Page 23 of Sweet Deception

I’ve been trying to figure out who she might be a spy for.

Now that I know she’s Russian, the first thought that comes to mind is that she’s part of the Petrov Bratva. Rory, our family spymaster, shot their heir in the face a few weeks ago, and we expect they’ll be eager to repay the favor at some point.

Maybe they sent in Veronika Kotova to spy on us. The name fits, at least.

Obviously their little plan failed, but I’m still not going to allow even encrypted King data to sit or be placed in the wrong hands. Whatever information she managed to get off my phone—and I’d be impressed if she actually succeeded in getting any of it—dies with her. That’s the way this needs to be.

Shit.I see her.

I sit up straighter in my seat. I’d recognize that graceful gait anywhere.

She’s walking from a shop on the perpendicular street with takeout in one arm.

Just as I suspected, as soon as she’s in sight, the lurker guy begins to approach her.Fuck.My hand is on the door handle in seconds.Is this the drop?Am I going to have to kill them both?

I’m expecting her to make eye contact with the guy as she walks toward her apartment, but she doesn’t acknowledge him at all.

Huh?

Maybe they have some secret signal.If you pass him on the street, it means you’ve got the goods. If you walk the other way, it means the plan fell through.

But then Veronika crosses the street, striding right past my wheels and into her building. Meanwhile, the lurker gets even twitchier, stops walking, and produces a cell phone. He’s making a call.

I only have a few minutes to ponder before three armored SUVs descend on this tiny, forgotten block.

And who steps out of one of those SUVs and into the glow of a streetlight but Troy Fucking Sullivan, with his goons in tow. That neon orange head of his gives him away every time.

Interesting.

Troy’s the son and nephew of the men who run the Red Hill Mob out of Philadelphia. The Sullivan Brothers. Darragh and Patrick.

The Sullivan Brothers are many things, but above all, they know how to run a ransom racket. It’s kept them in business all these years.

Their success almost led to our families joining forces a few years ago, a deal brokered by Thomas Brennan, the traitor in our midst. The merger and the marriage were on track until Troy battered a protected daughter of the Kings.

This led to a broken deal and a disgraced Troy. When that deal fell through, Troy tried to take his revenge by crawling into bed with our ugliest enemies, the De Lucas. Well, ourformerugliest enemies, since Kiara’s the sole surviving member of that family.

We had to torture information out of Troy, but we eventually let him go.

By the looks of things, our time apart only made him meaner.

He glares down the street in both directions as the lurker jogs up to meet him. They exchange a few words.

Well, well, well.

I knew Veronika was somebody’s spy, but I never would’ve guessed she was working for the Sullivan Brothers.

It’s clear Troy and his soldiers are here for her, probably for the encrypted data she stole from me. Boy, are they going to be disappointed.

Because I intend to get to her first.

Took this damn long to find her. I’m not going to let her get away a second time.

I didn’t come prepared to fight these assholes, but I’m always ready to blow something up. A gym bag full of smoke bombs sits in my passenger seat, waiting to be put to good use.

I scan the street again, searching for a window of opportunity.

There.