She was quickly learning the whole got-to-watch-your-back thing was for the birds. Growing up like this would have been hell.
That being said, the last twenty-four hours had also given her a peek into what growing up had been like for Gabriel. No child deserved to live in a world of mortal danger and vendettas.
“I want to meet my father, Gabriel. Will you arrange it?”
He seemed caught off guard by her request. “Where are you in there?” he mused, brushing his thumb across her forehead. “And, yes. I’ll gladly arrange it.”
She nodded. “Okay. What do we do now?”
“We find out who’s here.” He glanced toward her house, and his demeanor changed into that cold, emotionless man who’d shared the story of her life yesterday. He was fierce, lethal, and totally unforgiving.
Goddamn he was intimidating.
“Listen.” His expression softened when he saw her study of him. “The men who work for Stefano will not hesitate to use whatever means they must to do their job.”
“I think I realized that when you were polishing all that steel,” she said dryly.
“Have you ever used a gun, sweetheart?”
“Yes.” She wiped her damp palms down the front of her pants and held out her hand.
“What do you mean, yes?” Gabriel snapped.
She rolled her eyes. “Caleb—the liar—used to take me and Nika to the shooting range with him back in high school.”
“Why?” he bit out.
She smiled as she remembered Caleb trying to show them how to properly hold the weapon, shaking his head at their nervous laughter. “To entertain us at first, I think, and then later he said he wanted us to be able to defend ourselves.”
A tic worked in Gabriel’s jaw as he pocketed the keys, but he didn’t say another word as they all got out of the SUV. Before she could close the door he was at her side, wrapping a strong arm around her waist. She slid her arms around him, suddenly terrified for his safety. What if something happened to him? Or Quan? Or Alek? She’d never forgive herself if any of them were hurt or died because of her. Sure, she’d been pissed last night when they’d held her captive. But being angry and wanting someone dead were two different things.
She gripped Gabriel with all the strength she had, willing things to work out in their favor. The words be careful were on her lips when she felt the kiss of steel—her wrist brushed the gun tucked into his waistband. He drew away and shoved the smaller weapon into her hand.
And things got even more real than they had been moments before.
This was no shooting range and there most definitely wasn’t anything funny about what they might be walking into.
For chrissakes. He couldn’t believe he was giving Eva a fucking gun, much less the fact that she knew how to use it.
Paynne. That asshole. Despite the fact that what he’d done was smart, he was still an asshole.
Closing Eva’s long feminine fingers around the cold metal, he ground out, “Don’t be afraid to use it.” Turning to Alek and Quan, he added, “The backyard leads to a large stretch of woodlands. About an acre, I think. We’ll head there.”
Adrenaline pumped through his veins, giving him added focus as he shifted his gaze back to Eva. Damn, she was beautiful in the light of day. “You will stay back out of the way until I come for you. Understand?” At her immediate, confident nod, he grasped her hand and pulled her away from the Escalade so he could close the door. He led her down the empty driveway with the boys glued to their flank.
They reached the eerily quiet forest and cut across until they were inside the tree line directly behind Eva’s house. With a hand on her shoulder, Gabriel pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before pushing her down into a squat in the damp ferns. “Stay there,” he commanded, forcing himself to ignore the fear and concern shining in those sapphire eyes. “You’re with her,” he added, pointing at Quan.
“Her cousin will hang back. I’m on you.”
He ground his teeth. He didn’t need this shit now. “Quan—”
“My detail is you.” The Asian’s gaze held his in a stare down. “My job is to be at your back, no matter what. And that’s where I’ll be. So either you put a bullet in my leg to keep me here or get this show going.”
“We’re good,” Alek interjected. “Get this done. Eva and I can hang here and cut you up for a few minutes while you’re out of earshot.”
Feeling outnumbered, and more than a little honored by Quan’s steadfast support, Gabriel pointed at Quan. “Anything happens to me, you come back and you both get her the fuck out of here.”
Eva gasped. Alek nodded. Quan muttered, “Did you hear nothing I just said?”
And they were gone.
Gabriel moved silently to the far side of the lawn, knees bent, gun pointing down next to his thigh, safety off. When he got to the side of the house, he flattened himself against the rough brick and listened. The deep rumble of a male voice reached his ears, coming from Eva’s kitchen. Without hesitating, he jumped onto the back deck, making sure to stay below the window as he edged toward the back door. Quan motioned that he was going around the house to cut off any escape the person inside might try to make through the front door.
Clearing his mind of his remaining worry for the woman waiting in the trees, he stood and kicked the back door, cracking the thing off its hinges.
He was in the house, gun trained for the first asshole he saw, when a female’s high-pitched scream nearly burst his eardrums.
“Nika, get down!”
Preparing to pull the trigger, the identity of the man, and the name he’d yelled registered with Gabriel at the same time.
Nika.
Letting loose a stream of foul curses that would have had his mother running for the soap back in the day, he threw his arm out to the side. “Sonofabitch, Paynne!” he roared. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He clicked the safety back on his gun.
“Jesus Christ, Moretti. You sure know how to make an entrance,” the biker snapped back as he, too, lowered his weapon.
Spinning away, so he wouldn’t pistol-whip the jerk-off right there, he saw Quan, who had busted into the front entry when he heard Nika’s scream, lower his Glock. Gabriel shoved his gun into the waistband of his pants, trying to blow off the fact that he’d nearly popped a bullet in Paynne’s forehead with his innocent sister watching from feet away.
Something, he knew, Eva would never forgive.
He pounded his way back out the busted back door and headed across the dewy grass. Eva must have seen him coming because she bolted from the trees and nearly tackled him. Holding him in a death grip, she whispered a strangled, “Are you okay?”
“That was quick, even for you,” Alek said as he walked up to them. “Quan take one in the junk? I thought I heard a soprano.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Are you okay?” Eva repeated, her voice shaking.
“Hey.” He cupped her nape and forced her to look into his eyes. “Hey. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Well, not really, because they now had to go in the house. Where Paynne was. Following the overpowering instinct thundering through him, Gabriel kissed the woman in his arms like he’d never get the chance again.
“What was that for?” Eva asked when he finally pulled back.
“Staking a claim,” Alek informed her as he walked toward Quan, who was standing on the deck.
“Peace of mind,” Gabriel added under his breath before tucking her into his side and heading for the house. He didn’t miss her frown. “The car doesn’t belong to Stefano’s guys.”
“Whose is it then?”
“See for yourself.” They climbed the two steps to the deck and walked through what remained of the doorway, which Eva didn’t even blink at. Alek, Quan, Paynne, and Nika waited for them in the kitchen.
When Nika embraced a gaping Eva, Gabriel vaguely noted the redhead’s cringe when the hug was returned.
; “What are you doing here?” Eva’s eyes flared wider when she saw the biker leaning on the counter. “Caleb?”
“He flew in this morning,” Nika explained, slowly extracting herself from Eva’s hug with a grimace so fleeting it seemed everyone missed it. “When I couldn’t get you on the phone, and when you didn’t call him back like you said you would, we came by to make sure you were okay. When there was no answer, we let ourselves in. I thought we might find the two of you handcuffed to the headboard, fighting over who hid the key where. Nice lips, by the way. Looks fresh.” She held up a hand to receive a high five.
From Gabriel.
He gave it to her with a grin. Man, he liked her.
“Nika!”
Eva’s and Caleb’s voices mingled. Hers embarrassed. His amused.
“You’re mental,” Eva chastised, kissing her friend’s forehead before she turned to the brother.
But Paynne was looking at Gabriel, and Gabriel couldn’t help but approve of the way the biker stared him down without apology. Not that it would do him any good, but still, it was nice to see a man with a strong core.
That fucking ringtone he’d recorded for Eva’s cell suddenly sounded off in his mind, snapping him out of his budding bromance. He narrowed his eyes in warning. This was his territory, and that territory included the woman . . . who was now moving away from him. Toward what could possibly be the competition. Shit. He stiffened his spine and braced himself for the worst.
Eva, who’d looked like she’d swallowed vinegar every time she’d said Caleb’s name lately, now went right into the bastard’s waiting arms. Accepting an overly familiar embrace that had Paynne’s hard body meshing with her softness from chest to thigh. Gabriel forced himself to turn away, with the pretense of adjusting his gun to a more secure position in the waistband of his jeans. When what he really wanted to do was go back a few minutes and actually pull the trigger on the fucker.
Guess she’d forgiven the biker for his part in the deception.
He returned his attention to them when he heard Eva’s quiet sniffle, and he just about popped a vein when he had to stand there and watch the guy cup her cheeks and brush away her tears with his thumbs.
That was his job!
Quan nudged his ribs, a disapproving expression on his face. “Take a breath, man. They’ve been friends for years.”
“Hey,” Paynne said quietly to Eva. “What’s all this?”
She sniffled again. “Even though I’m not speaking to you because you’re a liar, I’m happy to see you.” The biker’s hands moved from her face, which was good, but then loosely clasped her upper arms. Not good.
“Finally clued in, huh? Took you long enough,” Paynne chuckled.
“It’s not funny, Caleb. How could you lie to me?” The tips of her fingers brushed over the guy’s shiner. “What happened?”
Caleb dropped his arm and glanced over to Gabriel. “Got a kiss from the Grim Reaper.”
Gabriel frowned. Vincente had gifted the guy with a right hook? Good.
“Well, he saved me the trouble,” Eva said dryly. “Jerk.” Gabriel watched her, as if in slow motion, lift her hand to playfully run it down the length of Paynne’s face. That soft palm touched his broad forehead, closed eyes, a fairly straight nose, and then . . . another man’s lips. Concern was etched on her face over his well-deserved shiner.
“Wasn’t my story to tell, Priss.” Paynne smiled and copied the infuriating face brush.
Gabriel turned away before he puked and addressed the redhead. “I apologize for frightening you earlier, Nika. We thought you were someone else.”
“Caleb told me a little about what’s been going on, so I get it. Thank you, Gabriel, for all you’ve done for Eva.” She reached up and gave him a hug, her body going rigid when he put an arm around her back to return it. He released her quickly. Girl clearly didn’t like being touched.
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s been my pleasure.”
“Hers, too,” Quan said with humor. He was peering out the kitchen window, his back to them.
Gabriel smirked when Eva excitedly filled the Paynnes in on her newfound family; her cousin received the majority of the attention because he was actually in the room.
“Wait. Your father?” Nika’s eyes widened in surprise. She turned and studied Alek, perhaps looking for a family resemblance. “This is crazy. I just saw you the day before yesterday and you knew none of this then?”
“I found out last night.”
“Who broke the front window?” Paynne asked him.
“Furio.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get your call last night,” Nika was saying to Eva, but she turned to Gabriel, glancing quickly at her brother when he cursed. “Who’s Furio?”
“Listen,” Gabriel said to the both of them. “Now isn’t the time to get into it. Come by the hotel. You girls can have a drink and discuss it. I have some guys coming by here any minute to”—he glanced at the door—“do repairs and start packing some of Eva’s things. When they arrive, we’re gone.”
Alek clapped Paynne on the shoulder. “My uncle appreciates all you did for his daughter while she was in New York. We all do,” he added with a meaningful look in Gabriel’s direction.
The biker’s lips curled up, giving him an arrogant expression. “Yeah. Like it was a hardship. I’ve been covering these two since they had pigtails and braces.”
A pure, innocent affection rang true in the biker’s voice, making Gabriel feel dirty for what he’d been thinking. It was clear the man saw Eva as another little sister.
But he had to be sure.
Without a word, he gripped Eva’s wrist and pulled her out of the kitchen and down the hall, not stopping until they were at the foot of the stairs. He lifted her by the waist and thumped her onto the first step so that they were standing face-to-face. He had to put this to rest. Give his head a fucking break.
“Has anything ever happened between you and Paynne?”
She frowned, confused. “Anything ever happened . . . ?” And then she was laughing. At Gabriel. As if he were an idiot.
When her laughter didn’t subside, he bit out, “It was a simple question, not a fucking routine.”
“If you knew our history, then you’d be laughing at such a dumb question, too. He’s like my brother.”
The knots in his back unraveled.
“And,” she continued, “you know firsthand I’ve only ever been with you. So why would you ask me that?”
“Because I’m jealous as fuck over how close you are,” he admitted baldly, not caring how it made him look. He leaned in close to her ear. “Don’t touch his face again. There’s no good reason for it, and I’m pretty sure I felt an artery rupture from having to watch that.”
She sobered. “It’s just something we’ve always done to bug each other. It didn’t mean—”
“Find a different something. One that doesn’t include him putting his hands on you. Or yours on him.” For a suspended moment, Gabriel wasn’t sure if he would get kissed or kicked.
“We’re friends, great friends. What he said was true. He’s had my and Nika’s back forever. I remember they came to visit me when I first moved to New York. We went out one night and Caleb heard a couple of guys at the bar saying they were going to slip something into my drink so they could . . . whatever.” She jerked her thumb back toward the kitchen where the biker was. “He stopped them, Gabriel. Do you have any idea what those creeps could have done to me? And Caleb stopped them. Hard,” she stressed.
Fuck. He owed the guy more than he’d thought.
“But I understand where you’re coming from. I’d feel the same if the tables were turned. I guess,” she quickly added at the end.
That surprised him. “You would?” She felt possessive of him?
“I hate to admit it, but yes. I find the thought of you with another woman very . . . maddening. Knowing you’ve slept with so many others actually make
s me want to—I don’t like thinking about it.”
Well, well. He liked this side of her. Not that he’d found a side of her he didn’t like yet. Although he preferred her willing-in-bed side to her furious-scratch-his-eyes-out side. “Where do you get the idea that there have been so many others?”
She arched an eyebrow at him.
Chuckling, he smoothed his palms down her hips. Sure, he’d had his fair share of partners, but compared with someone like, say, Maksim, he was more innocent than Eva.
His brother’s vow to kill anyone he got close to had had a little something to do with reducing his bed count during the last five years.
To close the subject, he brushed his lips across hers. Lightly. This was the closest she’d come to admitting she still wanted him. Had she forgiven him? He didn’t know.
But it was a start. Their remaining time together just might be a little more enjoyable than he’d thought.
With a roll of his neck, he intertwined their fingers and pulled her down the hallway to the kitchen. They’d barely stepped into the room when the biker motioned Gabriel back out. He nudged Eva toward Nika and followed Paynne.
The biker stood by the front entrance, arms across his chest, face hard. “Your brother came to my place last night waving Nika’s pic under my nose.”
And the shit just kept piling.
“Got it. Meet us at the hotel. We’ll form a plan.” He glanced at the space around him. “I can’t relax here.”
And he wouldn’t relax, he thought as he returned to the kitchen.
Not until Eva and now Nika were safe from Stefano.
CHAPTER 17
“Pull up out front. I don’t feel good about using the garage anymore,” Gabriel said an hour later as they came up on the Crown Jewel. Quan was driving with Alek next to him. Eva and Gabriel were in the back.
Nika and Caleb had left her house shortly after the “movers” arrived to pack up Eva’s selected items and a few pieces of furniture. The duo had driven off in Caleb’s rental—the vehicle Eva hadn’t recognized. The movers had worked with such efficiency, they were done in thirty minutes. Then again, she hadn’t taken everything. Only the things that mattered.
A Love of Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 1) Page 24