“You ask a lot Dane.”
“So the fuck do you. The girl is off the table. Let me talk to Lazar. You’re strong with me beside you but you’re stronger with the three of us and everyone else we bring. You’re the only side here that’s armed Macek. You’ve got nothing to lose. Let us talk and decide if we want to die here in this office or stay alive and stay in the organization. Your organization.”
Macek stepped back from me and walked around the desk, sitting down. I fucking prayed I’d blown enough goddamn smoke up his ass for him to accept the bullshit I’d told him. I felt Abby shift nervously at my back. I trusted her to see this as a ruse. She fucking knew me. She had to know I’d never work for Macek.
“You stand to gain a great deal by joining with me Dane. Their lives, yours, the girl. Wealth you can’t imagine. You have three minutes with them and the girl stays right where she is.” Macek put the revolver back in the holster under his arm. The look on his face made my fingers itch to close around his throat.
“Fuck up and she pays,” Macek said, motioning to his guard who swung his gun toward Abby.
My gut wrenched as I moved a few steps from Abby, but I had to talk to Lazar. I kept one eye on her and moved fast to kneel at Nic’s feet.
“Do you know the status outside this room?” I asked quietly. Lazar shook his head.
“We need to fucking buy some time, make Macek think we’ll cooperate. We have a chance if we work this together. If I can get the gun off his fucking gorilla…”
“Why the fuck did you bring the girl Dane?” Lazar asked. His forehead was damp and his eyes darted. “Her presence gives Macek more leverage than ever. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“That bastard Cutter had her, or did you already know that? Did you send him to solve the problem of her Lazar?” I wanted so much to help him. My doubts about him were fucking torture.
“I wouldn’t inflict that asshole on any woman, witness or not, Dane. I thought that she was just a witness…just another woman to you. But Nic talked to me in the chopper and I can see it in your eyes. I’m beginning to understand now what she means to you.”
“I’ll get you out of this Lazar, or die trying but only if you’ll keep her safe. No matter what happens to me.” I glanced back to Abby standing bravely on her own in front of the desk. “There are still scores to settle and I need your word that she’ll be protected.”
“You have it Dane. Loyalty for loyalty. I want Macek fucking finished for good.” Lazar’s eyes met mine. He had never lied to me in my life.
“Time’s the fuck up boys,” Macek said too loudly. The asshole with the gun stood beside him like a fucking black vulture. “Are you with me, or do you need more motivation?” The guard took a step toward Abby. Macek’s eyes glowed with anger and greed, and something more dangerous.
“We intend to cooperate Macek. All of us,” Lazar said.
I stepped back in front of Abby. “But only if I keep the girl.”
26
Abby
Macek wanted to use me as a pawn but Dane had turned the tables. I also knew Dane was risking all three men’s lives for me. Everything hinged now on Macek’s decision and he looked on the brink of losing control. If he refused to give me up to Dane, we could all end up dying in this room. If Macek let Dane keep me we might all live, but Lazar, Nic and Dane would be working for a deranged man who brutalized and killed innocent women for money. I couldn’t accept it. I knew Dane wouldn’t either. I was still unsure of Lazar, but I’d seen the love in his eyes when he looked at his son, and Dane had said he was a good man...
All this had to be a play for time. There was no way any of these men would work for a vicious bastard like Macek. I thought of Cutter’s breath in my face and his hands on my body. I remembered Arseny. I looked at the poor ruined girl tied up on the floor.
These men would never follow Macek or men like him.
I realized I hadn’t heard any shots outside the office in a very long time. The war out there had raged in gunfire while we were inside, engaged in a private battle for power and control. I wondered who had won outside those doors, and if the men who would eventually come for us could shift the balance of power back in our favor. I moved closer to Dane and leaned my forehead into his broad strong back. I remembered the feel of him inside my body and I was overcome with the desire to be away from all this, to be back in the woods alone with him. The two of us by the campfire, me wrapped up warm and safe in his arms. I reached for his hand and he took mine firmly, squeezing my fingers, lending me courage. I watched from behind him as Macek studied Dane’s face. I was afraid of Macek’s answer, no matter what his decision. I shifted and my elbow bumped something hard against my back. I had forgotten...
“I don’t care for ultimatums Dane but I can appreciate your...desires. You, however aren’t the only one here who can demand a fucking price. I need something from you too Dane. Shall we call it a show of faith?” Macek’s pale eyes glittered as he walked past us and stopped in front of Nic.
“I want your strength and intelligence Dane, and I want the men who will follow you. Lazar, as former boss brings power in numbers as well and keeps up the appearance of a unified leadership. But I’m afraid I can find no use for his fucking son.” Macek’s eyes glistened threateningly. “Nic led me to believe he’d switched his loyalty to me some time ago and I have no fucking use for a man I can’t trust.” Macek turned to the guard with a nod and I heard Dane’s sudden intake of air. The shot rang fast and loud. Nic screamed out before his head slumped forward, his shoulder bleeding profusely and saturating his shirt.
“I need to know if I can trust you to finish what I have started Dane. You’ve killed stronger men than Nic with your bare hands before,” Macek turned his unnatural eyes to Dane and his lips curled back in a slow and terrifying smile. He swept his hand in a path from Dane to Nic’s bleeding body. “This is my price Dane. The price to keep the girl.”
There was only a moment that the room was held by a stunned silence, but it was time enough. Lazar, stunned and shaken, looked from his bleeding son to where I stood close behind Dane. He watched as I slipped the gun from my own waistband and smoothly tucked it into the back of Dane’s.
27
Dane
My beautiful fucking girl.
The blood poured from Nic’s shoulder as I felt her slip her gun to me. She’d kept her wits and moved fast, trusting me. Macek was fucking insane but he was right about one thing. I didn’t need a weapon to kill. My hands were more than enough.
“Down!” I roared, throwing myself headlong at the guard. Abby hit the floor and was under the desk. Good fucking girl.
The guard squeezed off a single round into the ceiling as my shoulder took out his knees and he buckled to the ground. A second later his neck was crushed between my thick forearms and his legs thrashed. With a violent jolt and a crunch of bone he went limp, his eyes staring and I was on my feet face to face with fucking Macek, my weapon shoved into the soft flesh of his neck. I kicked the guard’s gun to where Lazar and Nic still sat tied. Macek’s jaw ticked madly and a trickle of sweat beaded his lip.
“Untie them Abby. Get pressure on Nic. Stop the bleeding.” I never took my eyes from Macek.
Abby moved out from under the desk and a minute later she’d cut the zip ties off both men and the huddled girl. The girl’s eyes darted and then she fled, disappearing through the doorway.
Lazar picked up the gun from the floor and stepped up to Macek, frisking him quickly and pocketing his revolver. Then he was back at his son’s side. He handed his jacket to Abby and she folded it, pressing it hard to Nic’s wound. The bleeding had been steady but not pulsing with Nic’s heartbeat. If she could stop the bleeding soon he might still have a chance. Lazar put his hand on his son’s forehead for a moment, then he stood and turned.
“You shoot my son, you fucking goddamn bastard,” Lazar’s steps beat out the words as he approached. He held the dead guard’s gun in his hand, but his arm
dangled at his side. He moved slowly like a cat stalking prey, his voice quiet, unnervingly calm. I knew this man. The calmer he appeared, the more deadly he was.
Stopping at his desk, he reached underneath. There was a soft click, the sound of sliding wood and he brought out a large steel hunting knife. He stepped forward slowly, looking only at the knife blade. I stepped back, making room for Lazar to move within an inch of Macek but keeping my gun trained on his chest. This fucking bastard had started a mob war to take over Lazar’s organization and he’d nearly killed this man’s son. My trigger finger ached to blow the fucker’s brains out, but I stood back. This kill was Lazar’s right.
Lazar never took his eyes from his blade until the tip was poised below Macek’s right eye. Then he burned his dark eyes into Macek’s pale frightened ones, his quiet voice belying his rage.
“You fucking shoot my son and try to steal the life I’ve made, you sick shitless bastard. Did you think I’d just kill you… Did you think you could die quietly in my office, like you ever belonged in this fucking room?” Lazar’s voice was nearly a whisper and the sweat ran down Macek’s face, soaking his collar. “No Andrei. No.” He shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid that cannot happen. The men outside these doors are mine. They always were. And you will die in front of them all Andrei. I will take you apart one piece at a time and they will watch as you die. They will know only one man runs this organization and that man is me.” Lazar drew a line down Macek’s face from his eye to his jaw with his knife and I watched the blood bead and run. I turned to see Abby’s white face as she watched us, the pressure of her hands keeping Nic alive. I caught her eyes and the moment between us lengthened and slowed. I could feel the pull in my chest that connected me to her and the air seemed to warm around us. It was the last moment of peace before the room around us erupted.
28
Abby
A deafening blast threw the doors to the office wide and flames licked up the wooden frame. Smoke billowed in with a terrifying crash of men and gunshots.
“Dane, oh god Dane!” I had lost him in the thick smoke. I leaned down over Nic, trying to protect him. Shouting filled the room and a flurry of bullets flew overhead. Ceiling plaster rained down. I called for Dane again, knowing he’d never hear me over the chaos in the room. The flames from the explosion doubled in seconds. I couldn’t see but I could hear the crash of feet around us. A leg caught me hard in the ribs and I fell over Nic’s body. I couldn’t catch my breath in the smoke but I knew I couldn’t abandon Nic. “Please…Dane…,” I choked out the words.
“Abby,” Dane’s voice was beside me, deep and urgent, flooding me with relief. He took my arm and pulled me to my feet, sheltering me with his body. “Move baby, fast. Head for the doors. Get out, now! I’m right behind you. GO!”
I stumbled for the doorway, past the heat and the flames. I was out and running blindly through the hall coughing, my lungs sucking for air. I could hear Dane’s pounding run and shot a look behind me. He had Nic over his shoulder and was moving fast, his long legs pumping. “Go, go go!” Dane yelled as we headed for the end of the hall. He caught up with me on the turn and led the way down another long hall. We passed a dozen bodies as we ran, turned and ran again. I was breathless when he finally stopped at the bottom of a stairwell and gently put Nic down. He stretched to his full height and turned for me. Dark, huge, powerful. I looked up into his face, my heart pounding in my chest like a caged animal.
“God, Abby,” the words rasped out and then I was in his arms. He crushed my body to his and I wrapped my arms around his huge shoulders. He lifted me off the ground as he kissed me and my hands tangled in his hair. My breasts were pushed up, mounded on top of his rock hard pecs. All I could feel, all I wanted to feel was his lips on mine, his delicious skin on my skin… I wanted us to be safe and far, far away from here.
“I’m so damn sorry Abby,” he kissed me again, stroking the hair back from my eyes. He swallowed hard and leaned his forehead into mine, our lips inches apart. He was breathing fast and hard. “I’m sorry but we’ve got to go back.”
“What happened Dane? The blast and the men. Which side were they on?” Fear twisted in my stomach.
“I saw some faces. Those were our men back there. But I lost Lazar and Macek in the fucking smoke. I have to find them Abby.” His eyes blazed into mine. “This isn’t fucking over until Macek is dead. I owe that to Lazar. And to Nic.”
I looked down at Nic, still unconscious and frighteningly pale. I looked up to Dane. “We can’t leave him here alone.” I hated the idea of staying behind but I knew there was no choice. “I have to stay with him.”
He let me slide down the length of his body to the floor. I felt his heartbeat in his rigid cock as I moved. “This is going to be over soon Abby. I promise you, my beautiful girl.” He took my face in his warm rough hands and kissed me one last time. “I promise you so much better than all this. I swear I will give you so much more.” His black eyes looked into the deepest part of me and held us both in silence.
“I love you Abby.”
He pressed his gun into my hand and then he was gone.
Dane loved me.
I fell back against the wall and slid down next to Nic. His bleeding had slowed but he was pale. I pressed my bare hands to the wound on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I could feel his heartbeat. It felt fast and faint. I took a long steady breath and let Dane’s words flood through me. I love you Abby, he said. I love you.
Huge and powerful and deadly. I remembered the first time he’d held me in his arms. He’d just killed Arseny and I had been sure he was carrying me off to kill me too. But he’d kept me alive instead. He’d protected me from Cutter and Andrei Macek. Risking everything, he’d saved me. My dangerous black eyed killer.
I remembered the feel of his hard muscled body naked and crushed against mine, the steel strength of his cock stroking me deep. I clenched inside and flooded wet with the memory of coming on his thick length, his heavy balls tightening as he pumped inside me. I thought of his black eyes caressing me and how safe I felt in his arms. I remembered his hands as he bathed me in the woods and I knew. He led a life I could never fully understand even after all the brutal reality I’d seen for myself, but I knew I would share it with him if he wanted me. The feeling spread through me like warmth and light. Like an instinct I was born to, yet only just recognized.
I loved him too.
I’d never felt so excited, so alive, so safe as when I was with him. He led a dangerous life, but he was a dangerous man. My dangerous man. My perfect match.
I took a long slow breath and exhaled, opening my eyes. I felt something deep in my chest, drawing me to him. The further from me he was, the tighter the pull. “I love you too Dane,” I whispered, praying that he could hear me.
I felt Nic shift under my hand. “What, what…I need...” he mumbled faintly, trying to sit up and falling back. “Oh…god…”
“Stay still Nic. You’re wounded. Don’t move, it could start the bleeding again.” I felt warmth seeping between my fingers and I pressed down harder.
“Where’s Dane…and my father?” he asked and coughed. His chest made a rattling sound. I couldn’t help him, he needed a doctor.
“Please just try to rest Nic. Dane’s gone to find him. There was a blast and Macek got away in the confusion. Lazar may have gone after him. Dane will find them both Nic. And then it’ll really be over. Dane said our people have control over the compound now.”
“Our people, Abby?” Nic smiled gently, his eyes glazed with pain.
“I love him Nic.”
“I know Abby. He loves you too.” He shifted with a grimace and his lips made a hard blue line in his white face. “He has for longer than he knows.”
I smiled at Nic and he smiled weakly back. “It’s what I always wanted for him Abby. He needs someone who won’t ever leave. Someone like my Hope, who can love him and accept him for who he is. You need him Abby, I can see it in your eyes. But he needs y
ou too, more than he knows.” He coughed again and a fine spray of blood misted his lips.
“That’s how it is with my wife,” he said so quietly I had to lean close to hear. I watched, holding my breath as his eyelids slackened and dropped. “Tell Hope I love her without end. Tell her to kiss my girls.” He coughed again and I felt the spray of his blood against my cheek. I put my hand on his cold forehead and my tears ran down, mixing with his blood.
“Please don’t do this.” I took his face in my hands. “You need to live Nic. You need to tell her yourself. She can’t lose you.” I sobbed as he struggled for breath in my hands. “It can’t just end like this.”
“That’s it,” his voice was no more than a whisper. “It doesn’t end at all. I take her with me…in my heart and I stay alive in hers. Love Dane like that Abby, the way my wife…loves me. Be his Hope, Abby…” He coughed weakly and blood ran thick from his mouth.
I listened as the last of his breath emptied from his lungs and he fell still. I brushed the hair from his forehead and cleaned the blood from his face gently with the sleeve of my sweater. “I will Nic,” I whispered as the tears ran silently down my face. “I promise.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall behind me. An eternity later I opened them and focused on the weapon lying next to Nic’s body. Dane was out there, the man I loved, hunting an armed and deadly man.
And he’d given his gun to me.
Steal Me Page 24