“No, too difficult for him to do. He won’t want to risk going far. He’s not stupid. There was never any indication that he was even in Chicago but it’s obvious he was. So he can fly but she won’t go anywhere willingly and with no papers, and now the police putting out her picture and the news she was abducted? No, he has to lay low and if I were him I would remain somewhere in Texas. Even traveling by vehicle would be risky.”
“Gunny has a picture of Malayna and also we gave him a picture of Vlladim to send out to all the police departments. That will make him not want to travel, too,” Lucca said to them.
He looked at Dubkova and Murin. He nodded to them and they both approached.
“We need someone we can trust to handle an important situation in Chicago. I would love to go, but leaving here, not knowing if Malayna is being held somewhere, is not an option. We want you to get back to Chicago. Meet up with Nicolai’s guys and pick up Larcovian and Cruz.” Star pointed at them. “You do whatever is necessary to get information on where Vlladim is taking Malayna. Concrete provable information and you don’t let them get away with less.”
“Once they tell us, what should we do with them?” Murin asked, looking angry and pissed off. Both men adored Malayna. They would do anything for her and probably felt responsible for her abduction, too.
“Let Nicolai decide. Call us as soon as you have something.”
They nodded and then headed out.
* * * *
The van stopped and she knew they finally pulled off on the side of a road. She lifted up and the one guy who’d hit her shoved her down. They waited there for what seemed like a long time. They were getting antsy, especially the driver. “He isn’t coming. That dick bullshitted us and now we’re going to take the fall for an abduction charge. This was supposed to be an easy cash deal,” the driver said.
“It is. He’ll be here any minute,” the other guy stated and she hoped that they were wrong. That the reason the person wasn’t coming was because her men stopped them and were on their way to get her. She thought about Krane and prayed he was alive and well. She wanted to scream at them for shooting him. The one who struck her did it and she wished she could get his gun. She thought about the training her men had given her and how good they thought she was. Turned out she wasn’t so good. She couldn’t even escape being held at gunpoint or fighting off these men. They did shoot Krane and she was scared out of her mind.
“There,” the driver said and the headlights of another car appeared.
“He’s getting out. A big fucking guy, too. This better be worth it,” the driver said.
“Come on, get out with me and we can hand her over together then take the money and get the fuck out of here.” He lifted her up as he slid the door open and then she heard his friend get out of the driver’s side.
The guy paused. He pulled on her ring finger, tearing the heirloom ring from it.
“No. Give that back,” she said to him and he gripped her throat then ripped off the necklace she wore, scratching her skin. She grabbed her throat. “You’ll pay for that,” she told him.
“No, I won’t. This is security in case this operation gets fucked up.” He put the jewelry into his pocket and she wanted to cry, she was so angry. That was her engagement ring, an heirloom. The necklace was the first gift from her men before they even told her they loved her. A tear spilled from her eye.
“Then we can get rid of the van,” he whispered to himself, already planning his next move that would take him out of this situation. He did his job and would get paid for it.
As the man approached she saw him walk in front of the headlights of the van and her heart felt as if it stopped. It was Vlladim. All six foot four of tattoos and muscle, the man who wanted to claim her his woman since day one. The tears filled her eyes as he approached.
He looked her over in the designer blue dress that was strapless and landed at her knees. It was a classy dress that Nalia and Aspen helped her pick out.
He licked his lips and then squinted his eyes. “Who struck her?” he asked firmly in that deep Russian accent that instantly made her shiver with fear.
“The guy said do whatever was necessary to make her cooperate. So where’s our money?” he asked.
“Money?” Vlladim replied with a slick freaky expression. He was dressed all in black, his hair slicked back and past his shoulders. He looked like a savage, a capable weapon.
“Yeah, our money. We’re going to have the cops all over us. Come on and pay up,” the driver said.
“There’s been a change of plans. I can’t leave any unfinished business.”
In a flash he lifted the gun from his side and shot the first guy on her right and then moved the gun to shoot the other guy on her left. She screamed and ducked as both bullets killed the men who fell down to the ground. She couldn’t hear a thing. Her ears were ringing, but then she felt Vlladim grab her upper arm and pull her with him.
“Cooperate, Malayna, or your father dies next,” he threatened and Malayna didn’t resist. She was so scared of Vlladim as she got into the car and he tied her hands together then buckled her in.
He didn’t say a word as he pulled from the side of the road, leaving the two men he shot and taking her further away from her men and from the possibility of being rescued.
* * * *
Three hours later Viktor and Cosivan showed up at the hospital. Krane had just gotten out of surgery and was resting under sedation. Star, Lucca, and Border walked out of his room and met Cosivan and Viktor in the hallway. “What do you have?” Star asked Cosivan.
He looked pretty upset as he explained that they found the van. The excitement he felt disintegrated as they mentioned the two dead bodies.
“He fucking killed them?” Border asked.
“A bullet to the head each. We found out that they were from Dallas and into drugs and both had criminal records. Gunny looked over the van thoroughly with some of our guys and we found the address of the gallery and a phone number. That number is listed and when we called it said we reached a nonworking number. But it had a Chicago area code,” Cosivan explained.
Viktor handed over a small yellow envelope. “We found this on the one asshole,” he said.
Star opened the yellow envelope and poured its contents into his hand. Malayna’s necklace and engagement ring came out into his palm. He covered them up and made a fist. “I’m going to kill this fucking guy. I don’t care how long it takes, but when I find Vlladim, he’s dead.”
* * * *
“Please, please, I can’t take it anymore. You pulled out my fucking tooth with pliers,” Cruz screamed as tears streamed down his cheeks and he rocked back and forth in the chair. His arms and legs were tied together and against the chair. A table with various tools and contraptions stood by him. Dubkova rubbed his hands together and then struck him in the gut again.
“I can do this all night. Where is Vlladim taking Malayna?”
“I don’t know,” he stated. Murin slammed the knife down between the man’s legs, cutting his pants and his skin.
“Wrong answer,” Murin said and Dubvoka chuckled.
“Maybe we try electricity now?” Dubkova said.
Cruz cried out. “No, no, please, I’ll talk. I’ll fucking tell you what I know. I don’t need this. I don’t even know that fucking guy. He had me rent a cabin, some place in the fucking woods out in the middle of nowhere in Texas. I got it all stocked up for him and he has two guys who are going to kill Nicolai at his home. Two fucking guys who were loyal to Cornikup.”
Dubkova looked at Murin then back at Cruz. “What about the place you rented? Where? I need an address and to confirm you’re not lying.”
“I’m not, I swear.”
Dubkova gripped him by the neck. “If anything happens to Nicolai or Malayna you are going to suffer a slow, painful death. Do you understand me?”
* * * *
“Nicolai, it’s a trap. You need to have the guys turn the car around and head back
to the estate where it’s safe. Two of your security team are imposters. They plan on killing you.” Dubkova heard the horn honk and then some sort of commotion. A few seconds later gunshots sounded over the phone.
“Nicolai?” he yelled into the phone and Murin looked concerned as he stood there next to him.
“Thank you for the heads-up. They’ve been eliminated. What about Malayna? Any news?”
Dubkova exhaled. “We sent Star a location. Hopefully we’re not too late. It’s nearly morning.”
* * * *
Malayna stared at Vlladim in disbelief. She felt tired, weak, and her heart stopped pounding so heavily inside of her chest. She didn’t want to give up hope that her men could find her once again, but something fired up inside of her.
He stroked his hand along her thigh and looked at her breasts. She stared at him with daggers in her eyes and a hatred that went beyond anything she’d ever felt before. She was a different person than months ago, hell, than three years ago. She felt empowered in a way, capable if she was willing to accept her abilities. This man, this monster was taking away everything she had gained. Her lovers, her life, her father, her art, a potential for success. Was she really going to sit here and let him get away with it or was she going to fight for it?
She could die trying, but at least she died by her hands and by making a stand.
He moved his hand in between her legs.
“I guess the hope that you’re still a virgin was lost on those four assholes,” he said to her and she didn’t answer him.
He gripped her face and stared down into her eyes with that hateful, dark, murderous expression. “How could you, Malayna? After all those years how I didn’t force myself on you and take what was surely mine, not Cornikup’s.”
“I don’t belong to you just like I didn’t belong to him.”
He shoved her face hard and then stood up. “You’re wrong. You belong to me. Why do you think I hunted you down and came back for you? You are what I lived for and sold my soul for.”
“What? You killed the two men you had take me from the gallery and Cruz? He’s probably dead right now by my father’s hands.”
He shook his head. “They’re so stupid and so are you. You think this is a better life, the daughter of Nicolai Merkovicz? The whore of four men in the Mulicheck family? You don’t know how many people want your father dead and want your lovers dead. How else do you think I was able to get the money to pay for this, for the help I got? By offering your father’s head on a platter.” He glanced at his watch. “In fact, he should be dead right about now.”
The tears filled her eyes. Was it true? Was her father killed? Were her men in danger of dying, too, and this was some sort of wild hit on both families from someone else? She needed to know who helped him. Even if she died here she would know who was responsible for all of this.
“Who would help you? Who would be so stupid to try and kill men from two powerful families?” she challenged him.
He chuckled and then grabbed the arms of her chair and pressed his face close to hers. “Men you know nothing about. Men your father, other members and friends of your family have helped and have allowed to have power they don’t deserve.”
“Who? I don’t believe you,” she said to him.
He grabbed her face and she gasped, feeling the bruises instantly on her cheeks.
“A Russian family and a man your father thought he killed years ago.”
He forced his lips upon her and kissed her forcefully. She tried pushing him off of her but he was too strong, too big to fend off. She wasn’t going to allow this. She wasn’t going to be his prisoner and allow him to rape her, abuse her, and put the same fear in her he did for years.
When he pulled back and cupped her breasts, she turned away from him and cried out in anger. He gripped her breasts harder and then reached down and ripped her dress, shoved his legs between her legs, and nearly knocked her backward off the chair. Her eyes locked onto the gun he placed on the table. Her heart began to pound and she screamed when he bit her skin on her chest. She wasn’t going to let him take from her body.
He was hurting her, squeezing her so roughly, and then reached under her to lift her ass and her dress so he could force himself on her when she reached out to the right and gripped the handle of the gun. Just as his fingers scraped along her inner groin, she pulled the trigger against his side, shocking him and her. The sound was so loud and he fell back onto his ass, the blood seeping from his side. She jumped up and ran for the door and out into the darkness. Her feet were bare, her dress ripped, and it was cold, windy as she just kept running and running.
“Malayna! Stop! You fucking bitch, I’ll kill you,” he hollered at her as she continued to run along the dirt road and up toward what she thought was the main road. Her feet were getting all cut up and she held on to the gun and ran then fell when her feet hit a tree limb in the driveway. She thought she heard heavy footsteps. She got up then turned to see Vlladim jump at her. Not seeing the tree branch, he fell over it and grabbed at her leg.
Lights suddenly came up around the place as she kicked at his hands gripping her leg and pulling her down. She heard the sirens and someone was yelling when she pointed the gun down and shot him, once, twice. She fell backward, knocking the gun from her hand as he crawled up her body and reached for her throat. He was choking her and she was losing her breath when suddenly someone tackled him and then began pounding on Vlladim. She heard the crack, and Star’s face filled with hatred and anger as he broke Vlladim’s neck, and Lucca and Border fell to their knees next to her.
“Oh God,” she cried out and hugged both men. “You came for me again. You came.”
“Always, baby. We love you. Always,” Border said to her.
Epilogue
Krane loved the way Malayna felt in his arms. She was clinging to each of them any chance she had. Even with his arm in a sling she wiggled her way under his good arm and cared for him, pressed kisses to him, and loved him every chance she got. He looked at his brothers who also gathered close, not wanting to be too far from her at any given time. Not after what happened at the last gallery event.
“I want to show you something before the other guests arrive. I’ve been working on it for a while,” she told them and they followed her over toward one of the walls that was covered until the gallery event began.
“Oh, a secret showing, huh?” Border teased her and kissed her cheek as he ran his hand along her hip. She looked stunning tonight in a dress that was sleeveless but covered her chest and up her neck in a lace pattern that was sexy and classy. She chose the dress so it would cover the bruising on her throat and on her chest. She knew the sight of the bruises and the teeth mark near her breast upset them all so much. They focused on the love they had for one another and the fact that they survived. She fought off Vlladim, shooting him three times and escaping from him. She was a fighter who never gave up and it was another quality they loved about her.
“So, this is actually for you guys and for your friends, and for all soldiers who sacrifice so much in order to keep the rest of us safe and happy,” she told them and then undid the knot that let the curtain fall away from the wall.
On display she’d arranged a series of pictures. Some from Casper’s and from other men in their troop they lost to their mission, and pictures of her with her men, specifically ones she took with her camera when they weren’t looking. It caught their serious expressions and even their happy ones, including a collage of pictures taken by their mother with her cell phone, and Nalia with her cell phone after they all proposed to her. Krane looked at his brothers and saw their expressions of love, of shock, and of happiness.
“It’s perfect, Malayna, absolutely perfect,” Lucca said to her and kissed her on the lips and then held her hand as Star complimented her and caressed her arm. Border remained straight-faced, not saying a word until Malayna went to him.
“Border?” she whispered.
“Keeping secrets is go
ing to cost you tonight, baby, so get that ass ready,” he whispered.
They chuckled as Malayna threw herself into Border’s arms and hugged him tight then kissed him deeply. She lifted her thigh up against his thigh and then whispered for only them to hear. “Why wait until later when I have the keys to the back office?”
THE END
WWW.DIXIELYNNDWYER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
People seem to be more interested in my name than where I get my ideas for my stories from. So I might as well share the story behind my name with all my readers.
My momma was born and raised in New Orleans. At the age of twenty, she met and fell in love with an Irishman named Patrick Riley Dwyer. Needless to say, the family was a bit taken aback by this as they hoped she would marry a family friend. It was a modern day arranged marriage kind of thing and my momma downright refused.
Being that my momma’s families were descendants of the original English speaking Southerners, they wanted the family blood line to stay pure. They were wealthy and my father’s family was poor.
Despite attempts by my grandpapa to make Patrick leave and destroy the love between them, my parents married. They recently celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary.
I am one of six children born to Patrick and Lynn Dwyer. I am a combination of both Irish and a true Southern belle. With a name like Dixie Lynn Dwyer it’s no wonder why people are curious about my name.
Just as my parents had a love story of their own, I grew up intrigued by the lifestyles of others. My imagination as well as my need to stray from the straight and narrow made me into the woman I am today.
Enjoy The American Soldier Collection 15: Their Battle for Love and allow your imagination to soar freely.
For all titles by Dixie Lynn Dwyer, please visit
The American Soldier Collection 15: Their Battle for Love (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 15