Operation Wolf: Eli (Wolf Elite Book 2)

by Sedona Venez

  “We weren’t sure that Carideo was going to do the exchange,” Hunter interrupted. “So, Eli agreed to meet anyway, which worked out because Carideo would have kept the majority of his soldiers here otherwise. Now let’s go before it’s too late.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Eli

  “WELL, WELL, WELL, LOOK who’s here!” Carideo crowed.

  I gritted my teeth as I stepped into the warehouse parking lot, alone. I knew my friends were waiting nearby, but I still felt incredibly exposed standing by myself, even though I’d taken the precaution of wearing a Kevlar vest under my jacket.

  “Carideo.” I inclined my head at the old mobster, who stood in the middle of the parking lot, flanked by at least four soldiers who were all packing. “Didn’t realize you guys were outfitted for war,” I commented with a nod toward the guns being carried by several men. I spread my hands wide. “Don’t you think assault rifles are a bit of overkill for just one guy?”

  Carideo raised an eyebrow. “I don’t really give a shit about what you think, McCauley,” he said, his tone almost conversational. But the cold glint in the dark eyes behind his glasses told me he meant business. “Especially not after all the trouble you’ve caused me. Did you really think you could disobey orders without consequences?”

  He took a step forward, baring his teeth in a menacing grin that I was sure had scared the shit out of Carideo’s opponents back in his boxing days. It sent a chill down my spine even though I knew that Carideo couldn’t really hurt me now.

  “Once you’re in with the Outfit, we own you. Your biggest mistake was forgetting that fact, and now, you’re going to pay for it.”

  “Whatever,” I spat. “You going to bring out the girl already? You promised you’d let her go.”

  “So I did.” Carideo gestured to one of his men, who turned and waved at the warehouse.

  The entrance door opened, and two men stepped out, carrying a woman whose arms were tied behind her back. She had a burlap sack over her head, but her body shape was the same as Olivia’s, and I froze.

  Was I wrong about Olivia’s location?

  “Didn’t think we’d really bring her here, did you?” Carideo laughed at the look on my face. “Well, she’s real, and here she is.” The two men dragged the woman forward, and Carideo shoved her toward me. “See for yourself.”

  I caught the woman in my arms instinctively, but before her skin even touched my hands, her scent hit me, and I knew it wasn’t Olivia. Relief washed over me along with anger, and I ripped the bag off the imposter’s head to find a scared blonde with wide, tear-filled brown eyes.

  “Help me,” she whispered, her voice shaky, her entire body trembling in fear.

  And that was when the soldiers opened fire.

  “No!” I shouted, shoving the woman behind me to shield her from the spray of bullets. Three hit me in the chest, knocking me back as pain exploded in my upper body, but I managed to stay on my feet long enough to begin to shift.

  “What the fuck?” one of the soldiers bellowed, his eyes widening in horror as I continued shifting.

  There was a cacophony of shouts as my backup—consisting of Danny and Matt—raced in, already fully shifted. Behind them was Ian, equipped with a rifle.

  The Mafia soldiers all raised their guns, but the shifters were already on them, moving with supernatural speed to get in before they could open fire once again.

  I was about to jump into the fray myself when a hand suddenly grabbed at my leg. Whirling around in surprise, I looked down to find the woman was on the ground, clutching at her side with her other hand. Cursing, I saw that she was bleeding and knew that one of the bullets had hit her.

  “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

  I was torn between wanting to get in there to finish off Carideo myself and needing to help this defenseless woman. Another shot hit me in the back, causing me to nearly fall over. I spun around to see a soldier heading right for me. Snarling, I lunged at the man, my canines sinking into whatever skin they came into contact with. Blood exploded from the man’s throat, and he quickly collapsed in a heap.

  “Ian!” I growled as my friend smashed the butt of his rifle into the back of a soldier. More of them had streamed out of the warehouse, and they outnumbered my group. “Get over here!”

  I covered Ian until he arrived. Then I grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him toward the woman. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  Ian shook his head. “Not yet. Been lucky so far.”

  “Good. Stay here with the woman. I need you to guard her.”

  “But I—”

  “Do it.”

  Ian was the only human in my group, and I didn’t want to see my friend get hurt or killed, especially not so soon after he’d turned over a new leaf.

  “Stay with her.”

  “Shit.” Ian crouched down by the woman, pulling some rags from his own pack and pressing them against the wound.

  I took down two more soldiers heading our way.

  I rejoined the fray, and we quickly demolished the rest of Carideo’s soldiers until only the boss himself was left, trembling and restrained by two of my men.

  “Well, well, well,” I said, mocking Carideo’s earlier greeting, “looks like your plan didn’t go down so well, after all.”

  “You . . . you’re not human,” Carideo gasped. His hat was missing, revealing his nearly bald head, and his glasses were askew on his sweat- and blood-streaked face. He was being held—or rather, held up—by Danny and Matt, unable to support his own weight after taking a bullet in the leg. “I don’t know what you all are, but you’re definitely not one of God’s creatures. Demons!” he croaked.

  “The only demon here is you,” Gunner growled, coming up to stand next to me. He looked Carideo up and down with disgust. “What do you want to do with this piece of shit, Eli? Should we kill him and put him out of his misery?”

  I sighed. “The world would be better off without him,” I replied after a moment. “But I think delivering him to the FBI’s doorstep would be a better idea. I figure after all the shit I’ve given law enforcement over the years, it might be nice to give back. You know, pay it forward.”

  “Hmm,” Gunner said. “Well, that sounds like a good idea to me, but—”

  There was a sudden hiss in the air, followed by a thwack, as a knife went through the side of Carideo’s skull. Blood exploded from the wound, and Danny and Matt dropped him like a sack of potatoes and whirled around. I spun around too, and my mouth dropped open when I saw Olivia standing a few feet away, flanked by Hunter, who was staring at her, looking both impressed and outraged at the same time.

  “That was my damn knife,” Hunter snapped.

  Olivia shrugged. “You should have kept a closer eye on it, then,” she countered, taking a step forward. Her eyes met mine. “Eli, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let him live. Not after what he did to my dad.”

  “Liv.” I crossed the space between us in the blink of an eye and gathered her up in my arms. “I’m so sorry,” I mumbled into her hair as I rocked her from side to side. “So damn sorry about everything.”

  “It’s okay,” she told me, her hands gently rubbing my back. “I know you were just trying to protect me. I should have listened.” She pulled back, and I saw tears glimmering in her eyes. “I put you in so much danger.”

  “You were just trying to do what was best for your father,” I replied, wiping the tears from her face. “I know he was the only family you had left. I’m sorry he’s gone.”

  Olivia shook her head. “No, you’re not,” she said quietly, rising up on her tiptoes. “But I know you’re sorry that I’m hurting, and that’s enough for me.”

  She kissed me, and we stood there for several long moments, simply happy to be lost in each other’s arms.

  “Ahem.” We broke apart at the sound of Hunter clearing his throat. “Hate to interrupt you guys, but what’s with the blonde over here?” He pointed to where Ian was kneeling by the woman, who was still on t
he ground, her eyes closed and her face pale.

  “Shit,” I muttered, breaking away from Olivia, though I didn’t leave her side. “We’ve got to get this under control.” I could hear sirens wailing in the distance, and I winced. “Ian, take the woman and get out of here,” I ordered, not wanting the cops to find my friend. I knew Ian would end up having to do at least a little time if he were caught. “Take her to the hospital.”

  “Are we going to be all right?” Olivia asked worriedly as Ian helped the woman to her feet.

  I pulled Olivia to my side just as two police cars rolled into the lot, an ambulance a short distance away.

  “Of course,” I replied with a grin. “We’re together, after all.”

  I steeled myself as an officer got out of the car and told us all to put our hands on our heads.

  CHAPTER 24

  Olivia

  “ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE ready to do this?”

  I smiled up at Eli. “Don’t you think it’s a little late to ask that?”

  We were standing in a private airfield, our suitcases already on the small jet where Gunner and his wife, Celine, were on board, waiting for us.

  “It’s never too late,” Eli said, reaching up to brush a stray hair that the wind had whipped across my cheek. His brown hair was backlit by the setting sun behind him, making it look as though his head was engulfed in a bronze halo. “I know how much you wanted to stay here in Chicago. How much you wanted to finish your degree and everything. We don’t have to leave.”

  I shook my head. “It’s better this way,” I said, squeezing Eli’s hand.

  It had been nearly a week since the final showdown between Eli and the Outfit, and I could still hardly believe we’d gotten through the ordeal alive.

  Ian and the mysterious blond woman had managed to escape undetected when the police arrived on the scene. But after Ian had taken her to the hospital, the woman had given him the slip before he could question her.

  Then there was the much more interesting drama that had unfolded. The mob was in an utter uproar over the death of Carideo and starting to sort out the leadership and what to do about the FBI that was currently making mincemeat out of their operations.

  “We were lucky enough that the police let us go in the first place.”

  “Yeah, well, with Hunter’s connections, it would have been hard for them not to,” Eli muttered. Then he smiled. “Guess it pays to have friends in high places.”

  “Hey, you guys coming?” Gunner poked his head out the door.

  “We’re coming!” I called. I turned back to Eli with a smile. “I think you’ll do absolutely great working for Cooper Enterprises,” I said. “And besides, NYU has a fantastic art program. I’m hardly losing any of my credits during the transfer.”

  “You mean the world to me,” Eli said, sweeping me into his arms for a long, tender kiss.

  I clung to him as I kissed him back, so grateful that he was here, that we were together, and that we could finally move past the pain and into happier times.

  I would have liked to stay longer, to give Dad more than the hasty burial we’d done for him. But it was too dangerous to remain in the city, and it was high time that the both of us finally moved on from this place.

  “And you mean the world to me,” I replied after finally breaking the kiss. “I’m happy to go anywhere, as long as it’s with you.” I smiled. “And don’t forget your gift.” I nodded toward the painting that was propped against the stairs leading up to the jet. I had gotten Hunter to ship the painting to me, and I’d presented it to Eli last night after our romantic dinner. My secret project—the painting that embodied everything that I thought our child might look like. A child I wanted with Eli so badly I could practically taste it.

  Together, we walked toward the jet’s stairs where Eli grabbed the painting like precious cargo before we boarded the plane, leaving Chicago behind for what we knew would be a brighter future . . . together.

  GET THE NEXT OPERATION WOLF BOOK, HERE.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  IF YOU ENJOYED THIS book, please be totally awesome and leave a review, so others can discover it as well. Long or short review, your opinion will help other readers make future purchasing decisions.

  NEW RELEASE ALERTS

  Want a text alert when I have a new release?

  Text sedonavenez (one word) to 33222!

  Just ONE text for ONLY my books and ONLY on release day.

  It’s that simple, and this way, you won’t miss a thing! No spam folders or clogged emails!

  For messaging rate reasons, at least for now, this is only available to my US-based readers.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  SEDONA VENEZ IS A romance author with a dirty mind. She lives in New York City with her hot ex-military hubby—hooah—and their furbabies. She loves writing sizzling, sexy intricate stories about strong but broken characters who push limits, overcome their fears, and risk it all for love.

  To learn more about Sedona Venez and her collection of contemporary and paranormal romance novels, visit her at:

  www.sedonavenez.com

  NEWSLETTER

  Please sign up to be notified of new book releases.

  TEXT SEDONABOOKS to 22828 OR TAP HERE

  Operation Wolf: Eli

  SEDONA VENEZ

  Copyright © 2017 by Sedona Venez

  All rights reserved.

  www.sedonavenez.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Editing:

  Jovana Shirley, Lisa Hollett

  Formatting by:

  Christine Borgford, Type A Formatting