by J. Kenner
Except now, of course, he had to get out of the shaft, get to the bar, and save his wife.
He hoisted himself back onto the car’s roof, his muscles straining. He paused, considering his options. If he went out through the fourth floor elevator doors, it’s likely that he’d just end up shot. For all he knew, Barclay was waiting. Or there was yet another thug who wasn’t part of Damien’s count assigned to watch and make sure he didn’t make it back up.
Not that he could stay in the shaft forever, but better to go down. All the way to the first floor where he could exit through the utility door, then climb up the stairs and catch them by surprise.
Fortunately, he had a rope.
He secured one end to the elevator cable, then tossed the other over the side. It was a long coil, and though it didn’t reach the floor, from his perspective it looked like it came pretty damn close.
He gripped the rope, thought of Nikki, then started to slide down through the inky dark toward ground level, every muscle in his body aching. He reached the end of the rope, then dropped down, trusting the ground to be reasonably close.
It was, and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he used the light on his phone to search for the door. Finding it, he slowly pulled it open. All clear.
And—bonus—he now had reception.
He called Ryan. “I’m heading to Nikki,” he said as soon as he’d explained the situation. “Get a team in here—be stealthy—and get to the vault. They can’t blow it—I ditched their C4. But if they forced the combination out of Aubert, they’ll be trapped inside. He would have given them Jackson’s failsafe.”
“Or hit the button on his watch,” Ryan agreed. “Sweet. I’m on it. We’re in the air, but we’ve got Dallas and a team he’s worked with on the ground organizing the op.”
Damien ended the call, then hurried up the main stairs to the fourth floor. He was almost certain that all the thugs were accounted for, but he wasn’t going to take anything on faith. He kept his eyes open and moved only as fast as he dared. Below, he knew that Dallas’s team and local SWAT would be entering the building. They’d handle this on their own, not trusting anyone else to act with the stealth required.
When he reached the fourth floor, he rushed to the bar, slowing only so that he could ensure silence as he crept around the corner and into the main area.
She was safe.
She was standing beside the bartender, Malone in front of them, his back to Damien.
She saw him, and her eyes widened. Just barely, but it was enough that the man holding the gun noticed. He started to twirl around, and, goddammit, Damien couldn’t risk the shot—not when he might hit Nikki.
But then—almost simultaneously—the bartender took Nikki’s arm and pulled her to the ground.
Damien fired. Once. Twice.
And as his ears rang and his blood pounded, he watched as the bastard who’d threatened his wife fell to the floor, his life’s blood oozing out of him along with his last breath.
Then—he didn’t even know how—they were in each other’s arms, and he was holding her, kissing her, feeling her against him.
“Damien, Damien, oh, God, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Sweetheart, I’m fine.”
He gently pushed her away, looking her up and down, then pulled her hard to him again. “Thank God.”
“I knew you’d come. I knew it.”
He didn’t want to ever let her go, but he needed to address the others, and so he gently released her, then let his gaze rake over the group. “There’s a team outside,” he said. “The perimeter’s secure. And two of the good guys are heading to the vault. They’ll apprehend the last of the men who did this.” He offered the shell-shocked group a small smile. “It’s over.”
He saw the couple celebrating their anniversary sag with relief as Aubert stood and started toward him. “Thank you. You’re Damien Stark, right? He—” Aubert pointed to the body on the floor, the watch Jackson had described confirming his identity as the owner and jeweler, as if there was any doubt. “He said it was you.”
“It’s me,” Damien said.
“I can’t thank you enough. They were—”
Ryan’s unique ringtone interrupted Aubert, and Damien pulled out his phone as he held up a finger in apology. “What’s the status?”
“The team got them. The vault was open, and they started to fire, but they took them down. Paramedics on their way and a team searching the building for more perps.”
“Glad to hear it. We’re secure here.” He ended the call, then turned to Aubert. “The two in the vault have been apprehended. They—”
He stumbled over his words as the realization hit him, then wanted to kick himself for reacting. Because Aubert saw the reaction, and in that moment he knew.
And even as Damien lifted the Glock again, Aubert pulled his own weapon, hidden beneath his jacket. He aimed, and as Damien fired, Aubert did, too.
Only Aubert was firing at Nikki, the bullet grazing the shoulder of Red, the bartender who had leaped on top of her and slammed her to the ground.
“Nikki!” Damien’s voice filled the room, overpowering even the explosive sound of the bullets. He kicked Aubert’s gun away from where the jeweler had fallen, then slid to Nikki’s side.
“She’s okay,” Red said as Damien pulled her into his arms.
“I’m fine,” she affirmed. “Damien, I’m fine.”
His heart pounded in his ears as he looked to Red, who’d moved to Aubert and was securing the injured man. “Your shoulder.”
Red shook his head. “Had worse, believe me. Worked SWAT before I gave up police work. But seriously, man. What the fuck? Aubert had a gun? How did you know?”
“The vault. Jackson—this place’s architect—told me that Aubert had a failsafe combination that would drop another wall. Lock them in. And if he was nervous and gave the real code, he could use his watch to drop the wall.”
“He was in on it,” Nikki said, catching on. “Hired someone to steal the stone, collect the insurance money, and a cut of the money from the buyer.”
“That’s about it,” Damien agreed, then held out a hand for her as Ryan and Liam entered the bar.
“Take care of these folks,” Damien said. “I need a moment with my wife.”
Ryan nodded, and Damien led Nikki to the back corner of the bar. She paused on the way, grabbing her purse from where a pile of them had been collected on a table.
“I was so scared,” she admitted, sliding into his arms. “I believed we’d be okay—I believed in you—but I was still so damn scared. Especially when—Oh, God, for a while I thought you were dead. I told myself you couldn’t be, but—”
A sob escaped her, and he kissed her forehead, then simply held her. “I know,” he said. “Baby, believe me. I know.”
After a moment, he felt her draw a breath. She leaned back, her smile soft as she said, “I have something for you. I wanted to give it to you earlier. I wish I had. I would have liked you to know all of it.”
“All of it?”
Her smile warmed his heart. “All of what you were fighting to protect.”
He frowned, confused. Then even more confused when she put a small, rectangular package in his hand. He unwrapped it, then opened the box to reveal a pregnancy test—positive—with a blue ribbon around it.
His heart fluttered, and he looked at his wife, afraid he was misunderstanding. “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded, her smile so wide she was practically glowing. “Three months now. Safe,” she added, as if he didn’t already know what three months meant for them.
He swallowed. “And the ribbon? Are you saying it’s a boy?”
He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her smile brightened.
“I am,” she said, sliding into his arms.
“Oh, baby.” Joy washed through him. Another child. Another little person joining their family. A baby brother for his girls. A son for him and Nikki. Dear God. What had he ever done to
deserve to be so damn lucky?
“I thought this would be the best Christmas present,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be competing against keeping us alive.”
He had to laugh. Then he kissed her head, his entire being buzzing with happiness. “Yippee-ki-yay,” he said, then kissed the woman he loved.
Chapter Fourteen
“Daddy, Daddy! Can we see the big tree again? Please?”
“Please,” Anne adds, backing up her big sister.
“Soon,” Damien promises. “Our guests just arrived.”
We’re in the penthouse suite at the Manhattan Stark Century Hotel with the girls. It’s the day after our adventure, and though Christmas is officially two days away, today is our celebration. And in a weird way, we have to thank Aubert and his crazy scheme. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been in mortal peril, and our friends and family wouldn’t have hurried to Manhattan to share a few precious days with us.
Our assumptions had been right. It had been Aubert’s insurance scam, and he was the one who had hired the team. The dead woman had frequented Aubert’s bed and had learned about the plot. He’d offered to cut her in, then made sure that Malone knew to take her out. To be honest, as criminal schemes go, it wasn’t bad. But not good enough to keep my husband from figuring it out.
“I’d say you acquitted yourself pretty well,” Ryan says to Jackson, his arm around my life-long BFF, Jamie. “You’re practically one of the team.”
“Don’t tell my wife,” Damien teases. “She only wants me leaping tall blogs in a single bound metaphorically.”
“Which you do so well,” Dallas says. He’s on the floor with Mystery and Jane. I look around for Jackson and Sylvia and find them in the kitchen, getting snacks for their kids. Even Red is here. We’ve become fast friends since the ordeal, though I like to think we would have under any circumstances. He’s a solid guy, and Damien and I are both looking forward to getting to know him even better when we’re back in LA. Ryan’s already dropped about a million hints about how Red should join Stark Security.
Now Red laughs as he pours his own brand of gin and whiskey into glasses for the adults, along with a juice concoction for the kids. And for me, since alcohol is out for the next six months at least.
I sigh as I look around, soaking up the friendship, the love, the life. And in looking, I think about what we could have lost. How close we came to losing each other forever. Then I take Damien’s arm and tug him to the side. “We’ll be back,” I say. “I just need to borrow my husband for a moment.”
“Anything wrong?” he asks as I lead him onto the balcony.
“Nope,” I say. “I was just thinking.”
He cups my face, then kisses me. “Were you?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“About what?”
“I was wondering why you didn’t tell Ryan that you’re going to be more active now at Stark Security.”
His brow furrows. “I’m not.”
“No? Why not?”
It’s clear that I’m confusing him, but he answers simply enough. “Because I already have a job. And a family,” he adds, resting his hand on my small baby bump.
“You do. But I know you. And while I don’t want you jumping out of planes into gun battles, I do know that this compels you. You started Stark Security for a reason, but others implement it.”
“I hire good people in all my divisions, and they hire good people. Engineers. Chemists. Designers. Marketing. You name it. I’m good, but I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not that good. It’s the same with Stark Security. I staffed it well. It’s fulfilling my vision.”
“And you want to get your hands dirty.”
“Maybe. But sometimes you can’t get what you want.”
“That’s not what you said when you were going after me.”
“Ah, the arrogance of youth,” he says.
I laugh. “Yeah, well, the arrogance part is true.”
He grins. “Nikki—”
I shush him with a finger. “If you truly don’t want to, then don’t. If you have other reasons that compel you to stay on the sidelines, then I am all for that. But if the reason you’re not pushing into a more active role is because you think the idea of you in the field frightens me, well, it does. But the world frightens me. You know that better than anyone, and you know why.”
I draw a breath and go on. “I’ve always known that you can do whatever you put your mind to. But yesterday—well, now I think that you won’t be living up to who you really are if you stand back. I’m not saying I want you out every night chasing down the bad guys, but if you want to get more involved, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve seen what you can do, and you amaze me.”
“Nikki, sweetheart, do you have any idea how much it means to hear you say that?”
“So you’re going to do it?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “But when I decide—whatever I decide—I’ll know that you’re with me.”
“There’s no place else I’ll ever be.”
“I know,” he says. “That’s my anchor in this life. You’re my strength, Nikki. And they’re my ambition,” he adds, looking into the room at our girls, now bouncing on the sofa.
I laugh, watching their antics. Then I take Damien’s hand and put it back on my belly. “And this little guy?”
“Him? He’s the future. And I can’t wait for us to meet him.”
Don’t miss Enchant Me, the next full-length Nikki & Damien book coming October 5, 2021!
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Also from 1001 Dark Nights and J. Kenner, discover Tease Me, Indulge Me, Damien, Hold Me, Tame Me, Tempt Me, Justify Me, Caress of Darkness, Caress of Pleasure, and Rising Storm.
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Entertainment reporter Jamie Archer knew it would be hard when her husband, Stark Security Chief Ryan Hunter, was called away for a long-term project in London. The distance is difficult to endure, but Jamie trusts the deep and passionate love that has always burned between them. At least until a mysterious woman from Ryan’s past shows up at his doorstep, her very presence threatening to destroy everything that Jamie holds dear.
Ryan never expected to see Felicia Randall again, a woman with whom he shared a dark past and a dangerous secret. The first and only woman he ever truly failed.
Desperate and on the run, Felicia’s come to plead for his help. But while Ryan knows that helping her is the only way to heal old wounds, he also knows that the mission will not only endanger the life of the woman he holds most dear, but will brutally test the deep trust that binds Jamie and Ryan together.
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Indulge Me: A Stark Ever After Novella