by Lora Leigh
“Slip this into the back of your jeans.” Flipping the safety on the small handgun he laid in Mikayla’s hands, he stared back at her. “Keep your shirt pulled over it. Stay behind me, and if things go from sugar to shit, head for the nearest exit. Understand?”
She nodded, her amethyst eyes wide as excitement flushed her face.
Damn, he hoped he was right about this. Everything pointed to Maddix being alone in the house. He wouldn’t expect Nik and Mikayla to be showing up if he had been seen. He should be off guard. That was all Nik needed to make certain Mikayla was safe.
“Let’s go.” He got out of the truck before coming around to help Mikayla out.
Jordan and Ian slipped out unnoticed, sliding into the darkness as Nik led Mikayla to the front door.
The doors opened as they approached them, a confused Maddix Nelson staring back at them in silence.
“Nik?” He looked at Mikayla. “I heard there were problems at Ms. Martin’s home?”
“A shooter.” Nik escorted Mikayla inside as Maddix stepped aside.
Mikayla stared around the foyer, her gaze searching, ears listening for anyone else who might be there.
“Come into the living room,” Maddix said, a note of confusion still in his voice as he invited them into the room. “Is there something wrong?”
“A few things,” Nik stated as they moved into the luxurious television room. “Are Glenda and Luke here?”
Maddix shook his head as he moved toward a well-appointed wet bar. “Glenda is out with friends and Luke hasn’t been around for a day or so. He’ll show up when he sobers up, I imagine.” The hint of disgust in Maddix’s voice wasn’t feigned.
“Then you’re alone?” Nik asked.
Maddix glanced up from the drinks. “Is that a problem?”
“Only if you weren’t here when Mikayla was attacked,” Nik stated coldly.
“Then we don’t have a problem.” Maddix shrugged. “Would you like a drink?”
“No, thanks. We’re fine.”
Maddix fixed his own as Mikayla watched him. Surely there would be some hint of nervousness, something other than confusion, as he fixed his drink, glancing at them with a frown.
“Nik, why are you and Ms. Martin here?” he finally asked as he moved to the butter-soft leather sofa in front of a cold fireplace and took a seat. “I’m going to assume it has something to do with the shooting.”
Mikayla stayed close to Nik as he shifted and glanced to the open doorway.
“I saw you there, Maddix.”
Maddix stared at them as though he couldn’t process Nik’s words. “Excuse me?”
“I saw you.” Nik moved, sliding his hand to his side to release the weapon holstered there.
“I’d leave that gun there if I were you, Steele.”
Mikayla swung around, her heart in her throat; the only thing overriding her fear was her anger as she saw Luke Nelson standing just inside the doorway, gun in hand and pointing to them.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Maddix moved slowly to his feet as Mikayla glanced at him, his gaze widening, shock and bemusement marking his face. The same bemusement she was beginning to feel herself.
Maddix acted innocent. Luke was definitely guilty of something, but he looked nothing like his father, physically; there was no way she or Nik could have mistaken him for Maddix if he had been the one at the house.
“Luke, put that damned gun away,” Maddix ordered harshly. “What the hell is going on with you?”
Luke’s smile could have rivaled Nik’s for icy disdain.
“You’re inherently stupid,” Luke drawled. “I realized that before Mother ever divorced you. You’d think you’d be smarter with all the success you’ve had with the business Grandfather gave you when he retired.”
Maddix’s eyes narrowed. “What have you done, Luke?”
“Let’s say I made my choice and picked the winning team.” Stepping back, he glanced to the hall, and a second later Mikayla well understood how Maddix Nelson could be in two places at once.
The man who stepped into the door was his exact likeness. He was even dressed in the same clothes Maddix was wearing.
“Good evening, Ms. Martin,” he greeted her, his voice an exact match to Maddix’s as well. “It seems my marksmanship isn’t all it should be. Though if it were, where would my witnesses be?” He chuckled, a low, evil sound that sent a chill racing up her spine.
It was almost impossible to believe. Maddix Nelson had no brothers. How many times had she heard that Maddix Nelson was his father’s sole heir when he had taken over the business? As though being an only child were a handicap.
If the look on Maddix’s face was anything to go by, then the belief was mutual.
“Luke?” Maddix spoke to his son, but the disbelief and confusion in his voice were heavy.
Luke laughed. It was a mocking sound, heavy with cruelty.
“Maddix Nelson, meet your twin brother, Floyd Cantwell. Did you know your grandfather was the one who made the decision to split the two of you up at birth?” Luke’s smile was hard, brutal. “To raise Floyd with the knowledge that he was the lesser son, the one he threw away? I understand how he feels.”
Maddix pulled his gaze from the brother to the son. Mikayla could see the disbelief in Maddix’s gaze, the agony, and the fear.
“I never threw you away,” he whispered as though in shock.
“You threw me away for your first child, that fucking company you prize so highly,” Luke snarled. “But I’ve decided you’re not the best father and now I’m choosing the father I want. And I chose the new Maddix Nelson.”
Maddix was pale, staring at his son as though he had lost his mind, as though he had ripped his father’s heart from his chest. She didn’t think she had ever such pain on anyone’s face in her life.
“This is going to be difficult to pull off, Luke,” Nik stated then. “Your father isn’t alone.”
Luke grinned maniacally. “So? You and Maddix argued. He shot you and Mikayla; then you fired at him and killed him. Floyd will then show up as the Nelson heir, since my grandparents so kindly disowned me and my father intends to name that whore Glenda as his heir rather than me.”
Maddix shook his head. “It was a threat. I just wanted you to see what you were throwing away,” he whispered. “I have no other children, Luke.”
“Glenda is trying to get pregnant,” Luke raged. “That cow is trying to breed so you can throw me away like your father threw your brother away.”
Maddix looked at his brother again and shook his head. “You should have come to me,” he whispered. “I would have never disinherited you.”
Mikayla watched as Floyd Cantwell smiled. “I will, when you’re dead. I’ve lived my life in your shadow, Brother. I have no desire to live there any longer.”
As Floyd Cantwell stepped farther into the room, it was easy to tell he thought he was in control. His hazel eyes were chillingly cold, as mean as Luke’s and just as brutal.
Maddix looked as though he’d been struck clear to the soul. He stared at the brother he hadn’t known he had like a man possessed, or one hungry for a connection.
“Did my parents know?” Maddix asked.
Floyd laughed. “No. According to the bitch that raised me, your parents believed I died at birth. There was a nice little funeral, the body of a child who had actually died at birth. It was really quite touching, I was told.”
“By my grandfather?” Maddix’s voice was hollow, so hollow that Mikayla found her heart breaking for him.
He was a man slowly being broken, by a son, a brother, whose loyalty should have exceeded their cruelty.
“By good ole Grandpop.” He laughed before turning to Nik. “Strange, I had you investigated. I didn’t imagine Maddix could actually come up with your fee. And I definitely expected someone more effective. You’ve been more concerned with that cheap piece of ass there than you are with the job,” he stated as he motioned to Mikayla.
; “We all have our weaknesses.”
Mikayla knew the sound of Nik’s voice, and she knew that now he was at his most dangerous. “Ineffective” wasn’t a word she would have applied to Nik. And she could see by his face that calling her a cheap piece of ass hadn’t been a good idea.
“I told him he should have hired someone who knew what they were doing,” Luke snorted. “Thirty-five thousand dollars? A good private investigator costs more than that.”
Thirty-five thousand? Mikayla looked at Maddix. Why had he lied?
“The economy sucks,” Maddix stated. “Business isn’t what it used to be.”
“And I’m tired of suffering for it,” Luke bit out angrily. “I live in poverty because you don’t know how to run a business. But you can give that cow you married whatever she wants.”
It was a normal refrain. Luke was always telling whoever would listen how his father refused to share his wealth or how his wealth lacked because of his intelligence.
Whichever, it seemed Maddix kept his son in the dark concerning any wealth he might actually have.
“I’m rather curious what makes you think you can get away with this,” Nik stated. “Once Maddix is dead and Floyd shows up, people will suspect what happened with the Foreman murder.”
“No one will suspect a thing.” Floyd chuckled. “Maddix killed Eddie. Once it’s done, I’ll finish planting the needed evidence. Of course, if Maddix had cooperated rather than having that fucking meeting that night so suddenly, he would be in prison now and I’d be the owner of the company.”
“Someone’s delusional,” Nik muttered.
Floyd’s gaze sharpened with fury, lighting with rage as he glared back at Nik. “You’re nothing more than a hired gun without a gun. I was watching you. You left your weapon with your friend. I saw you give it to him. Then you rushed right over here. How stupid was that?”
Stupid, Mikayla thought, because Ian had handed that weapon back to Nik in the truck.
“You tried to frame me for Eddie’s murder?” Maddix’s voice was soft, disillusioned. “Destroy me?”
“Of course.” Floyd laughed. “And then I would have framed you for killing this little bitch if she hadn’t been so damned lucky. The first time I shot at her at the job site a cloud moved and sent that damned sunlight right in my eye; the second time, she moved at the last second, the third time that damned car hit a pothole. Then Mr. Muscle here”—he waved at Nik—“managed to reach her before Luke could run her down with your car. She has more lives than a fucking cat.”
“You could have told me you existed.” Maddix sounded as though he was choked. “I would have welcomed you.”
Floyd sneered. “Fuck you. I was the castoff. Now the castoff is going to kill you.”
The gun lifted. At that last second, Nik moved. Mikayla felt what was coming and could do nothing to stop it.
Nik pushed her to the floor, going down with her as gunfire began to echo around her. She heard curses, enraged and furious, as Nik moved.
Maddix went down, his eyes rounded with terror as he began trying to crawl across the floor to her. A bullet fired into the wood floor in front of him, chipping wood and causing him to fling himself to the side.
The lights went out, throwing the room into complete darkness as chaos and bullets swirled around her.
When silence finally reigned, Mikayla struggled to penetrate the shadows, to find Nik. Everything inside her was demanding that she call out to him, that she find him.
Rising to her knees, she stared around desperately, feeling her lips tremble, fear crawling through her system.
“You fucking whore!”
There was no way to avoid the arm that suddenly went around her neck, restricting her breaths as the sound of Luke’s heavy breathing blasted in her ear.
Instantly blinding spots of light centered on them.
“I’ll kill this bitch!” The words were screeched into her ear.
This was Luke. And she had never seen the pure evil that existed inside him.
“You’re going to let her go or I’m going to kill you.” Nik’s voice came out of the darkness. “Don’t make that happen, Luke.”
“Fuck you, Steele!” His arm moved.
A shot rang out.
Mikayla felt Luke still, felt the sudden shock of his body that indicated something had happened before he crumpled behind her.
She was left standing in the middle of the room, her breathing harsh, heavy, for no more than a second. A lifetime. A brutal, freezing eternity before Nik’s arms were suddenly around her. He pulled her against his chest, held her close to him, and she could swear she heard him breathe a prayer.
CHAPTER 24
Luke was dead, as was his uncle Floyd Cantwell. The two men hadn’t known who they were dealing with when they faced Nik. An ineffective mercenary? She didn’t think so. As she watched the black-masked men who filled the Nelson library hours later, she knew he was anything but a mercenary.
Maddix Nelson was slumped in a chair, his third glass of whisky in his hand, tears unashamedly dampening his cheeks. He’d lost everything in a very short amount of time. The brother he hadn’t known he had, the son he hadn’t known the true evil of. He was a man fighting just to believe the events of that evening.
The chief of police and the detective assigned to the case stood close to Maddix while Glenda stood at his side, silently weeping for him.
Say what one did about the woman, she genuinely seemed to care about Maddix.
His parents were on their way from Arizona. God only knew how they would handle the truth of what had happened to the child they had believed had died.
Nik stood with Jordan Malone and Ian Richards on the other side of the room, talking to four other men, all in black masks and black clothing. They were all tall, hard bodied, and hard-eyed as they surveyed the scene.
Clapping Nik on the back, each in turn, they walked through the patio doors as Mikayla watched, disappearing into the night as Ian and Jordan moved to where Maddix and the police sat.
Nik moved to her.
“We’re leaving,” he told her as he held his hand out to her. “I’ve given the investigator your statement. It’s over, baby.”
How could it truly be over when so much had been lost?
Taking his hand, she let him pull her to her feet, his arm wrapping around her as he led her to the door.
“I want to stop at the hospital and check on Kira.” Mikayla wanted to cry until there were no tears left inside her.
“A friend has been at the hospital,” he told her. “Ian checked on Kira; she’s doing fine. She’s resting and she’ll have a few more scars to add to her collection, but she’s going to be fine.”
Mikayla nodded. So much for delaying the inevitable.
“We’re going home, then?” she asked.
“We’re going home,” Nik agreed.
He handled her gently, lifting her into the truck and helping her buckle her seat belt because her hands were shaking so hard. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to watch him leave her.
Pulling into the drive, Nik had to fight to hold back the fear still crawling through his system. Seeing Luke Nelson’s arm around her neck, that gun pointing toward her, had nearly destroyed his soul. If anything had happened to her …
Leaving the truck, he moved around to the passenger side, opened the door, and helped her out. Clasping her waist with his hands, he nearly didn’t set her on her feet. He almost carried her to the house, desperate to keep his hands on her.
He wasn’t going to make it.
He could feel it. The fear and hunger were ripping through him, making it impossible for him to hold on to his self-control.
He didn’t let her go.
Swinging her into his arms, feeling her hands grip his shoulders in surprise, Nik carried her to the house. Unlocking the door took a few seconds longer. Locking it back was almost forgotten as she buried her face in his neck and he felt her tears.
Tea
rs she hadn’t shed at the height of the danger. Tears she hadn’t allowed him to see in the truck.
What would happen to him if he lost her?
Nik knew he would never be able to survive if Mikayla was taken from his arms.
He didn’t set her down on her feet until he reached the bedroom. Then he still didn’t put her on her feet. He laid her back on the bed and proceeded to slowly, easily, remove her clothing before tearing his own from his body.
He had to touch her. He had to feel her.
Ah, God.
“Never again.” The words tore from Nik’s throat as he came over her, his lips burrowing in her neck. “Never again, baby. Sweet God, it won’t happen again.”
There was no time for preliminaries, no time to get a handle on himself or to balance the combination of hunger, rage, and fear that whipped through his system.
His lips covered hers as he felt her arms wrap around him, holding on to him tight, so tight. But nothing was as tight as the hold she had on his soul. Nothing as warm as the pure, sweet heat of her flesh against his, her lips moving beneath his, her tongue dancing with his.
“Sweet Mikayla,” he groaned, his lips moving to her neck, his tongue stroking her flesh, tasting her as he moved desperately between her thighs, parting them, lifting them to his hips as he pressed against the slick, silken folds of her pussy.
Her flesh parted, giving and soft beneath the iron-hard head of his cock. Pressing inside her, he breathed out roughly as he felt her inner muscles begin to clench and tighten around him.
Nothing was so sweet, so beautiful, as his little fairy.
Lifting his head, staring down at her, he watched her face as he took her. Watched the soft heat that filled her gaze, the sensuality that overwhelmed her expression.
Sweet Lord, he could never live without this again. How the hell could he ever live without her touch, her laughter, without the pure unbridled hunger she filled him with?
“Hold me.” The words were torn from him; he couldn’t hold them back as she took him, the milking sweetness of her pussy wrapping around his cock. It flexed, rippled, held him like the sweetest, tightest glove.
“I’ll always hold you.” Her voice, her vow, washed over him, locked her inside his soul.