Page 44 of Lovely Venom

“What is it?”

He arches a brow at me. “Come and see for yourself.”

I take the box from him, noting he’s already picked the lock. Judging by the air vent he’s removed, I’m guessing that’s where he found it.

“It was up there?”

He nods, and something about the concern in his eyes makes me wary. If he doesn’t like what he found, I know I’m going to like it even less.

I open the box to find stacks of cash, but beneath them is the more concerning detail. There are three different passports with her face on them, and every one of them has a different name.

“Are any of them legit?” I ask Romeo.

“Doubt it.” He shakes his head. “But they’re professional. I flipped through them, and everything looks clean. She probably got them at the same time she established this identity.”

I stare at them, considering that this must be her backup plan. If or when her past catches up with her, she’s prepared to run.

Tension creeps up my spine as my grip on the lockbox tightens, and I mutter a low curse.

“Something’s not adding up here.” Romeo assesses me.

“I know.”

Chantel’s been saving her spare cash, but there can’t be more than twenty thousand here. Those documents would have easily cost at least sixty thousand. There’s a premium price on high-end passports, and she’d have to have connections to get them.

Now that we’re working together with Mariella to assist her with the Aegis network, I know these identities couldn’t have come from them. The IDs Mariella and her team use to get women out of the country are low-profile and only meant to be used once before they swap them out. Chantel’s are designed for longevity. Something that could hold up under scrutiny for years. That kind of protection doesn’t come from a friend of a friend. It comes from large, well-organized syndicates like our rivals.

“See what you can find out about these.” I remove them from the box and hand them to my brother. “Anything on the names or who might have made them. I’ll keep an eye on her in the meantime.”

He nods, but concern lingers in his eyes. If we don’t know who she’s connected to, it’s a liability. Until I know her real identity, I’ll need her under constant surveillance.

I replace the cash in the lockbox, and Romeo tucks it back into the vent it came from.

“I want her name in our security systems,” I tell him. “Let everyone know she belongs to us. If she is in contact with anyone, that will give them something to talk about.”

“I’ll get it done. You want me to pull some guards for her?”

“Yes, but have them keep a low profile. I’ll need access to her phone too.”

“If you want to flush out her connections, you should make some public appearances with her.”

I scrape a hand over my face as I consider it. On the surface, it makes sense. If she has connections in this city, I need to know who she interacts with, and more importantly, who might be watching her. But the timing couldn’t be worse. Having Chantel at my side won’t help me curry favor with Bastien, and explaining the reason behind it would be even worse. If he thinks we have a potential spy in our midst, he won’t just walk. He’ll run.

Regardless, Romeo decides for me when he kicks the hornet’s nest.

“If that’s a problem, I can ask Rafe or Michele. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

“Would love to.” Rafe smirks in my direction. “Just say the word, and I’ll show her the time of her life⁠—"

“Vaffanculo.” I level them both with my gaze.

Romeo looks annoyingly pleased with himself as he exchanges a glance with Rafe. I ignore them while I question my sanity.

Ten minutes ago, I was prepared to get Chantel situated and leave, like I should. Now I’ve lit the fuse to my destruction, because there’s no way this can end well.

Naturally, Chantel chooses that moment to appear at the end of the hall, staring at the scene before her in confusion. And of course, she’s wearing a cropped black tank top with the word Brat imprinted across the front and a matching pair of barely there shorts.

Rafe glances at her and shoots me another smirk before I threaten to cut his balls off in Italian. I swear to God my brothers were put on this earth to test me.