Page 116 of Broken Promise
JJ came storming out of the back hallway. “So who do I call to move an unconscious body? Some guy tried to take Isabella, so Lucia kicked him in the nuts so hard he passed out. Also, I might have kept kicking him while he was down.”
Noah grinned from his crouched position by the kitchen island and pushed to his feet.
Jonas shook his head. “Baby, what have I told you? If the guy is down, you run. You don’t keep kicking him.”
She shrugged. “He tried to take my goddaughter.”
Noah groaned. “What the hell were you doing out of the panic room anyway?”
JJ flushed. “Uh…”
Noah just rolled his eyes. “Lucia made you because she was worried about me?”
The pretty blonde folded her arms. “I plead the fifth. So which one of you burly men is going to come take out the trash? I’d do it, but I just did my nails.”
Rafe turned his attention to the team. “Dylan, Ryan, call our cleanup guys to come and deal with the bodies. Jonas, Oskar, you call the feds. Get them in here for anybody who’s still alive. Noah, you godeal with your wife and daughter. If I know my sister, she’s guarding that body to make sure he doesn’t get up again.”
I watched him as he took full control of the room. This was the man I loved. And after today, I was going to get to keep him.
* * *
Rafe
Cleanup after a scene like that would normally take days. But the crew that Noah had on call for emergencies took care of things pretty fast. The FBI would likely have some additional questions. After all, the story we’d given about how we’d apprehended Hans and Jakob Vandergraff was a little too pat to be believed. But in the end, they didn’t have much of a choice.
I had hand delivered them their targets on a silver platter. Even Interpol would rather have them than not. So I expected, once the bullshit final interviews were over, that we would be in the clear. The events of the past day would just become one more mission I locked away never to think or speak of again.
If only it would be that easy for Diana. My stomach flipped just thinking of it. My perfect warrior, Diana. I wished she wasn’t made for this sort of thing, but I had to admit, she had been one hell of an asset.
Having to lie and keep secrets, all the while knowing that she was putting her own brothers away for life. With every hour, I’d watched as the light in her eyes dimmed a little bit more and wondered how much more she could take.
I leaned forward and looked through the window of the boardroom as Diana gave her final statement to the FBI task force. I’d wanted to be in there to support her through it, but Granger wouldn’t have it. I gritted my teeth. My old buddy just had to give me one last fuck you on the way out the door. But that was fine because after today, we were done.
We were finally free.
Emilie Durand stepped into the hallway first. When she spotted me, she straightened her shoulders. “I didn’t think your little Diana would come through. I underestimated her.”
“You underestimated both of us.”
I had a hard time keeping the smile off my face at her disgruntled look. She sniffed and then walked away. Women like her weren’t used to being denied, which made it all the more satisfying that I would be the one she remembered as untouchable.
Ten minutes later, Alan left the room. When he spotted me standing outside waiting, a wry smile twisted his lips. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be far away.”
“You know it. Is she free to go?”
Alan nodded. “You both are free to go.”
We turned as Diana joined us in the hallway. She immediately gravitated toward me, wrapping an arm around my waist. After her brothers’ capture, there’d been a noticeable difference in the way she treated me. Not in the way I had feared. I’d been worried that after seeing the terrible things I was willing to do that it would color her love for me. Not that I thought she’d leave, I knew she was made of stronger stuff than that. But I worried that she’d always see violence when she looked at me. Or even worse, that underneath it all, she would fear me. I wasn’t sure I could have survived if I’d looked in her eyes and known that she was afraid of me.
But instead, Diana had only drawn closer to me in the days since.
“So no more worrying about my crazy brothers? No one trying to kill us? What about Uncle Boris?"
Alan looked behind me to where Emilie stood. "With all the information the two of you have provided, Interpol has already built a hell of a case against Boris Klinkov. He's going away for a long time after this. You're free."
"Free?" Diana repeated, looking a little dazed. "I’m not even sure what that’ll be like.”
“Quiet probably. I’ve heard crossword puzzles help to pass the time.” Alan looked between us with a calculating gleam in his eyes. “Although I have to say, you have a cool head under pressure, Ms. Vandergraff. If you ever want a career in the bureau, we could use someone with your attributes.”
