Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(36)

“McDonald certainly won’t,” Tag agreed. “He’s been a politician for almost forty years. He started in state politics when he was straight out of college.”

Tag wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. “McDonald’s family is political royalty. His family has held a seat in congress or the senate for the last fifty years. There’s talk about Hope eventually following in her father’s footsteps. So this is a family who knows how to keep the skeletons hidden. We need to dig deeper. We need to figure out how Faith is involved in her father’s schemes.”

“Or we can accept that she’s not.” Theo laid the baby he was holding down in her carrier thingee. When he stood back up, his hands were on his hips, judgment plain on his face. “I think she’s exactly what she looks like. She’s been nothing but kind to everyone we’ve met up with and she’s done wonders with Erin. I don’t think Erin’s ever had a female friend like Faith, so you need to understand that I’m going to look out for her. Erin cares about her, and that makes her my responsibility.”

Tag looked down at the baby in his arms. “It’s time to vomit again, Kala. Uncle Theo’s going to break into song.”

“She’s not your responsibility. She’s the target and now I’m worried that I have to work against my own team.” He faced off with Theo, who he’d trained. Theo had been trained to see deeper, to view the world through the filter of the mission. It seemed to Ten like Theo had gotten too comfy with his target. “I know you’ve spent months with her. I know you care about her, but even if she’s not involved with her father’s business, you getting emotional about this is going to get Faith killed. I’m going to ask you some serious questions and I want you to answer me like the operative I know you can be.”

Theo’s jaw had tightened, his shoulders straightening as though he couldn’t help himself. “Yes, sir.”

“Can you give me one good reason for the Ukrainians to send an assassin after her?”

Theo’s eyes closed briefly and they were colder when he opened them. “She’s gotten involved in something that could compromise their operations.”

“And what do the syndicate’s operations consist of?”

“Obviously they’re criminal enterprises, Ten. I know where you’re leading. You want me to add one and one and come up with two. If she’s involved with the mob, then she’s involved with something criminal.”

The boy could be led to the proper conclusions. “And if she’s involved with criminal operations, it only makes sense she’s also involved with her father. It would be awfully coincidental if her father kept her in the dark, but she still managed to find her way to his lifestyle. Can we connect the senator with the mob?”

Tag sighed and sat back, his big hand cradling the baby. She rested along her father’s forearm, her head in that strong hand. Her eyes were closing because that baby wasn’t worried about anything. She was completely certain that her father would take care of her.

Ten had read the reports about himself. He’d been a fussy baby, crying even when held, as though he’d never once trusted the person who held him. It had been a factor in moving him from home to home even as an infant. No one wanted a fussy baby.

Faith had curled in his arms, as though she totally trusted him. The night before she’d turned over in her sleep and draped her body over his like they’d been sleeping together for years. He’d been stiff at first and then he’d relaxed, enjoying the way she felt. Well, everything but his cock had relaxed. That looked like it would stay stiff all f*cking day.

He’d just learned she was involved with the mob and he still wanted to be inside her.

“I’ve got Markovic on it. Apparently he’s got some ties there,” Tag explained. “He was calling some people this morning, and hopefully he can figure out why they put the kill order on her. I put a call in to my Bratva contact. He might have heard something. I’ll ask him about Faith and the senator when he calls back.”

Ten chuckled. He was fairly certain Big Tag had never expected that his wife would come with a full set of Russian mafia in-laws. “You’re still in touch with Dusan?”

Dusan Denisovitch was Charlotte and Chelsea’s cousin. He was also the head of the Denisovitch Syndicate, one of the most successful of the Bratva or the Brotherhood. Dusan had risen to the head when the former leader had been murdered. Ten was fairly certain he was currently in the same room as the man who had killed Dusan’s father. He’d often wondered if Dusan thanked Tag for clearing the way.

“Yep. I can’t get rid of anyone,” Tag complained. “The good news is Dusan’s actually fairly rational for a criminal. He’ll call back when he’s done doing whatever he does. I try not to ask. I’ll have a report for you on Monday.”

He would have to get through the weekend before he found out the truth. He looked over at Theo. Theo believed Faith, but Theo hadn’t seen the things Ten had seen. Theo’d never nearly been gutted by a woman he’d recently finished f*cking. Yeah, that had happened to Ten more than once. Theo thought Erin was a handful. He’d never had to go hand to hand with an MSS agent who tried to take off the cock she’d just sucked.

He couldn’t believe in Faith. He had to keep himself apart. It was simply proving more difficult than it usually was. Usually it wasn’t difficult at all. Damn but he wished he knew what it was about Faith that called to him. Her innocence? That could be false. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever slept with, but he couldn’t think of a single one he preferred to her. Maybe Theo wasn’t the only one who needed to remember what the hell he was doing here.