Page 38 of Fallen Prince
I tipped my head toward the bedroom door, never taking my eyes off him. “Let’s go.”
I kept my gun to his head as we slowly and silently stepped down the carpeted hall to his office. The house was dark and quiet; I hadn’t done anything to alert security, and if McCrae tried anything, I would end him and get the hell out of here.
But I needed this evidence. I didn’t know exactly what he’d been hiding away on his private server for a decade, but it was the first real lead I’d ever found to prove that Fitzgerald was corrupt.
Anticipation fizzed through my veins, and I had to focus to keep my hand from trembling around my gun. I swallowed the flutter of vindictive excitement and urged McCrae into his office,schooling my features to a carefully blank expression.
I’d worn the mask to conceal my identity, and I didn’t intend to use my fearsome scar to intimidate him. If all went according to plan, I’d leave him alive and mostly unharmed once he gave me what I wanted. McCrae was too important for me to kill him; the investigation would be rigorous and relentless if he were murdered.
So, I couldn’t risk anyone glimpsing me tonight and learning my identity, least of all him.
I kept him at gunpoint as he collapsed into his office chair, his shaky knees giving out. His hand trembled as he started up his computer, and I edged farther back into the shadows, away from the blue light cast by the screen.
When McCrae entered his password and accessed the files, I tossed a flash drive onto his desk.
“I want a copy. Tell me what this has to do with Fitzgerald’s ties to the Bratva.”
“N-not the Bratva. The Mafia. It’s all right there!” he squeaked, desperate when I lifted my gun from his heart to his skull. “It’s the medical examiner’s report on Marie’s autopsy and the results of the arson investigation. Ron asked me to make them disappear, and I did. That’s all I have, I swear.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Explain.”
When he babbled the significance of the files, my heart should’ve soared with triumph. I finally had some proof of Fitzgerald’s corruption, even if it wasn’t evidence of his ties to the Bratva.
Instead, something crumbled at the center of my chest as the full weight of the awful truth settled in my soul.
Allie could never know. It would break her. And if she found out the terrible facts of what’d really happened on the night of the fire, she’d never allow me to touch her again.
I had to keep an eye on her now that I knew the Ivanovs were interested in her. She’d claimed that they knew nothing about her reckless investigation into the case against my family, but I didn’t believe her.
Watching her from a distance but not allowing myself close enough to touch her was going to be pure torture, but I would protect her, no matter what it cost me.
And she would never learn what I’d found out tonight.
CHAPTER 15
Allie
I’m as crazy as Max.I had to be, because I’d kissed my stalker. I’d kissed the man who was intent on blackmailing my dad.
I’d barely slept last night, unable to get comfortable. That strange heat persisted low in my belly, but my skin had been icy. Ever since Max had abruptly pushed me away, I’d been on the verge of tears whenever I thought about him.
And I couldn’t stop thinking about him. About our kiss. The best kiss of my life.
Not that there had been many, but nothing that’d happened with other boys even began to compare the madness that’d overtaken me when Max’s lips touched mine.
But he’d shoved me away and barked at me to goinside. Then he’d disappeared into the night so quickly that I questioned my sanity. Had he been there at all? It seemed surreal now: Max waiting at my door with a bottle of wine; our argument over Niko while I huddled in his jacket; my intense, mindless reaction to his kiss.
I rubbed at the persistent ache in the center of my chest and leaned back on the padded seat of the cab with a sigh. Today had been miserable. This morning, I’d barely gotten through Saturday brunch with my dad without bursting into tears. He’d been able to tell something was wrong with me, and I’d had to lie. I’d babbled about work stress or something. I couldn’t quite remember. The entire day had been a blur, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
My heart leapt for a moment. What if Max was waiting for me on my front porch?
I wanted to talk to him so badly. And I never wanted to see him again. My emotions were a tangled mess when it came to Max Ferrara.
For the dozenth time today, I yanked my fingers away from my lips. I kept tracing them, struggling to ease the phantom tingle that his kiss seemed to have branded into my flesh.
It was absolutely insane to think that I’d kissed the man who’d kidnapped me and tied me to a chairin his basement. No matter if he’d saved my life when that car had been rushing right at me. No matter if he’d tried to protect me from Niko because of his misguided belief that the Russian was somehow dangerous. No matter if the pain in his eyes when he said he was a monster made my heart tug toward him.
I rubbed my chest again, pressing my palm tight against my sternum to alleviate the ache.
