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The door opened, and she plastered a smile on her face. Ready or not, it was time to perform.
Chloe was the one that answered the door, and Alice’s eyes drifted down to her belly immediately. It was huge, stretching out the front of her dress. She looked ready to pop.
“You must be Alice,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Chloe.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
They shook hands and Chloe led her into the house. Alice didn’t even have to pretend to be impressed the way that a simple, small-town woman would be. They were standing in a two story foyer with what appeared to be marble floors. There was a formal dining room to her left and a living room to the right with a fireplace made of smooth stones and a black leather sectional with brightly-colored throw pillows. The TV was a huge flat-screen and there were artsy knick-knacks on the mantle. It looked exactly like a former bachelor pad that had received some feminine touches when Chloe moved in.
She followed the pregnant woman through the living room and into a large kitchen with cherrywood cabinets and granite counters. With a square kitchen island in the middle of the room with a built-in gas range, it looked like a room designed with entertaining in mind. After that, they looped back around to the dining room.
There was a staircase at the back of the foyer, but as Chloe led her toward it, Alice spotted a short hallway.
“What’s down there?” she asked.
Chloe had been chatting about the expectations they had for the job the whole time, and it took a moment for her to register Alice’s question. She had one foot on the stairs before she looked back at Alice.
“Oh that? It’s just a bathroom and my boyfriend’s home office.”
“That’s not a part of the tour?”
“It’s a small bathroom, easy to clean, and the office is off-limits.”
Damn it.
“Are you sure? I’m happy to just dust-”
“No, that won’t be necessary. Alek likes his privacy. That’s why we won’t have you clean in the master suite either.”
Alice wanted to argue, but she couldn’t imagine how to do so without arousing suspicion. She was already feeling thrown by how nice and normal Chloe seemed. Despite her choice of career, Alice hadn’t had a lot of direct contact with people involved in organized crime. At her last posting, she dealt with much smaller players in the criminal world.
In her mind, people that were involved in the mafia had to be cold and ruthless at all times. How else could exist, doing what they did?
But Chloe was warm and friendly, even though she was only explaining the cleaning that she wanted done in the house.
The tour of the second story didn’t take long. They had a nursery set up, a spare bedroom, and a home gym. The master suite was at the end of the hall, but Chloe didn’t show it to her.
She’d have to find a way to get inside of that roomandthe office. If there was evidence to be found in this house, it had to be in one of those places.
“How about we talk about the schedule over some coffee?” Chloe said, leading the way back downstairs. Alice noticed that she was walking slower now, her hand on her swollen stomach.
“Are you okay?” she asked, glancing at the woman’s feet, which were shoved into a pair of black flats. They looked swollen.
“I’m fine,” Chloe said, even though she was breathing heavily. “I’m just still getting used to carrying around this extra weight.”
Her chuckle was light, but she paused when they reached the bottom of the stairs, as if she needed to rest to catch her breath.
“Maybe you should sit down for a while,” Alice suggested, concerned about Chloe, even though she was a stranger.
“You’re probably right. Let’s go to the kitchen. Oh, and don’t mention this to Alek when you meet him. He’ll just worry.”
She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. Alice could see the affection in her eyes when she talked about Alek. She loved the big, bad head of the Bratva.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she assured Chloe as they headed back to the kitchen.
“Do you have any kids?” Chloe asked.
“No, and I’m tragically single.”
