catch her before she could do something really bad?”
“Tell me who you are, and I’ll tell you more,” the voice said.
Not going to happen. She clicked off the line and her brain went on overdrive. Her house was on lockdown, Mikhail was on the run, and a stranger was answering Neal’s phone. She needed to get out of here and figure out what was going on, but getting past Sergei was going to be difficult. She looked at the time. Katia was probably still in the process of trying to butter him up. If she left now, there was a slight chance she could make it past Sergei’s men.
She opened the secret safe she’d had installed in her dressing table and stuffed her biggest purse with cash. She grabbed her phone, and slipped out of her suite, pausing at the top of the landing. She could hear movement below and several shouts, but it sounded more like panic than action. She edged away from the main staircase, back toward the servants’ entrance and ducked into the hallway the household staff used to move through the house without mingling with their higher-ups.
Within a few minutes, she was in the kitchen, threading her way through the massive rows of appliances and cookware more suitable for a banquet hall than a house with less than a dozen occupants, including staff. When she finally reached the back door, she pushed through it, thankful Sergei’s men weren’t smart enough to think to block this particular exit.
She slipped behind the wheel of one of the BMW sedans the security detail drove. The key was in the ignition, and she wasted no time gunning out of the driveway and onto the road. The drive back to Dallas wasn’t quick. I-30 was packed. She kept one hand on the steering wheel and fumbled in her pocket for her phone, the only item she’d managed to bring with her. She punched the numbers for Siobhan, but the person who answered wasn’t her.
“It’s Ana. Royal, is that you?”
“Yes. Siobhan got called away on an emergency.”
“Let me guess. It has something to do with Mikhail.”
“It does. The feds raided the club.”
“‘The feds’ sounded funny coming from Royal’s mouth, but Ana didn’t have time to dwell on the irony of their conversation. “Tell me Neal’s okay.”
“She was arrested. So was Dominique. Mikhail managed to get out before the raid. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”
Ana was both shocked and hurt at Royal’s insinuation she was somehow involved. “You think I told Mikhail that a raid was coming? I suppose you have some theory about why I even knew about it in the first place. And I guess I’ve been entertaining myself by telling you that I want to get rid of my husband, when I secretly pine for him and would do anything to keep him safe.” Her voice rose. “Is that what you think?”
“Look, I know that when you’re around there’s trouble. Remember the night of the bomb threat at the museum? The night Siobhan spoke about the generous gift her family was donating to the museum. You were there.”
Ana laughed as she dodged around a slower car and sped up to regain the time she’d spent following slowly behind. “I’ve always heard that American police are very paranoid, now I know it’s true. You think a few loosely related facts solve the answer to any question, but anything loosely woven is subject to falling apart when you pull at the edges.” She jerked the steering wheel to avoid running up on the bumper of the vehicle in front of her. “Now, tell me what I want to know. Is Neal okay? Isn’t Siobhan some big shot lawyer? Why hasn’t she used her influence to get Neal out?”
“She’s working on getting her out, but it’s not a simple process. Trust me, Ana, you’re better off not knowing more.”
Royal’s tone only fueled her frustration. “Don’t be condescending to me. I’m headed to the courthouse. That’s where they would take her, right?”
“Not today. It’s after six. They’ll hold her until morning at one of the local jails, and then they’ll bring her to court for a detention hearing. You should go home and wait to hear from us.”
Home. Royal was referring to the palatial mansion she’d just escaped, but she’d never thought of that place as home, only a place to reside until she could escape her life with Mikhail. She couldn’t go back there now. Not after the way she’d left, but more importantly, she was done pretending, and if Mikhail showed up, he would instantly suspect her plans to leave him. Better to simply do it now and suffer the consequences. She looked down at her phone, the one she’d purchased without Mikhail’s knowledge so he could no longer trace her movements. It was all she had, but at least it was a lifeline. This car, on the other hand, was an anchor. He likely had tracking devices installed on all of their vehicles and the faster she ditched it, the safer she would be.
“I can’t go home. I had to slip out and now they’ll be looking for me. If Mikhail finds me, he’ll never believe I’m still loyal to him. Contact me at this number when you find out what’s happening with Neal. If you don’t, I will show up at the courthouse and tell the judge everything I know. About all of you.”
She hung up before Royal could answer, took a deep breath, and took her foot off the accelerator. Despite the big threat she’d just made, now was not the time to trade haste for security. She needed a plan, and she needed a quiet place to think it through because she was dead set now on not only escaping her current life, but finding a way for Neal to be part of her future.