Page 68 of Dark Desires

“What can I say? I love a good crime podcast every now and then. Anyway, we’re done here, Agent Patterson. Please leave me to my whiskey.”

She opens her mouth to say something else but appears to think better of it. Instead, she rises, taking out a business card and laying it on the desk.

“You should take this chance while you have it,” she says. “Pretty sure they don’t serve fancy whiskey in prison.”

“I wouldn’t know, and I never will.”

She snorts again, and then, she’s gone.

The click of the door shutting behind her reverberates through the room, sharp and final.

I lean back in my chair, staring at the business card she left on my desk like it’s a snake waiting to strike. My jaw clenches, and I reach for the whiskey, pouring a little more into the glass.

She got under my skin. I hate that.

For all my calm, my practiced indifference, Patterson managed to needle her way in with her smug, righteous attitude. I drain the glass in one go, the burn doing nothing to temper the irritation boiling inside me.

She’s good—too good—and the worst part is, I can’t just write her off. A woman like that doesn’t waste her time bluffing. Every word she said, every thinly veiled threat, was calculated and intentional.

I stare at the cityscape stretching out before me. Patterson is a problem I can’t ignore. But she’s not the biggest problem. Not by a long shot.

Isabella’s face flashes in my mind, unbidden but impossible to shake. Her fire, her vulnerability, her body.

And then I remember the words that flipped my entire world upside down:I’m pregnant.

What would I do if it came down to it? If I had to choose between my family—my blood, my brothers—and Isabella and my child?

My child.

The thought doesn’t sit neatly anywhere in my brain. It’s too big, too real.

I’ve never betrayed my family, never even entertained the thought. But Isabella and the baby—they’re something else entirely.

I set the glass down, my reflection in the window staring back at me. It’s like the whole world is pulling at me from different directions, and for the first time in my life, I don’t know which way to go.

I need to get my head on straight. Patterson’s threats are a distraction, nothing more, but if I don’t handle her carefully, she could become a much bigger issue. And Isabella… I shake my head, running a hand through my hair.

I reach for my phone and scroll through the contacts, hitting Luk’s name. He answers on the second ring.

“Evening, brother. Got a visit from a certain federal agent just now.”

“Alexei. You sound like you’ve been drinking. Please tell me that beganafterPatterson left.”

“Don’t start. We need to talk.”

There’s a pause on his end, and I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. “About De la Rosa? Or something else?”

“Yeah. And about the Mancinis. Too much is happening, and it’s all connected. Christian, Patterson, the wedding. It’s a mess.”

“Alright, where do you want to meet?”

“My office,” I say, glancing at the empty whiskey glass. “Bring Lev. We’re going to need him for this.”

“On our way.”

CHAPTER 23

ISABELLA