In the Still of the Night

by Samantha Lucas

  "Angel, are you okay?"

  Before he'd finished asking, he knew she wasn't. Terror—panic—shone clearly in her eyes. She'd been crying for some time, as evident in her swollen eyes and red face. Then his gaze moved from her face to her arm. Large red marks circled her upper forearm, her skin already bruising around them. Panic like he'd never felt in his life shot through him.

  That was when two men moved from their bedroom, joining them in the hall. Neither obviously carried weapons, but he didn't doubt they were. Jayden looked as if she might pass out. Her last trip to the midwife had warranted some concerns over the pregnancy, and she wasn't supposed to get upset, but how the hell was she supposed to stay calm through this?

  He looked at her, both arms wrapped protectively over the growing bulge of their baby in her belly, and blood pounded in his ears. He had the primal urge to tear both men apart with his bare hands. That was when another man stepped from the bedroom, this one he recognized instantly. His cold eyes scanned over Mica with clear disdain before he stated in a cold voice, “This is nothing to concern you, Mr. Devane. I've merely come to collect my wife."

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  Chapter Twelve

  Lloyd's strong cologne filled Mica's senses as his blood turned to ice water in his veins. This was the situation they'd all feared and anticipated from the start and, regardless of all the steps taken to avoid it, here they were.

  Where's the fucking Brit?

  Sizing up the situation, Mica decided his brain had to be the one to get them out of this. He could have held his own with each man one-to-one, but he'd never outmatch all three, and there was a very real probability of weapons. Plus, all any of them had to do to win was grab Jayden, and they all knew it.

  "Say good-bye to your lover, Jayden.” Lloyd wrapped his hand around her bicep, and his fingers fit precisely into the marks Mica had noticed. He jerked her arm hard, and Jayden did as she was told without question. She looked away, breaking their connection. The loss nearly destroyed him.

  "I will send you compensation for accommodating her all these many months."

  Oh, I bet. Perhaps in the form of a bullet to the brain.

  Jayden's body jabbed into his as Lloyd dragged her down the hall. The goons were one step behind like a freaking parade. The sound of Jayden's quiet sobs penetrated his soul and sent fury shooting through his entire body until he couldn't see straight. He grabbed Jayden's other arm, as ridiculous as it was, and stopped the progression.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing? This is my home, my woman, and my child."

  Lloyd didn't seem ruffled in the least by Mica's outburst. “Yes, I would imagine it is. But the woman, in fact, is mine. And I'm taking her home."

  He turned, continuing to drag Jayden along like a toy. The fact that she wasn't fighting, along with the blank, hopeless look on her face, scared the hell out of him. He pushed past them all, stepped between them and the door, and hoped someone was aware that these men were here, that the cavalry was on the way. For Christ's sake, they were watched by the best of the best twenty-four hours a day. How in God's name had they even gotten near the house?

  "You're can't have her."

  Mica tried to convey a confidence he didn't feel and hide the fear he did. When Lloyd lowered his glare on him, he felt evil, true evil, for the first time in his life.

  "You don't want to get between me and my possessions, Mr. Devane. It will turn ugly for you, trust me.” He waited as if he expected Mica to move and let him pass.

  Mica didn't care what happened to him, he only knew he had to save Jayden and his child. Afraid gunfire would erupt at any moment, afraid that when he looked at Jayden he'd find she'd closed in on herself, afraid her gaze would be glazed over and the woman he loved would be gone, he looked at her, anyway. He needed to gauge whether she was still with him and if she could fight with him. But though she was evidently alive and strong, she was also begging him to stop with every ounce of her strength she had.

  You want me to let you go?

  Yes!

  When Mica still didn't move, Lloyd shoved him against the stone wall of the entry. Pain shot through his shoulder and down his arm, but he stood and moved closer to Jayden.

  "I'm losing my patience, Mr. Devane. You know, Jayden, you are lucky I am such a forgiving man. Most men would not be happy to find their wives cozied up with some wanna-be anybody in Podunk Mississippi."

  "You can't have her."

  Lloyd laughed and narrowed his gaze. “And who's going to stop me? You? You'll be dead before you make a move. Do you really think I brought these two along for company?"

  He yanked Jayden closer. She stumbled, but he made no allowances for her. His hand skimmed the length of her face and, as his mouth came close to her ear, he purred, “Jayden, you know my possessive nature. You know what I've done to better men than this.” His voice turned hard, and Jayden whimpered when he yanked on her arm again. “Get him to back off."

  Mica couldn't figure out why they didn't just kill him, but as long as he was breathing there was still a chance to come out on top. The good guys won sometimes, after all.

  "You know, it saddens me, my pet...” Lloyd's lips grazed her temple, and Mica flinched. “I've been good to you, and you always repay me by trying to run off. I guess it's our little game, isn't it? I do love the hunt, and you make it so interesting."

  "Yes, you've been good to me, Lorenzo.” Her voice was scratchy and trembled. It was soft in a way that caused Mica to almost think he'd imagined it.

  Lloyd looked so satisfied at this statement that Mica could almost hear him purr. “Ah, so it has been an act. You know, you fooled no one."

  Jayden nodded in response. Lloyd brushed his thumb over her lower lip.

  "I allowed it for so long because it suited my purposes but tonight, in my bed, I want you begging for it. Do you understand me?"

  She nodded again, just as Mica lunged with all his fury into Lloyd. The surprise seemed to work in his favor. The man fell to the floor, releasing his grip on Jayden, but it took him only three seconds to recover. Lloyd's elbow landed hard against Mica's jaw, momentarily stunning him as he rolled back on the floor.

  "Jayden, you'd better tell this idiot to back off.” The man's voice had lost its smooth, oily quality and had turned animalistic. Mica watched him grab hold of Jayden's hair this time. Leaning his face into hers, he growled out his threat. “I've only kept Reggie and Armand on a leash to ensure you wouldn't fight me, but my patience has reached its limit, and you damn well know I've killed for a whole hell of a lot less than this."

  He threw Jayden at Mica with such force she stumbled and fell on top of him, her round belly pressing against him, reminding him why it was so important not to lose. She was shaking and crying again, and put her hand delicately on his face, running her fingers with tender care over the growing bruise.

  "Mica...” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat, and he saw her swallow hard. “I always knew I'd never get to stay. I had just hoped to leave you your child."

  She leaned against him and whispered into his ear, “I love you.” Lloyd yanked her away again with such force Mica heard her neck pop with a sound that froze his blood. He leapt to his feet, but the goons were quick to put their hands on him this time.

  Where the fuck is help?

  "Want another go around, Devane? Because this time I won't take my temper out on you, but on the girl.” And as if to prove his point, he slapped Jayden hard across the face. She didn't even whimper. He could tell it wasn't the first time Lloyd had struck her, and he wanted to kill the son of a bitch. He didn't fight his captors, however; he didn't want Jayden hurt. There wasn't much time left. Lloyd and Jayden slipped out the door and were headed for the car. In less than a minute they'd be gone.

  Mica grabbed at one of the goons’ thumbs planted in his arm, and bent it back with all the force he could find. The man screamed in pain and released him. Mica took the opportunity to shove the other ma
n down while he was off balance. Mica ran for the porch.

  "Mica, stop!” Jayden screamed. “He'll kill you. He'll kill your family. I have to go with him."

  Mica didn't even hear a sound before he felt the impact. Pain like fire tore through his back.. Before he could respond, goon one slammed him against the stone pillars that held up the porch. The sickening sound when his skull met the stones and Jayden's cry were the last things he remembered.

  Jayden shoved out of Lorenzo's hold and ran for Mica, but Lorenzo was too fast; he grabbed her and pulled her against his hated body. His hot breath was on her cheek as he snarled in her ear, “Tell him you don't love him, Jayden. Make him believe it.” He shoved her toward Mica. She stumbled and barely kept from falling on top of him. Blood covered her hand as she gently scooped his head into her lap.

  "Lorenzo, he needs help."

  "Tell him, Jayden."

  Mica's eyes were barely open. She watched as he seemed to struggle to remain conscious. She wasn't sure he would even hear her, but she did as she was told, cursing her voice for picking now to return, just in time to betray the man she loved.

  "Mica, I don't love you. I never did. Leave me alone.” A shiver went down her spine as she added, “I love my husband. This has all been a mistake."

  Lloyd's grip tightened around her arm again, but before she was yanked off Mica's barely conscious body, she signed the single-handed symbol for I love you.

  "That's a good girl. I may even let you keep that bastard of yours.” He shoved her against the Lexus. His tone went from insipidly sweet to threatening. “Now get in."

  She did, but not before giving one more look at Mica lying helpless on the ground. As the Lexus left the driveway, she sent up a prayer that someone would find him soon, before it was to late. And then another that Mica would never find her.

  * * * *

  "What the bloody fuck happened?"

  Zane tried to restrain himself from throwing the deskman against the plaster. Three of his operatives were dead, including Steele. Devane was in surgery, and Jayden was gone. He wasn't going to get answers from the pencil pusher but since nobody else dared see him, this guy was getting the brunt of Zane's fury.

  "When I find out who bollocksed this, I'll fucking bury them."

  He picked up and threw a metal coat rack across the room like a javelin, but it did nothing to relieve his tension. The only thing that was going to help was finding Jayden, and he was certain she wasn't in the basement of the federal building.

  Sucking the hot air of late summer into his lungs, the crowded streets of New York assaulted senses that had spent too many months in the country. He'd gotten soft; let his guard down. The second he'd gotten word that the grand jury hadn't indicted Lloyd, he'd raced back to the love shack, but it had been too late. His men were dead, Devane was pretty damn close, and Steffi and Gene—who had slipped under his skin and he'd come to embrace almost like family—brutalized.

  Gene's head injury had been superficial, but Steffi had been mauled by one of Lorenzo's henchmen. Though she'd be fine in time, when he found out which one had hurt her, he planned to kill the bastard.

  For years Zane had walked a thin line between by-the-book and renegade. After this, he no longer gave a fuck about the books. The law had chased Lorenzo Lloyd for decades, many good men had been lost in the fight, yet the man was still bloody well free. A bullet between the eyes was the only solution for a sod like him.

  Once he stepped over, there would be no going back. He'd spend the rest of his life as hunted as the people he'd hunted, but he didn't give a fuck. Slamming closed the Porsche's door, he checked his weapon of choice. A Beretta Px4 Storm, firing a .45ACP cartridge. It wasn't issue, but nobody ever asked him what he carried alongside his issued 9mm, and he sure as shit never offered.

  This beauty would blow a rhino arse over elbow. Zane smiled as he pulled out his slim silver flip phone. “Time for back up."

  * * * *

  Mica had a bullet wound to his left scapula—shoulder blade, in laymen's terms—and a severe concussion. And he was strapped to the fucking bed! He yanked at the restraints, but there wasn't any give.

  "You've tried to leave this facility twice, Mr. Devane. We have to take precautions for your own good."

  The arrogant prick's voice resonated inside Mica's brain until he wanted to be sick. Un-fucking believable.

  It was that fucking Brit who'd done this to him. Of course, he'd tried to leave. They'd taken the bullet out, he could stand for a while before he got dizzy, and Jayden needed him goddamn it!

  Five months he'd kept her safe. He hated to admit it, but with Lloyd in custody until the grand jury came back, they'd all let their guard down. At least he had. Now he'd have to live with that and the consequences for the rest of his life. Anything could have happened to her and his baby by now. No one would tell him a damn thing. Even his parents hadn't been allowed to see him. No one would help him and, with his hands strapped to a bed, he couldn't even help himself.

  He let his head rest against the pillows, silently mocking the doctor's concern about his blood pressure. “As if it'll come down so long as you've got me held prisoner."

  And that was another thing. He wasn't sure where here was. The only time he'd made it all the way outside, he knew he wasn't in the city because there wasn't another building in sight, yet the hospital was state of the art.

  He tugged and yanked at his restraints again. It was futile, but it seemed to be all he had control over at the moment.

  * * * *

  Zane replaced his piercings. It made him feel better. He had two men with him who were highly trained and could be counted on to look the other way. And he had his Beretta.

  Jayden might not have returned his feelings, but for Zane, this was the most personal mission he'd ever been on. He needed to save the woman he loved, even if it was only so he could hand her into the arms of another man.

  * * * *

  Jayden paced nervously across Lorenzo's office and then back. He'd locked her in then gone to check on details for their trip. If she got on that plane, she was pretty sure she'd never come back again. What she did know, however, was that she'd never see Mica. She rubbed a soothing circle over her belly. Lorenzo had refused to let her see a doctor. He didn't give a fuck one way or the other if her baby survived, but with every movement she felt, Jayden knew she had to fight.

  Mica was alive—she felt him. In the still of the night, her heart told her he was alive, and she clung to that with everything she was. She knew he'd come after her as much as she prayed he wouldn't. After all, the man had barely survived his first round with Lorenzo. For whatever reason, her beloved husband had been almost kitten-like in his response to Mica. She'd seen the man cut the tongue from the head of a man who'd—in his opinion—looked at her with lust.

  When he'd first brought her back, she'd done things his way because she thought it was the best way to ensure the safety of Mica and her unborn child. Now, with their flight less than three hours away, panic and desperation settled in, and she knew she had to act soon.

  But what?

  The phones were locked down, no one would take anything from her to the post office, she wasn't allowed to see anyone other than Armand, and she'd heard that most of the staff despised her for killing Jerry. God knew what story Lorenzo had made up for that, but he held a murder charge over her head. So whatever he'd done with the body and the evidence, she figured he hadn't destroyed it all.

  Think, Jayden. Think.

  She slapped her hands together and looked again into the darkness. She couldn't scale the wall—not with her stomach making it impossible to cling close enough to it—and she had tried to open the lock on the door, only to hear Armand's smartass retort, “I'm right here, bella. And I assure you, your current condition might repel your husband's lusts, but it won't mine."

  She shivered at the thought of him touching her. Closing her eyes, she slid down the door to the floor.

  It's hop
eless. “I'm fucked."

  * * * *

  "That fucking bitch!” Lorenzo spat as he watched the security monitors. Police were swarming his compound. Nearly fifty years and they'd never been able to touch him. No charge ever stuck, no cop got close to the truth. He'd been invincible. Now he was going down on account of that ungrateful cunt? He reached under the console and grabbed the Berretta. “I don't think so. At the very least, I'm not going to hell without you, my darling wife."

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  Chapter Thirteen

  Breathe. Think of the baby and breathe.

  She pressed her back against the far wall of the study. She'd heard gunshots moments before. There had been shouts and so much commotion out there she thought the world was about to end. Locked in the office, she could only sit and wait—and pray.

  It wasn't long before the door opened and Lorenzo stormed in with a deranged look in his eyes and a gun in his hand. Jayden knew this was where it would end. Almost eight years of hell and now it would be over, one way or the other.

  "You filed charges against me?"

  She swallowed hard. “I did. In three states. Every place you fucked me before I turned eighteen."

  "Bitch!” He backhanded her hard, and she fell against an armchair in the corner. “I loved you. I gave you everything. I never let another man touch you. Do you have any idea how many offers I got?"

  Jayden held a palm to her cheek which felt on fire. He was about to kill her. As much as she hated cowering from him, she still pressed a hand atop her baby and backed away. She'd never done it before. She'd refused to show him any fear in all the years she lived with him, but she wouldn't risk her child for her pride.

  "I'll take it back. I'll Say we had a fight and I just wanted to hurt you."

  He backhanded her again, and she fell against his desk. Then her gaze latched onto her salvation. His dagger.. She tried to make her eyes focus on his face and the dagger at the same time, but they had a hard time spanning the distance. “I've never said a word before. Can't you forgive one mistake?"