“Yes, we’re landing in New York, but we’re not staying here.”
“We’re not?”
“Have a seat, honey. I’m about to bring this baby down.”
She turned to leave.
“No, stay here.” Sean showed her a chair directly behind his and watched her buckle up before returning to the task of bringing down the jet on a less than ideal landing strip.
Forty-five minutes later, Sean held Malika’s hand as they descended the long stairway to the tarmac. She had her laptop in a backpack slung over her shoulder. Waiting at the bottom of the stairway was his SEAL teammates, Dominic Stone, Neo Zuberi, and Enrique Ricardo Zayas. Knowing that there would be mercenaries coming after Malika, Sean felt that he needed all hands on deck and was happy to see that Xavier Bautista, former US Special Forces and now a DEA agent, had accompanied the guys as well.
Sean grinned broadly at the pissed-off look on Dominic’s face. With his wife, Rinah, pregnant again with their fourth child, Sean knew Dom hated leaving her alone.
“Good morning, gentlemen, I hope you’ve had your Wheaties,” Sean teased as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Never mind the Wheaties, who’s this Nubian princess with you?” Neo asked. He looked at Malika with obvious masculine interest.
The easy smile that was always on Sean’s face immediately disappeared on the sight of Neo checking Malika’s ass out. Sean grabbed her around the waist, palmed her stomach, and pulled her to stand in front of him, the most coveted part of her anatomy held against him. “This is Malika. This one’s off-limits, so bugger off!”
His angry tone obviously didn’t offend Neo in the least because Neo laughed cheerfully and moved closer to them. “Malika, your sister?” Neo’s gaze roamed over her as though he wanted to devour her. He smacked his lips. “My, my, my, daymnnnn, you have a very beautiful sister.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Neo,” Sean growled. “You know damn well Duchess isn’t my sister.” Sean was feeling plenty raw after their intense lovemaking a few hours ago, and Malika acted as though nothing had happened between them.
The angry scowl on Dominic’s face dissolved to be replaced by a wicked grin. “I don’t know, Sean. You told us she was your sister.”
“She is not my sister,” he roared through clenched teeth, enunciating each word.
“It’s all right, man. Your ass is just too damn pale to hold her interest anyway. Not your fault,” Neo teased. “I’m just the brudder for such a fine sista. I can satisfy her every need.” Neo reached out his hand in greeting to Malika.
Sean was stunned when Malika took Neo’s hand, and of course, the idiot held on to it.
“Hi, I’m Neo. Heaven must be in mourning right now.” He placed his other hand on his heart and patted it in the motion of increased heartbeat.
Malika laughed at Neo’s antics. “Why would Heaven be in mourning?” she asked.
“Because one of its angels just fell down to earth,” Neo whispered dramatically.
Sean growled low and deep. He tightened his arm around her, pulling her just out of Neo’s reach, and held her even closer against him. “Shut the hell up with your lame-ass pick-up lines,” Sean snarled.
“There’s more where that came from.” Neo wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Is there a doctor in the house?” He looked around as if expecting a doctor to step forward. “I think I’m about to be diagnosed with diabetes.”
“What?” Malika giggled.
“I’m about to be a diabetic from being in the presence of all this sweetness, all this sweet brown sugar!”
Malika laughed when Neo then started singing in a Barry White baritone voice to the song, “Sugar” by Adam Levine. “Brown sugar—yes please…”
Malika laughed until her sides hurt from Neo’s gyrating and singing.
Sean was not amused. “Everyone wants to be a fuckin’ comedian,” he muttered and started to move Malika away from Neo.
“I hate to break up the beginning of a beautiful romance, but we’re about to have company,” Rico said urgently.
They all knew to trust Rico’s uncanny ability to detect danger before it arrived. Neo, Xavier, and Sean formed a wall around Malika with their weapons drawn.
“Get her on the plane,” Dominic demanded.
They moved swiftly toward a sleek Gulfstream G650 jet, whose engine was already switched on for takeoff and sat next to the jet they had just exited. Racing quickly up the stairs, they made it into the doorway of the jet seconds before the sound of gunshots filled the air.
“I got her,” Xavier yelled as he wrapped Malika in his arms and entered the aircraft.
“Hooyah!” Rico shouted before turning on the men advancing toward them.
Their number seemed insurmountable as they swarmed toward the aircraft.
Returning fire in flight, Sean and Neo jumped from the top of the stairs to the ground.
“Sean?” Malika yelled from the doorway of the jet, Xavier ensuring that she stayed securely behind him.
“I’ll be right there, babe.” Sean grinned as he picked off yet another mercenary coming at them. “How many of these fuckers are here anyway?” Sean muttered as men continued pouring onto the tarmac and shooting at them. After being trapped in the air for the past few hours and not being able to go after the men wanting to harm Malika, Sean was itching to get rid of some of his built-up anger. As both guns and knives were being brandished by their attackers, they were forced to engage in some hand-to-hand combat. Sean used his own brand of Jujutsu and Karate to break arms and legs and snap necks until they were in grotesque angles while shooting his gun to eliminate approaching targets.
Dominic muttered under his breath, saying something about fuckers as he and Neo joined Sean in the same technique of fighting. Rico wore a wide grin as he pulled out his special knives. Sean wanted to laugh at his friend’s ease and expertise with his knives. I’ll bet these fuckers are sorry they ever brought knives into this fight. Rico was meticulous and used only minimal maneuvers to deliver each lethal blow.
The fight that ensued was swift. And although they had been so heavily outnumbered, they dispatched the mercenaries with brutal efficiency. Leaving the bodies of their attackers on the tarmac, and the staff of the private airstrip in stunned disbelief, they entered the Gulfstream jet almost an hour later.
They had barely closed the door of the jet before the pilot had the aircraft taxiing down the runway.
“I want to have a conversation with your sister as soon as we takeoff,” Dominic muttered. He was still angry at being ambushed.
“She’s not my damn sister!” Sean growled.
“How the fuck did they know where to find her?”Dominic ignored Sean’s outburst. “More importantly, who the fuck did she piss off?”
Everyone slumped down in whatever vacant seat was nearest to him. Sean was pleased that Dominic had brought one of his own jets from his fleet of five. Sonofabitch is as rich as Midas! Everything about this aircraft displayed luxury and elegance. The large cabin, decorated in ivory, mahogany fittings, and gold accents, featured leather recliners and sofas, thick carpet on the floor, an entertainment area, and an area set as though it was a boardroom. Unlike his father’s jet, which had one bedroom, this one didn’t have any, but it did have private staterooms. The jet was built for business comfort and speed.
“They could have been following the media mogul Sean Anderson,” Malika said from her seat. Sean had taken a recliner next to hers. “It was easy enough to get Sean’s flight plan. I bet they weren’t expecting the rest of you though.”
“Who are we talking about here?” Neo asked. “Sean sent us a message to meet him in New York and that you needed our help.” Neo looked at Sean seated across from him. “You were a little light on the information, bro.”
The jet rose smoothly into the air.
“Those men were employed by Patrick O’Malley,” Malika whispered.
They all looked at her in stunned silence.
“Patrick O’Malley, former IRA general?” Dominic wanted to clarify.
“Yes.”
“How did you manage to piss off the one man in the world with almost as big an arsenal as the US government?” Dominic was incredulous.
“Hey, what the hell, man?” Sean frowned at him.
“What?” Dominic didn’t back down from his question. “It’s a fair question.”
“Duchess didn’t ask this mudderfucker to come after her. She tried to stop the transshipment of weapons being used to kill innocent women and children. The British government should have dealt with O’Malley years ago. Now this fucker can’t be touched by any government.”
“That still doesn’t explain why he’s after her. What’s even more surprising is how she’s lived this long. Usually when O’Malley wants someone dead, they’re as good as dead.” Dominic continued looking at her in confusion and a bit of awe.
“He doesn’t know who I am,” Malika stated quietly and then looked to Sean for guidance on what to say next. “And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want me dead. He wants me under his control.”
Sean moved from his seat and sat on the arm of her recliner. “You’re among family, Duchess. You can tell these guys anything you would tell me.”
Malika nodded and then told them what she had shared with Sean previously, but this time she was more specific about how O’Malley had been pursuing her. “After I confiscated the funds out of O’Malley’s account, he had been furious since the Russians and Syrians had already taken possession of the weapons and had refused to return them. As far as the two governments were concerned, they had fulfilled their end of the deal. So the very thing I tried to subvert happened anyway. The loss of innocent lives in Ukraine and Syria is still going on.” Malika shook her head in disgust.
“O’Malley tried various avenues of getting to me, but since no one really knew how to find me or even what my true identity was, he was forced to go after other agents. He has killed a number of agents in an attempt to gain information and has been trying to get me out in the open. Yesterday, he succeeded because I trusted the wrong man.” She told them about Jeremy. The men stared back at her in silence for endless seconds, seeming stupefied that she had eluded such a dangerous man.
“We’re going to have to put the bastard down.” Xavier spoke for the first time into the silence that had descended among them.
“Yeah, O’Malley will never stop trying to find her and may even start targeting Sean’s family if Sean tries to stop him,” Dominic agreed.
“I called my father before we left England. My father used a friend’s plane and got out of Melbourne yesterday. He, my mom, and Duchess’ mom are all safe. I doubt O’Malley will waste resources in trying to find them yet. He doesn’t know who I am. He possibly knows about Sean Anderson CEO of Media Corp and Broadcasting. My identity as a US Navy SEAL has never been widely known. It will take him a while to come across that information and connect me to you guys.”
“Yeah, but what about your sister and brother?” Neo asked.
Sean laughed. “I’ve been estranged from my siblings for years. They resent that I have full control of their funds and I think they’re a waste of space. My sister is so strung out on pills she’s in yet another rehab center. She’ll take a while to locate and may not be worth the effort. And my brother is a nature freak and his latest obsession is Africa. Good luck finding that one. I’ve never shown any real interest in them, and most people know that.”
“I’ve frozen all of his accounts that I could find,” Malika told them. “Even if he wanted to wage an endless war with Sean or me, his resources are limited.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask what you did to the bastard now.” Sean frowned. He was concerned she might push O’Malley too far.
“O’Malley will soon find that when he tries to pay those mercenaries he hired, there’s no cash to do so. I doubt those guys will extend him credit, and I doubt O’Malley will be willing to let his own men come after me. He needs them for his own security. Any show of weakness would expose him to his many enemies.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Neo teased.
“He’s going to be pissed when he finds out. I’m hoping he acts recklessly and all the agents out there looking for him will finally capture him.”
“Maybe one of his unpaid guys will do the world a favor and put a bullet in his ass,” Dominic muttered.
“Hell no, that’s my job. That fucker came after the wrong woman.” Sean foamed. “His ass is mine.”
“See, I don’t need you going off like a hothead over O’Malley. He’s supposed to be losing his cool and making stupid mistakes, not you.” Malika’s gaze drilled into him. “I keep trying to tell you that I’ve eluded this guy for months. He won’t find me. Now that you’ve entered the picture, he could possibly track you because he knows who you are.”
“I’m not that easy to track, and beside he seems to be ahead of us, as if he knows where we’re going before we get there.”
“Let’s see what happens when we get to Miami and explore that avenue,” Dominic said, frowning in displeasure at the thought.
“Yes, we can do that, or I can just—”
“Don’t even finish that stupid statement. I’ve had enough of you living as if you have no family, and as if no one cares about you. Damn, Duchess, you don’t even visit home anymore.”
“What do you care? You left home years ago.”
“Whoa!” Neo held his palm up. “Do you two need some privacy?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
They both shouted at the same time with Sean wanting to talk privately and Malika stubbornly glaring at him.
“As fascinating as this all is, we need to find O’Malley,” Dominic said sternly. “Neo, see what you can find out on this guy.”
Malika pulled her backpack onto her lap. In seconds she had her computer booted up and her fingers flew across the keyboard.
“Rico, Sean, I need resources when we land. We need a little bit more than what I’d anticipated.” Dominic continued issuing instructions. “Xavier, I know you have contacts in Homeland Security and the FBI. I want to know everything on O’Malley, family, friends, even the pimple on his ass. Find me something.”
“He has three sons,” Malika offered.
“How do you know this?” Dominic asked. “The man is very private and doesn’t have a wife or permanent woman in his life. That’s not something that’s well-known.”
“I know the same way I know you’ve been married to Rinah, my country woman, for over seven years. You have two sons, a daughter, and your wife is pregnant with your fourth child.” Malika glared at Dominic, obviously pissed that he doubted her ability.
Sean grinned at the belligerent tone of her voice and the now scowling Dominic.
“I can tell you the sex of your next child, but your wife likes waiting to find out. Or would you prefer I tell you about the scars on various parts of your body?”
“Stop,” Dominic commanded with chilling authority. “Okay, Malika, why don’t you tell us what we need to know about O’Malley?” He took a seat across from her and waited patiently.
Malika continued foaming in silence for a few tense moments.
“You already know that O’Malley is a recluse,” Malika said calmly, obviously trying to contain her annoyance. “He lives in Papua New Guinea on a yacht.”
Dominic looked at Rico and nodded.
Rico immediately started moving toward the cockpit.
Malika shook her head at Dominic’s arrogance. “No one lands a plane in Papua New Guinea without O’Malley knowing about it. He has the government fully in his pocket. Besides, he would be expecting it.”
Rico stopped in his tracks and looked to Dominic for his next command.
Dominic smiled grimly. His icy grey eyes held no humor in their depths.
“If you approach him by air or sea, he will see you coming miles away.”
“Obviously yo
u have a suggestion,” Dominic muttered.
Malika sighed, regretting already antagonizing the huge SEAL.
“Look, Dominic, O’Malley’s three sons are sadistic bastards, and they are their father’s most trusted allies. To get to him, you need to deal with them first. Liam and Niall, the eldest sons, run drug and human trafficking gangs all over the world. They make the Russian mafia look like kindergarten teachers. The youngest son, Ian, is his father’s deputy. He’s more dangerous than all of them.”
“What the fuck? You were holding all of this information from me?” Sean shouted and turned to glare her. His jeweled gaze was hard with cold fury. “You tried to get me to leave you in London on your own!”
“Calm down, Sean,” Dominic demanded firmly.
“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down.” Sean swiveled his head around and stared his commander down. “If Rinah had done this, you would have turned her ass over your knee!”
“First of all, Rinah is his damn wife,” Malika muttered. “I’m not related to you at all.”
“That still won’t stop me from lighting up your ass,” Sean smirked.
“Try it, freak!”
Sean stood suddenly, grabbed her hand, and pulled her from her seat.
She shrieked as her laptop toppled to the thick carpet and Sean’s arm fell around her waist, clutching her close against his solid frame.
Malika tried to slam her knee into Sean’s groin, but he quickly blocked it and trapped her legs between his. “Not my boys, sweetheart,” he warned drolly.
“Let me go,” Malika yelled.
“Dammit, Sean, we don’t have time for this,” Dominic growled.
Sean held her by her forearms firmly in front of him so he could stare down at her. “Dom is right. We don’t have time for this, but once we’ve sorted this out, you and I will have a long talk. Lives are at stake. Stop keeping shit from us.”
“I realize that, moron. That’s why I’m trying to tell you what I think will help.” Malika tried again to pull away from him, but his grip was unyielding. “Now let me go. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Sean stared down at her, promising retribution. He wasn’t going to let this go. He knew that, like him, she had been trying to shield him from danger as much as possible. He gently pushed her back into her seat. Placing his hands on the arms of her chair, he leaned his face close to hers. “Know that I’m keeping track of the number of times you’ve lied to me. You’d better hope to God that I use up most of my anger on O’Malley before I deal with you.”
Waiting For You (The Guardians: Book 3) Page 14