Page 213 of To Catch a Sub

Her presence wasn’t just a risk to Landon, but all these people too, who would have mourned him if he’d died during the rescue attempt.

If she’d never made it out of Damien’s house the first time, it wouldn’t have hurt anyone. No one would have even noticed she was missing with the possible exception of her forger. Certainly no one would have risked their lives to try and save her, possibly leaving a grieving family behind.

“That was you two?” Oliver asked slowly, turning to face his son.

Landon crossed his arms. “Yes.”

“Why is Interpol disavowing you?”

“Disavowing? Da, I’m not James Bond. They weren’t lying, because I quit. I quit when they ordered me not to go.”

“Your job ordered you not to go after Russian spies, so you quit and did it anyway. Land, what’s wrong with you?”

Colette squeezed her eyes closed, the fear-laced anger in Oliver’s voice ripping into her.

“Interpol made the wrong call,” Landon said through his teeth.

“You don’t just quit!” Oliver barked.

“Are you going to be arrested?” Ali asked, now standing.

“No,” Landon assured him, then amended, “I don’t think so. They don’t have any evidence that I committed any crimes.”

Colette wondered vaguely which one of them—Landon, Rolf, or Andrei—had made sure there was no evidence that they’d been the one to set off the explosives.

“Is the Russian government looking for you?” Nana asked, voice sharp.

“They weren’t spies. They were criminals. They’ll be tried for kidnapping and false imprisonment?—”

Colette sucked in air and took a step back at his words, only a second before Nana whipped around to look at her, the older woman’s eyes bright with intelligence as she realized the full implications of what Landon had just said.

“—and then extradited to be tried for human trafficking, theft, and a slew of other crimes in various countries.”

Shame slithered through Colette and she looked at the ground, the weight of Kimia’s stare heavy against the back of her head.

“Organized crime?” Oliver demanded. “Is the fucking Bratva coming after you, Land?”

“Oliver.” Nana’s soft admonishment stopped him.

In the silence that followed she knew they were all looking at her.

Landon muttered, “Fuck.” His footsteps were quick and sure.

Colette backed up, shaking her head. “I need to...”

“Oh fuck,” Oliver breathed. “They kidnapped her?”

“And he went to rescue her,” Nana confirmed. “She told me, when I met her, that he saved her. I thought maybe he beat up someone at a pub who’d hit her.”

Now his family knew it was all her fault. She was the reason he’d quit his job. She was the reason he’d put himself at risk, not just physically, but morally. She was the reason he’d possibly made an enemy of the Bratva.

She was selfish for dragging him into her troubles.

She was cursed, like the diamonds she liked to steal.

Colette whirled towards the door, stopping when Landon caught her hand. He didn’t pin her to the wall or hold her tight. His hand curled loosely around hers, holding but not restraining.

“Don’t do this, Colette. Don’t run.”