by April Zyon
“Come on, buddy. Stop making time with the pretty girl,” Dieter said. “You’re lucky you’re so loopy, otherwise James might take offence.” He tugged Owen away and got him moving to the stairs.
Nolan looked to her. “You never did answer my question. How’s Victor?”
“He’s still sleeping. He’s hurting, but I gave him a massage last night and put the liniment stuff on his back that James and Victor both insisted upon. I told him he wasn’t allowed to leave the bed today at all or I wouldn’t have sex with him for a month of Sundays.” They all knew that wasn’t the truth, but she needed Victor to get better. “Just promise me that if you guys see him up and moving, you tattle on him?”
“In a heartbeat,” Gareth said. “Don’t worry, Kasper, he’ll be fine. Part of the extras we gained from the gods was faster healing.”
“He’s right, but you should get back up there. If he finds out you’re down here chatting with us, and he’s not a part of it, he’ll likely get all pouty. He might even come to find you if you take too long,” Wyatt told her.
“I know.” She laughed. “I just came down to get some fruit and some drinks so that I can have stuff ready for him when he wakes. I just hope that he’s willing to sit his happy ass where he is or I’ll be grumpy.” She spoke loudly to ensure that if Victor was roaming around free, he would know that she meant business.
The guys all either looked around or gave her funny looks. James rolled his eyes at her. “He was still asleep when I passed through the room. But if he clues in to being alone, he’ll wake up fast, especially since you said you were going to stick close to him. Do you need a hand carrying anything up?”
“That would be lovely, thank you,” Kasper said with a smile. “I passed Pepper on the way down. She was headed down for a swim. Said something about crazy insane dreams.” Kasper jumped when she heard the loud crack of thunder. “What the hell is that? I didn’t know it was supposed to storm today.”
She caught a few of the guys sharing odd looks. Ones she’d seen before between them when they were of a same mind. James grabbed up some of the supplies she’d pulled out and tipped his head to the door. “Come on, love. Let’s go see how he’s doing.”
“That sounds good to me.” She passed by one of the men and winked. “Will you please make sure that Pepper eats? When she gets upset she doesn’t eat.” She patted Lincoln’s shoulder and winked. “Talk to you boys soon. Oh, and if someone will please put on some food so that we can have dinner together?”
Lincoln gave her a nod. “I’ll check on her in a bit. Go and be with Victor.”
“Whose turn is it to cook tonight?” Wyatt asked.
Everyone turned to look at Owen, who grinned. “Excellent, we shall dine like kings,” he said to their groans. “Make sure Victor knows we’re eating well tonight.”
“Did we remember the antacids?” Stefan muttered under his breath.
“I heard that you, philistine! You will help me in the kitchen,” Owen said. “And no tasting as we go along, either.”
“Fuck me.” Stefan groaned.
It wasn’t until they were out of the room that Kasper asked, “Okay, what’s so bad about his cooking? Is he a bad chef? If so, should we order in instead of letting him handle cooking for us? I really don’t want to die of food poisoning.”
James snickered and shot a look over his shoulder. “He’s not a bad cook in the least. He tends to go slightly overboard on his spices since his mother always had a heavy hand. The antacids are for the heartburn afterwards. Hopefully, Mik sticks around the kitchen to put in his two cents so we don’t all have fire guts by the end of the night.”
“Oh lord, okay, so that could be bad.” Kas loved spicy food but knew that if it were overly spicy it really could kill a person’s stomach, not something she wanted in the least. “So maybe we should take the really spicy things out of the kitchen?”
“Good plan. I’ll text Nolan to swipe stuff while Owen’s still planning. He likes to dig everything out ahead of time so he can adjust his menu if he doesn’t have something. With Stefan as his unwilling helper, Owen will be focused on the whining more than what anyone else is doing.” James pushed the bedroom door open slowly. Looking past him, she saw Victor sitting on the edge of the bed holding his ribs.
“I thought that I told you to stay your happy ass in bed until I said you could move.” Kasper told James where to put the food and narrowed her gaze on Victor. “I hate that you’re hurt and still hurt as much as you obviously do.” She sighed. “Do you need something?”
“To pee,” he said. “Sorry, sweetheart, but this isn’t something you can do for me. Be a pal, James, and lend me a hand up to my feet?”
James gave her a shrug, passed everything to her, and moved to help Victor to stand. He steadied him and then let the other man wander to the bathroom. “He’s fine, Kasper. Ribs are a bitch to heal. Even when they are healed, they still ache for a time. It’s a hell of a lot better to have some bruised ribs than to have your head cracked open like a melon. Remember that when you’re berating him.”
“Yes, this is true. I would have been very sad to have a hole in my head. I happen to enjoy breathing. I’m grateful for him, very much so. He saved my life. He really did.”
“He kept us from having to attend your funeral. So ease up a little, for me, please?” James cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her. “I know you’re only doing it because you worry and you were scared for him, but remember he’s a lot like a wounded animal right now. In pain and pissed the fuck off that someone attempted to kill you. He wants revenge, and his anger has no direction because we don’t have a clear target. So keep him calm, and keep him resting, so he heals quickly.”
“It just hurts me to know that he’s hurting. I know how silly that is, but that’s how I feel,” she admitted. “I will ease up, however, I promise. I’ll do whatever I have to do to calm my ass down. It’s just that I care so much for him, and you.”
“I know, baby. And thank you for at least attempting to ease up. The less whining I have to hear from him, the happier I’ll be.” He gave her another kiss but lifted his head as she heard the bathroom door open. “I’ll check in with you after we’ve stunted Owen’s meal plans a little and let you know where we stand there. Behave yourself, Victor,” he said to his friend before leaving the bedroom.
“Oh gods, is Owen on cooking duty?”
“Yes, Owen’s cooking today. They boys will make sure the spices are removed, and if all else fails, we’ll go ahead and order in.” She heard another round of thunder and smirked. “Damn, that storm is seriously getting heavy, isn’t it? That’s good, though, because if I remember correctly, Pepper loves storms.”
Victor eased down to sit on the bed. “We could use the water. It’s been so hot and dry of late. Hopefully it doesn’t rain too much. We don’t need flooding.” With a wince, he swung his legs up onto the bed before collapsing back into the pile of pillows she’d given him.
“I agree.” Kasper moved so she could cuddle up close. “We need the rain. It’s been looming for far too long, so this is a good thing.” She looked up at Victor and smiled. “I like being here in your arms.”
He gave a soft hum. “I like having you in my arms, too.” He curled one around her. “How’s Owen doing with figuring out what’s going on?” he asked after a few moments.
“He has some friends tracking the money. I hope he’ll be able to figure out where it is. This is crazy. I never knew that my uncle was this smart, I really didn’t. The man has never once let on that he had any sort of intelligence. He’s a moron to the nth degree.”
“Babe, you keep forgetting that it might not be him doing this. While I’d bet my last dollar he’s behind the hits on you and Pepper, we know he’s not directly out trying to kill you. He’s a man that hires others to do his dirty work for him. Which means that anything beyond him he’d have someone do for him, like moving the money around. Besides that, it sounds like something only a shady b
usinessman would think to do. So quit thinking that he’s the only one out there—he’s not.”
“Good point. He’s just the asshole who opened the gates of Hell and sent the Hounds out to hunt me. He needs to die, no question about it. I want him dead for what he has done to my family.”
“Just quit underestimating the lengths he’ll go to. He seems to think he has a right to all the money. Entitled assholes backed into a corner are extremely dangerous to everyone.”
“And he’s just exactly that. He’s an entitled asshole from way back. That son of a bitch seems to think that he’s owed something in life. He isn’t. Mom and Dad tried to bring him into the company, but he refused. He and his sons all. They wanted to party and have shit handed to them instead of work the way that they should have.”
“I know, Kasper, I know. We’ll find a way to prove he’s behind it all. We’ll stop him, and you’ll be safe again. Then we can figure out how to keep being together wherever we need to be, because I’m not letting you go. Hell, I took a bullet for you, woman. If that doesn’t say a committed man, I don’t know what does.” Victor pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Rest with me for a bit, will you? Then we’ll have a snack on the off chance that they can’t wrestle the spices out from under Owen’s nose.”
“I’m glad you guys are going to keep me, because I’m keeping you as well.” She rubbed her cheek to Victor’s chest and smiled. “Resting with you sounds like a good plan. Everything will work out, I just know it. It’ll work out because we need each other. Don’t we?”
“I definitely need you, Kasper St. John. You’re my heart, and without you I’m pretty sure I’d shrivel up and die.” She felt him brush his lips over her temple. “I will not lose you, sweetheart. No matter what needs to happen, we’ll have a long and happy future together.”
“That’s good because I won’t lose you, either. I’m in your life for now and always. I’m even going to keep James.” She said with a grin. “I happen to want to keep both of you—so there.” She would go wherever these men went if it meant keeping them in her life.
“We’ll figure it out later,” he whispered into her hair. “For now, let’s sleep. Gods, I love the sound of rain, it’s so relaxing,” he murmured. His arm tightened for a moment before relaxing around her to slip down and settle at her waist. Victor’s breathing deepened as he drifted off into sleep.
“I agree. Rain is the best sound,” Kas said with a yawn of her own. She had only woken a short time earlier, and now she was ready for a nap all over again. “Rest, Victor. We’ll handle everything else later. Just rest and feel better.”
“Love you,” he slurred. “Always.”
She knew he was out at that point. His breathing was deep and rhythmic under her ear.
Chapter Sixteen
Later that night…
Mikhail tapped on the door and tipped his head when Kas looked his way. “Owen has something if you’re interested,” he told her. Dinner had been a couple hours ago, and she’d been up resting with Victor while they watched a movie.
“Go ahead, babe. I’ll still be here when you get back. Or maybe in the bathroom having a shower. I suppose it depends on how much energy I have between now and when you return,” Victor said.
“Good. Yes, I’m interested.”
Thank God Owen had found something on the money trail. Kasper had known that he had been close during dinner, but now she just hoped it would pay off. Hoped it would lead them to whoever it was looking to kill her.
“Shouldn’t take too long,” Mikhail assured her. He waited for her by the door, and when she came close, he stepped to the side. “Owen has been having fits down there for the last ten minutes trying to get everything organized so it makes sense. Hopefully, there won’t be too much babbling involved and we can all get some sleep tonight.”
“Well, here’s to hoping that he makes sense then.” Kas looked back at Victor and gave him a wink. She smiled once and then walked away with her brother.
“At least he got some sleep so he won’t sound quite so incoherent,” Mik muttered. Down the stairs they went, and soon they joined the others in the kitchen.
“Oh, good. You’re here. Pull up a seat. This is going to take a few minutes, but it should all make sense,” Owen said. He had a number of sheets of paper taped to the wall with notes scribbled on them she could make sense of, but some of them were just gibberish.
Kasper looked up at her brother and then the men around the room. She could tell Owen had found something because the man was all but buzzing with energy, while he danced around from foot to foot, obviously anxious to tell her what he had found.
“Okay, so bear with me a few minutes here while I deal with our money problem. It’ll all become clear once I get into it a little deeper. As you know, your uncle has no funds currently. At least, none of his own. But he’s attempting to get at yours and is more than willing to use whatever means necessary.
“Since we didn’t know when this all started, we went from the present day backward. This takes a lot longer than following a current money trail to its end destination. We knew of one definite point of transaction: the purchase of the life-insurance policies. From there, we branched out. Long story short, he’s borrowed a lot of money all on the gamble that if he can get you to run, or get you dead by deeds not easily connected to him, he gets the policies and can pay back what he owes. Otherwise, he ends up dead.”
Owen went to the wall of papers. “These here are the policy purchases. The ones on your parents, his wife, and on the kids, plus his own, are here. All above-board on the surface. We started to follow a certain spending trend he had. While your parents were alive, all the money was coming from them to him and then out for his various habits. Once they died, and everything reverted into your name, you cut them off and the trail ends here.” He pointed to a sheet before jumping to another. “Suddenly, he has money again. Money that mysteriously appeared in his account after several phone calls and meetings he had with old friends.”
Owen shifted again to point to two more sheets of paper. “Proof of purchase of hired guns. Two different shooters, two different countries, and at two different times. One is the one that took the shot at you, Kasper. From the timing, I’m guessing our guy out of Eastern Europe. This one here was the one that went after Pepper who came in from South America. No clue who they are. We’re still trying to dig into their online presence to determine their real identities. But that’s another story.”
He slapped another sheet of paper. “This here is the one that’s going to nail this fucker. He made a mistake and sent the money through an account we know to be his. There’s paperwork verifying it’s his. The money went out from the accounts to three places. Two of those places bounced around about a hundred times before paying the hitmen. The other eventually landed back in the U.S. in another account we can identify as being his.
“Now, he didn’t do this on his own. This sort of maneuvering of money is fucking hard. It takes someone with very serious computer skills. Your uncle tops out at texting, and even then, he isn’t very good at it. No clue who he had helping him, but it was from one of the families. My guess is they were wanting to make certain money they loaned him was used wisely so they could get their money back with interest, and so that he had enough to pay off the others who they’ve been covering his ass for a while. Any questions?” Owen propped his hands on his hips and grinned at them all.
“Wow, you are good.” And she felt sick. Owen had found the trails that led back to her uncle and that was just seriously sucky in her mind. Kas was holding out the smallest of hopes that her family truly wasn’t as rotten to the core as she suspected. “So we will nail my uncle for this shit and then Pepper and I will be safe.” Kas prayed that was true. She was ready to get on with her life with her men and ready to actually live. “What’s our next move? Do we give this to the police or the FBI and have them make the arrest? If so, how do we handle this? Will you get in trouble for looking into his
financials and such?” Even as Kasper said the words, she knew there was no hope the hits would stop. She wasn’t a stupid woman and had worked for the CIA for a time; she knew how these scenarios played out. The ones with the price on their heads died unless someone bigger and badder stepped in and intervened.
“Don’t worry about that,” Mikhail said to her. “Bigger concern—what are the contracts, Owen?”
“Ah, right, those.” Owen lost his happy look and went serious. “The money has been transferred to the killers. Both of their reputations are top notch. They will not stop until the targets are dead. We have to uncover their real identities and tie them to the contracts to ensure they get nailed for being hired to commit murder.
“The other problem is, even if we turn her uncle in, he can’t call the hits off. We know this from the contracts we found. If he was found out, the hits still go on—sorry, Kas.” He sounded genuine in his apology. “With the payment in full, it means there is to be no contact at any point, and there can be no reversal of plans. That way there can’t be a lie told about payment or whatever and the hit halted. Evidently, this hitman is high price. It’s odd, but whatever.
“I’ve already turned everything I have in a slightly easier-to-read format to the FBI. They will be arresting your uncle, as well as keeping very close watch over his mob friends until we can ferret out more information. For the time being, we’re still in a holding pattern until we can figure out who our hitters are. My guys are closing in on them, but we still need a few hours, plus we’ll need to verify through the TSA that they actually flew in via visual records, not merely names.”
“So you’re saying we just sit and wait.” Kas didn’t like that, at all. She felt as if the proverbial other shoe was going to drop at any moment in time, and that was just not something she thought she could handle. “Thank you. Seriously, thank you for everything that you’ve done. You’ve been incredible and you’ve done so much more than I expected, to be honest.”