Page 76 of Prince of Control

“I’ll get my lock picks.”

Melinda gets up from the sofa, and Anders follows. “I’m going.”

“Me too,” Lara says.

I wince. “We’ll be breaking the law, malyshka. I don’t want you involved.”

Lara’s mouth takes on a stubborn set. “I’m going.”

Everyone else politely looks away.

Fuck. If there’s one thing I learned from my dad it was not to involve family in the business. Keep things clean at home. Lara is my wife and shouldn’t be tainted with anything illegal.

But she’s ready to throw down with me over this, and I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore. It feels too good to have her on my side for a change.

I draw in a breath and let it out. “Fine.”

Suddenly everyone is up and moving.

“Hold up. Not you guys.” I wave my hand at the rest of them.

Alex, Feliks, and Phoenix look disappointed as they sink back to the couch.

“What?” Anya asks with mock innocence. “I thought the sexism had ended. Lara and Melinda are going.”

“I don’t need your dad kicking my ass for getting his precious daughters in trouble. Anders, you should stay, too. If you get caught, you could lose your student visa.”

Anders snorts in annoyance. “When has that ever stopped me? He attacked Melinda. I’m in this until the end.”

“We all are,” I say.

Leo nods. “That’s right.”

“Damn straight,” Alex says.

“No one screws with friends of Baranov House,” Zoe says.

Lara

Now that Baron and I are on the same page, I love watching him in action. Before, his prowess as the leader of a young bratva cell freaked me out. He was the enemy, and it proved I had a formidable opponent. Now it means I have a badass partner.

I mean, we still have things to work out. I don’t like being a pawn in a game I don’t understand, and I hate that Baron won’t tell me what my purpose here is. I don’t like thinking my family is in danger. Knowing Baron’s father has us all in a vise-grip.

But holding my heart back from Baron was so much harder than letting it go. It’s like now that he’s opened up to me–said he loved me–the gates barring him from entering my care zone have swung wide open. The feelings I caught for him are big.

Really big. In fact, I seem to be catching more by the minute. I never knew love could simultaneously feel so wonderful and terrifying. It’s like I’m free falling down a cliff side, trusting Baron will erect the net to catch me at the bottom.

I sit beside Baron in the vehicle, sneaking side glances at the corded muscles of his forearms as he drives. His jaw is firm, and there’s determination in his gaze. He’s already thinking through the next five steps, I’m guessing.

He already grabbed baseball caps for all of us and a box of latex gloves before we left.

I know he didn’t want me to come–for my own protection–but there’s no way I’m missing out.

I didn’t like feeling left out of his operation before, and I’m not going to let him pigeon-hole me back into the sheltered wife category. Besides, I’m heavily invested in Melinda getting her justice. And I want to watch Baron in action–it’s hot.

A thrill of adrenaline runs through me at being part of their caper. Baron pulls up in front of a student apartment building and studies it. We watch a student walk up and enter using a keycard. “Front door uses a keycard like a dorm,” he mutters.

“I’ve got this.” Leo pushes open the door, pulling a ball cap low over his face. “Wait for me to get in.” We watch from the tinted windows as he walks confidently up to the building door. He pauses near a post and pretends to check his phone, and then when someone comes out of the building, catches the door and slips inside. He props a shoulder against the glass window of the atrium, pretending to look at his phone.