But I can't do that. She needs to finish her shift and look normal to maintain her cover. Besides, I've got three men on my payroll positioned at different tables keeping watch over her. Oleg's at the blackjack table with a clear view of the bar area where she picks up drinks. Vadim's playing slots near the main floor so he can track her movements between tables. And Lazar's sitting at table fourteen nursing a whiskey and watching her back.
The hours crawl by painfully slow. Tatiana serves drinks and smiles and deflects grabby hands like a pro while Linda makes her rounds checking on staff and looking completely normal. Nothing seems out of place to anyone watching, except me.
The shift change finally comes at midnight, and I watch Tatiana clock out and head toward the elevators. Linda hasn't gone for her phone, probably to avoid drawing my ire. I'm nothing but a shark when it comes to employees doing personal things on casino time, so I'm not surprised.
But the bug is there to record whatever she does whenever she does it. Right now, I have a beautiful woman getting off work whom I've been dying to take into my arms all day. I rise and go straight to the elevators to wait for her and watch the ascending numbers on the display readout as the carriage rises toward me.
Tatiana sees me waiting and her entire face transforms into real joy. The professional smile she's been wearing all night drops away completely, and though she looks happy to see me, I can see how exhausted she is underneath it.
"Hey." She stops in front of me, and I slide my hand into the small of her back and walk her toward my door. "That was a long night."
"You did good," I tell her, watching Gleb avert his eyes as we approach. "Really good. Linda took the bait, and if she's the one, we'll get her as soon as she tries to make contact."
"I really think it's her." Tatiana leans against my side and sighs. "The way she reacted was too strong. She was too defensive about the whole thing."
"We'll know for sure soon. But your part is done now. The security team will handle tracking her communications, and we'll move forward with the rest of the plan. Your part is done."
"Done?" She straightens up and looks at me. "What do you mean, done?"
"I mean you don't have to work the floor anymore." I type in the code for the penthouse and push the door open, but Tatiana plants her feet and frowns at me. "You've planted the information exactly like we needed. Now you can stay upstairs where it's safe while we handle everything else."
The hesitant frown turns into a scowl as she tucks her purse higher under her arm and pushes past me into the penthouse, throwing it onto the couch as she passes.
"I'm not staying upstairs while you handle everything." She drops her purse on the couch and turns to face me with her arms crossed. "I'm going to that meeting on Friday just like we planned."
"No." I shake my head. "There's no reason for you to actually be there. We can set up the ambush without putting you directly in the line of fire."
"That's not how this works and you know it." I know she's upset, but she has to understand where I'm coming from. I need hersafe. "The Kozlovs are coming because they think I'll be there. If I'm not actually there, they'll know something's wrong."
"We'll put someone else in your place." I'm already thinking through the logistics of this. I have no idea who it could be, but it has to appear to be her. "Someone who looks like you from a distance. By the time they realize it's not you, we'll have them surrounded and it won't matter."
"That's a terrible plan," she protests. "They'll figure it out within thirty seconds and people will die because of it. Your people."
"People are going to die anyway," I grumble because it's true. "That's what happens in war. But you don't have to be one of them."
Tatiana's shoulders slump and I watch her fight fizzle out. She goes from fiery and passionate to passive and discouraged in a single heartbeat. Her face falls. Her head drops. I feel like I just killed her cat or something. And then her bottom lip pouts out.
"I want to take down the bad guys, Dimitri." She turns and stands right in front of me, as if her proximity will make a difference and make me change my mind. "You know what they did to me. You would want revenge too."
"Your job was to plant the information, Tatiana. You helped," I say firmly, but I can already feel my resolve waning. "Now let the professionals handle the actual fighting."
"I escaped by myself without your help…" Now her bottom lip is pushed out in a full pout and her hand toys with my buttons.
It's killing me because I know she's right. If it were me, I'd demand the opportunity to be a part of this operation. "Next time, you might not be so lucky." I clench my jaw, but I feelmyself losing ground fast. She's going to convince me to let her do this and I'm going to live to regret it.
"Then make sure there isn't a next time," she says, walking her fingers up my shirt to my collar that she presses flat. "We'll just examine the plan and?—"
"The plan is fine," I grumble. "The plan works perfectly without you walking into that precinct and getting yourself shot."
"The plan works better with me there and you know it." She jabs her finger into my chest, now getting frustrated. "Stop trying to lock me away like I'm some princess in a tower who can't take care of herself."
I grab her hand so she can't jab me again and she narrows her eyes at me. "You don't have to put yourself in harm's way to take care of yourself."
Tatiana yanks her hand free from my grip, and I get the feeling she's getting angry. "You don't get to decide this for me."
My frustration is boiling over and I can feel myself losing control of this argument. "I'm not letting you walk into that parking garage. This discussion is over."
When she takes a step back, I feel like I've fractured whatever fragile bond we have, but she cups my cheek and sighs. "Thank you for loving me," she says softly in a calm voice. "Even if you can't say it out loud yet."
