She did her best not to look at Hunter, which wasn’t an easy feat. The man was a large, looming presence. Not only in size but also in attitude. The anger coming off him was palpable, but she wasn’t sure if it was aimed at her or Max. Or both. Probably both. Everyone knew that Hunter didn’t belong to either of their fan clubs.
“Goddammit, Dani,” Max huffed. “You walked right in the front fucking door. What are you thinkin’?”
Dani frowned. “I’m thinkin’ that I need to talk to you. To let you know there’s a problem. How else did you want me to get inside?”
“The back door?” Courtney suggested. She didn’t sound the least bit impressed.
Dani knew Courtney didn’t like her. Her once almost-sister-in-law didn’t try to hide that fact, either. Not that Dani blamed her since Dani had been the one to leave Courtney’s brother on their wedding day. There might be tension between Courtney and her own family since Courtney was in bed with the enemy—literally—but Dani knew the woman was a bulldog when it came to protecting them.
“A problem?” Max sounded indignant. “Honey, there’s a shit ton of problems. One of which is you walkin’ in the front fucking door.”
Okay, so he clearly had an issue with that. Dani wasn’t quite sure why. It was broad daylight on a Friday afternoon and they were in the middle of downtown Dallas. What did he think was going to happen?
“You need to leave,” Max demanded. “And you”—Max glared at Hunter—“need to take her somewhere safe. Right fucking now.”
“No can do,” Hunter stated, his tone laced with hatred. “She ain’t my problem anymore.”
“Then why’d you barge into my fucking club demanding to know where she was?”
Dani swung her head in Hunter’s direction, waiting for him to answer that question. He’d come here? For her? But how? Why?
“Because she was missin’. Now she’s not. That means she’s your problem.”
What did he mean she was missing? From where?
“Hunter?” Courtney called out. “We could use your help with this, seriously.”
“No. RT’s working on another case and I’ve got better things to do.”
“Someone’s trying to kill me,” Dani stated, not quite sure who she was talking to. Didn’t matter, since those five words had captured the attention of everyone in the room, including Leyton, Max’s second-in-command.
“Same song, different verse.” Hunter stared at her, disbelief practically dripping from his pores. “Is this one real, Dani? Or are you still haunted by ghosts?”
“Fuck you,” she hissed, sparing him a quick glance.
She understood that Hunter was pissed, but she didn’t have to answer to him anymore. She was here to make a deal with Max, so she turned her attention to him. “I ditched the condo when someone tried to break in.” Dani kept her eyes locked on Max’s face. “I didn’t stick around to ask them why they wanted to kill me.”
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Hunter asked, but this time it seemed he was also talking to Max. “I thought you were handling the Moroso issue.”
“Fuck.” Max slammed his glass against the bar.
Okay then.
“It’s not Moroso,” Dani insisted.
“You need to hide her,” Max demanded, his attention on Hunter.
Unlike last time, Hunter didn’t seem to have a response to that, so Dani filled in for him.
“I don’t need him watchin’ me. More importantly, I don’t want him watchin’ me.”
“The feeling’s mutual, sweetheart. Trust me.”
Dani ignored him again. “I’m not plannin’ to stay, but I do need to do something more … permanent.”
“It wasn’t a request,” Max snapped, obviously not listening to a word she said. “You can’t fuckin’ be here, Dani.”
“Well, too late. I’m here. And once I tell you what I came to say, I’ll be out of your hair for good.”
All eyes seemed to still be looking at her.
She had come back so she could let Max know that she was disappearing forever. She couldn’t keep running and it was time that she started over. Considering she was low on funds, she needed his help in that regard. And in an effort to keep him from searching for her, Dani had wanted to give him a heads-up. Not to mention, she knew Max had ways of making people disappear. Permanently. If he could do that with others, he could certainly assist her. Starting over, far, far away from anyone she knew, was her only option.
“We need to talk,” she told him softly. It was pointless to have her death staged if so many people knew she was doing it. “The sooner we do, the faster I’ll be out of here.” That was obviously what he wanted.
“You’re not goin’ anywhere, Dani,” Max bit out. “In case you haven’t fucking noticed, I’ve got people gunnin’ for me and my family.”
She tried for reasonable. “Exactly. Which is what I came to talk to you about.”
“Who’s gunnin’ for you now?” Hunter asked her directly. He seemed to be the only one who’d heard her earlier declaration. “Moroso? The mobster’s brother?”
“No. Well, maybe. But if he is, he’s not the only one,” Dani confirmed, never looking away from Max.
“You don’t know the half of it, Dani,” Max said with a heavy sigh.
“Why don’t you enlighten me then?”
“I’m not gonna have this argument with you again. You defied me last time. It’s time you go underground, let us take care of you,” Max stated firmly, glancing over at Hunter, then to Leyton. “If someone other than Moroso really is after her—”
“Someone is,” Dani interrupted. “Hence the reason I’ve been running, Max. Damn it. You think I want to do this?” Okay, so she hadn’t meant to get angry, but she couldn’t help it. She was pissed. And scared.
“Is the Moroso brother still a threat?” Hunter asked again, clearly oblivious to her little meltdown.
Dani sighed.
“More so now than ever,” Courtney confirmed. “From the information we’ve gathered, he’s stabilizing his organization,” Courtney supplied, obviously in the loop. “Which is the only reason he hasn’t made a move yet.”
“And he’s proving to be a real threat?” Hunter questioned.
Max snorted, as though the question was ridiculous. In a way, it was. These people had to know what Max was up to, what he’d done. That after Marco Moroso put out a hit on Ashlynn, Max had the man taken out. It had taken some time, and a couple of people had died—including two of Ashlynn’s bodyguards, one of which was the brother of one of her lovers. In the end, Marco had said good night. Permanently.
Dani doubted that Hunter didn’t know this. Then again, maybe he didn’t. Maybe Max and Courtney really did keep the details on a need-to-know basis. However, that was hard to believe since, for the past couple of years, Dani knew Hunter’s family had been involved in some of the things going down with the Adorites.
Then again, she wasn’t sure of Hunter’s part in all of it. From what she’d figured out, he spent a lot of time out of the country. Or he had, anyway. She wasn’t sure what he was up to these days.
Hunter cleared his throat and Dani peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. He was looking between her and Max, but for the life of her, she didn’t know what was going through his head.
“I need someone to keep an eye on her,” Max stated firmly. “I’m not askin’. I’m tellin’. This went sideways once. I don’t want that happenin’ again, Hunter.”
“Good luck with that,” Hunter grumbled as he turned toward the door.
“Hunter!” Courtney called after him. “Seriously. We need your help. This isn’t a joke. She’s Max’s cousin. We need—”
“Not my problem,” he called back, his gaze sliding to Dani once more.
As he walked past her, there was no mistaking the hatred in his white-gray eyes.
While staring Hunter down, Dani decided it was time to deliver the bomb. “I’m not Max’s cousin.”
Hunter
stopped immediately, but he wasn’t the one to speak.
“What?” Max asked. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?”
Dani tore her gaze from Hunter and turned her attention to Max. “I’m not your cousin.”
“I heard you the first time. What the fuck does that mean?”
She swallowed hard, hating that she’d reached her breaking point. This information was better kept buried, but unfortunately, as she’d learned recently, that was no longer an option.
“Nick isn’t my father,” she told him. “Samuel is.”
“THE COUSIN’S BACK,” THE GRAVELLY voice rumbled into the phone. “So is the old boyfriend.”
Dennis Moroso was pleased with the information, but the last comment had his brain scurrying to tie it all together. Then it hit him. “Ah. The wife’s brother?”
“That’s the one.” There was a strange tension in the man’s tone.
“You have a problem with him, Dmitry?”
Dennis was met with a few seconds of silence before the Russian assassin said, “It’s a personal matter.”
“Will it compromise the job?” Dennis didn’t give a fuck what personal issues the man was having, but he did need to know the man was capable of completing the mission.
“No.”
“Good. Then deal with that however you need to,” Dennis told him. “But don’t let it interfere with my plan. It’s time to herd them like cattle. I’ve waited long enough. Make sure you don’t take Max out, though. Injure him all you want, but that bastard is mine. When it’s time to take him out, I will do it myself. Slowly. Painfully.”
“Of course.”
“Make sure no one sees you.”
The man snorted. “Like ghost.”
With that, the phone disconnected, and Dennis turned his attention to the food on his plate. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he had ventured out so that he would be seen. This had been his brother’s favorite restaurant, so he’d come here on purpose. While the eggs benedict was divine, it wasn’t what would sate the hunger that was burning in Dennis’s gut. The only way to do that was with revenge.
And he would have his.
The Adorites were directly responsible for the downfall of his entire family. His brother was dead and Dennis had every intention of paying back the bastard who had taken his life. Business was business, and sure, Dennis understood Max Adorite’s reasons for killing Marcus. Dennis’s brother hadn’t been right for a while. He never should’ve put a hit out on Max’s sister. If he wanted to take her out, he should’ve done it himself.
However, family was family and Dennis had every right to avenge his brother’s death. He would start by taking out Max’s family members. One by one. He knew exactly how he wanted it to go down. A little at a time. Dennis had spent the better part of the last year learning everything there was to know about Max Adorite and his family. It had taken some time, but he’d come up with a plan to hurt Max the same way Max had hurt his family.
First, he’d start with the cousin, Danielle. She didn’t seem to be all that close to Max, but she was still family. From there, Dennis would go down the line, one after the other. The mother, the uncle, all the brothers and sisters would go, and then, while Max watched, Dennis would kill the man’s wife.
Of course, Max’s life wouldn’t be quite over at that point.
But he would certainly wish that it was.
NINE
“I NEED YOU TO LISTEN to me,” Dani said from somewhere behind Hunter. “Just let Hunter leave. Once you hear me out, you’ll see I know how to solve this.”
Hunter refused to turn around, refused to ask her what the hell that meant. In fact, he wasn’t sure he could because he was still trying to process what she’d said.
She wasn’t Max’s cousin? She was his fucking sister? And no one knew this?
“I’m not here to stay,” Dani continued. “I just need your help.”
She wasn’t staying? Where the hell was she going to go now?
Not that it fucking mattered. He needed to walk right out of this goddamn club and never look back. The sooner she was gone, the better off he’d be.
“What do you mean Samuel’s your father?” Max asked, his tone ridiculously calm. “I need you to start from—”
Before Max could finish his thought, the room exploded with sound.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Glass shattered. Bullets slammed into concrete and wood, sending debris flying. Chaos ensued. Screaming, grunting, yelling. One of the bodyguards only a few feet to Dani’s right took several hits to the chest, his entire body jerking as he hit the wall.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
It felt like slow motion as Hunter lunged, taking Dani to the ground in an effort to keep her from being next. She screamed when their bodies collided, but Hunter couldn’t worry whether or not he’d hurt her. With a single-minded purpose, he threw himself on top of her and slid right into the small alcove beneath the stairs, protected by the steel beams that lined the wall.
Leyton was instantly spitting out orders while everyone scattered, attempting to take cover, waiting for the next volley of gunfire.
Son of a bitch.
“Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” Dani screamed louder, even when the gunshots ceased, her voice echoing in the cavernous space. “Oh, my God! Oh, my—”
Hunter slammed his hand over her mouth, forcing her to be quiet. “Stop.” Hunter met her terror-filled gaze. “Dani. Stop.”
Her eyes were glassy and far too wide as she stared up at him. Hunter could see the fear shining back at him.
Leyton was calling out to someone, likely the guy manning the door.
Footsteps sounded as people started moving. Leyton darted over to the guy bleeding on the floor, just a few feet away from where Hunter remained motionless, keeping Dani protected beneath his own body.
While he took stock of his surroundings, a voice rang out in Hunter’s head.
“Fuck. Hunter,” Kye’s words sounded in his earpiece. “What the fuck was that? Goddamn it! Answer me!”
“Give me a chance and I will,” he told Kye. “Where are you?” Hunter kept his tone as low and as even as he possibly could.
Dani’s eyes widened as though she wanted to answer him. He simply shook his head, keeping his hand firmly over her mouth.
“Right where you left me. Across the street.”
“Did you see where the shots came from?”
“Looked to be coming from directly across the street from you. Third floor of the bank building. Are you hit? Is everyone else okay? Is…Dani all right? And why the fuck doesn’t Adorite have bulletproof glass?”
Hunter relayed the information about the shooter to Leyton, then glanced across the dark room toward the bar. “Max? Courtney?”
“We’re good,” his brother-in-law shot back. “We’ve got to get the fuck outta here.”
“You might want to invest in bulletproof glass,” Hunter offered, knowing it wouldn’t do a damn bit of good now, but hey, a mob boss should be ready for an attack.
“It’s on my to-do list, Kogan,” Max growled back.
“You’re bleeding, Max! Where were you shot?” Courtney screamed.
Fuck.
“It’s okay, baby,” Max crooned, clearly trying to calm his wife. “It grazed me. But we are gettin’ the hell outta here. Right fucking now.”
“We need an ambulance,” Courtney insisted, her tone oddly calm. Then again, Hunter knew his sister was relatively good under pressure.
“No ambulance,” Max refuted. “No hospitals. Let’s get to safety and someone’ll patch me up.”
“Gonna be hard to do,” Courtney countered hotly, “since Moroso took out the good doctor last night.”
“We’ll find someone,” he assured her.
Hunter knew that Max wouldn’t dare take the chance of going to a hospital. Gunshot wounds would attract police. Everyone knew that Max and the police didn’t mesh. If the man could walk out of here, he would d
o so without a police escort.
Hunter took a moment to move his hands over Dani, ensuring there was no blood oozing from her body. He pretended not to notice the way his hands were trembling, and he hoped like fuck she didn’t notice.
“Were you hit?”
Dani shrugged.
Oh, damn. He tried to keep his touch impersonal, but the instant he felt her curves beneath his fingers, memories of long ago came back full force. He pushed them back, mentally locking them in a fucking box that he never intended to open again for as long as he lived.
“Hunter, stop. I’m—I’m not hit,” she said insistently, running her hands over her own body as though she didn’t quite believe it. “I’m…f-fine. Are you okay?”
Hunter nodded curtly, then began speaking so that Kye could hear him. “Kye, Max took a bullet, but it’s superficial. Or so he says.” Not that Hunter was going to stick around to find out if Max lived or died. The man had a fucking army. He could take care of himself. On the contrary, Hunter was on his own.
“Hunter,” Courtney yelled. “Take her. Get her out of here. Don’t be an asshole right now. Just do this for me.”
He shook his head in disbelief. Of all the favors Courtney could ask of him, why did she have to do this now?
“Did you hear me?” she shouted.
“Yes, goddammit,” he grumbled. “I fucking heard you.” He glared at Dani, hoping she saw the anger he felt pulsing inside him. “Kye, I’ve gotta get Dani outta here.”
“Roger that. There’s an underground garage. I’m pulling around there now.”
“Is there another way to the garage from here?” Hunter asked Leyton, keeping his voice low.
“Two feet to your left,” Leyton informed him, crouching beside where Hunter was still lying on top of Dani. “Follow the hall. It’ll lead right outside through the mechanical room.”
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