by Mia Taylor
Breathing heavily still, he stood in his living room, looking around wildly.
What happened?
It had been years since he’d shifted unaware, but slowly, as he became more conscious of where he was, the memory slithered back to him, causing his stomach to lurch dangerously.
The shooting in the garage, waking up on the table, the surgeons peering over him…
He froze.
…and Rui had been there, floating above him somehow, her face contorted in panic.
No, he told himself, shaking his head. No, I must have imagined that in my half-drugged state.
But he worried that he hadn’t and that she had seen him for who he truly was.
The fatigue seized him then and his legs almost gave out before he could reach the sofa where he collapsed into a pile of weariness.
“Boss?”
Wearily, he lifted his head and stared at James, who had entered the room and was gazing at him curiously.
“Are you okay? You look like hell.”
Ryker wasn’t sure how to answer that question.
“I need the security tapes from the underground,” he said instead. “If anyone comes to the door, I’m not here. If anyone calls the landline, I’m not here, capisce? You haven’t seen me and you don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Confusion colored James’ face but he nodded slowly.
“Sure, boss…”
Ryker waved him away with annoyance when his assistant didn’t immediately move.
“Hurry up, James,” Ryker snapped. “This is pressing.”
James turned to oblige without asking questions and left Ryker alone with his thoughts and concerns.
Like who wants me urgently dead.
There were so many suspects to choose from, so many who would like him dead.
He instantly thought of Justin Bentley’s warning to him, not hours earlier, warning him that he was bound to be targeted.
And then he thought you threatened his wife. Was he waiting for you in the garage? He was the last to see you.
Ryker gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, willing his heart rate to stabilize. When he opened his lids again, he looked down at his body and suddenly realized for the first time that he was wearing nothing but the sheet he’d made off with from the hospital.
A foreign pang of fear touched him and he realized again just how much trouble he was in. Even if, by some miracle, he hadn’t aroused the suspicion of every hospital staff member in his escape, the police would undoubtedly be looking to speak with him and James had certainly seen him, half-naked and looking dishevelled.
The man had been on Ryker’s staff since Ryker had left his parents’ house under Franca’s request almost seven years earlier. Mario had sent James along as a pseudo protector even though there was no doubt in the senior Luciano’s mind that his son could take care of himself.
No, James was more of a spy than a helper although he did act as a butler and security dog. But Ryker knew the truth—James reported all of Ryker’s comings and goings back to his father.
Who does James report to now?
Ryker knew he couldn’t waste time on paranoia, not when he didn’t have any proof that his worries were founded. James had never given him a reason to believe he was disloyal to the Lucianos.
Well, he was loyal to your father. But he knew you were leaving and when. What are the chances that someone was just hanging out in the garage, waiting for you? The security is supposed to be top-notch.
What if the condo security was in on it?
Ryker suspected he was losing his mind.
I need a drink.
He jumped up from the couch and stalked toward the bar in the corner of the living room, pouring himself a stiff scotch. The sheet-toga slipped around his chest and as Ryker swallowed the burning liquid in one gulp, he noticed that his gunshot wounds had almost completely healed.
I need to put on some clothes before people notice that I don’t have holes where I’m supposed to have holes.
Again, his common sense guided him through the back of the condo where he wasn’t apt to run into James and made his way up to the third floor where his suite sat.
He paused in front of the mirror and looked at himself, barely recognizing the man who stared back. He was paler than he’d ever been in his life, his skin almost gray with worry. Despite the gunshot wounds healing, his skin was still splattered with blood. The sight of it made him shudder.
Did they type my blood? Take a sample of it?
Certainly the hospital knew who he was, or if they didn’t, it wouldn’t take long for them to figure it out. He again thought of Rui’s face.
I need to get in touch with her.
He inhaled and counted his breaths, willing himself to focus on a plan. If he permitted himself to get overwhelmed with everything that had gone wrong, he would never escape the trouble which was inevitably coming for him.
This is what Dad wanted? For the entire world to know my secret? Well, it looks like he got his wish.
He shoved aside his bitterness and threw the sheet aside, striding into the bathroom. A shower would certainly help clear his mind. Ryker was aware he couldn’t stay in the condo much longer. It would be the first place that people would start looking for him. He wasn’t sure who he was more concerned about—the questions or his assassin coming back for him.
Shower and then get Justin Bentley on the phone.
It was at that moment that Ryker realized he had no idea where his cell or wallet were.
At the hospital still.
He needed to get in touch with Rui and get his stuff back before the cops started trolling through his phone. Regardless of what was happening inside the family, the worst thing that could happen would be the police nosing around in his contacts and texts.
This is just getting worse and worse with each passing second.
Ryker stepped into the shower with a renewed determination. Whoever had done this to him was going to pay with every fiber of their being. He would personally ensure it.
~ ~ ~
Ryker barely managed to dress before James knocked on the door to his rooms.
“What?”
“I’ve got the footage from the garage, boss.”
Nothing on James’ face told Ryker that he’d watched it first but that could very well be because he had already seen it.
“Leave it on the table.”
Ryker turned back to the mirror and straightened his suit jacket, staring intently at his reflection.
“Boss…”
Ryker looked at him through the reflection of the glass.
“The cops called.”
The words hung in the air heavily.
“I assume you told them I wasn’t here.”
“I did.”
Ryker nodded and shifted his eyes back to his own face. There was no semblance of the near-panicked man who had entered the condo an hour earlier. He had regained some sense of control in the steaming shower.
“Boss…”
“James, just say whatever you have to say. It doesn’t need to be said in increments.”
“The garage is crawling with cops.”
Shit. Of course it is.
Ryker spun and looked at him.
“And?”
“What happened?”
It was the moment of truth—tell James and trust him to be an ally or ignore the man and continue on his own in the quest for the truth.
He’s going to find out if he doesn’t already know.
“Someone tried to kill me.”
James’ face did not register the surprise that Ryker had anticipated and that filled him with anger.
He knew.
“What happened?” James asked again, trying to force a note of awe into his voice, but Ryker knew that it was fake.
He definitely knows something.
“What I just said,” Ryker snapped. “Some stronzo thought he could put a couple caps in me but I don’t kill easily.”<
br />
“He missed?”
Ryker bristled.
“That’s all, James.” He waved James away and closed the door in his wake, turning to the CD which was sitting on the glass and iron coffee table in the sitting room.
The only reason James was able to retrieve a copy of the footage in the parking garage with the police swarming the area was because Ryker had his own security cameras set up in the underground. Otherwise there would have been no chance, not without arousing more suspicion.
He grabbed the disc and glanced at the cordless phone sitting nearby. He was still debating whether to call Rui and involve her in the mess.
She might already know but like James, she is bound to find out sooner or later. This is juicy news, the head of the Verlucci crime family getting shot. It’s going to be all over the news if it isn’t already. So much for keeping my personal and professional life separate.
He thought about how much danger she might be faced with if his enemies learned that they were in a relationship.
I was too careless, too stupid. I knew pursuing her would end badly but I ignored my gut. This is only going to get worse from here.
The best place for Rui was with him. It was where she would be safest. He only hoped he could convince her of that.
First he would watch the video, he decided, knowing fully that he was procrastinating on the inevitable call which would surely shake Rui’s world if it hadn’t already been shaken.
He popped the CD into his DVD player and perched on the edge of the couch in the sitting area, his body leaned fully forward. After fast forwarding through a couple hours of footage, he finally saw himself exiting the elevator.
Ryker backed it up, looking for anyone who didn’t belong in the parking garage, but all he saw were the usual tenants approaching or parking their cars. There were no dark-masked figures, no one out of the ordinary. Not until the moment that the form in the balaclava appeared from behind him, stepping into the shot at the last possible minute.
He saw himself whirl and the sparks of the gunshots before the shooter ducked out of the frame and left him bleeding and unconscious on the floor of the garage. In less than two minutes, he was found by a neighbor and moments after that, EMS and the police arrived.
There was no indication as to where the would-be assassin was or which direction he’d gone, but Ryker couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever it was had known precisely where his cameras were set up.
I need to get my hands on the condo’s cameras.
Not that Ryker felt that would give him any better indication of what had happened. Whoever it was had disappeared hours before, likely to report to his boss that the deed was done.
And I would be dead. There was no way anyone could have survived those gunshots if they weren’t me.
“Boss…”
“Oh, for God’s sake, James, what?” Ryker growled. “What the hell is it now?”
“There’s someone at the door for you.”
Ryker glared at him balefully.
“What part of my instructions were unclear?” he snapped. “Send him away.”
“It’s not a him, Boss, it’s Dr. Granger.”
Blood drained from Ryker’s face and he jumped from the couch’s armrest.
“She’s here?”
James nodded but Ryker was already pushing his way out toward the stairs. He peered over the interior balcony and looked into the foyer where Rui stood. She hadn’t seen him yet but even without looking up, Ryker could read the torment on her face.
She knows.
Like she read his thoughts, Rui’s head lifted and her hazel eyes met his, but instead of the anger he expected to see, relief flooded her face.
“Y-you’re okay!” she cried, her hand fluttering to her chest in nervous shock. “H-how are you okay?”
Ryker shook his head and flew down the stairs to meet her, embracing her in his arms tightly.
“It doesn’t matter,” he told her gruffly. “All that matters is that we get out of here—now.”
Rui didn’t argue but she held out her hands and he saw for the first time that she held a clear plastic bag containing all his belongings.
“I managed to get these before the cops got to them,” she mumbled and Ryker could hear the worry in her voice.
He nodded gratefully but cast his eyes back toward the staircase where James stood, watching them with interest.
“Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Boss?” James called after him but Ryker ignored him. He didn’t trust anyone in that moment except for the woman on his arm.
Chapter Nine
Facing the Harsh Realities
“Ryker, what is going on?” Rui whispered, casting him a sidelong look as they headed into the fire escape. “I saw you at the hospital. You had been so badly hurt, but now—”
“I’ll answer all your questions,” he promised her. “When we get somewhere safe.”
“Where is that?” she heard herself ask almost bitterly. Rui felt as though she was another person, like someone had overtaken the cautious, careful woman she’d always been and replaced her with the woman who ran down the stairs at Ryker’s side.
After she had seen him leave the hospital, Rui had been consumed with the need to find him and ensure that he was protected, as bizarre as that was. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being harmed again. Seeing him on that gurney had almost killed her, too, and she had no idea what Ryker was facing except certainly more peril.
Taking his belongings, especially when police were waiting on them, was a bold and illegal move, but Rui had to make a choice between helping the man she loved and her career. At the time, the choice had seemed simple. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure.
You’re fleeing a crime scene with a mobster, a man who lied to you from the day you met, a logical, furious voice screamed at her when they burst through the side door of the condo building. Dark storm clouds had gathered over Biscayne Bay but Rui was far too distracted by the sirens and police to notice the fat drops of rain spilling onto the pavement around them.
“Dammit,” Ryker swore. “They’re everywhere.”
“How did you even get back in here without them noticing?”
He didn’t answer but his eyes brightened when he saw her car parked on the street.
“You have your car,” he breathed with relief. “Come on.”
They walked slowly so as to not attract the attention of the busy teams who seemed to be combing the area for evidence.
“How did you get in without them questioning you?” Ryker asked as an afterthought. “It looks locked down tight.”
“I flashed my credentials and told them I had a patient in distress,” she answered. “They didn’t ask questions.”
Ryker chuckled but Rui was not amused.
“Hand me the keys,” he instructed and she did, allowing him to open the passenger side to let her in before taking over the driver’s seat.
“You never answered me,” she reminded him.
“On what?”
“Where are we going?”
He cast her a sidelong look and peeled away from the curb, causing Rui to cringe at the suddenness of the action.
So much for not attracting attention.
“I have a place in Naples.”
“That’s clear across the state!”
“It’s a safe place until I can figure out who’s after me,” Ryker insisted grimly. “And it keeps you out of harm’s way, too.”
“Does it?”
She asked the question before she could consider it and instantly felt bad when she saw the look on Ryker’s face.
“Are you suggesting that I’m going to cause you harm?” he demanded. “If you feel that way, why did you come to me?”
She shook her head and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I-I don’t know what to believe anymore, Ryker. Why didn’t you tell me the truth about you?”
He eyed her
through his peripheral vision, flipping the windshield wipers on to a faster mode as the rain began to drive down heavier on the roof of the Mazda.
“What was I supposed to say, Rui? How do you tell the woman you’re dating that you’re in the mob?”
He grimaced like saying the words aloud bothered him.
“I don’t know,” she agreed. “But it’s better than lying to her.”
“I never lied to you!” he insisted, his knuckles turning white against the steering wheel. “Not once.”
“Well you didn’t exactly tell me the truth either,” she retorted, not wanting to argue semantics. She paused and studied his face. “How are you healed, Ryker? How long have you been able to heal yourself?”
He visibly tensed, his shoulders jutting up toward his ears.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he muttered.
“I don’t care!” she snapped back. “You don’t get to hide anything else from me! In one day I learned that you’re a don and in possession of some kind of superhuman powers. And that’s not including learning about how you were shot. I think I deserve some answers, don’t you?”
His jaw locked and for a minute, Rui was certain he was going to clam up.
“I’m not doing this if you’re not going to be honest with me, Ryker. I’ll drop you at the airport or train station and we’ll go our separate ways but I’m not running after you when I don’t know what’s going on.”
Her voice was firm but her heart was fluttering. She was terrified that he would take her up on her threat and leave her alone, without the answers she so desperately wanted, and more importantly, without him.
He was silent for so long that Rui was sure she had lost him, but as they merged onto I-75 and headed out of Miami toward Naples on the west edge of Florida, he sighed with resignation.
“When I was a kid, I had no idea what my father did for a living,” he finally said. “I mean, I saw it but I didn’t understand it. It was always in front of me but how can any kid understand something like that?”
He inhaled.
“I was probably thirteen before I got it and that’s only because my sister, Bryn, forced it down my throat. Before that, I always just thought my dad was a really successful businessman and…”