Page 74 of Possessive Mafia Bodyguard

It took courage to walk away from the man who saved her life. But betrayal will bring her nothing but heartache, only I’m not sure if that’s what she wants to hear right now.

We’re waiting in Aiden’s office when he arrives with Connor.

My brother’s expression is non-committal when he sees me and Tamara together. He takes a seat across the table from us and sits back.

“I want you to use me as collateral,” Tamara opens the discussion the instant Aiden’s ass touches his seat.

Okay, so she’s still hell-bent on getting herself killed to save her sister. Not sure where this leaves me exactly, but I’ll take every bullet that comes her way to save her and our baby she’s carrying in her belly.

He gets back up, fills a cup with coffee from the machine on the counter behind him, and places it in front of her. “Don’t think I’m waiting on you two,” he addresses me and Connor. “She’s in shock.”

“I’m not in shock.” Tamara doesn’t touch the cup.

“You’re in denial.” Aiden shrugs. “Drink or we reschedule this discussion for another day.”

Tamara raises the cup to her mouth and sips it slowly. “I need to find my sister. Leonid has information about her, but he won’t tell me where she is. I want you to use me as collateral in exchange for that information.”

Aiden’s expression doesn’t falter. “Why do you think Leonid is refusing to share this information with you?” His eyes slide to me sitting beside Tamara and back again, giving nothing away.

They don’t need to. He has already assessed the situation and figured out all the answers, and relief floods my chest. With our relationship out in the open, I can concentrate on protecting Tamara without all the subterfuge.

“Because I’m a liability.” Tamara’s voice is strong and steady.

Aiden smiles. “He knows you’ll interfere and jeopardize whatever operation he’s in the process of setting up. You heard him. We no longer have an agreement, and your defection sealed the last nails in the coffin lid. Why would he tell me anything?”

“Because I know too much.”

I reach for Tamara’s hand on the table, but she pulls away before I can touch her. “Sweetheart, you don’t want to do this.”

She turns huge watery eyes my way. “You would do this for your brother.”

I glance at Connor, and I know she’s got me. I already sold my soul to the devil once for my brother, and nothing would stop me from doing it again. But I have to live with that on my conscience, and I don’t want that for Tamara.

“Aye, you’re right. But getting Ivana back will never erase that betrayal. It will sit inside your heart and fester until it destroys you, and I can’t let that happen.”

“You can’t stop me, Finn. I’ve made up my mind.”

“Okay,” Aiden intervenes. “I’ve considered your proposal and I respectfully decline, because,” he adds before Tamara can protest, “using you as collateral makes me as bad as the fuckers trafficking humans into the city.”

Tamara’s body is tense beside me. “You won’t help me find my sister.”

“I never said that.” A small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

“What are you saying?” she asks.

“I’m saying…” He sits forward and rests his elbows on the table. “Give me a reason to want to help you that doesn’t involve using you as bait and compromising my scruples.”

“I don’t…” she begins, and this time I don’t let her pull her hand away.

“I love her,” I blurt out.

Maybe she doesn’t want to hear it, especially with the pregnancy test results waving a banner in the back of her mind, but if now isn’t the time to acknowledge it out loud, then there won’t be a right time.

“I’ve loved her since the first time we met, and she threatened to shoot me because she thought I was working for the Petrovs. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, if she’ll have me. And if she won’t…” I shrug. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.”

It’s like setting down buckets of sand after carrying them across a desert with no respite. I feel lighter, cooler, freer. No more secrets, no more making excuses for helping Tamara when I should be watching my boss’s back, no more holding back when I want to tell her how I feel.

“Tamara?” Aiden looks at her.