Page 56 of Russian Rescue

“We do. We’ll put your family in witness protection, give the info we have to the Russians, and hope they shut Petro down.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “No. That’s not good enough. The info I have now will only make them realize Petro isn’t who he says he is. It won’t prove what he’s up to and get the Russians to stop him. If anything, they’ll fuck it up and alert him, so he has time to cover his tracks. Then they’ll just kick him out of the country for fraud or something. I have nothing to show what he’s really up to and make the Russians listen.”

“Then we’ll tell them what happened to you. What you know.”

“It’s not enough, Piper. I need proof that they intend to do something with those nukes. It’s the only way to make the Russians take this seriously enough to wipe out Petro and his entire cell. They’re too big for us to do it on our own quickly enough to save my family. We need the Russians. And to get them, we need to have a smoking gun. That gun is located on the server at Petro’s. It has to be.”

Piper chewed on her lip. “And there’s a fundraiser?”

“Yep. I’ll hack in, get us on the guest list, and we’ll walk right in the front door. Then all we have to do is find the server and give me ten, twenty minutes tops, on it. That should be all it takes for me to hack in and download the files. Then we’ll just walk right back out and turn it all over to the Russians.”

“I don’t think the server room is just going to be wide open for you.”

“Probably not, but that’s why I have you. Not to mention you’ve taught me how to shoot and fight now. I can do this, Piper. I have to.”

“And if they catch you?”

“They won’t kill me. They need me alive. So, if they catch me, all I have to do is hold out, and you, Knox, and Marcus can come rescue me.” I grinned awkwardly. “Again.”

Piper sighed. “It is true they won’t kill you. At least I don’t think they will.”

“They won’t. And even if they do, it’s okay. That just means my family is safe if I’m not alive anymore.”

“It’s not okay if they kill you,” Piper warned.

“Well, not ideal, obviously, but it would mean my family is safe. That’s my priority. I have to fix this, even if it means I don’t make it to the end. I’m not forcing them to give up their lives because I’m a dumbass. Let me do this, Piper. We can do this. I know we can.”

After a long moment of contemplating, she let out a heavy sigh. “You can get us on the guest list?”

I spun around on my computer and clicked away at the keys while Piper watched. A minute later, I sat back and smiled. “There. Done. We’re Mr. and Mrs. Fedorov.”

“We’re married?” She narrowed her eyes with a smirk.

“Of course, we’re married. I mean, we’re gonna get married someday when you finally admit your feelings for me, so this will just be good practice.”

Piper burst into laughter and pushed my shoulder. “Would you stop. I’m not ever getting married. To anyone.”

“You’ll see. We’re getting married. Just got to get over this hard ass routine you’ve still got going.”

“Hard ass routine? Uh, this isn’t a routine, baby. This is all me. I don’t do feelings, I don’t do relationships, and I definitely, definitely, don’t do marriage. But what I can do, is this.”

Her eyes narrowed into seductive slits as she slid her hand down the front of my pants. Instead of letting her do what I desperately wanted her to do, I caught her by the wrist and stopped her.

“Ah, ah, ah.” I flicked my finger back and forth.

She furrowed her brow.

“Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” I said with a playful smile.

“Huh?”

“Me. This. Sex,” I waved a hand down my shirtless body, “is now off-limits until you admit your feelings for me. I won’t be some walking, talking sex toy anymore.” I arched an eyebrow with my cocky smile.

She scoffed. “Well, that won’t happen because that’s not what’s going on here.”

I smiled wider when I saw the lie in her eyes. “Oh, it is. You’re just too stubborn and freaked out by the truth to admit it.”

“Wes. This has been fun and all, and I do really like you, but it can’t be anything more than what it is. My life doesn’t allow it. This was just a fling. A really, really great fling, but we can’t—”