Tempted & Taken

by Rhenna Morgan

  The unexpected entrance and the girls as a distraction gave them the jump they needed. The silencers on the guns might have muted the shots, but did nothing to muffle the instant mayhem. Terse commands in both Russian and English fired through the room mixed with the grunts, crashes and the thump of bodies hitting the floor.

  Knox stepped in front of Darya and Gia, shielding the two of them while Gia hustled Darya deeper into the safety of the elevator landing. He was just about to head into the suite and engage when another door in the hallway behind him yanked open.

  Connecting rooms.

  The paranoid motherfucker had bought out the whole floor. Of course, he’d have an escape hatch if he needed one.

  Two men surged out, braced shoulder to shoulder with Ruslan right behind them.

  “Action in the hallway!” Zeke called out through the headpiece.

  Gia drew her gun the same second Knox did and shouted, “Beckett!”

  Shots fired all at once, Knox and Gia taking the two men in front. Knox aimed again, one heartbeat from taking the shot at Ruslan, but froze the second his brain registered Ruslan’s gun trained on Darya.

  Sergei moved in from the opposite side, gun drawn and aimed at Ruslan’s head, but hesitated when he took in Ruslan’s target.

  “Pull the trigger and she dies as well.” His accent was thick, barely intelligible, but Ruslan’s steady hand and the maniacal gaze he kept locked on Darya was clear enough.

  No one moved.

  Ever since Darya had told Knox about Ruslan he’d wanted this shot. A chance to make her life safe by his own hands. But now all he wanted was a distraction. Anything to get his woman out of the line of fire. She was one step away from him. One stroke of luck or a miracle was all he needed to cover her.

  Zeke’s voice slid through the earpiece. “Got a distraction coming. Be ready.”

  A low hum fired through the landing, the sound of an elevator approaching their floor filling the quiet.

  “You’ve given me quite a chase, little dove. I look forward to all the ways I’ll make you repay me for the time and trouble.” Ruslan narrowed his eyes and motioned Darya toward the elevator with a jerk of his head. “Move.”

  For all of a second, Knox locked stares with Sergei still locked in place in the suite’s entrance, but it was enough to make his intention clear. The elevator dinged and Knox growled, “She’s not going anywhere.”

  The doors swooshed open and the housekeeping cart they’d stolen with the intent of getting a better look inside the suite shot forward.

  Knox spun, shielded Darya with his body and took her to the floor.

  Gunfire filled the landing, bullets splintering into wall, wood and metal all around them. Pain exploded in his right shoulder, a sharp stab that radiated down his arm and out along his upper torso, but he held himself in place, forcing both hands up and around Darya’s head.

  The gunfire ceased and footsteps stomped around them, Russian words coated with disgust coursing from Sergei across the room.

  Darya pressed her hands against his chest and tried to get up, but Knox didn’t move. Didn’t dare before he got the all clear from one of the men.

  “Oh my God!” Darya struggled harder beneath him. “Gia, help me. Knox is bleeding.”

  Quick footsteps sounded on the thick carpet and Gia crouched beside them. “Hold still, let me look.”

  “I’m fine,” he managed. Whatever had hit him hurt like hell, but he could move his arm and his lungs were both working, so it couldn’t be too bad. He pushed up on one forearm just as Beckett, Axel and Zeke stormed toward him, helped him off Darya and up to his feet.

  In all of five seconds, Zeke ripped Knox’s T at the neck and down the bloodied sleeve, peeling back the ruined sides for better inspection.

  Darya all but linebacked Beckett out of the way for a better look. “Is he okay?”

  “Shoulder wound. Probably ricocheted off the elevator, but nothing we can’t handle at Sanctuary.”

  Sergei turned from issuing a command to his men and met Knox’s gaze across the housekeeping cart still lodged between them.

  “Tell me that fucker isn’t breathing,” Knox said.

  With the coldness of a long-jaded man, Sergei shoved the cart aside.

  On the floor, Ruslan lay sprawled on the floor, sightless eyes aimed at the ceiling and a puddle of blood building beside a gruesome hole where his temple had been.

  Darya gasped and turned away, but Knox hugged her against his chest with his good arm and cradled the back of her head. Finally, she was safe. No more running or living with fear dogging her step. And while it hadn’t been his bullet that had done the deed, she was breathing. In the end, it was the only thing that mattered. “He can’t hurt you anymore. No one can.”

  Epilogue

  Six months Knox had waited for this day. Twenty-one long weeks of dealing with the fallout from a dead Russian pakhan and another four spent in Russia letting the once missing Darya Volkova resurface while she resumed her volunteering at the nursing home, started on her new career and happily made her wedding plans. Needless to say, Ninette and Sylvie had been alongside her every step of the way for the latter, filling the motherly gap she’d grown up with twenty times over.

  Across the huge reception hall, his wife stood resplendent in a soft white gown that made her look every inch a winter princess. As styles and fabrics went, he was clueless, but there wasn’t a royal alive or dead who’d ever outshined her. Flanked by Gia, who’d not only become Darya’s closest friend but had served as maid of honor, on one side, and Ninette on the other, Yefim urged her from one guest to the next and boasted of her great American adventures.

  No one could take her from Knox now.

  Darya Volkova Torren.

  Actually, if he was honest, he hadn’t waited six months. He’d waited his whole life. And every minute had been worth it.

  Seated beside Knox at the heavily adorned head table, Axel stretched his legs out, draped his arm along the top of the gold gilt chair beside him and scanned the ornate reception hall. Unlike the rest of the groomsmen, he’d paired his tux coat with a kilt—a tactic Knox was still convinced Axel had taken to one-up Sergei in the style department. The look might have been completely unconventional among the rest of the crowd, but somehow Axel pulled it off and looked slick as shit doing it.

  “You gotta say one thing about Russian weddings,” Axel said. “They do not fuck around.”

  “No, they do not,” Beckett said from beside Knox. “Hell, it wasn’t even me getting shackled and I feel married.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Planning aside, the affair had taken two full days. Day one had started with him retrieving his bride-to-be from Yefim’s home and paying a ransom, or vykup nevesty. Considering Knox had already siphoned all but ten million of Ruslan’s money to the elderly man for further distribution as the other families saw fit, he’d shown with a custom-made stuffed wolf, a diamond pendant he’d had fashioned in the brotherhood’s symbol and chocolates for Darya instead of customary cash.

  Well, she’d still gotten cash. Namely ten million setting in a bank account with only her name on it, even if she didn’t know about that yet. But he’d tell her when the time was right. No way in hell was his woman ever not having something to fall back on again.

  Strangely, after the ransom, they’d had to attend a civil service that officially registered them as husband and wife. Something about churches being more about symbolism than legally binding, and he’d be go to hell before he left Russia without being very bound to his woman.

  Day two was the real kicker, starting with a traditional ceremony in a church Yefim had undoubtedly pulled strings to get them into. The thing had lasted well over an hour, incorporated crowns and a ton of pageantry that made no sense since they were spoken in Russian, but Darya had smile
d so big through the whole thing, he’d have done four more in a row if it made her happy.

  Their only time alone had been a quiet limousine tour through St. Petersburg after the ceremony, a solemn time where they’d paused at an older cemetery and left flowers on her parents’ graves.

  Now they were here. Surrounded by an indoor, man-made winter wonderland of soft blue and white lights and only hours away from boarding one of Trevor’s Gulfstreams.

  Alone.

  With his wife.

  Finally.

  Danny shifted in his seat enough to check out the dance floor and the wealth of beautiful women enjoying the music. He might have balked at the idea of a tux when Darya had first brought it up, but once he’d figured out the attention it drew from the ladies, he’d dropped all his complaints. “Man, I am not looking forward to the flight back to Dallas, but I have to say I wouldn’t pass up the experience.”

  “Fifteen hours is nothing.” Trevor jerked his head in Knox’s direction. “With the jump Knox and Darya are making to Maui, they’ll spend damned near a full day flying.”

  With his arm wrapped around Vivienne’s shoulders and his hand smoothing affectionately over her shoulder, Jace chuckled and eyed Knox across the table. “He’s got the G6 with the bed in it. After all the hoopla the last few days, I’m not thinkin’ he’s gonna mind quality alone time with his woman no matter what altitude they spend it at.”

  The band shifted from one slow ballad to another and those crowding the dance floor traded places with a new crew. Zeke and Gabe were the first back to the table, followed tight behind by Levi and Sylvie.

  Trevor held his arm out for Levi and pulled him tight to his side, pride an evident stamp on his brother’s face. “You give Nanna Sylvie a good turn, bud?”

  “I tried,” Levi said, “but it’s no fun when you can’t reach over their head and spin ’em around like you do, Mom.” He frowned and scanned the crowd, no doubt looking for the pretty eight-year-old blonde he’d been palling around with since yesterday. “Can I go see if I can find Anna again?”

  Trevor scratched his nose and tried to hide his smile. In the year and a half since Levi had been introduced to all the brothers, Levi had done everything in his power to emulate his new dad and uncles, including the appreciation of beautiful women.

  Before Trevor could give Levi a thumbs-up, Sergei strolled up with Natalie on his arm. “You’re looking for Anna?”

  Levi spun and beamed a huge smile up at Sergei. “Have you seen her?”

  Sergei dipped his head in the direction of the overflowing dessert buffet. “Your mother and I passed her coming off the dance floor.”

  “Cool!” He knocked back a swig of his Coke and plunked it back on the table, ready and raring to go. “I’ll be back.”

  “You stay on this side of the hall where me and your uncles can see you,” Trevor said. “No leaving the building.”

  A smart move considering some of the men milling through the room were unquestionably dangerous.

  Levi stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at Sergei. “That includes you now, too, right? Aunt Darya says you’re like a brother, so that makes you my uncle.”

  The table grew quiet and every eye turned to Sergei.

  If he was unnerved by Levi’s open question, he didn’t show it. Only held the boy’s stare with the utmost solemnness. “You are my family. Never doubt it.”

  Like lightning, Levi’s smile whipped right back into place. “Awesome! Another uncle.” His gaze slid to Natalie, who’d moved in close to Trevor’s side and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Next Christmas is gonna be huge!” With that, he was gone, his quick strides winding him in and out of the finely dressed couples swaying on the dance floor.

  Zeke barked out a sharp laugh and rested his hands on Gabe’s hips. “He’s got a point. We keep this up, Haven’s gonna need an expansion.”

  Eyes still tracking her son’s progress, Natalie squeezed Trevor’s shoulder. “I think I’ll tag along just to make sure he stays out of trouble.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Sylvie said, moving around the table. She motioned for Gabe and Vivienne to join them. “Come on you two. They loaded up a new batch of pastilas while we were dancing and I saw a new cake I have to try.”

  Vivienne and Gabe traded good-natured eye rolls, slid their chairs back and stood, but it was Vivienne who spoke, her comment aimed toward Axel. “Your mother isn’t safe for my waistline.”

  Jace caught her wrist before she could glide away, slid his hand low on her back and pulled her close. Even with the band behind them, there was no missing the growl in his voice. “You want to have a chance winning that argument, you’re gonna have to stop wearing tight red dresses that say otherwise.” Not the least bit fazed by the men gathered round the table, he kissed her belly through the shiny fabric and let her go, but not without a quick palm of her ass.

  “You’re very blessed men,” Sergei said as he watched them go.

  Never one to let an opportunity go, Zeke took advantage of the moment alone with the men to cover the topic that had been on all the brothers’ minds. “Enough so I’d sleep a whole lot better knowing any blowback from the last six months never so much as whispers their direction.”

  Sergei’s gaze slid to Zeke, then scanned the rest of the men at the table. He looked to the empty chair beside Knox and cocked an eyebrow.

  He wasn’t Haven. Not even close. But he was special to Darya and had brought a gruesomely gratifying end to Ruslan. For that alone, he had Knox’s never-ending gratitude. “You said it yourself. You’re family. Have a seat.”

  In all the time Knox had known Sergei, not once had he seen a full smile out of the guy, but the semi-smirk he’d seen on the rare times Darya got him to let go crooked one corner of his mouth. He sat, crossed one leg over the other and scanned the crowd. “Your family will not be touched. Only a few know of your involvement. Yefim. My crew. Anton and myself.”

  “Your crew had five men we don’t know from Adam,” Beckett said. “They know their shit in a crisis and how to go unnoticed, but how’s that stop them from sharing with other interested parties?”

  “Because they are loyal to me. Because they will travel with me to America.” He met Beckett’s stare head on. “But mostly because they respect the way you take care of your own.”

  Jace sipped his scotch and eyeballed Sergei over the rim. “Sounds like your relocation plans are a little less hazy these days. Got someplace in particular in mind?”

  A satisfaction that surprised Knox slipped across Sergei’s face. “New Orleans.”

  More than one set of eyebrows popped high and Danny whistled. “Man, that’s a hot town.”

  Sergei shrugged. “It has character. Good food. Good music. Warm.” He looked to Knox. “And close enough I can aid my family if they need me.”

  “Think we’ve proven we’ve got family covered,” Axel said with a chuckle. “Though, you’ll be screwed twenty ways to Sunday if you don’t show for Christmas now that Levi’s claimed you.”

  Sergei spied Levi back on the dance floor with Anna and his half-smirk popped back into place. “If he wants me there, I will not disappoint him.” He met each man’s eyes one at a time. “But my debt stands. If you need me, you need only call.”

  The newest song ended and a swell of applause rang up to fill its void.

  Before it died away, the band’s sultry female singer said something in Russian and the crowd parted.

  Darya stood waiting in the center of the dance floor, Yefim standing beside her and holding her hand, waiting to hand her off to her husband.

  Sergei tilted his head, his attention solely on Darya. “I believe the time for formalities and business is over.”

  Hell, yeah it was. No more pomp and circumstance. No more interruptions. Just him, the music and his w
ife. He stood and buttoned his tux, pride pushing his shoulders back and leaving him ten feet tall. “Brother, I believe you’re right.”

  * * *

  Darya had thought San Diego was heaven on Earth. She’d been wrong. Maui was the real paradise.

  Especially with Knox.

  On the horizon, the sun glowed a beautiful gold, no more than a half hour from touching the turquoise water. Late afternoon clouds billowed above it, blending with the warm rays to paint the skies with mango, purples and soft blue.

  More content than she could ever remember being in her life, she watched another day slip into night, comfortably nestled close to her dozing husband in their cabana on a private beach. For a man who’d once struggled to find sleep, now he did it easily. Only waking in the middle of the night to indulge them both in the sweetest intimacy. As if he realized they both needed the reminder they were alive and very much together. Safe and making their future together.

  The wind danced against her skin, gently streaming her loose hair across her shoulders. Overhead, the white linen cover that had shielded her fair skin from the sun’s powerful afternoon rays gently wavered and the ocean lapped soft against the powder white sand.

  Yes, this was heaven.

  But then anyplace with Knox would be the same.

  She lifted her head off his chest and smoothed her hand along his bare sternum. Beneath her palm and his Haven tags, the wolf he’d had tattooed above his heart stared back at her, solemn but beautiful. It had taken hours for the artist to complete it, but she’d sat with him throughout it, honored not only by the permanence of the mark, but the fact that he so proudly wore it. Her mark. Her heritage, now blended with his.

  Never in her life had she considered taking such a step of her own, but watching him had changed her viewpoint. Now, the simple quote she’d once kept mounted above her kitchen sink lay coiled forever in graceful script around one wrist.

  Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.