Evernight Publishing ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2015 Emma Anderson
ISBN: 978-1-77233-278-0
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Jessica Ruth
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
I can never go past thanking my family. They are my rock that has held fast in this tumultuous journey.
I would also like to send my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to two very special women. They offered me both advice and a kick up the butt when I needed it. Bellann Summer and Honor James, your friendship means more to me than words can say.
And finally, a big thank you to Evernight Publishing for taking a chance on this series. It was written with your publishing house in mind, and I have not regretted my choice. The support and guidance I have received have made the journey less stressful. An especially loud call out to Jessica, my editor. You rock!
DEVIL TAKES HIS INNOCENT
The Fall of the Four Horsemen, 1
Emma Anderson
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
Welcome to Sin City. Where the stakes are high and playboys are many. A place where bets are laid and deals are made. The paranormal world thrive in this environment, wheeling and dealing, living and loving. The Four Horsemen are no different. The people of Las Vegas feed their hunger without even trying. They are known by many names—Death, Conquest, War, and Famine—but those close to them know them as Devil, Viper, Judge, and Chaos. They run their business, Celestial Desert Paradise Hotel and Casino, the way they live their lives, ruthlessly. They are unforgiving when wronged. It’s something that one man is about to discover when he strikes a deal with the Devil that will change both of their lives.
“Mr. Harrison, as it stands at the moment, your debt with us is in excess of a quarter of a million dollars,” Conrad “Devil” Torments said as he leaned back in his chair behind his large mahogany desk. “It needs to be cleared before any further credit can be offered.”
Devil already knew this man had nothing to give. He had delved deeper into Jeffrey Harrison’s financial records. He was a gambling addict with nothing to his name but increasing debts. He had been in recovery from his addiction for the last thirty years, only to have fallen off the wagon three months earlier after the death of his wife. It would seem he had sold everything of value and taken up his old habit.
When he had walked into the casino within the hotel, Jeffrey Harrison had rolls of cash. By the end of the night he had procured a line of credit with the casino. That line of credit had been extended beyond what protocol allowed. The employee responsible had been fired. But that did nothing to help this man, who was in over his head, or the casino replenish the lost funds.
“I promise you, Mr. Torments, I will get it for you. If you could just give me a few days,” Jeffrey Harrison promised. Devil didn’t need his vampire senses to recognize the lies falling from this man’s mouth.
“I need more than your words, Mr. Harrison. You have had more leeway than others, and that needs to stop now. My brothers and I have a business to run, and I can’t allow the likes of you to ruin everything we have built up,” Devil stated seriously. “I already know you have nothing. How do you propose to pay us back?”
“I have a daughter.”
This surprised Devil. Not that this man was willing to sell his child to cover his habit. It wasn’t the first time he had seen it, and he very much doubted it would be the last. What did surprise him was the fact that the daughter hadn’t been mentioned anywhere in the report compiled on this man. A deadbeat son, yes, but no daughter. Devil’s senses told him that this man spoke the truth. Still he challenged him.
“Don’t lie to me, Mr. Harrison!”
“I’m not. She carries her mother’s name,” Jeffrey Harrison stammered. “The woman was a call girl when I met her during my short separation from my wife. We didn’t stay together long, just long enough to create a daughter. She’s just like her mother.”
Still unsure, Devil clicked his fingers impatiently and asked, “Do you have a photo of her?”
The man rummaged through his wallet. Shaking fingers fumbled, pulling a folded piece of paper from behind one of his many useless cards. He handed it straight over to Devil, the page still doubled over. When he unfolded it, his interest was piqued.
There on the paper lay his personal wet dream. The young woman was gorgeous. Her long, blonde, wavy hair hung down her back, strands blowing in the wind. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with laughter in reaction to something someone had said or done. The hand on her hip highlighted her curves. The word “perfect” came to mind. It was time to do what he did best, wheel and deal.
Chapter One
Gabby Winters stumbled toward her car. She had just worked one of the longest shifts of her four-year nursing career. A major crash involving a busload of children came in several hours ago. Doctors and nurses had been called in to cover the large amount of incoming patients. The ER had only begun to calm down thirty minutes earlier.
But now she didn’t want to think any more about work. As soon as she had walked out the hospital doors she had started her two-week vacation. The first one she had taken since becoming a nurse. She planned on heading out to the cabin her grandfather had left her in his will. It was an old hunting cabin that sat on a large piece of land. No one apart from her best friend and roommate, Nikki, knew it existed. It was her little secret getaway. Even better, there was no Wi-Fi or phone coverage. Nobody could bother her.
As she drew closer to her car, the one thing she knew she wasn’t going to miss vibrated in her bag. Pulling out her phone, she read the caller ID. It was the man who had a hand in creating her, but nothing else. He had left her mother heartbroken as soon as he had discovered that she was pregnant. It would seem that he was desperate to get a hold of her, because her phone displayed a number of missed calls from him.
“What do you want, Jeffrey?” she asked, not bothering with the usual pleasantries she offered everyone else. “I’ve just got off work, and I’m exhausted.”
“You’re going to do something for me.”
“What, you’re forgoing the normal asking, and going straight for the demanding? I don’t think so.”
Jeffrey Harrison and his son Grant had walked into her life five years earlier. She’d stood at her mother’s fresh graveside, crying over the loss of the only family she had left. In her grieving state, she allowed these two men into her life and had regretted it ever since. Jeffrey’s wife treated her like an intruder, taking any opportunity to send a malicious dig Gabby’s way. Jeffrey was no better. In fact, his comments had become even more hurtful after his wife had passed away. Over the last three months, he had contacted Gabby only when he wanted something from her. And each call ended in vile, menacing commentary about her looks or her mother, when Jeffrey had failed to obtain what he wanted.
Grant was no better, except he tended to whine to win Gabby’s favor. The only contact she had with him was when he wanted money. Money she didn’t have. She was a nurse. What kind of wage did he think she was on? She still had a large college debt hanging over her head, and her savings, while minimal, were her rainy day fund.
“Stop with the dramatics, girl. You’re going to get th
at fat ass of yours dressed sexy and take yourself over to the Celestial Desert Paradise Hotel and Casino, room 1102. The man’s expecting my call girl daughter to arrive by nine. Your body is going to clear my gambling debt,” came the man’s disgusting reply.
“Not happening!”
“It’s either you, or I send him after your pretty little roommate. It’s probably been a while since she has had a little male attention.”
That had Gabby’s attention.
Three years ago, Nikki had been brutally beaten and raped by her then on-again, off-again boyfriend. Gabby had been at her father’s having dinner when she’d received the call from the emergency room. Scared for her friend, she had dropped her defenses and told Jeffrey and his wife what had happened before racing to Nikki’s side. Nikki knew nothing of Jeffrey’s knowledge of her attack. Gabby could never hurt her best friend by telling her that one of the few people she despised knew of her traumatic experience. It would seem that Nikki’s opinion was well deserved. Jeffrey’s morals were not just limited as she had previously thought, but nonexistent, if he was going to use one of the worst times in Nikki’s life to his advantage.
“So what’s it going to be, girl? Either you or your friend?” Jeffrey’s question drew Gabby out of her ponderings.
“You’re an evil bastard. Do you know that?”
“I don’t really care what you think of me, girl, as long as you get the job done!”
“So your conscience sees nothing wrong with using someone’s body to clear your debt?”
“Not someone’s, yours. And you owe me!”
“How the hell do you figure that?”
“The knowledge of your existence killed my Betty,” he accused, his voice softening at the use of his late wife’s name.
“Cancer killed her, not me!”
“You are a cancer!” he spat. It wasn’t the first name she had been called by this man, and probably wouldn’t be the last, either. “Now answer the damn question. Is it you or your friend who’s clearing my debt?”
“Why the hell should either one of us do it? What’s stopping us from going to the cops?” she demanded, knowing Jeffrey feared the police and the idea of going to jail.
“You do and you’re asking for hell to land on your doorstep,” Jeffrey said. “This man is not a person to be toyed with. He’s dangerous. You’d do well to remember that.”
Gabby hung up on her father, not bothering to respond to his demands. Jeffrey, however, knew Gabby would do anything in her power to protect her best friend. She had no intentions of allowing any form of danger to darken Nikki’s life. Her life had already been marred by evil. Gabby refused to see her friend suffer any further. The question was, could she allow Jeffrey this sort of power over her life and her body? Did she have any other choice in the matter? Could she believe Jeffrey’s assessment of the man? Could she risk not believing it? No matter what question she asked herself, her thoughts continually returned to Nikki’s safety. Gabby needed to protect her friend from any further harm at all cost. It was something she had failed to do three years earlier. It would never happen again.
The night Nikki had been attacked, Gabby was at work. It wasn’t even her shift, but one of the other nurses had called in sick. The decision to take on the extra work had been one that she had regretted ever since. Not usually one to dwell on past events, this one haunted her, and would probably do so for the rest of her life. If she had followed her own schedule, Gabby would have been home when Nikki’s ex had broken into the apartment she shared with Nikki. She could have stopped the attack before it had even started. She hadn’t been able to protect Nikki from the danger then, but she could now. She would deal with the consequences of allowing Jeffrey this kind of power over her later. Her resolve was set. She would give this man an hour of her time, no more, but hopefully less. Gabby’s love for her friend would see her giving the stranger her body, but nothing else. Well, that wasn’t exactly true.
Little did either man know, she would also be losing something else tonight. It was something she had been able to hold on to for the last twenty-five years. Her virginity. She had wanted an experience like those she had read about in the many romances stored on her Kindle. But instead she would no doubt be giving her virginity to a man who wouldn’t value it. She would though, because she knew it would be lost ensuring Nikki’s continued safety.
Two hours later, she was still questioning her sanity. She should, by all rights, have called the cops on Jeffrey. That way she would probably have already been snuggled up in bed right now, ready to start her vacation the next day. Instead she was snuggled up in a dress that was two sizes too small for her, walking over soft carpet toward a strange man’s hotel room. Well, walking probably wasn’t the best description for what she was doing in the stiletto shoes. Nikki had been excited about the prospect of Gabby “having a date,” even if it was one set up by Jeffrey. She had taken great pleasure in dressing her as if she were a Barbie doll. A Barbie doll who had eaten too much chocolate cake.
She couldn’t tell Nikki the truth behind this little outing. It would not only draw to the surface memories that were best left in the past, but her friend would have insisted they called the police. Gabby would have usually agreed had it not been for this mystery man. He was an unknown variable. He was an associate of Jeffrey’s whom the man seemed to fear. There was no way of telling how dangerous he was. And placing Nikki in danger was the last thing she would ever do. So Gabby had painted Jeffrey in a fatherly light for once, and thankfully the idea of her meeting a guy had stirred Nikki’s romantic juices, rather than her more suspicious side.
Reaching the door, she hesitated. Her anger at Jeffrey and protective instincts toward Nikki abandoned her. In their place, for the first time since the call, was fear. Fear for herself. For all she knew, a mass murderer could be on the other side of the door. One lying in wait, planning his next crime.
Shaking her head, a nervous giggle escaped her. She was allowing her nerves to get the better of her. Jeffrey at least had the fortitude to explain that he had told this man that she was a call girl, like her mother. Though considering he was capable of prostituting his own daughter out to a stranger, his word really meant very little. As added insurance, Gabby had ensured that Nikki knew where she was going and when to expect her home.
She lifted her hand to knock. But before she could, the door was flung open. There stood every girl’s fantasy guy. Her attention was immediately drawn to his chest. His curved muscles were barely contained under his tight black t-shirt. Moving her line of sight upward, passing his strong, chiseled jawline, her gaze collided with his black, mesmerizing eyes. He belonged in one of her romances, as the hero. Why did he have to be playing the villain instead?
Forcing her hand out, she offered it to this gorgeous, yet evil, man and said, “Hi, I was sent—”
“Yes, yes, I know why you’re here,” the man said, dragging her into the room and shutting the door.
The simple touch of his hand on her arm sent a tingling sensation from her wrist down to her pussy. She had never reacted to anyone the way she did him. Reminding herself whose associate this was, she pulled from his hold and moved toward the expansive window that looked out upon the Strip. Even knowing what light Jeffrey had painted her in, her hips still desperately wanted to put in an extra swing for this man, but her skyscraper shoes wouldn’t allow it. She had no desire to fall flat on her face.
Looking out across the lights, Gabby was reminded how lucky she was to live in such a beautiful city. She had lived in Las Vegas all her life, yet she never grew tired of the lit up view. Her attention was drawn away from the spectacular light show when she felt the man stand beside her.
Unable to contain her curiosity about this man who she desperately wanted to see as a hero, she turned and asked, “So how do you know Jeffrey?”
“I have no desire to discuss that man tonight,” he responded gruffly. “I have plans for us. But first, tell me your name.”
&
nbsp; With her head held high, she replied, “Barbie.”
“Well, Barbie,” the man said with a mocking tone. “They call me Devil. Do you know how I came by that name?”
Even though they both knew her name wasn’t real, she took offense at this man’s attitude. He expected a call girl, and that was exactly what she was giving him, name and all. “No, but time is ticking. So if you want to waste it talking then by all means, please explain. It makes no difference to me. Your hour started from the moment I walked into the room.”
With a raised eyebrow and a downturned mouth, he replied, “It’s because I’m ruthless in business and in the bedroom. I take and do what I want in both forums. Now strip.”
“Not even going to offer me a drink?” she asked sarcastically.
“I have plans to do that, have no fear,” he promised, rubbing his groin.
Her pussy wept at the promise of her mouth gaining a new experience as her gaze fell to where his hand continued its up-and-down motion. What lay beneath it had her heart racing. If the bulge was anything to go by, Devil was huge, and still her untouched body wanted it. Even knowing who he was affiliated with didn’t stop her body from responding instantly to him. Why of all the men she had met did it have to be this one who succeeded in bringing her body to life?
Her mind began replaying a scene from the book she was currently reading. The heroine was lying across the bonnet of the hero’s car. Her legs hung over his forearms as he pounded into her. Only the two main characters had been replaced by herself and Devil. A blush heated her cheeks. The man before her was potent. Never before had she even considered sleeping with a man. Yet here she was, no longer just accepting her fate in the name of protecting Nikki, but wanting it. Wanting this man, imagining he was something she knew he wasn’t. A hero.
Devil Takes His Innocent Page 1