Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War

by Hardin, Michelle

  She looked up at him with terror in her innocent, bright-blue eyes. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Where is my husband?”

  Nathan stopped walking once they stood a small distance away from the house. Turning to the small woman, he stared her directly in her eyes. “Listen to me, Gwendolyn. I want you to know that none of this is your fault. Your husband has been lying to you about who he is, who his family is …”

  “What does this mean? I don’t understand. How does he lie to me? He is my husband,” she sobbed.

  Nathan nodded. “I know, sweetheart, but trust me. You needed to be saved. What did your husband tell you he did for a living?”

  “He is a business man. He has many clients.”

  “Did he ever tell you what he sold?”

  When she shook her head no, Nathan sighed. The woman looked like a child. He felt sorry for her. “Gwendolyn, sweetheart, he sold people.”

  “What?”

  “Young men, woman, and children.”

  “You’re lying, he would never do that!” she exclaimed, tears filling her eyes.

  Nathan nodded. “Yes he would, dear, yes he would.”

  The woman completely broke down, crying hysterically. Nathan fought the urge to roll his eyes and brought her to him in an effort to make her feel protected. Being married to Carter, he wasn’t used to this type of reaction. Betrayal such as this would only ignite Carter’s wrath. He shook his head. He had to stop comparing every woman to Carter, it wasn’t fair to do that; Carter was one of a kind. He needed to focus on turning on the charm. He needed information from Gwendolyn, but before he could get it, he needed to make himself look like a hero in her eyes and not the villain.

  Pulling back from her, Nathan cupped her face gently. “Gwendolyn,” he whispered. Blue eyes full of devastation rose to meet his. “How old are you, honey?”

  “Thirty-five years,” she replied in a broken whisper.

  Nathan nodded. “I need your help, sweetheart.”

  Concern for Nathan filled her eyes. That was the moment Nathan knew he had her.

  “I need you to help me save a young girl’s life. Your husband was involved in a kidnapping—”

  “Oh my God,” she cried. “Who did he take?”

  Nathan pulled every bit of the devastation, sadness, and fear he had felt the moment he’d found out Carter was taken to the surface. He would hide nothing. If he didn’t, if he allowed her to see, he would get this woman on his side.

  “My wife …” His voice was full of heartbreak.

  Gwendolyn gasped and slowly shook her head in shock.

  “She’s twenty-three years old, and possibly pregnant with our first child.” Nathan spoke quietly. He had yet to tell anyone of Carter’s possible pregnancy; emotions had already been high enough. Anastacia was a wreck and everyone else was scared out of their minds. If they all knew that Carter was possibly with child, they’d completely lose their shit. Especially Anastacia and Angelo. No, Nathan would not tell them until Carter was home safe and they confirmed that she was actually pregnant. He would bear the burden of being sick with worry for his wife and unborn child alone.

  Gwendolyn grabbed onto his hands and squeezed them as she began to weep once again. “Oh God. I’m so sorry … I’m so … sorry.”

  She surprised Nathan and tightly wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. It was a warm hug, full of comfort and remorse. Unfortunately it did nothing to thaw the coldness that had entered Nathan’s head and heart the moment he’d found out his wife had been taken away from him. He returned her hug, but only for show. He was more than ready to get the information he needed and head to the city. He needed his wife.

  Gwendolyn pulled back from him. “I’m so sorry he did such a thing, but I don’t know what it is you think I can do to help you…”

  And there it was, his window of opportunity. Nathan dived for it. “Gwendolyn, I need you to tell me the locations of the rest of the Steele estates that you have been to in Germany.”

  She nodded. “I have visited many. Do you think that your wife is there?”

  “Yes,” he lied. He was going to destroy them.

  “I will help you,” she said with a firm nod. “There are five different estates that I’ve been to, and Vladek was always talking of a castle in Rigton.” She proceeded to tell him the locations of all five of the estates, making him promise that he wouldn’t attack the home where they kept the young children.

  Nathan nodded his agreement. That estate would be spared.

  After Nathan thanked her more than he cared to, she hugged him again. This time she kissed him on the cheek.

  “You saved my life,” she whispered, “and my baby’s. Thank you so much.”

  Smiling, Nathan fought to not roll his eyes again. He needed to go … now.

  “I pray you find your wife and baby safely.”

  Nathan gave her a nod and signaled for two of his men to come forward. “Where are you from, Gwendolyn?”

  “Hamburg.” She lowered her eyes sadly. “But I can’t go back there. I chose Vladek over my family three years ago.”

  Nathan nodded and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Take her to her family …”

  She looked up at him, surprised by his words.

  “Make sure she is safe when she gets there. Help her find a home, pay for it, then leave her with enough money for her and her baby to start a new life.”

  “Thank you!” she exclaimed.

  Nathan smiled as genuinely as he could. The woman couldn’t even tell when she was being paid off. Either way, it didn’t matter to him. He just needed to make sure she was too busy to open her mouth. “Good luck, Gwendolyn,” was the last thing he said to her before she was led away from him, and driven away from the building.

  Nathan smiled, proud of himself. In his opinion, that was definitely fifty percent mercy.

  “Listen up!” he shouted. Every eye turned to him just as the tortured screams of Vladek burning to death rung loud in the air.

  Nathan smiled. Freddy Russia really did love his fire.

  “It seems that our beloved Carterina is no longer a prisoner of Silas Steele,” Nathan stated with a proud smile. “I hear he found out why the rest of us hesitate to even think of fucking with Mrs. Salerno.” The men laughed, cheered, and whistled, but Nathan silenced them by raising his hand. “What do you all say to giving Mrs. Salerno a little gift? Show her how much we care. I received some useful information courtesy of the late Vladek Steele’s wife,” Nathan smirked. “There are five estates, and we’re hitting four of them. Wipe. Them. Out. No one lives. The message will be clear, clean, and quick. I swear to God if one of you motherfuckers die, I’ll kill you.” The men laughed. “They tell me that the Steele family is full of dangerous men and women, so use this advantage I have given you.” Nathan let out a deep chuckle. “Sucker punch the motherfuckers.”

  That got them all riled up. A few men began to slap their hands against the car, shouting “Let’s go kill some Steeles!” Nathan could feel their excitement thick in the air. This was the type of shit these men lived for. The rush, the adrenaline, the fight, and the kill. They craved living in a world not bound by the laws of society. Men and women of the criminal underworld lived by different rules. If you fucked with the wrong person, you got your ass killed. Nathan understood that the Steele family had once been untouchable, but times had changed. Silas Steele had fucked with the wrong man. Nathan refused to fear any man or woman that came against his family.

  “Let’s go!” Nathan called to his brothers.

  He handed off the information about the estates to one of the men he’d put in charge and headed to his car, his brothers following behind him.

  “We’re heading back to Russia,” he said to them over his shoulder. “The men don’t need us with them. We need to head back to Russia to look for Carter. If she got away, she’d be headed there. We have a few friends in Germany that she knows about. Hopefully we’ll be getting a call soon.”r />
  “She could already be in Russia, Nate,” Kyle said. “She got away from Silas three days ago.”

  “Yeah, I know that, but if she were already to safety don’t you think she would call?”

  Frowning, Kyle nodded his head. “Has your father called? Have they found anything?”

  Nathan shook his head. “I haven’t heard from him. Anastacia calls every second, though. I understand she feels powerless right now because she’s hurt, but I need her to trust me—”

  “Nathan!”

  Nathan looked over his shoulder when he heard Mickey call his name. “What?” he asked.

  Mickey ran up to him with a weird look in his eyes, and Nathan immediately knew that whatever Mickey had to say, he wouldn’t like it.

  Stopping in front of Nathan, Mickey slipped his hands into his pocket. “I’m going to go with them. I want to fight.”

  And that’s all he said right before he started to walk past him. Nathan’s hand shot out and gripped Mickey’s arm, pulling him back in front of him. Speechless, both Kyle and Nathan stared at Mickey for a moment.

  Mickey looked at them with a frown. “What are doing?”

  “What do you mean what is he doing?” Kyle questioned angrily.

  Nathan leveled a glare on Mickey. “What is this? When did this start?”

  “What do you mean?” Mickey asked.

  “This! You, telling me what you’re going to do, instead of just doing what I told you to?”

  Kyle reached over and smacked Mickey in the back of the head. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why the hell would you go with them?”

  “So … what? You guys don’t want me to go?”

  “Hell no!” Nathan yelled. “If I wanted you to go I would have told you to go!”

  “Why the hell would you go to fucking war without us?” Kyle added.

  “Kyle, will you excuse us for a moment?” Nathan asked.

  Kyle gave Nathan a look and Nathan nodded his head, assuring Kyle that he’d talk some sense into Mickey.

  When Kyle turned and stalked off, muttering expletives, Mickey jerked his arm from Nathan’s grip.

  “Dammit, Nathan! Just let me do this!”

  Nathan shook his head firmly. “The answer’s no. If you go, then all five of us have to go. Then who will be there for Carter?”

  “You guys don’t need me there, and I don’t need you with me. I’ll be fine. I want to fight.”

  Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. “Bullshit! What is this really about?” Mickey had been acting different ever since the day they’d all met up in Russia. He’d barely spoken two words this entire search. Now, when he was finally ready to speak, he said this?

  “It’s about killing the motherfuckers that took Carter from us. It’s about revenge. It’s about earning your trust back, your respect.” Mickey angrily spat each word out.

  Nathan sighed. “You have both, Mickey. You never lost it. I already apologized for what I said on the phone. I told you that you are not to blame, now stop this. I was just upset, scared for Carter. We all are. Now, let’s go. Get in the car.”

  Nathan waited for Mickey to walk back to the car, but he didn’t move, causing Nathan’s jaw to clench tightly. “Mikilo—”

  “Look, Nathan. I appreciate your apology, but I still want to fight.”

  “And I said no,” Nathan growled, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

  “I understand that, but no boss or underboss would stop a willing soldier from fighting.”

  “So if we find Carter while you’re gone, you what, want us to tell her you said hi?” Nathan asked.

  Mickey didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he stared off into the distance and slipped his hands into his jean pockets.

  “Answer me, Mikilo.”

  Mickey shook his head. “I feel it, man. I know you do too …”

  Nathan nodded; he did feel it. They were getting closer to finding Carter. What he couldn’t understand was why this seemed to cause Mickey so much distress.

  “Mickey,” Nathan said. Mickey turned his gaze to him. “Talk to me, brother. We have a little time before the plane is ready.”

  The muscles in Mickey’s jaw tightened. “I don’t think I’ll be able to see her until I prove to myself that I’m worthy of her forgiveness, Nathan.”

  “Mickey, what happened wasn’t your fault.”

  Mickey shook his head. “We weren’t watching, Nathan. She was so …” He swallowed his emotions. “She was more vulnerable than I had ever seen her before. It was like finding out what had happened to you shut her down. She threw up, nearly fainted, and began screaming for us to look for you. It took Anastacia forever to calm her down; I thought we were going to have to take her to the hospital. When we finally got outside, she had gone completely blank. It almost seemed like she wanted to end it, just walk into oncoming traffic. I literally only looked away for ten seconds, Nate …” He gazed off into the distance again. “I’ve never failed before. Why did my first failure have to be failing to protect my best friend? She was devastated and off her guard. She needed me to have her back and I didn’t. I was too busy on the phone.” He turned his gaze back to Nathan with a pained look in his eyes. “What if she hates us … me, Anastacia, and Cesare? Carter always has my back. Every time we had a job, every time I acted impulsively, she kept me from doing something stupid, and she was there for me when I got shot. I know she would never hold a grudge against me, that’s just not who she is, but to me, I feel like I need to do more if I want to be worthy of the forgiveness she’s most likely already given me. I need to make sure this doesn’t happen to her again.”

  “We are making sure this doesn’t happen again, brother.” Nathan placed a hand on Mickey’s shoulder. “Carter loves you, Mickey. I’m positive nothing resembling hate, or blame against you has even crossed her mind. She’s fighting to get back to us, her family. If we head back to Russia and she’s there waiting for us it will,” Nathan sighed, “cause her a lot of stress to hear that you’re off somewhere fighting without us there to back you up, Mikilo. You’re exceptional at what you do, but you are right, you’re impulsive. Kyle, Dante, Lucca, and I expect that. We know you, we can pretty much predict everything you’re going to do before you do it, but they can’t. Carter knows that, and she would worry, Mickey. She doesn’t need any more stress, and frankly, neither do I. I’m … already worried enough.” Nathan ran his hand down his face as the tremors began again. “Shit.” Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his hands began to shake. Dear God, he needed to get his wife back safely. He was losing it again. It was just like when his mother had been killed. For long periods of time Nathan would just go blank, and when he became aware of his surroundings again, he’d be somewhere different than he was before. Nathan took a deep breath. He wouldn’t slip into that state again … he couldn’t. Carter needed him. She needed him to be strong.

  Nathan felt a hand on his shoulder. “Nathan, are you okay?”

  Taking a step back, Nathan wiped the sweat from his forehead. “No,” he confessed as he rested his head against the car. “Carter might be pregnant …” When he said the words to his brother, he felt a little lighter. It was a small amount of relief, but relief nonetheless. So much for keeping it to himself.

  Nathan wasn’t aware of what was happening around him, but he knew he was moving. It might have been safe to say that Nathan was panicking a little, which was why he knew he was in no state to fight a war. Having Lucca, Kyle, Mickey, Dante, and Freddy with him ensured that he could have his “panic moments” away from the eyes of his men.

  Nathan was led to the backseat of the SUV. When he entered the car and his door was closed, he rested against the seat and groaned. Cradling his head in his hands, he took deep breaths. He distantly heard the two front doors close, but he felt distanced from it.

  “Where is Mickey?” he asked as a painful headache settled on the right side of his head.

  “I am here, Nathan.”

  Nath
an sighed in relief.

  “Why didn’t you tell us, Nathan?” he heard Kyle ask. “Why would you keep that to yourself?”

  “She hadn’t taken a test yet, but we were both pretty sure. I know she is, man, I can feel it in my gut. I’m fucking losing my mind.” He removed his hand from his face. “I just need her back. I need her to be safe, I need to know our baby is healthy and still growing inside of her.” Leaning forward, Nathan rested his elbows on his knees. “I need my family back.” He looked at his reflection in the tinted window. “I’m afraid of who I’ll become if anything happens to my wife and child, guys. I don’t think there will be any coming back from that.”

  “We’re going to get her, brother…” Kyle said as he started the car and pulled out. They weren’t even a mile down the road before Nathan’s car phone received a message.

  “Do you want me to hand you the phone?” Mickey asked.

  Nathan shook his head. “No, just put it on speaker. It’s probably my father, or Anastacia.”

  Mickey did as Nathan had instructed, and played the message on speaker.

  When the message began it was only static, like that of a television. What sounded like a soft, feminine voice cut through until it became clear. Nathan’s heart stopped at the sound of her voice.

  “Nathan …” So soft and almost a whisper, yet his wife’s voice came as a sweet caress to his ears. “Hi, bubby.”

  Nathan could practically hear tears welling up, and they matched his own. Nathan didn’t know what the fuck was happening to him, but he was definitely sure he had unshed tears in his eyes.

  Carter sniffled. “I don’t know when you’ll get this message, but I pray that it’s soon. I got away from Silas, bubby. I did what my father told me to do, what you told me to do … I fought. A lot of stuff happened, but it only took me a few hours to find Rashid. Do you remember Rashid, Nathan? We met him when you just had to take that meeting on the way to our honeymoon in Fiji.” She laughed softly and Nathan’s heart twisted in his chest. “He’s still really funny. Anyway, he told us if we were ever in Germany to look him up. Turns out his town is only a few hours away from Silas’s prison. Rashid is going to give the authorities a tip and have Silas’s castle raided. That should take care of him, and close a lot of missing person’s cases.” There was silence for a moment. “It might take you a couple of days to receive this message, so if you’ve found me by then, just disregard this. Rashid has to make sure the call isn’t traced or listened to. Silas’s influence is deep out here. This is the only time I can call you, Nathan. I’m not taking any chances. Please find me …” Her soft sniffle filled the phone and Nathan longed to hold her in his arms. “I wish you were here, bubby. I know I have to be strong right now, but I’m … I was so scared. I really need you. I know I haven’t talked to you since the day before you were … hurt, but I have to believe in my heart that you’re okay. I need you … to please be okay—”