Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Vengeance [Sweet Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Nicole Morgan

  Maybe Chelsea had cut herself shaving and went in search of a Band-Aid. He hoped it wasn’t just wishful thinking. He rounded the corner into the kitchen, following the trail. It stopped at the door, and so did he. There on the handle was a bloody handprint, and on the doorjamb a smear.

  His heart stopped. Air ceased to move freely in and out of his lungs. He’d seen scenes like this before. Violent images that were left behind after some had committed a horrific act. Memories of his days serving as a SEAL in war torn countries flashed through his mind.

  He stared at the blood for several moments, unable to move, frozen in fear. He felt like he was going to pass out when he realized he probably hadn’t taken a breath in at least a minute. He had stopped using oxygen when the thought that Chelsea was hurt had entered his mind.

  A loud screech of tires sounded from out front. He turned, and got to the door just as he heard knocking, no, pounding, on the door. Reaching for the handle to open it, he was surprised by the voice he heard on the other side calling out Chelsea’s name.

  “Rex? What the fuck are you doing here?” Adam snapped.

  “You’re here? Okay. Good, where’s Chelsea? I was on my way to the gym when Shelby called and gave me her message. I called Jack, he’s on his way here…what?”

  “She called you?” Damn he was confused. Where was she? He’d only been gone ten minutes.

  “No. She called Shelby. She said you were in trouble. You don’t look good, man, what’s going on?”

  Adam didn’t get a chance to answer when they heard Jack come to a halt in front of the house. A look of worry was on his face when he entered the house. All three men stared at each other and Rex shut the door.

  “What did you do?” Jack demanded.

  On any other day, Adam would have shouted at or even hit Jack for his curt tone, but not today. Damn it. He didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t even want to think it was a possibility.

  He went over to the couch and sat. Resting his elbows on his knees, he dragged his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath and looked back at his two brothers-in-arms.

  “I think the Bianchis have Chelsea. Oh fuck! You guys have to help me. I can’t lose her, too.”

  Rex and Jack looked at each other in complete shock.

  “Damn it, guys, please. I know I’m an asshole, okay? I admit to every bad, horrible fucking thing I ever did. Just help me. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care, but if something happens to me, I need to know that someone will save her. Come on. You’re the only two I trust.”

  The two men looked at him and nodded their heads. They had both been there before. That fear and realization that you might lose the woman that you love to the hands of a madman.

  “Okay. Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out, then we’ll decide what we need to do.” Jack motioned for Rex to sit down.

  A half hour later, the men had a pretty good understanding of what they needed to do. Until Rex pointed it out to him, he hadn’t realized how stupid he had been to confront Bianchi Sr., let alone go sneaking around the outside of the compound last night. He had been so consumed with the need for vengeance, he probably hadn’t even realized he’d led them straight to Chelsea’s front door.

  “You know we’re gonna have to bring the cops in on this, right?” Rex pointed out.

  “What? Are you nuts? I just told you that the cops are the ones who let that son of a bitch who killed Ally and our child get off without any consequence, and you want me to trust them?” He was furious that his good friend could even suggest such a thing.

  “No, damn it. I’m not asking you to trust them. I’m asking you to trust Andrew and Cullen.” Rex stood firm on his opinion.

  “No! Fuck no! We do this my way, you hear me?” Adam stood up, but not quick enough. In a moment he found himself being pushed back down by a very pissed off looking Jack.

  “Listen, you stupid, ignorant, selfish son of a bitch!” Jack shouted.

  “Jack, listen, man, this isn’t the time for—”

  “Bullshit it’s not the time, Rex. This has been a long time coming, too. Shit, Adam, look, I know that you’re messed up from what happened to Ally and your kid. I can’t even begin to imagine the grief and pain you feel every damn day, but they’re gone man. They’re not coming back. Chelsea’s here. She’s here in the present. Don’t let your past and your macho bullshit fuck up any second chances you may be lucky enough to get in this life.”

  With raised eyebrows, Rex agreed. “He’s right, man. I didn’t think you were ready to hear all that, but he’s right. You gotta get past it. Now, especially, because if you care about her at all, you’ve got to get your head on straight, and fast. These Bianchis don’t fuck around, man.”

  Gritting his teeth, Adam nodded. “I know. Jesus, believe me, I know!”

  An hour later, five men sat around Chelsea’s kitchen table. One was in shock. One looked filled with rage, and the other three were waiting patiently for the shit to hit the proverbial fan.

  “You son of a bitch! It’s not enough you’re a prick who clearly already got one girlfriend killed, but—”

  “Cullen! That’s a low blow, man, way the fuck out of line!” Rex glared at him.

  Andrew agreed. “Yeah, Cullen, chill, all right. Listen, guys, you have to admit this is all a bit shocking, okay?”

  Adam finally spoke, “No, he’s right. I got Ally killed, our child killed, but damn it, I won’t lose Chelsea, too. Please, I don’t care how big of a prick you think I am. Please help me. Help me help her. I don’t care what happens to me. I just need to know that if something goes wrong, if I end up getting killed, that someone will save her. That’s all I need, I just need to know that she’ll be safe.”

  “We promise you, man. We’ll make sure she’s safe. Won’t we, guys?” Jack asked the group.

  In unison, they all agreed and began to put a plan together. Each one of them silently hoping and praying that it worked.

  Chapter 29

  Chelsea stirred when she heard the noise. It wasn’t loud, but it was enough to wake her. Her body felt stiff, sore, like she had run a marathon. She attempted to open her eyes, blinking a couple of times from the fuzziness that surrounded her vision.

  Her head was killing her, literally throbbing in agony. She reached her hand up to touch it, rub her temples like she did when she had migraines. The swift movement of her arm was met with resistance. She flinched in pain from pulling too hard on a wrist that was restrained without her knowledge. Looking down, she stared at her wrist. Handcuffs? What had happened, and why was everything so fuzzy? Even her thoughts seemed to be floating, just out of her reach.

  The consistent noise caught her attention, and she looked behind her. The sound, the clicking and humming that had woken her, was a small oscillating fan. She stared at it for a moment, intrigued by the constant swaying motion. It took her a moment before she realized that she had been lost in the motion.

  Her head, everything about her, seemed cloudy, distorted. Why did she feel so out of touch with reality and where was she? She took in her surroundings, scanning the room for some sort of familiarity, but there was none. There was a small table over by the corner, a chair, a small lamp. It struck her as odd that she wasn’t sitting, but lying down. That’s when she looked down at her lax body and realized she was on a small bed. A bed? What was going on? She could have continued to ask herself that, had she not heard a door open across the room.

  Chelsea shut her eyes and blinked against the bright light that permeated from the other side of the door. There was a man, a large man, coming toward her. She instinctively knew she should be scared, but this floating fuzzy feeling wouldn’t allow it. She opened her mouth to speak but realized that she had no words, no voice.

  “Shh, it’s okay, Chelsea. I brought you some food.” He set the tray down next to her on the bed.

  Her vision, still cloudy, was trying to adjust to the darkness and the strange feeling that was overpowering her. She
could almost make out his features, but not quite. Something about him seemed familiar, but again she couldn’t find the energy to feel afraid.

  “Poor thing. You’re confused, aren’t you?” He gently brushed his fingers over her cheek.

  She wanted to pull away from his touch, but her body decided it was too much effort, so she stayed put. Nodding was the best way she could find to answer the stranger’s question.

  “I thought so. Oh, honey, I told you I didn’t want to hurt you. You just got so crazy. I had no choice but to knock you out.” He took a deep breath and looked around the small room. “I’m sure your head hurts and I’m sorry for that. Can I get you anything?”

  Chelsea stared at the large man sitting next to her, confused by what he was saying. What was he talking about? He knocked her out? Why? Who was he?

  “Chelsea, are you okay, honey? You look disoriented. Jesus, you could have a concussion.”

  She opened her mouth, attempted to speak, but her throat was so dry that only a raspy sound would come out. She happily took a very large drink of the bottle of water he handed her. The cool water coated her dry throat, waking her senses just a bit.

  “There, is that better?” He reached his hand up and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes. “You’re so pretty, Chelsea. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this.”

  She listened to the man. He spoke so softly. It was a strange contradiction, to see a man of his size speak so sincerely, so kindly. “Why…what’s going on? Where am I?”

  A frown of concern washed over his face. He had hit her, but not that hard. “Do you remember me? What’s my name, honey?”

  She shook her head. He looked somewhat familiar, but other than a vague sense of knowing him, she truly had no idea.

  He ground his teeth together and reached for her arm. Holding the forearm up, he studied her bruised skin. That’s when he saw it. There, right next to a bruise that he had undoubtedly been the cause of, sat a needle mark.

  “They drugged you? After I left you here to talk to the boss, they drugged you? Those sons of bitches!” Abruptly, he got up from the bed and stalked over to the door.

  He opened it and grabbed the smaller man standing in the hall and threw him to the ground. “Who in the fuck drugged her?”

  The smaller man on the floor was stunned by his outburst. “Rico, chill out, man! Shit, she’s just another body. She started to wake up—” His rant was silenced by the swift kick Rico applied to his midsection.

  “She’s not just a fucking body! Who the fuck said you could drug her? She’s my target, mine, not yours, Johnny, so who the fuck do you think you are? I should kill you right now you worthless piece of —”

  “Rico?” The name spilled from her lips. When she heard the small man on the floor use the name, she remembered something, bits and pieces of a talk and then fighting, in her home, the house she shared with Adam.

  Rico ran to her, forgetting about the man lying on the floor. “Chelsea? What’s wrong honey?”

  With the memories flooding back to her, she flinched when he touched her. “Don’t touch me.”

  A frown fell on his face. He understood her anger, but he hated that she was angry with him. Somehow, in a matter of hours, he had come to care for the sweet, petite blonde that acted like a lady one minute and fought like a wildcat the next. He nodded and pulled his hand away from her.

  “Why did you bring me here, Rico? You said you wouldn’t let me be hurt! Look at me!” She emphasized her anger by rattling her handcuffed wrist.

  Suddenly, he felt very small, like a child being scolded by his mother. The thought that Chelsea was angry with him made him sick to his stomach, nauseated from the hatred in her eyes. “I’m sorry. God, you’re right. I’m so sorry, Chelsea. I never should have brought you here.”

  “What the fuck is going on here?” A tall man with graying hair and a stern posture stood in the doorway.

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on, boss. Rico’s fallen for this bitch. Look at him, she scratched the shit out of him and he’s fucking fallen for her.” Johnny all but shouted in the background.

  “Shut the fuck up, Johnny! This doesn’t concern you.”

  “You shut the fuck up, Rico. It concerns me, and I want to know, so tell me, you got it bad for this one?” The tall man, the man they referred to as boss, shouted his question to Rico.

  Rico got up from his sitting position. He stepped in front of Chelsea in a defensive gesture. He had fallen for her and there was no way he was going to make his mistake worse by letting anything more happen to her.

  “Yes. I have feelings for her, and with all due respect, I want you to let her go. Find another way to teach her boyfriend not to fuck with you, but not this way, not with her.”

  The room was silent for a moment. So silent it was eerie. Then with a roar of laughter, the man known as the boss reached in his jacket and pulled out a gun. Aiming, he shot Rico right between the eyes.

  Chapter 30

  Adam paced the small squad room of the police station. He still couldn’t believe that the four of them had managed to convince him to trust this Chief Rawlings guy. He didn’t really care that he had helped both Jack and Rex when their wives had been in danger. He didn’t trust these damn cops as far as he could throw them. He had to admit, though, if Jack and Rex trusted the guy, then he probably should too.

  At the sight of commotion amongst a bunch of officers, he turned to Jack and Rex. “Something’s happening, damn it. You can either get your two friends and find out, or I’m out of here.”

  “Hold your horses there, Collins.” A large, burly man said from behind him.

  Turning, Adam gave him the once-over. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Chief Rawlings. Now we don’t have a lot of time, and my two pain in the ass detectives here,” he motioned toward Cullen and Andrew, “seem to think that you should be involved in what’s happening. With that being said, since I’ve learned from previous experience that the local former Navy SEALs can be real pains in the asses as well when they don’t get their way, I reluctantly agreed.”

  Knowing he’d better not look a gift horse in the mouth, he nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Whatever. Just remember the same thing I’ve told these two charming individuals before.” He said, while indicating he was speaking about Rex and Jack. “You get yourself hurt or killed, not my problem. My responsibility lies with my men and the victim…” He cleared his throat at his callous slip of the tongue. “I mean with Chelsea Hart.”

  Adam didn’t have time to be annoyed by the chief saying what was obviously true. She was a victim. She was a victim because of him, but he would make sure she did not end up with the same fate Ally did. If he died in the process, he would make sure that she was safe.

  A half an hour later, all the men were huddled behind one of the many police cars surrounding the Bianchi compound. Adam’s fear was overwhelming him. His heart was beating so fast he was surprised it didn’t jump right out of his chest.

  When he had heard the reason for everyone moving on the Bianchis so quickly, he almost died. Apparently, the FBI’s undercover agent, someone named Rico, had been wired, and in the process of trying to save a young woman’s life, he was killed. They wouldn’t have known if the man hadn’t been wearing a new microchip wire hidden behind his ear.

  Chelsea. He prayed to God that she was okay. He had never gotten the chance to tell her how much she really had come to mean to him. Sure, it had only been days, but she had awakened a once very dead soul.

  He started when there was movement coming from the Mansion. With the large, black wrought iron gate, it was hard to see what was happening at first. Then he did see. He saw all too well what was happening.

  Danny Bianchi Jr. stood on the front steps, his arm wrapped around Chelsea and a gun to her head. Ice coursed through his veins despite the rage he felt boiling up inside of him. The son of a bitch had a smile on his face.

  “Collins? Collins, you out here?”
the youngest Bianchi yelled out.

  He yanked his arm free from Rex, who attempted to hold him back. “Yeah, I’m here, you piece of shit.”

  “Jesus Christ, Adam, what are you doing?” Jack asked. “Do not fucking antagonize him!”

  Turning back, he spoke to both Jack and Rex. “This is my fight. I have to do this. He wants me anyway. Just…promise me…promise me on your lives that you will save her.”

  He waited for both men to nod in agreement, then turned and started to walk up the driveway. He kept his eyes locked on Bianchi the whole walk up the driveway. There were guards scattered throughout the spacious estate, all pointing guns on him.

  The knowledge that there were probably a hundred law enforcement officers behind him pointing their weapons in the same direction, toward him, didn’t seem to bother him. The truth of it was he wasn’t exactly sure why they were even allowing him to approach Bianchi. Then his SEAL instinct kicked in.

  They didn’t care about him or Chelsea. This was a setup, an ambush. Bianchi made the U.S. Government look foolish when he escaped the two agents who were guarding him. He had murdered countless individuals over the years, and after they had agreed to give him a free pass, he had made them look like idiots.

  If Chelsea was going to get out of this, it was going to be up to him. No way would he trust her safety to a bunch of people seeking revenge. He chose to ignore their motivation and focus on getting Chelsea back safe and in his arms.

  “Adam…oh God, Adam…are you okay?”

  Sweet Jesus. She was standing there with a gun to her head and she was worried about him? “Yeah, sugar, I’m fine. I’m okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

  Bianchi laughed at him in a mocking fashion. “Don’t lie to her, asshole. Women can sense that shit, you know, when you’re lying. Can’t you, sweetie?” He leaned over and licked the side of her neck.