Mia: A Standalone Romantic Suspense: A Luke Fletcher and V Mafia Crossover Novel (Luke Fletcher Series Book 4)

by Karice Bolton

  Like my brother, I didn’t want to leave Anton until the job was finished. Gifts like this didn’t come along very often, but the message that came over blew all my plans out of the water.

  “I don’t hear either of you making a move back to the airport,” Jax said quietly. “How do you know you can trust the latest text?”

  “I don’t know that I can trust any of them.”

  “Why don’t you tell me who this informant is? I’ll look him up.”

  “The night I picked up the list, I also met someone.”

  Jax smirked. “Don’t you always.”

  I let out a deep breath, fiercely fighting the feelings I felt for this woman.

  “She was intriguing. Different than the rest . . .”

  “Obviously wrong about that observation.” Jax continued his rolling commentary, but I pressed on. It didn’t matter. It was over anyway.

  “After the function, I was on my way to our drop-off point to make sure our team wasn’t in need of anything, when I saw some piece of shit attacking her. I got him off her and took her to her apartment. Since then, we’ve seen each other several times.”

  “That’s why you wanted Devin to do that job.”

  My silence gave my answer.

  “What does this have to do with Anton?”

  “Last night, Devin sent over photos of Fletcher, his fiancée, and some other woman at the beach.”

  “And the woman was her.” I felt his cynical smile over the phone. “She played you.”

  “Appears to be that way . . . except that last night, she started sending me texts about Anton, telling me where he was being hidden. That’s how we got here.”

  “Turned informant? A change of heart?”

  I shook my head. “Only not. I just found out she wasn’t the one sending last night’s texts.”

  Jax blew out a gust of air. “Her brother? Did he use her phone to get to us? Was he sending us the texts and luring us in?”

  “That was my initial thought, but she didn’t use her phone to send me the last text, and she mentioned Luke as if he was the one to tell us to call any plans off.”

  “Feds?” Jax questioned.

  “Possibly.”

  “That changes things.”

  I nodded and shoved my phone toward Devin. He picked it up and glanced at the messages more carefully.

  “Or it could be that she felt bad about setting you up, her brother got wind of her ratting him out, and the rest is history.” Devin handed it back. “Now what?”

  “I haven’t responded to her.”

  “Good reason not to, and I thought I had problems in the dating department.”

  “It’s making me question everything from that night.” I shook my head in disgust. “I wonder if the attacker was part of her plan.”

  “You never know. Would make sense,” Jax replied.

  “But she would have no way of knowing I’d be walking in that direction.”

  “That was your nightly run. If they’d been following you . . .” Devin didn’t bother finishing the rest.

  I’d been played.

  “Guess that’s why I should stick with the ones I know.” I cracked a smile, even though I felt like stone.

  “Never failed you before.” Devin straightened up. “Or this could have saved our family a lot of trouble. Maybe your charm won her over enough to make her riddled with enough guilt to give us fair warning of what’s about to come.”

  An unnerving feeling of misplaced secrets tinged with something I rarely felt took over.

  Confusion. I was completely flummoxed.

  “Doubtful, but maybe it’s time to send Mom back to Uncle’s house for the season. Get her out of the states in case—”

  “I’ll break the news,” Jax interrupted.

  I was relieved he wasn’t giving me a hard time about this, but that would come.

  “Thanks, and I’ll try to figure out this mess.”

  I didn’t want to believe what I felt from Mia wasn’t real. I stared at my phone and debated whether to acknowledge the last message.

  “I think we just got our answer,” Devin smacked my arm and stared at the screen.

  I knelt and watched in disbelief as a team of men surrounded Anton. My mouth turned dry as I watched the horror that was about to take place. Anton threw his paper into the air and began tumbling over his chair, trying to escape through the sliding glass door, but two of the men grabbed his arms and pressed his bald head against the glass. Anton screamed for help, but no one came.

  Fletcher’s men were long gone.

  “What is going on?” I whispered.

  “That should be us inside there.” Devin shook his head.

  “And imagine if it were. This surprise wouldn’t have been a good one.” I understood where my brother was coming from. We’d invested so much time and money into delivering this gift to our family, and we were watching someone else getting to unwrap the final package.

  Three of the men began flipping tables over, making it look like a home invasion gone wrong. They were all wearing black masks, shirts, and pants. These weren’t amateurs by any means.

  “It’s getting close,” Devin whispered and I nodded in stunned silence.

  I held my breath, watching one of the men pull out his pistol and press the barrel into Anton’s sweaty skull. Blood splattered against the glass, and Anton dropped to the floor.

  It was over.

  I expected to feel lighter.

  I didn’t.

  I didn’t feel anything.

  Devin sank to the floor and pushed his hands through his hair, the same shock resonating through him.

  “Someone knew those people were coming.” I watched the men glance around the room before exiting the way they came. “It was an ambush.”

  “Has the feds written all over it.” Devin let out a deep breath, and I nodded.

  “It would have been a bloodbath.”

  I stared at Anton’s lifeless body, the pool of blood surrounding him. It could have been us just as easily.

  “It tells me the feds still don’t have enough to pin us on much of anything.” Devin stood up and leaned on the table, staring at Anton.

  “They wanted to take the easy way out. Have us all kill one another.” I licked my lips, feeling the uncertainty fill me again.

  “I wonder where Fletcher’s men went?”

  I shook my head, still waiting for relief to wash through me.

  It was over. My sister’s murderer was brought to our brand of justice.

  But we weren’t the ones to pull the trigger. We couldn’t claim the victory.

  “I’d say you’d better thank whoever it was that sent you that message this morning.”

  Devin began unhooking the screen, rolling up the wires and packing it all away in a bag.

  “Now what?” Devin asked, zipping up the bag.

  “Business as usual.” I looked toward the door. A new life was waiting on the other side of it. This chase was over, but I knew another one would begin. It always did in this business.

  A change of seasons was on the horizon, and the clouds hung low in the air. I usually liked mornings like this.

  Something wasn’t sitting right. I refused to believe Mia set me up and then got a change of heart. The fear in her eyes that night wasn’t manufactured, not to mention her injuries. I swallowed the anger that was making it difficult to concentrate. There had to be a logical explanation.

  But Luke was her brother.

  This was exactly why I stayed out of relationships.

  My phone buzzed, and I let out a deep sigh. I picked it up and was surprised to see another message from Mia. I’d expected to hear from my brother. Obviously, the message we wanted to deliver to Jax would need to be in person.

  I’d like to talk to you over the phone. Do you have a safe line? Call me back at this number.

  My fingers tingled with the thought of getting to talk to her, and that was a problem. She couldn’t be trusted, and I
wasn’t about to waste time playing her games or her brother’s.

  Damn it. Then why can’t I get her out of my mind?

  Because I just couldn’t believe I got screwed.

  Not by her.

  I couldn’t even concentrate. My mind was flipping through every moment I’d spent with Mia, and I couldn’t shake that first night and that guy. Had he been in on all this?

  I typed in her attacker’s name into my phone’s search engine. Clayton Phillips, if his identification could be trusted.

  “Shouldn’t we get out of here?” Devin asked, strapping the bag over his shoulder.

  It took a few seconds, but the results that filled the screen sent a chill through me. I didn’t even need to run a background check on this guy.

  I couldn’t even fathom how he got into the event. Obviously, the organization’s claim that they run background checks was untrue. I clicked on the first article and read through it, glancing at the photograph. It was definitely him. He’d been kicked out of college when his fraternity brothers found out he’d been date raping women on campus. Only two women came forward, but there were thought to be many more.

  I stared at his puny sentence in disbelief. The guy had served less than three months.

  I hit back on my browser and clicked on another article detailing another crime from two years ago, where he only wound up serving six months since he pled guilty on charges of sexual assault. He had a bad habit of not liking rejection.

  Well, he certainly wouldn’t have liked Mia’s way of putting him in his place. I clenched my fists together at the thought of what he could’ve done to Mia. Whatever Mia and her brother had planned that night, Clayton wasn’t part of it. I felt certain of that.

  But what was their plan?

  There was only one way to find out.

  I shoved the phone in my pocket and glanced at my brother.

  “I’m going to go grab a disposable and call Mia.”

  Devin’s brows arched. “Can’t it wait?”

  “She wanted to speak with me over the phone. I might as well hear what she has to say. Not that I’ll believe any of it.”

  Devin nodded. He saw my fascination with her, and it worried me. I didn’t need it getting back to Jax. As of now, Fletcher was still an enemy of my brother’s. Guilt by association.

  We walked to our car we’d rented under an alias and hopped in. The store was only a few minutes away, and during that time, all I could think about was her.

  I parked the car, went into the store, and quickly made my purchase.

  “Why are you really calling this girl?” Devin asked as I climbed back in the car.

  “I need answers.”

  “Anton’s dead. She saved us from being slaughtered too. What answers do you need? She helped us.”

  “She also set us up.”

  “That’s not why you want to call her. You could put this all behind you and move on, never talk to her again.”

  When my brother was clearheaded, he was far more astute than I wanted to give him credit for.

  “I want to make sure I have all the facts so we know if we should stay on alert.” I needed to protect my family. Making this phone call was based on nothing more than that.

  “We’re always on alert, but suit yourself.” His hand lingered on the handle. “I’ll be over there. Grab me when you’re done.”

  Devin got out of the car and walked toward an empty park with a bench. He took a seat and waved before giving me a thumbs-up sign.

  He saw right through me. There was more behind this call, and even though I knew the answers wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear, I still wanted to phone Mia.

  I took in a shaky breath and cleared my throat as I dialed the number from my other phone.

  Within one ring, Mia’s voice came over the line, and my entire body tensed, my feelings for her rushing through me as if she were here in front of me.

  She was like the journal I never kept but promised myself I’d be able to look through someday. I’d just tell her things with no expectations and no regret.

  Until now.

  I closed my eyes and flipped my switch on.

  “The only reason I’m calling you is because I want to protect my family,” I said into the phone, feeling the familiar chill coast over my body. This was nothing more than a business call. Mia was an associate.

  “I understand,” she said, her voice wavering.

  It nearly crumbled me.

  “Are you alone, or is your brother standing right next to you, telling you what to say?”

  I pushed down the regret for being such a jerk but didn’t let my emotions hijack the call.

  “I’m alone. My brother actually made it down the aisle. They are busy dancing the night away.”

  “Seriously?” I asked in disbelief.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. What is it you wanted to tell me?” I continued. Maybe her brother and I were more alike than I realized.

  “I didn’t know anything about you.” Her voice cracked and my heart dropped.

  “Didn’t know what in particular, Mia?” The coldness in my voice caught me off-guard. The question I wanted answered most was burning the tip of my tongue.

  She let out a sigh. “I didn’t know how involved things were or how involved you and I would become. I didn’t know who you were. I was just doing a favor for my brother since he was in Nantucket and I was in the city. I thought I could do a simple task and that would be the end of it.”

  “What made you go to that singles event?”

  “Luke wanted me to get a picture of the woman you were meeting.”

  Her words destroyed me. It really had been a setup. It wasn’t a chance encounter at all.

  “I didn’t expect to fall for you,” she continued.

  “Let me get the tissues. So is that the only reason for the call? You feel slightly guilty.” The walls were building so fast I could barely force myself to stay on the line.

  “No.” She sniffed in. “Listen, I know there’s no way to repair things, and I don’t even think we should try. The situation is beyond complicated and messed up.”

  The strength in her voice was revving up. Her walls were being manufactured as quickly as mine.

  “Was your brother sending those texts last night and this morning from your phone?” I questioned, not allowing myself to entertain any other kind of conversation with her. “Trying to lure us in?”

  “No. The reason I wanted to talk to you was because he believes that someone was trying to bring your two families together, a self-imposed bloodbath.”

  “Who is the someone?” I asked, my patience growing thin.

  “I don’t know for sure, but possibly the FBI.” Her voice sounded tormented, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.

  But the relationship wasn’t real.

  Everything had been manufactured.

  “What would make him think that?” I questioned.

  “Luke has worked for them off and on. He knows how they operate. If that’s the case, they must be getting close or impatient.”

  “Why are you telling me?”

  “Because regardless of what you may think, I do care for you.”

  “Your brother knows you’re making this call,” I said flatly.

  “I’m sure he knew I would at some point. My brother doesn’t like being played and wanted to even the field for everyone involved.”

  “He just likes playing others.” But he did pull his team off Anton. I couldn’t tell if Mia knew that or not.

  “Nothing’s ever that simple,” she said softly.

  I knew she was right.

  “He never intended to put himself or his men in between two crime families while they duked it out.”

  “Is that what you think is happening?”

  “You’re seeking revenge, aren’t you?” she asked. “It’s your sister. That’s why you’re so interested in Anton, and Anton is afraid for his life. He knows you will get to him.�
��

  So she didn’t know Anton was dead, but she narrowed right in. She understood the pain that most simply ignored.

  I let out a deep sigh, and silence sat heavy between us.

  The connection and hunger for Mia was too intense to ignore. The tension rocked my body with every word, motion, and emotion, but I couldn’t give in. We both needed to move on.

  “What does it matter?” I asked coldly.

  “It matters a great deal.” Her breathing sped up.

  “I’m not going to have the blood of my family on my hands because I let a woman trick me.”

  “I didn’t trick you. I’m sure you think I set you up, but I didn’t. Not like you think. I took pictures, and that was it. My brother found out I was interested in you and blew a cork. He didn’t want me around you, but I couldn’t help myself. What I felt for you was real.”

  “Sure.” I bit back a laugh.

  “If my brother had gotten in your way . . .” her voice trailed off. “Please tell me otherwise.”

  “I didn’t know your brother was involved. You’re the one with all the answers, remember? I never would have—” I stopped myself.

  “You never would have what?” Her voice was laced with skepticism, and it nearly destroyed me.

  It was true. Had I known it was her brother, I never would have agreed to the original plan. I didn’t want to hurt this woman. No matter what she was involved in before, she saved us today, whether she knew it or not.

  “It doesn’t matter. I appreciate the change of heart you had. We thank you for alerting us. The Volkovs are indebted to you.” And just like that, I hung up, feeling hollow and alone in a world I no longer understood.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mia

  I looked out the window and saw the guests happily dancing, drinking, and eating. Most were work associates from my brother’s firm and had been completely apprised of the turn of events. Besides the perimeter of the property being surrounded, there was probably more ammunition on the dance floor below than in most small-town police departments. I didn’t know how my brother and Hannah could switch things off and on so easily. I was still reeling from everything I’d learned, and they were outside having the time of their lives.

  The moment Luke learned the feds were setting up an ambush, he called off his team and left Anton alone. If the feds wanted to bring a few crime families together, he didn’t want to be involved. The feds might not have cared about collateral damage, but Luke’s employees were like family.