All Or Nothing (The Alpha Brotherhood #2)(14)
Author: Catherine Mann

All those years, he hadn’t been cheating on her. And he hadn’t been following in his criminal father’s footsteps. But she didn’t feel relieved. Even now, he was ready to make love to her with such a huge secret between them.

Anger and betrayal scoured through her as she thought of all the times he’d looked her in the face while hiding such intense secrets. For that matter, he wouldn’t have confided in her even now if his boss hadn’t demanded it. She’d had a right to know at least something about a part of Conrad’s life that affected her profoundly. But he’d rather ditch their marriage than give her the least inkling about his secret agent double life.

To think, she’d been a kiss away from tearing her clothes the rest of the way off and jumping back in bed with him, even though he hadn’t changed one bit. Even now the moist pleasure lingered between her legs, reminding her of how easily she’d opened for him all over again. Part of her hoped he would deny what she’d said, come up with some very, very believable explanation.

Except, damn him, he simply nodded before he turned back to John Salvatore. “Colonel, can we get back to Jayne’s safety?”

“We have reason to believe the subject of your most recent investigation may have stumbled on your identity, perhaps through a mole in our organization. He’s angry, and he wants revenge.”

Salvatore’s veiled explanation floated around her brain as she tried to piece together everything and figure out what it had to do with her husband. “Who exactly is after Conrad?”

They exchanged glances and before they could toss out some “need to know” phrase, she pressed on. “If I’m uninformed that puts us both in more danger. How can I be careful if I don’t even know what to be careful about?”

Salvatore cleared his throat. “Have you heard of a man named Vladik Zhutov?”

Her heart stopped for three very stunned seconds. “Of course I’ve heard about him. He was all over the news. He’s responsible for a major counterfeiting ring. He single-handedly tried to manipulate some small country’s currency to affect the outcome of an election. But he’s in jail now. Isn’t he?”

The colonel dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. “Even in prison, he has influence and connections, and we have reason to fear he might be trying to use those against Conrad.”

She flattened her hand to the nearest chair to keep her legs from giving way underneath her. Her husband had always been so intent on separating himself from anything to do with his father’s world. Even though his parents were both dead, Conrad wouldn’t even visit their graves.

Was he on a vendetta of his own? Had he placed his life at risk to see that through?

Anger at Conrad took a backseat to fear for his safety. Her stomach knotted in horror, terror and a total denial of the possibility of a world without Conrad’s indomitable presence. “Are you saying this individual has taken out some kind of hit on Conrad?”

She looked back and forth from the two men, both so stoic, giving away little in their stony expressions. How could someone stay this cool when her whole world was crumbling around her? Then she saw the pulse throbbing in Conrad’s temple, a flash of something in his eyes that looked remarkably like…raw rage.

Salvatore sat on the chair beside her, angling toward her in his first sign of any kind of human softening. “Mrs. Hughes—Jayne—I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that. Intelligence indicates Zhutov has been in contact with assassins, ones who are very good at what they do. They understand the best way to get revenge is to go after what means the most to that person. You, my dear, are Conrad’s Achilles’ heel.”

* * *

Conrad was certain his head would explode before the night was through. What more could life catapult at him in one weekend?

The thought that someone—anyone—would dare use Jayne to get back at him damn near sent him into a blind rage. Only the need to protect her kept him in check.

Later, he would deal with the inevitable fallout from Salvatore ignoring Conrad’s request to shield Jayne from the messiness of his Interpol work. He could think of a half-dozen different ways this could have been handled, all of which involved not telling Jayne secrets that could only put her in more danger.

Since Salvatore had dropped his “Achilles’ heel” bombshell, the colonel had taken charge as he did so well. He’d shown Jayne his Interpol identification and offered to fly her to headquarters in Lyon, France. He would do whatever she needed to feel reassured, but it needed to happen quickly for her personal protection.

One thing was clear. They had to leave Monte Carlo. Tonight.

Salvatore continued to explain to Jayne in even, reasonable tones designed to calm. “When you make arrangements for work and for your dog, you need to give a plausible story that also will lead Zhutov’s people in the wrong direction.”

She twitched, but kept an admirable cool given everything she’d been told. “My phone is tapped?”

“Probably not.” Salvatore shook his head. “And even if it is, the penthouse is equipped with devices that scramble your signal. However, that doesn’t stop listening devices on the other end. We can use that to our advantage, though, by scripting what you say.”

“This is insane.” She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.

“I agree.” Salvatore played the conciliatory role well, one he sure as hell hadn’t shown a bunch of screwed-up teenagers seventeen years ago. “I sincerely hope we’re wrong and all of this will be resolved quickly. But we can’t afford to count on that. You need to tell them that you’re ironing out details of the divorce with Conrad and it’s taking longer than you expected.”

Nodding, she stood, hitching her evening bag over her shoulder. “I’ll step into the kitchen, if that’s not a problem.”

“Take your time, catch your breath, but keep in mind we need to leave by sunup.”

Jayne shot a quick glance at her husband, full of confusion, anger—betrayal—and then disappeared into the kitchen.

* * *

Conrad reined in his temper, lining up his thoughts and plans while his wife’s soft voice drifted out.

Salvatore cleared his throat. “Do you have something to say, Hughes?”

Oh, he had plenty to say, but he needed to narrow his attention to the task at hand. “With all due respect, Colonel, it’s best that I keep my opinions to myself and focus on how the hell we’re going to keep Jayne off of that megalomaniac’s radar.”