Isabelle hits me back just as hard. “Like you’d know the difference.”
I take her hit like the man I am. “I'm not the enemy, Isabelle.” I cross my arms in front of my chest to hide the rattle her assumption caused them. “The man you’re sleeping with is.”
She mimics my pose, revealing she’s up for a fight. “You don’t know him, so your opinion doesn’t count.”
“And you don’t know him either.”
Her mouth opens and closes several times before she squeaks out, “I know him.”
“Prove it.”
She balks at my condescending tone, but she maintains her stern composure. “I’m not falling into your trap. I’m not going to unwittingly incriminate Isaac—”
“So you’re admitting he undertakes in criminal activities,” I interrupt, hearing what I want to hear.
Isabelle’s snapped words bounce off the whitewashed walls of my office. “I didn’t say that.”
Her determination inspires me, but it is too little, too late. “You didn’t need to. The truth is all over your face. You know he is a criminal, just as well as I do.”
She snarls, baring teeth. “You’re a real piece of work.”
She has no fucking idea.
She stands to her feet as rapidly as my anger rises. “First you exploited Regan, a woman wholoved you, all to get a fancy glass office, and now you're doing the same thing to me. I’m not as stupid as you think I am, Alex.”
My anger boils over from her bringing Regan into a fight she doesn’t belong in—again!
“Sit down, Isabelle.” I strive to keep my voice on the downlow, but many agents’ eyes swing my way when it bellows through my office door. “Sit down!” I shout again when she snatches her hideous bag off the floor and races for the door.
She locks her eyes with mine; they’re teeming with moisture. “This meeting is over. If you wish to speak to me again, you’ll need to go through Brandon, the union representative for our division—”
“Brandon doesn’t work for this division of the FBI anymore.”
Isabelle’s eyes snap to mine faster than I can snap my fingers. “What?”
“Foolish mistakes cause statutory consequences.” My warning is more for her than Brandon. He made his bed, and now he’s lying in it. She still has time to right her wrongs. “You can’t side with criminals and not expect repercussions for your actions.”
She shakes her head as disbelief taints her face. “You’re making a mistake, Alex. You’re so blinded by jealousy, you’re not seeing things clearly.”
“I'm not the one blinded.” I move closer to her. “I'm trying to stop you from making a foolhardy mistake. To get you out of his clutches before you get yourself buried so deep you’ll never get out.”
“It’s too late! I’m already in that deep. I love him, Alex, and nothing you can say will change that.”
A deep laugh vibrates my lips before I can stop myself. She has no idea how ridiculous she sounds right now. If she knew what I knew, she wouldn’t be thinking this way.
I guess I’ll have to spell it out for her. “Isaac is working with Vladimir Popov.”
Isabelle freezes as her clutch on my door handle turns deadly. She appears lost, as if she’s unsure if she is going or staying.
I help her make the right choice by confessing, “He made an illegal transfer to Vladimir’s enterprise for the amount of two point four million dollars.”
When she pivots around to face me, she trips over her feet. Her face is as white as a ghost, and her eyes are packed with so much moisture, I’m confident she’s seconds from cracking. “Isaac doesn’t have any dealings with Vladimir. You must be mistaken.”
The pain crossing her face matches mine any time Regan sided with the wrong team, but, positive I’m doing the right thing, I yank open the bottom drawer of my desk and secure a file from inside. I hesitate for a mere second before handing Isabelle the folder. Just like Regan, she deserves to know the truth. Her shaking hands are obvious when she flips open the file to take in the photos inside. I can tell the exact moment she recognizes the man Isaac is seated across from.
“That is Albert Sokolov. He is Vladimir Popov’s number two man.”
Isabelle nods, acknowledging she heard me before she flips through the photos, only stopping when she arrives at the series of money orders Brandon unearthed weeks ago.
