Vengeance Unleashed (The Wanted Men Series Book 1)

by Nancy Haviland

  He plucked the keys from her fingers without bothering to ask permission and unlocked the door, shoving it wide. She crossed the threshold to tap in a code to silence the alarm, then turned to him again, looking like she wanted to say something more, but now that they were free from prying eyes, Gabriel didn’t hesitate to take that mouth he couldn’t keep his eyes off. He lingered over the kiss, savoring her quiet sound of surprise and the feel of her hands coming to rest on his biceps. But knowing his limit, he ended it too soon, before his hands started roaming.

  “Gabriel…”

  Straightening with a curse, totally put out because he needed to give her what her eyes were telling him she wanted, he dropped her keys on a small table and stepped back. “G’night, sweetheart. Don’t forget to reset the alarm.” Before she could say another word, he closed her into the house. Alone.

  It wasn’t until he and Quan were crossing back over the floating bridge that connected Mercer island to Seattle that Gabriel felt normal enough to take out his cell and hit up the New York office. After letting Natalie know Eva should be offered the position first thing in the morning, and ordering the workaholic to go home since it was past midnight East Coast time, he tossed his phone onto the dash and tried to zone out for a few.

  Quan’s voice broke into the quiet. “Thought she might climb out the window when you told her off for being smart enough to want to find out why Skars targeted her. I guess I can stop wondering why you’re still single.”

  His lips twitched. “That bad, huh?”

  “That bad. What kind of reaction do you think you’ll get when she shows up Monday and sees you sitting behind the desk?”

  He didn’t know. Would she walk out on him? Tell him off first? “It doesn’t matter at this point. She’ll do things my way until this shit with Stefano is settled.” Because he absolutely refused to have her in danger again. First in New York and now tonight. That was two too many slips.

  When they reached the abandoned ammunitions warehouse one would never find on any Seattle tourist maps, Alek’s rented Range Rover materialized in the beam from the headlights as they crossed the empty lot to park next to it. Quan killed the ignition, and Gabriel was just reaching for the door handle when his phone buzzed.

  He answered with a sharp, “Yeah.”

  “I have heard your name more in the last week than I have in years, my friend.”

  The last voice Gabriel had expected to hear carried a familiar arrogance that could only belong to one man.

  Lucian Fane.

  The powerful Romanian was a force to be reckoned with in the organized crime world. And not just in New York where he was based, but worldwide. He’d come up around the same time as Gabriel, but unlike Gabriel, Lucian thrived on the business he was in. Unforgivably harsh with those who crossed him or interfered in his business, Lucian was the most feared in the industry. More so even than Vasily, which, if one was comparing, put Stefano down around the equivalent of a schoolyard bully.

  But a bully that carried an AR-15.

  “Lucian. It’s good to hear from you. How’re things?”

  “Busy. But I felt it necessary to take time out of my full schedule to make this courtesy call.”

  Fuck. That couldn’t be good. “I’m assuming this is in regard to Stefano.”

  “Of course. I have learned he is making plans. Unpleasant ones that center around the new woman in your life.” Ice on crystal clinked in the background as Gabriel’s groin stirred at hearing Eva described as his. “You should know I am available if you are in need of assistance. Personally, I think this situation between the two of you has gone on long enough. It is time it was settled. Be aware I am paying attention.”

  Gabriel’s brows came down when dead air sounded to signify the call had ended.

  He and Lucian had always been friendly, bouncing information back and forth over dinners, tipping each other off when hearing something the other would be interested in. And not only because they’d come up together, but because they were connected through family. Lucian’s younger brother was TarMor’s executive VP.

  Almost a decade ago, Markus Fane, who’d been legit from day one, had come to TarMor fresh from Yale, and he’d had a hand in making the project management firm what it was today. Its growth and success also allowed Gabriel and Alek a modicum of respectability…where the IRS was concerned anyway.

  He and Quan were silent as they entered the building and descended a set of metal stairs into a dusty, shadow-filled basement where they made their way across a cavernous room. Alek was sitting on a metal chair across from Stefano’s guy, who was shackled to another metal chair by a pair of cuffs and looking slightly bruised.

  Alek got to his feet, the scrape of the steel legs echoing all around them. “Name is Terrence Skars. Stefano sent him, but only to deliver a message.”

  Again with that fuckin’ message. Gabriel was curious to know exactly what it was, but he wouldn’t bother asking. Wouldn’t set himself up for the “fuck you” that would make him lose his temper.

  “He wasn’t supposed to touch his target,” Alek added.

  A belligerent look settled on Skars’s swollen face. “Yeah. Like you haven’t tapped that.”

  Gabriel stiffened. Seemed the guy wanted to die.

  But he held off and followed their routine that hadn’t changed in so many years. Secure and hold until Maks called with the requested info. If the guy was clean—theft, man-on-man assault—he was sent off with a warning he’d never forget. But if their unfortunate captive had done time for fucking with kids or raping or beating a defenseless woman, Gabriel and his boys became judge, jury, and executioner. No way would any of them send garbage like that back to the streets.

  Harsh?

  Fuck yeah.

  And he was sure the families of those wives, daughters, and young sons appreciated their methods for meting out justice.

  “Maks call yet?”

  Alek nodded. “Ten minutes ago. Said this piece of shit has a penchant for the young ones. Intel confirmed he was released last week. Served time for fucking with his five-year-old twin nieces. His rap sheet’s long. And let’s just say he isn’t partial only to little girls.”

  Sympathy for the victims joined the mix of emotions rolling through Gabriel. He’d seen a lot of shit and had done his fair share, but he’d never condone targeting kids. Back in the day, before he’d gone straight, he would have shut down his emotions, killing anything that might have made him anything less than lethal. And he’d have simply ended the guy. At the time, he’d needed to be that person to deal with the lowest of the low.

  But now? He was a little calmer. He took his time. Thought through what had to be done. Lingered over his decisions.

  Even when there was no need. What this POS had tried to do to Eva was bad enough, but the shit he’d done time for? Fuuuck.

  “How did you recognize him at the hotel?” he asked Quan.

  “Whenever V meets a new recruit, he sends a photo and bio home so Maks can dig around. Allows us to know who we’re dealing with.”

  Damn, he loved his boys.

  Gabriel opened his jacket and withdrew his Glock from the holster strapped across his chest. With Stefano’s involvement confirmed, they were done here.

  He walked over to stand before the pedo, who suddenly looked as though he was having a hard time breathing. Gabriel slid the safety off and raised his gun at a sideways angle. He pulled back, let the prick sweat for an extra second as he went into his pocket for the suppressor. He took his time attaching it.

  What would Eva think if she could see him now? he wondered as he leveled his arm again and pulled the trigger.

  SIX

  After a night spent tossing and turning, Eva swiped open her phone and turned on some music to combat the silence as she waited for the Keurig to do its thing. She yawned, feeling blurry-eyed and lethargic.

  She plopped onto the chair at the head of her kitchen table with her morning brew and stirred cream into t
he dark magic before blowing across the top and taking her first sip. The newly washed floors were gleaming, she noted, her gaze skipping over the spotless countertop and pristine appliances. The dry dishcloth on the side of the sink was neatly folded, hoping to be used at some point in the day.

  She yawned again.

  She’d dreamed a lot last night. About Stefano Moretti. Caleb being hurt by him. About Gabriel. Her being kissed by him. And more. She’d dreamed of being chased. Being caught. Being hurt. Then her overactive imagination would send her back into a cozy bed with the owner of a quadrillion-dollar hotel where she did things she’d never done with a man before.

  She was pretty sure she’d orgasmed in her sleep.

  “What the hell?” she muttered to herself as she picked up her coffee and wandered around the house. She was turned on. From only thoughts of the man. It was no wonder, in the flesh, he’d knocked her on her ass. That goodbye kiss…gawd.

  Ending up in her mom’s office, her gaze scanned the pretty room, skimming over the Julie Fain prints depicting silhouetted fairies and angels under gleaming moonbeams. She wouldn’t be able to do this, find comfort in the familiar, if she ended up in another apartment in New York.

  She tried not to let that get to her. After all, bricks and mortar hadn’t been important to her mom. Their love for each other, their memories, were in Eva’s heart, not scattered throughout these rooms.

  Putting her coffee down on the edge of the desk, her heart grew heavier as Christina Aguilera’s Hurt came from the kitchen. The clog of unshed tears worsened when she looked down and saw a note scribbled in Kathryn’s flourish handwriting on the desktop calendar.

  Pick up Eva’s grad present

  One minute planning her trip to New York to see her daughter graduate, the next…gone.

  Even though movies and TV shows constantly used the premise for drama, it was true. In the blink of an eye, life ended. Everything changed. And one had very little control over it.

  What was it she’d seen scrawled next to the window on the subway a few weeks ago? It had actually made her chest ache.

  Could’ve. Should’ve. Would’ve.

  Didn’t. Didn’t. Didn’t.

  Live life to the fullest, they said.

  Grab every experience with both hands, they said.

  Eva didn’t do that. She was careful. She stood back and watched. Always wary. Afraid to live too hard. To love…at all.

  Her mom had loved, and look what it had gotten her. A life spent missing a man who hadn’t loved her back.

  She’d died alone.

  Eva squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the burned-out shell of their car. The police had investigated the accident because it just hadn’t made sense for Kathryn to have crashed into a tree on an empty stretch of road. Somewhere that she’d had no business being on a clear, dry afternoon.

  Feeling like total shit now, she grabbed her coffee and left the office, roaming through the house once more, rearranging shit that was already perfect. She glanced out the front window and waved at Nick, surprised to see her shy neighbor on his knees weeding the stretch between his yard and hers. She hadn’t taken him for a green thumb.

  The ringing of her cell interrupted her meandering and she hurried to the kitchen to snag it off a neatly piled stack of pizza flyers. Feeling too much all at once when she saw it was a private number, she swiped her thumb across the screen and slowly brought it to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Ms. Jacobs?”

  “This is she.” She tried not to let her chin hit the countertop as she deflated. It was a female voice.

  “It’s Natalie Simms. From TarMor, New York.”

  Her spine shot straight. “Oh! Hello, Natalie. How are you?”

  “Very well, thanks. I apologize for bothering you on a Sunday, but you had to know as soon as possible that you’ve been chosen for the associate business manager position you interviewed for.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  The woman chuckled at the completely unprofessional response. “Mr. Tarasov will remain at our offices in Seattle for this final week, then commute between there and New York when necessary. You’re still open to relocating, I hope?”

  Was she? “Uh, yes. Yes, of course.” Guess she was. “That’s no problem at all.” She cringed at the lie. Being in New York meant leaving home. Leaving Nika again. And Gabriel. Unless he spent more time in New York than Seattle. But if he ran a hotel here, that seemed unlikely.

  And was she seriously considering him in this life decision?

  “Perfect. You’ll start tomorrow morning. Mr. Tarasov is expecting you at the office by nine. Do you have a pen and paper handy?”

  She grabbed the pen next to the toaster and waited with her hand poised over the notepad on the fridge. “Go ahead.”

  Natalie rattled off the office’s address and her new boss’s suite number. She’d spend several hours with him before her HR orientation.

  “I suppose that’s all for now. I’ll see you soon, Eva.”

  “Thank you so much, Natalie. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity.” Because I don’t know yet myself.

  “You’re welcome. Enjoy your success.”

  Eva ended the call with a half-smile that was satisfied but not.

  And so it began. No more hypothetical situations. No more what-ifs, and what-would-you-do-in-a-case-like-this’s. She was actually going to be working alongside the CEO of a hugely successful company, learning the complex ins and outs as she aided him with day-to-day operations.

  Okay. That was exciting.

  She dialed Nika’s number, needing to share.

  “ ’lo.”

  Another thing she hated about Kevin, he always answered Nika’s cell as if it were his own. “Hey, Kevin.” The friendly note she’d been going for missed by a huge mark. “Is Nika around?”

  “Eva,” he drawled. “You haven’t come by since you got home. You too good for us now that you got your fancy degree?” He made it sound like they’d gotten along before, which was ridiculous because any time they’d run into each other, he’d never hidden the fact that he didn’t like her.

  “I’ve actually only been home a day or so. Is Nika there?”

  “’Course she’s here. Where else would she be?”

  She frowned at the continued silence. “May I speak with her, please?”

  “Very good,” came the condescending murmur. “Hey! Phone!”

  Anger burned in her throat. When was Nika going to admit she’d made a horrible mistake and cut her losses?

  There was a shifting and a crackle and then a quiet, “Hi.”

  “Hey. How’re things?”

  “Dandy.”

  Maybe now wasn’t the time to share her good news. “Uh, are you guys busy tonight? I thought maybe we could go out for a bit. Maybe coffee? Or a drink?”

  “A drink would be great,” Nika said in a lowered voice, surprising Eva because she’d assumed a no was coming. “Just you and me.”

  “Yeah, of course. How about O’Sullivan’s?” The pub was low-key and quiet enough that they could talk comfortably.

  “Um, you wanna go somewhere with more of a bite?”

  Eva’s heart sank when Nika mentioned a nightclub that apparently just opened. The last time they’d gone out, they’d spent more time slapping unwelcome hands off their asses than enjoying anything the sweaty, chaotic atmosphere had to offer.

  “I don’t know,” she murmured, thinking she’d much rather close up here with a bottle of wine and pizza and share the craziness going on in her life with her best friend.

  “Please, Eva? It’ll be fun. I need to get out of here for a while.”

  The casual comment immediately became Nika screaming for help. “Okay. Where is it and what are you going to wear?”

  The street was familiar, but Eva winced when Nika said, “Something sexy. And you’re gonna wear the dress I gave you last year. You know, the one you said you’d never wear because you had n
owhere to wear it. This is the perfect place.”

  The short backless thing she’d received on her twenty-third birthday was nowhere near her style. But if it made Nika happy, she’d wear it. “Fine. I’ll pick you—”

  “No! I’ll, um, sorry, I’ll, uh, take my own car. I’ll meet you there at ten.”

  “Okay.”

  “See you there.”

  Eva hung up, vowing tonight would be the night she got the truth out of her friend.

  But first, she had to go upstairs and see if she could do something with a dress that was really nothing more than a silky dinner napkin.

  † † †

  Gabriel dropped the kettle bell he’d been curling and grabbed an already damp towel from the end of the bench to wipe the sweat from his face. Some old-school heavy metal tolled through the hotel’s empty gym. Empty because he’d instructed his manager to close it up so that he and Quan could work out in peace.

  Muscles tight and burning, he headed over to one of the treadmills lined up against the back wall. He stepped on and punched the right buttons to get the machine moving and was soon pounding the track with heavy feet, feeling as if he were running away from something he had no hope of ever escaping. He blinked the sweat out of his eyes and pressed a button on the panel to make it go faster.

  Of course it didn’t help. Forty minutes and two bottles of water later, his body aching as though he’d just been beaten, no oxygen left in his bloodstream, he finally collapsed on the padded bench.

  He snagged his phone and hit up a number. A click sounded in his ear, and then Jak’s, “S’all good, G. No one’s been around.”

  “Has she left the house at all?”

  “Nope. But she will later. She’s meeting the biker’s sister at a club downtown. Ten o’clock. Nick was pruning and overheard her on the phone. Said she didn’t sound too enthused.”

  Jak would have also heard the conversation from the listening devices they’d placed in Eva’s house. Violating her privacy had been a necessity. They couldn’t be blind to her movements. Had to be aware of any plans she made.