by Ana Night
“He’d blow a gasket,” Bones said.
Sean chuckled and said, “He’d totally see me as a bad influence.”
Emery arched a brow at him. “’Cause you are.”
“True,” Sean said with a shrug.
“We should go,” Mal said with a glance at Sean. “I don’t think they’re gonna come back but maybe you two should stay somewhere else for a while, just in case.”
They said their goodbyes and made their way down the stairs. When they hit the parking lot, Sean patted himself down, feeling like he was missing something.
“Ah, shit,” Sean muttered.
Mal stopped and turned to look at him.
“I forgot my phone up there. I’ll just go get it.”
“Be quick. We were kinda busy when we were so rudely interrupted earlier. I wanna go home and get busy again.”
Sean licked his lips and nodded his head.
“I’ll be quick.”
He turned on his heels, ran up the stairs and knocked on Emery’s door. She opened it and looked at him with a raised brow.
“Miss me already?”
Sean snorted. “I always miss you, but I forgot my…”
He trailed off when Emery held out his phone. He chuckled and took it.
“Thanks. I’ll see you soon, Em.”
“See ya.”
He took the steps two at a time on the way down and was smiling to himself as he walked out onto the parking lot. He headed towards his car but when he reached it, Mal was nowhere to be seen.
“Mal?” Sean yelled.
He turned around himself, trying to spot Mal, but there was no trace of him. Where the hell was he?
Chapter Seven
Mal
WALKING TOWARDS the car, he hadn’t expected Yakov Demidov to walk up behind him. He hated that the man had gotten the drop on him. He was too distracted, which, for a man like him, could prove deadly.
“Did you really think it’d be that easy?”
Every time he heard the man talk, he was equally surprised at the man’s lack of a Russian accent. It always weirded him out. Yakov had to have been born in America, but no one knew for certain.
Mal sighed and put the car keys into his pocket before turning around. Yakov was standing thirty feet from him, his gun pointed at Mal’s chest.
“I thought it wasn’t personal,” Mal said.
Yakov shrugged and said, “It is now.”
“Your guy shouldn’t have shot me. This could all have been avoided if you’d been upfront from the start,” Mal said.
Yakov didn’t comment on that, he just cocked his head to the side and said, “Gun.”
Mal slowly removed his gun from his hip holster and bent down to lay it on the ground. He kicked it towards Yakov who picked it up without taking his eyes off of Mal.
“Let’s go for a drive,” Yakov said and motioned for Mal to walk towards the van.
The only reason he got in that van with Yakov was that he wanted the man as far away from Sean as possible. Besides, if he’d wanted Mal dead, he would’ve killed him already.
The drive passed in silence but fortunately, it wasn’t very long. The van stopped and he was told to get out. They were in the parking lot of what looked like a factory. He followed Yakov into the building, two guys flanking him the whole way. Yakov led them into a small room with a table and a few chairs around it. One of Yakov’s men stayed in the doorway while the other pulled out a chair and gestured with his gun for Mal to sit down. He did so with a glare at the man. Once he was seated, Yakov’s man glanced at Yakov who gave him a nod. He walked out the door with the other man and closed it after them, leaving Mal and Yakov alone.
“Why did you send someone after me? You must’ve known how that’d end,” Mal said.
Yakov had lost two men on this already and from the displeased look on his face, he knew he’d messed up. Something had to be really off for a man like Yakov to fuck up like this.
“You shouldn’t have backed out of the job,” Yakov said.
“You shouldn’t have lied to me about it or I would’ve never even considered taking it.”
Yakov grumbled something under his breath and crossed his arms.
“Tell me something,” Mal said and leaned forward. “Why did you hire me? You have plenty of men who would’ve gladly done it for you.”
Yakov didn’t answer, he just put Mal’s gun down on the table in front of him.
“You’re gonna do the job,” Yakov said.
“What makes you think—”
Yakov leaned down, getting into Mal’s face, saying, “You’re gonna do it or your boyfriend dies.”
Yakov pulled out his phone and showed it to Mal. It was a video of Sean. He was still in the parking lot and he had Emery and Bones with him.
“You bastard,” Mal snapped, digging his nails into the armrests of his chair to keep from leaping over the table and strangling Yakov.
“I know everything about him. I know who he loves and where they are,” Yakov said. “Don’t test me, Mal.”
“I’ve got no guarantee that you won’t just kill him when I’m done,” Mal said.
Yakov cocked a brow at him, a smile playing on his lips. “Have a little faith, Malcolm. You can trust that I will kill him if you don’t do the job.”
Mal clenched his jaw and stood. He took the gun and for a second he considered putting a bullet through Yakov’s skull, but he knew he’d never make it out of the building alive if he did. The smirk on Yakov’s face told him the man knew what he was thinking. Yakov held out a piece of paper to Mal.
“Her address. In case you’ve forgotten,” Yakov said.
Mal clenched his jaw and pushed past Yakov without taking the paper. He knew everything he needed to know about his target. What he didn’t know was how someone like Olivia Butler had gotten on Yakov’s kill list.
Sean
“He didn’t just leave, and people don’t tend to just disappear for no reason,” Sean said as he paced in front of Emery and Bones. When he couldn’t find Mal and he didn’t answer his phone, Sean had gotten Emery and Bones and now they were standing in the parking lot.
“Babe. Calm down,” Emery said. “Breathe or you’re gonna make yourself pass out.”
He wanted to yell at her but instead, he stopped walking and focused on his breathing. He wouldn’t be any good to Mal if he passed out, anyway.
“Okay. So you were walking towards the car. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Did he say anything?”
Sean nodded. “He said he wanted me to hurry because he wanted to go home.”
“I guess we can rule out that he left on his own, then,” Bones said.
Bones’ words made Sean feel like throwing up. If Mal hadn’t left on his own, then someone must’ve taken him, and it would’ve taken a lot. He was out there, alone and most likely in the hands of enemies. Sean had to find him.
“I need to go,” Sean said and began walking to his car. He shoved his hand into his pocket but came up empty. “The car keys.”
“He’s got the keys? Shit. What are you gonna do about the car?” Bones asked.
“No.” Sean shook his head and pulled out his phone. “He’s got the keys, which means he’s got the key finder.”
“The what?” Bones asked.
“GPS locator,” Emery explained.
Sean found the right app and pulled up the locator. It searched for maybe a few seconds, but it felt like forever as he stared down at his phone. A red dot appeared on the map and he zoomed in on it. He knew that place.
“Fuck,” Emery blurted. “That’s not good.”
“You don’t say so,” Sean drawled.
“Uh, what do you guys know that I don’t?” Bones asked.
“That’s the Russians,” Emery said.
Bones glanced between them, a frown between his brows. “I’m sorry, the what now?”
“I’m going,” Sean
said and started towards his car. He didn’t make it more than a few steps before he came to a halt. “I don’t have the keys.”
He turned around and glanced at Emery. “You don’t have a car.” He turned his gaze on Bones and groaned. “You don’t have a car either. Fuck. I can’t fucking Uber to the Russian’s lair. What the fuck am I going to do?”
“I can ask my neighbor if I can borrow his car,” Emery suggested.
“Please,” Sean said, relief coursing through him.
“You’re not coming,” Bones said to Emery.
Emery gave him a look that clearly said what-the-hell-did-you-just-say-to-me? Bones sighed and ran his hands down his face.
“Fine,” he said.
Emery grinned at him and turned to run into the building. Sean arched a brow at Bones.
“I guess I know who has the biggest balls of you two,” Sean said.
Bones shook his head, a smile teasing his lips. “I just keep forgetting that she did just fine before I even met her.”
“She’s a tough cookie.”
“That she is.”
While they waited for Emery, he glanced at his phone. He stared at the dot that was Mal. He hoped that meant Mal was still alive. Fuck. He had to be. He didn’t even want to consider any other option.
“He’s moving,” Sean exclaimed when the dot started to jump.
“If they’re taking him somewhere, in a car or something, then we can cut them off,” Bones said.
“Let’s do it,” Sean said just as Emery came running back towards them.
“Over here,” she yelled, and they followed her to where an old Toyota was parked.
“You expect us to pull off a rescue in that rust bucket?” Sean asked Emery, disbelief in his voice.
Emery shrugged. “Would you rather walk?”
Sean let out a sigh and opened the passenger side door. He sat down but before he could close the door, Bones stepped in the way. Bones bent down, his voice low as he said, “Someone’s watching us.”
“Shit,” Sean muttered.
“I’m gonna walk back towards the building. You guys drive a bit down the road. I have a feeling they’ll be following you and not me,” Bones said. He glanced over his shoulder for a second before returning his gaze to them. “Just drive and circle back here.”
Bones shut Sean’s door before either of them could agree. Emery cursed under her breath but started the car. She backed out of the parking space and drove out to the road. Sean kept glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following them, but when they drove past the building, there still wasn’t anyone. Emery drove around, turning right until they were back on her road again. She pulled up by the curb and they both started to look for Bones. He was nowhere to be seen and Sean could feel Emery start to worry. She tapped her fingers against the wheel and the second she stopped, Sean knew she’d caught sight of Bones.
Bones came walking up to them and got into the backseat. Emery and Sean both turned in their seats to look at Bones. Bones’ lips quirked in the corners and he said, “We don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“Well, thank fuck,” Emery said with a sigh. “Let’s go get Mal.”
Mal
He was back in the van. He didn’t bother asking the man sitting across from him anything. He knew he wouldn’t get an answer. He waited, his patience was wearing thin. When the van finally came to a stop, the man stood and opened the door. He stepped out and turned to Mal, motioning for him to move.
Mal kept his hand on his gun as he got out of the van and passed Yakov’s man. He turned with his front to the van. He doubted Yakov would go through all this trouble to then just have him shot, but he liked to be on the safe side. He watched the man close the door and the van take off before he glanced around to find out where he was. Nothing around him looked familiar. There were buildings but no lights were on and only one streetlamp worked.
His phone was in Sean’s car so he couldn’t call him. Not that he wanted Sean involved in this. He wanted to keep him as far away from this mess as possible.
He began walking towards where he could see a street sign. He was almost there when the sound of a car approaching had him turning around. He cocked his head to the side when an old, white car came barreling towards him. He didn’t move because he could hear the whine of the breaks. The car stopped and it only took him a second to recognize the driver. Emery was staring back at him with big eyes.
The passenger door opened and the next thing he knew, Sean was running towards him. When Sean reached him, he wrapped his arms around Mal, holding on tightly.
“Jesus Christ. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Mal snapped.
Sean let go of him and stepped back, a confused expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Sean glanced around, then looked back at Mal. “How did you get away from the Russians?”
“They let me go,” Mal said.
Sean stared at him for a long time.
“I’m sorry, are you saying you killed a Russian and they went to all this trouble to get to you, and then they just let you go?”
He’d hoped he could’ve just kept it at that, but Sean wasn’t stupid. He also deserved the truth.
“Yakov hired me to carry out a hit. I didn’t get any specifics before I met one of his guys. Once I knew the target, I reclined the job. Yakov’s man didn’t take it so well,” Mal said.
Sean’s brows hit his hairline. “He’s the one who shot you?”
Mal nodded, then said, “I figured that wouldn’t be the end of it, but I hadn’t expected I’d be staying with you. I got complacent. I put you in danger, and for that I’m sorry.”
Sean shook his head and reached for Mal’s hand. “I’m always in danger and I know you didn’t mean to drag me into your shit. Now, what the hell are we gonna do?”
“The only reason I’m alive right now is because Yakov needs me to carry out this hit. I don’t know if he just doesn’t want it to fall back on him or if he needs a fall guy.”
“You’re no one’s fall guy,” Sean said.
“No, I’m not. But he’s not exactly giving me much of a choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“He threatened you. And everyone you love,” Mal said with a nod towards Emery and Bones.
“I don’t care. I know you have a very good reason you don’t want to take this job, so don’t do it. Whatever we need to do to get out of this, I’m in.”
“I can’t. I have to do this. Even if I don’t do it and we get away alive, he’ll just find someone else to kill her,” Mal said.
Sean fell silent for a long moment, looking thoughtful.
“What if I told you, you wouldn’t have to kill her,” Sean said.
“That’d be amazing, but I don’t see how we could make that happen.”
“Well, you are talking to two guys who know a thing or two about making people disappear,” Sean said with a glance at Bones.
Bones nodded and said, “Sean can give her a new identity and I’ve got the right connections to move her undetected.”
“Yakov won’t stop coming after me if I don’t carry out this job,” Mal said.
Emery crossed her arms and said, “Then we make him think you did.”
“I’m gonna make a call,” Bones said.
Sean nodded. “I need to get started on that new identity.”
Mal stared at Sean. He wasn’t sure what had just happened. Bones already had his phone out as he walked a bit away from them. Sean and Emery were headed towards the car. Mal shook his head and set after Sean.
“Hey,” Mal said, grabbing Sean’s arm.
Sean turned and looked up at Mal, a sweet smile on his lips.
“Thank you. For doing this. For standing by me,” Mal said.
Sean blinked up at him in surprise. “Of course. I love your stupid ass and I plan on keeping it safe and warm in my bed.”
&nbs
p; Mal couldn’t help himself as he brought Sean against him and gave him a kiss he hoped showed everything he felt for the man. He pulled back, meeting Sean’s gaze. The love and affection he saw mirrored in Sean’s eyes made his heart skip a beat.
Emery drove them back to her place where they split up and Sean and Mal took their car back to Sean’s house. Sean was humming along to the songs on the radio as he drove and Mal was just watching him the whole way. The second they walked through the front door, Mal had his gun out. He led the way into the house and made sure to check every last room. The last thing they needed was someone lying in wait for them. They made their way back into the living room.
Mal glanced around in confusion. “Where’s the body?”
“Hmm? Oh, the body. I called my guy.”
“You have a guy?”
“Yeah. Well, technically, he’s an old friend. He works crime scene clean-up and, in his downtime, he likes to study bodies. It was a win-win really.”
Mal narrowed his eyes at Sean. “A friend?”
Sean snorted and said, “He’s very straight and very married, so calm down your inner caveman. Besides, I only want you. All I need is you.”
He wrapped his arms around Sean. “What have I ever done to deserve you?”
Sean shrugged, red tinting his cheeks. He lowered his head to take Sean’s mouth in a searing kiss. Sean all but melted against him.
“Thank you,” Mal said against Sean’s lips before pulling back.
“I love your ass too much to let you go through this alone,” Sean said, a sparkle in his eyes.
“I love you so god damned much,” Mal blurted. “I know it’s early and we haven’t actually talked about it, but I—”
Sean put a finger over Mal’s lips to stop him from talking.
“I don’t think two years is too early,” Sean said.
Mal cocked his head to the side. “You’ve loved me that long?”
“I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you the first time you called me a pain in the ass,” Sean said with a chuckle.