by Chloe Lang
“I’ve got men retrieving my product already.”
“Really?” Cody held up a bag. “This look familiar to you? Your boys aren’t coming down our mountain anytime soon, mister.”
Sergei cursed in Russian, but he still didn’t come out from behind Amber.
“We took out the other four in town, Sergei.” Bryant’s tone shredded the very air. Gone was his quiet restraint. Amber had changed him, changed them all.
Come on, you motherfucking coward.
Amber’s eyes were darting madly.
“Three big weapons against my little pistol. Doesn’t seem fair to me.”
She kept looking up, past them, and then back.
Up? Sergei must have more men.
“On the roofs,” he whispered to his brothers.
After that, everything happened simultaneously and lightning fast.
Cody and Bryant crouched, twisted around, and started blasting away.
Amber balled up her fist and hit Sergei in the groin.
His grasp on her didn’t hold.
She crouched to the ground.
The madman’s face was twisted in pain, then shock, as he realized his shield was gone.
Clear shot!
Emmett unloaded every bullet into the man’s head, making hamburger out of his brains. He tried to run to Amber, but fell to the ground instead.
Agonizing pain, unimaginable and overwhelming, seemed to permeate every inch of his body, but especially in his chest.
He needed to get up, to go to Amber, to cover her with his body from the barrage of bullets, to make sure she was safe.
More gunshots.
“Fuck!” he shouted, ignoring the pain and willing himself to his feet. He couldn’t focus his eyes, but moved in the direction he knew she was.
Still gripping his gun, he took a single step and fell again. Please, God, let her be okay.
Readying himself for another attempt to get upright, he closed his eyes, paying no attention to the crushing pangs in his chest.
He felt familiar fingers on his face. Amber. “Emmett? Oh God. No.” Her panicky words blew away his despair.
She’s alive.
“He’s been shot.” Bryant’s serious tone didn’t worry him any. Thank God, she was okay.
He tried to speak, but could only grunt. The pain he’d backed down moments ago by sheer will returned with a vengeance.
“Don’t try to sit up, Emmett.” Cody was alive and kicking.
His heart had never felt such relief, such joy.
He opened his eyes, forcing them to focus. Luckily, this time they obeyed, and he saw his family—Bryant, Cody, and her, Amber, their woman.
The looks in his brothers’ eyes were too familiar. He’d seen it in combat in the troubled stares of fellow soldiers gathered around the fallen.
He resigned himself that this was it, his time. He was dying.
A calmness, warm and sleepy, billowed inside him.
Amber was crying.
He reached for her hand.
She wrapped her fingers in his. “Talk to me. What do you want, Emmett? What do you need?”
Need and want? Simple. More time with her. Much more. War was hell and fate had chosen this moment for his exit. But she was alive and safe. He had no doubt his brothers would make certain she stayed that way.
He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. He needed to let her know how much he loved her. But his throat wasn’t cooperating.
Emmett stared at her beautiful face, and then the world began to spin. Faster and faster.
“He’s passing out.” Cody’s voice sounded so remote.
Even more, Bryant’s words were distant, faraway, beyond the horizon. “Compress his wound with both hands.”
“Please. Don’t leave me, Emmett. Stay with me. Oh God.” Amber’s sobs faded into the vast empty space he was plunging into.
My brothers will take care of you, little one. Good-bye, my love.
Spiraling down, down, down…
* * * *
Calling on his field training, Cody continued compressing Emmett’s chest wound, harder during his inhalations and softer during his exhalations. The biggest risk now for his brother was a collapsed lung.
He looked over at Amber, who was in a state of shock. All the color in her face was gone.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. He’s still breathing. I don’t need you passing out on me, too. Understand?”
No answer. Her eyes remained wide with horror.
He harshened his tone. “Slave, answer me. Do. You. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” she said in a wispy tone, coming back to him, if only a little.
“That’s my girl. Hang tough. I need you to be strong, little one.”
“I’ll try, Master.”
Bryant had left to find Doc Ryder and bring him back.
Cody had seen his fair share of wounds like his brother’s in Afghanistan. Thankfully, the bullet hadn’t exited out Emmett’s back. If it had, his brother wouldn’t have a chance, not that he was out of the woods yet.
Scott Knight ran up to him. “Doc’s on his way, Cody. Should be here in five minutes.”
He nodded. “Would you take Amber someplace else?”
“No,” she snapped firmly, a hint her haze was lifting some. “I’m not leaving Emmett.”
“Okay, baby. You can stay.” He looked at Knight. “Make sure she doesn’t fall down.”
“Sure thing.” The billionaire brother put his arm around her. “How about we sit down, miss.”
“Okay,” she muttered, glancing back at the corpse of Sergei, the motherfucker Emmett had nailed in the head with every bullet from his pistol. Securely on the ground, she took a deep breath. “Emmett’s going to make it.”
“Yes, little one.” He prayed it was true.
His big brother had saved Amber—their woman. Emmett had always been his hero, though Cody couldn’t think of a time he’d ever told him.
Even though they were tight, as tight as any brothers could be, he’d resented Emmett trying to step up and play parent after the accident that took their mom and dads. The sacrifices his brother made had been colossal. Placing two orphaned fifteen-year-olds together in a foster home wasn’t going to happen. If Emmett hadn’t cast his dreams of college aside to make sure he and Bryant stayed together with him, their family would’ve been ripped apart even more.
More of Destiny’s citizens filled the street. He watched as Hiro and Melissa Phong led their staff out onto the street. They all seemed to be unharmed. He noticed several people offer the shivering employees their jackets. He’d been around the world during his years in the service, but no place on earth was like this place. Neighbors helped each other without fail.
Cody felt a hand on his back. He turned and looked into the loving eyes of Ethel, the wife of Patrick and Sam O’Leary. Though there was no genetic connection, she and her husbands were like grandparents to him and his brothers.
The silver-haired lady’s blue eyes sparkled with apparent hope. “Cody, he’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”
Standing next to her, Patrick agreed. “Ethel’s right. Have faith.”
He nodded and looked back at Emmett. Faith. More than his big brother or even Bryant, he’d been labeled as having too much of it. The day Amber had arrived, his beliefs in the possible mushroomed high into the sky. Now, he needed faith, faith for his brother, his hero.
He leaned down and whispered into Emmett’s ear, choking back doubt. “Fate brought Amber to us to make us a family again. You’ve got to fight. Fight, Emmett. Believe in us. I sure believe in you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Emmett continued spiraling down, but the spinning and the descent seemed to be slowing. Death wasn’t what he’d imagined, not that he’d given it much thought before. Afterlife issues were Cody’s to mull over, not his.
No fire yet. He took that as a good sign, knowing the list was incredibly long that had earned him a ticket to th
e brimstone burg. He’d killed while in the Marine Corps. Duty to his country demanded his best, and he’d given it. He didn’t revel in his kills in Iraq. He did, however, take great satisfaction for one kill, his last. If the Devil’s playground was his final destination, he would be sure to look up Sergei, the motherfucker who had meant to harm his Amber. That would definitely bring a little heaven to his eternity.
“He’s smiling.” Amber didn’t sound distant or dreamlike. “Emmett, are you awake?”
Was he still on the ground in the middle of the street? He never expected to hear her sweet voice again. The pain returned but duller than before. He opened his eyes and gazed at the love of his life’s beautiful, concerned face.
“I’m here, cowboy.” Amber pressed her lips to his. He could feel heaven and earth and everything in between in that kiss.
“You put quite the scare in us, bro.” Leaning on crutches, Cody stood next to Amber. “How’s your pain?”
“Bearable. Pain meds?”
“Yes,” Bryant said in his familiar smooth, unflappable tone. He was also on crutches.
“How’s the leg?”
“Broke.” His brother lifted his leg to show him the cast. “I’ll have this for a couple of months.”
He would be okay. That’s all that mattered. “And what about you, Cody? You said it was only a flesh wound.”
“It is. Doc just wants me to have these for a few days.” Normally light and sarcastic, Cody’s tone grew serious and warm. “Emmett, glad you’re back.”
“Me, too, bro.” Emmett looked back at Amber. “Me, too.”
“More importantly, how are you feeling?” his sweet baby asked.
“I’ve been better.” He looked into Amber’s golden eyes and saw his future.
“Hola, señor.” A young boy peered from behind her. “Thank you for saving Miss White.”
“My pleasure.” Emmett turned to Amber. “The boy from your dreams?”
She nodded. “Emmett Stone, I’d like to introduce you to Juan Garcia.”
Emmett shook the boy’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Juan.”
“Mucho gusto, Señor Stone.”
“Juan, give Mr. Stone some breathing room.” A very nice-looking, fair-haired woman stood by the door, behind Cody and Bryant. “Come back over here to me.”
Amber smiled at the woman. “Emmett, this is my sister, Belle. Sis, come meet my guy.”
“Later, Kat. He needs his rest.” Belle glanced around the small room. “There are already way too many people in here if you ask me. You and his brothers make three. Juan and I are four and five. And Nate is six.”
Amber shrugged. “My sister is a nurse and a stickler about rules, Emmett. I had to threaten her within an inch of her life to stay in here until you woke up.”
Emmett looked at Belle, who had her arm around Juan. “She’s tough looking, but my money will always be on you in a fair fight.”
Amber rewarded him with a lovely grin, and nothing in the world could be as beautiful.
And Emmett had almost lost her. He struggled to remember what happened after he’d been shot. “How about filling me in about what happened after Sergei hit the dirt?”
“That’s my cue,” a dark-headed man with blue eyes said, offering his hand.
Emmett shook it. “You are?”
“Sheriff Nate Wright. Your woman’s sister knew a friend of mine and put us in touch.” The sheriff’s cell rang. “Damn it. One sec.” He put the phone up to his ear. “Hey, baby. What’s up? What do you mean? Have you called Doc?” Whatever the gal on the other side of the conversation was saying had caused a frown to be plastered on his face. “How the hell did Charlie ruin my Stetson? I thought you said he was just teething. What do you mean teething babies sometimes throw up? Okay. But why did it have to be my Stetson? Why do my boys have to puke or poop on everything I own? Seriously, Callie, I’m down to two shirts and now my second-best hat is gone. No, I can’t wear it again. Put him on. Hey, Zane. I just want you to know that the next time I’m changing Charlie or Zander, I fully intend to use your autographed Rangers cap as a peepee teepee. I know you aimed him at my hat. I’ll be home as quick as I can wrap up things here in Destiny. Revenge is going to be sweet, big guy. Tell Callie I love her.” He clicked off his phone. “Sorry about that. We’ve got twins and my partner has a really touchy gag reflex.”
Emmett nodded, dreaming of the day Amber’s babies would be keeping him and his brothers up at night.
“Where was I before I started to sound like a lunatic?” Wright asked.
“About you and I getting in touch after I saw Sergei in the parking lot handing Juan the bag of drugs,” Amber said.
“When did that happen?” Emmett asked.
Amber took his hand. “The day before you found me in the road. I’m a therapist, or was a therapist, at a boys’ home in Chicago. Juan was one of my boys. I saw Sergei, who was the director, hand him a bag of drugs one day. Juan is only twelve years old and a sweet boy. I had to act.”
“Stone, your woman did act—and how. If you ever want to move to Bliss, there’s a club that would certainly take you in as a member.” Wright shook his head. “After taking the kid to her sister’s house to make sure he was safe, she went against my instructions to stay away. She broke into Sergei’s office and found drugs late one night with the intention of bringing them to me to help build a case against the creep.”
“Wait just a second.” Emmett fixed his stare on Amber. “Is this a habit of yours? To run headfirst into danger when told not to by people who know more than a little about such things?”
Her jaw dropped.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ That’s something we’ll deal with later, pet.” He turned back to Wright. “Go on, Sheriff. Finish the story.”
“Sergei is…correction, was, the eldest son of the head of the Mitrofanov family, Niklaus. The Mitrofanovs lead a Russian syndicate based in Chicago. I have a friend back in Bliss who helped me map out the organization.”
A syndicate? This was worse than Emmett could have imagined. “Are you telling me the Russian mafia are running the boys’ home that Amber worked at?”
Wright nodded. “I am. Niklaus set the place up through regular channels. Times have been hard on charities, so fresh money is treasured in those circles. Along with some grants the place was awarded, he had a nice little operation that’s been going for two years. The boys acted as transporters to and from the syndicate’s main channels. The Mitrofanovs had to keep up appearances to the regulatory agencies that had jurisdiction over the property. Niklaus put Sergei in charge and some other underlings, but he had to have legit staff, too. Enter your Amber, or as I know her, Kathy. She was coming to Bliss, where I live, to hand over all the evidence she’d gotten her hands on. I was going to coordinate with the DEA and FBI. The minute my friend, Alexei, heard the name, he knew the mob was involved.”
Emmett recalled the state she was in during the rainstorm. “‘Bliss’ and ‘Wright’ were the words you were saying when I found you, sweetheart.”
“It’s a twenty-hour drive from the boys’ home to Bliss.” Amber squeezed his hand. “I got lost somewhere before I got to Denver. Now that I’ve seen where Destiny is on a map, I must’ve headed west and north for a couple of hours. I had a flat tire and had to stop. I started walking and then the wind started blowing so hard. I tripped and fell.”
“Baby, you should’ve followed Nate’s advice.”
Amber squeezed his hand. “If I had, I would’ve never met you, Emmett. You may not always like my impulsiveness, but I don’t care what you say, I’m glad I tried to get to Bliss despite the risk.”
“It was fate.” Cody winked. “No doubt about it.”
“What about the missing persons report from Chicago? It showed Amber as married.”
Wright shook his head. “She’s not. Apparently, the Mitrofanovs have a mole in that precinct. Not sure who, but I’ll work with Sheriff Wolfe to see if we can figure it out. We’re c
oncentrating our investigation on Nicole Flowers, the officer who filed the report originally. Not sure if it was her, but someone there passed the information on to the Mitrofanovs when Wolfe contacted that office. Presto. Sergei and his goons show up. We’ll figure out who leaked the information. Count on it.”
“What about Sergei’s father? What was his name?” Emmett asked.
“Niklaus Mitrofanov,” Wright answered.
“Won’t he come looking for Amber now that his son is dead?” At that very moment, Emmett wished he had his gun with him, his need to protect his woman growing with every beat of his heart. She’d done the noble thing to help Juan and the other boys, but that had put her on the radar of some very dangerous men.
“And you, too, Emmett,” Wright said. “But Mr. Mitrofanov is being held by some friends of mine in the DEA.”
“How long have I been out?” he asked.
“About eighteen hours,” Bryant informed.
Mr. Mitrofanov would be a threat again soon. “Can’t they only hold him for seventy-two hours without charging him?”
Wright smiled. “My buddies will find a way to hold him until we get everything in place that we need to charge him. You and your brothers left two of the Mitrofanov henchmen alive, though quite worse for the wear. They’ve already signed plea deals. With their confessions, the evidence Amber stashed in the home’s van, and her and Juan’s testimonies—Niklaus Mitrofanov will be locked up for the rest of his life.” Wright grinned a little. “Which will very likely be a short one. Alexei assures me someone in prison will take care of the son of a bitch.”
Emmett wasn’t crazy about the idea of Amber having to testify, to show her face inside a courtroom. “How long before this goes to trial, Sheriff?”
Wright shook his head. “The wheels of justice move painfully slow, unfortunately. That’s why it’s always just best to shoot ’em. It’s so much faster and with less paperwork. Oh, sure the doc will likely scream about having to do autopsies, but it’s really easier in the end. I’d say eighteen months minimum, but Mitrofanov will be behind bars awaiting prosecution. He’s a definite flight risk. The judge won’t even set bail because of that.”