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Atlas
Fucking motherfucking Goddamned fucking shit! And piss!
I had no idea what to do. OK, that wasn’t true. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I shoved away from the sink and went to a place over the water heater where I’d hidden a sat phone. Giovanni Romano, the tech guy all tech guys aspire to be, had assured me the satellites the phone used made it impossible for the call to be traced. Giovanni was a cocky son of a bitch, but he was a genius with anything technical, and I trusted he knew what he was talking about. And it was a good thing, too, because I was about to trust him with my fucking life. And the life of Alexi’s daughter.
I made the call and waited patiently while it connected. When it was answered, the voice on the other end of the line asked, “You good?”
“No. We have a problem.”
The president of my club, Sting, answered, thank God. knew we needed to keep the conversation short. No sense taking more risks than absolutely necessary.
“What do you need?”
How to answer that? “We may have to take option two.”
“How soon you need it?” No hesitation or questions. He’d do whatever I indicated needed to be done.
“Give me a couple of hours. I’ll contact you again. If you don’t hear from me by then, move.”
There was a pause, then Sting acknowledged. “Copy.”
I hung up the phone. Two hours. I had two hours to make a decision. That was assuming Dutch hadn’t figured out who this girl was. He’d had her purse, and they’d obviously searched it. They’d have found her license. If the license had her name listed as Petrov, we were screwed. If it had her listed as Dane, we might have a chance. I’d need to find that out now.
I replaced the phone before storming out of the bathroom. Music still blasted from the speakers. Rose sat on the bed where I’d left her, looking pale and frightened. With good reason.
Scrubbing my hand over my face, I went to her, ever mindful of the camera Bozz had planted. Reaching out my hand to her and keeping my back to the camera, I spoke slowly so she could read my lips over the music if necessary. “Let’s get something to eat.”
She glanced nervously toward the chair and nodded, not saying a word. I raised my eyebrow as she took my hand and followed me meekly. Unless she was a complete dumbass, she was playing the part I’d set for her to perfection. Given the fact she was Alexi Petrov’s daughter -- even if she was adopted and not his biological child -- I knew there was no way Rose was a dumbass.
The one thing that did surprise me, though, was how calm she seemed. I knew she was probably a wreck inside -- what woman wouldn’t be in this situation? But she held it in and did exactly what I told her to. It was that fact alone that had me waiting those two hours to call in my brothers. There was a possibility I could set up safeguards in the event we were discovered so I could continue with this operation. If Rose could continue to play the part as well as she had with Bozz, we could do this. But did I have the right to ask her to?
We stepped outside the house, the music continuing to blare inside. Rose looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. Wanting to know what was happening but continuing to play her part.
“First question. Does your license have your name listed as Petrov?” When she shook her head, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Good. They might not put you together with Alexi. Since you’re still here with me and they haven’t tried to take us by force, odds are they haven’t. This outing is a test. Then we have some decisions to make. We’ll give it an hour, then head back. We’re going to eat. I’m testing the waters, so you need to continue like you’re doing. Which is perfect, by the way. Just keep it up.” She closed her eyes briefly before nodding. “You stay with me. You do not leave my side for any reason. If I’m not holding your hand, you put yours in the waistband of my jeans. Got it?” She nodded without hesitation. “Good. You got this.” Again, she nodded. I tried to sound encouraging but wasn’t sure I pulled it off.
I took us back to the clubhouse area. The guys grilled burgers and dogs in the evening while they drank and got high. There was always a lot of fucking going on with the women hanging out with the club. I didn’t want Rose too near the action, but I had to be seen with her. It was all to make an appearance like I did every night. If I didn’t show, there would be suspicion, though I could cover it with wanting time alone with my woman. It would still probably look out of character and I wasn’t willing to chance it yet. Once they got used to seeing me with Rose, I’d reevaluate. It was also the perfect way to test Rose in an environment where it wouldn’t be a complete disaster if she messed up. It might cause me to have to punish her in public, but I could fake that for the most part if I had to.
