She nodded, her lips turning down. “We can’t live like this, Ryder. I can’t run from my uncle forever. Maybe I should call him. Explain things.”
Ryder pulled her into his embrace and kissed her forehead. “As much as I’d like to think that would work, I can’t let you do that, Gabby. He’d kill me on sight and punish you for disobeying him. You and I both know Raúl is not a man of honor. We can’t trust him, not even where you’re concerned now.”
She pressed her cheek against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Then what will we do? Uncle Raúl won’t stop looking for me.”
“I don’t have the answers yet. But no, ángel, he won’t.” Ryder disentangled himself from Gabby, grabbed his cell and pocketed it. Opening the door, he glanced back. “Lock up. No one comes in.”
When she nodded, he stepped into the hall, wasting little time. He moved along the shadows in stealth until he hit the stairs, where he descended with a speed unknown to man. Riding an elevator would have taken far too much time, being they were on the fourth floor. Reaching the ground level mere seconds later, Ryder slowed his pace, his gaze taking in the tourists and locals. No one paid attention to him. He slipped down first-floor hallway, spotting a housekeeping cart next to an opened door. If the housekeeper was alone, she was brunch.
Ryder slipped down the empty hall and ducked into the room without notice.
The woman smiled warmly as he entered, no doubt mistaking him for the room’s occupant.
“Hola, señor. ¿Qué puedo hacer por usted?”
Ryder wasn’t sure she understood English, which would mess up his plans to hypnotize her.
“Do you speak English?”
“Sí.” She nodded. “I will be done in a few. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Actually…” Ryder smiled as he approached.
Moments later, he wiped the remaining blood from his lips and left the woman to go about her business none the wiser but with a lot less energy. Warmth spread through him, heating what was moments ago cold. Looking at his hands, he was pleased to see the healthy glow of his skin return.
Now, to do a quick look around the resort, find Gabby some breakfast, and head back to the room. Her idea of passing the time brought a smile to his face. Ryder wasn’t about to pass up the chance to squander the day in bed with her.
Later, he hoped to hear from his MC brothers that Raúl had met the Grim Reaper. No way in hell was the son of a bitch seeing the pearly gates. He deserved nothing more than hell and damnation.
* * *
Gabby heard a keycard slide through the slot on the outside of the door. With a smile and anxious to see Ryder again, she nearly skipped to the entrance and drew back the deadbolt. The door swung inward, stopping her breath. Some of Ryder’s parting words tumbled through her addled brain.
“Don’t answer for anyone…”
The hand that covered her mouth stopped the scream bubbling up her throat. They’d had a keycard to her room. How?
“Where the fuck is he?” Sergio growled.
Luis slammed the door behind him. The ugly smile on the portly man’s face didn’t reach his baleful eyes. He pulled back the curtains, opened one of the sliding doors, and looked across the terrace to the marina. A cool, salt-scented breeze filled the room. She doubted he was enjoying the view. Were more of her uncle’s men outside or had these two come alone? Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Gabriela had fucked up. She shouldn’t have gone with Ryder and insisted he leave on his own. It was obvious now that her uncle would never let her go. Her delusion in thinking otherwise would get the man she had grown to love killed.
Gabby squirmed in Sergio’s grasp, but his grip proved too strong. He spun her in his arms so that her back rested against his chest, one arm acting as a band of steel holding her arms flush against her sides. Moisture gathered in her eyes. Sergio kept his hand clasped over her mouth, clamped so tight she couldn’t sink her teeth into the flesh.
Luis turned, his smile gone. “Where the fuck is Ryder, Gabby? I’m going to ask Sergio to kindly remove his hand so you can talk. If you scream, I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.”
Sergio removed his hand but kept her tight within his hold. She needed to think of a plan, one that would get them out of there long before Ryder returned. It would be her only way to save him.
“Now, I repeat, where is Ryder?”
Tears slipped down her face unheeded. Her gaze dropped to the gun Luis pointed in her direction.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
How quickly could she get them on their way back to La Paz?
“Wrong answer, sweetheart.” Luis stepped forward and slapped her. Her head jerked to the side, her cheek stinging and her ears ringing. “Where. The. Fuck. Is. He?”
“He’s not coming back.”
Luis struck her a second time. More tears sprang to her eyes. His nod indicated the motorcycle keys on the desk.
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Gabriela. I’m not here to play games. I’ll ask you one more time.”
“Just take me,” she replied. “Ryder is of no use to my uncle. I’ll go peacefully if you’ll let him go. It’s me my uncle wants anyway.”
Sergio laughed, his hot breath rustling her hair. Gabriela knew he had a mean streak, though he rarely showed it to her. Revulsion sent tremors through her. She’d not show them fear. Tightening her jaw and squaring her shoulders, she glared at Luis.
“You estúpido coño.” Sergio hissed the last word, reminding her of a snake. How fitting. “You really think your uncle wants your fuck toy left alive?”
“Let me call my uncle. Explain to him. Surely he won’t kill Ryder if he knows how much he means to me.”
“How much he means to you?” Sergio slipped his free hand down the front of her sundress and between her thighs, sickening her. “This was to be mine, puta. Not some Americano’s. And yet you spread your legs so easily to him.”
“Get your hand off me.” If she’d had Luis’s gun, she’d shoot Sergio right between the thighs. “I never belonged to you. I never will.”
“You’re not good enough.” Sergio spat at her feet. “Had your uncle not wanted you back alive, I’d make you fish bait along with your friend. But now, I must convince Raúl to let me marry a puta. It was never you I wanted anyway. You were a means to an end.”
“I’ll never agree.” A sense of loathing washed over her, and she was no longer able to curb her mouth. “You disgust me.”
“It really doesn’t matter what you think, Gabriela. Your uncle won’t give you a choice. After your little stunt, he’ll need me to keep an eye on you.”
Gabby choked back a sob. She’d die first. For now, though, she’d act as if she’d go along with his insanity. She needed to save Ryder. The thought of losing him damn near crippled her.
“You let Ryder go and I’ll marry you. I won’t even fight you unless you try to come to my bed.”
“I’ll need an heir, puta. Something to solidify my place in your family.”
A shiver passed down her spine. Her hope lay in talking her uncle out of Sergio’s crazy plan. The man was certifiable. To invite himself into their home, her bed? The thought had the bile churning in her stomach.
Her gaze went to Luis, his gun now aimed at Sergio’s head, his finger still on the trigger. Luis’s face damn near purpled in his mounting rage. Sergio had likely never voiced his designs on Gabriela, using her to better his position with her uncle. Had he done so, Raúl’s captain no doubt would have taken him out long before reaching his goal. Gabriela would bet her life that no one had aspired to take over Luis’s position and lived to tell about it.
Luis’s gaze narrowed. “So, you think you can take my job? Take my place in the family?”
Sergio tightened his hold on Gabby, ducking behind her and using her as a shield. The man was a complete coward. “You were never going to step down, Luis. I had to look out for myself. What better way than to marry Raúl’s niece? And the mone
y will be all mine once I take out Raúl. Everything will be mine.”
Luis’s smile turned savage. If the shorter man could get off a shot, Sergio would be a dead man, but he’d not risk shooting Gabriela. Where Sergio wasn’t loyal to her uncle, Luis was a company man. He had been with her uncle a good long time. She was pretty sure her uncle considered him like family. Luis would never think to cross Raúl.
He continued pointing his gun at both of them. “Pinche idiota! You won’t get out of here alive.”
Sergio took a few steps in Luis’s direction, Gabriela still firm within his grip. “I’ll take her with me.”
Luis’s gun arm wavered. “And where will you go? Raúl will have you killed once your deception is discovered. That is, if I don’t kill you first.”
Sergio laughed, the sound demonic, pure evil. “You won’t get the chance to tell Raúl.”
“And why’s that, cabron? I’m the one holding the gun. Do you really want to chance that you can get to your pistol before I can pull the trigger?”
Without warning, Sergio shoved Gabby into the nearest wall, hard enough to crack her head. She slid to the floor a heap, her vision briefly splitting in two. Sergio charged Luis and the gun went off, the bullet missing the man. Sergio being the stronger of the two, grabbed Luis by the collar and shoved him through the opening in the sliding glass doors. Luis hit the patio table, the wood breaking beneath his weight, sending them both to the floor. The two men wrestled for the gun.
Blood ran down Gabby’s face from the cut she’d received to her head. After stumbling to her feet, she placed a hand over the wound and floundered toward the ruckus on the terrace. Using their scuffle as her means of escape wasn’t an option. She could barely stand on her two feet. Blackness edged her vision, threatening to claim her.
Gabriela lost her balance, nearly tumbling over the barrel chair facing the terrace. She prayed Ryder would stay gone, fearing for his life. Luis’s scream rang in her ears just as she stumbled to the terrace. In horror, she watched Luis flip backward over the railing. She heard the sickening thud on the cement walkway four stories down.
Sergio turned, his crazed gaze finding her. After pulling a gun from his boot, he pointed it at Gabby. Like he needed the gun. What was she going to do in her present condition? Hell, she could barely stand.
He bared his teeth. “Too bad you’re worth more alive to me than dead, my little puta. I could say that Luis had shot you and I’d tried defending you by pushing him over the railing, but that would gain me nothing. So, we will wait right here for your friend. Once I kill him, we’ll blame Luis’s death on him.”
“I’ll never agree to that story, you fool.”
“Then I’ll kill you both. Either way, with Luis dead, I’ll step into his position and bide my time. I’ll be the son your uncle never had. With you out of the way, I’ll inherit it all once I get rid of Raúl.”
His savage grin caused her stomach to further churn. Gabby wrapped her arms around her middle and tried to calm the nausea. Her stomach cramped and she bent at the waist. Vomit hit the floor near Sergio’s feet, splashing onto his boots. Just as he raised his gun to backhand her with it, an animal-like roar had them both gaping at the terrace.
Ryder stood on the railing, arms stretched to the sides as if he had leapt four stories to the balcony. Great, now she was hallucinating. No way he could have jumped. And the last time she’d checked, Ryder didn’t have big white fangs.
Gabby plopped into the chair. She placed a palm on her head wound and groaned. A fairly large lump protruded from her skull and hurt like hell. Thankfully, the blood flow had slowed. She might live. Or at least, that was her hope.
Sergio screamed like a little bitch. Ryder picked him up as if he weighed no more than a toothpick and hurled him against the adjacent wall. The room shook. Paintings rattled against the wall as he crashed to the floor.
Blinking to clear her vision, she watched Ryder advance on Sergio, who had somehow still managed to hold onto his gun. He aimed it at Ryder, and to Gabby’s horror, fired. The bullet hit Ryder in the chest, just above the heart, and he stumbled back.
She screamed.
But before she could get to her feet and run to him, he squared his shoulders. Righting himself, He let out an ear-piercing roar and advanced on Sergio with inhuman speed. Gabby blinked again, shaking her head.
Ryder growled, white fangs glistening in the sunlight streaming through the sliding glass doors. Grabbing Sergio’s head, he gave a twist. Bones cracked and the man’s neck snapped like a twig. He dropped to the floor, his head hanging at an odd angle.
Gabriela sucked in a sob. Her gaze flew up to the hole in Ryder’s chest. While blood still flowed from the cut to her head, his wound no longer bled. How in the world? Her gaze traveled to his face. She barely recognized the man before her, his cheeks hollow, his brow more prominent. His eyes had become mirror-like pools of black ink. But nothing compared to the long razor-sharp fangs still visible beneath his upper lip. Ryder closed the distance between them in the time it took her to blink.
“Ángel,” was the last thing Gabby heard before blackness consumed her vision. His strong arms caught her before she tumbled out of the chair and lost consciousness.
Chapter 20
On the opposite side of the pebbled drive from Grigore, Kane and Kaleb hunched down by the massive iron gates leading into Raúl’s fortress. Peter had called an hour ago, informing them that he had finally spotted the resident’s owner, the slippery little rat. Raúl was indeed within the walls of the estate. Grigore wasted little time relaying the message to the twins and the rest of their crew who now surrounded the place.
Constantine had used his computer skills to temporarily rewind the live feed to the cameras, giving them about an hour to get in and out without being discovered. Grigore hoped it took less time. The mission was simple, get in, kill anyone who resists and hypnotize those who don’t, take out Raúl, and get out. Leave the carnage to the authorities, but ash Raúl’s remains. They couldn’t chance leaving his vampire DNA to an autopsy.
Grigore tipped his nose to the sky and sniffed. He wasn’t able to detect another vampire in the area other than those on his team, which meant Raúl wouldn’t be able to detect them either. Once they moved beyond the thick cement walls encircling the estate, that might all change, depending on the thickness of the structure and how much Raúl’s vampire DNA had progressed. Being newer, his skills would be lacking compared to theirs. Even so, once in, they needed to act fast. Leave nothing to chance.
Kaleb touched the speaking device in his right ear. “Is everyone in position? We go in five.”
Grigore heard the affirmations in his earpiece.
“When any of you have eyes on Raúl, tell Kane and me. No questions asked. He is not yours to take out. Copy that?”
Grigore’s gaze landed on Kane, knowing the man was about to serve long-overdue justice after years of anguish from losing his only son to the bastard.
An eye for an eye.
It had to feel damn good.
“No one goes in that hasn’t tapped into their vampire. Take no chances. These men are deadly and I’m sure Raúl has told them how to take out vampires. We don’t know for sure how many men are with him, but I’m betting it’s a skeleton crew. He no doubt has his best men combing Mexico, looking for his niece and Ryder. I want every damn one of us walking out of there today. No casualties on our side. You run into trouble, don’t play hero. Ask for help. Are we clear?”
Excitement coursed through Grigore. Man, he lived for this shit. Some days, Oregon was just too damn quiet for his liking, what with the Devils crippled losing their leaders and the Knights becoming Sons. Hell, even Vlad had Mircea under control. Where was the fun in that?
He glanced at Kaleb, waiting for his direction to storm the place. He had no idea how many soldiers were inside, but anticipation channeled through him, ready to start taking down these fucks. Time to dismember the cartel, one miserable fuck at a time.
He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s fucking rock!”
Kaleb smiled, his fangs protruding past his lower lip as he gave a thumbs-up. Kane’s lips turned down, his obsidian, marble-like gaze trained on the upper balcony where Peter had last seen Raúl. When Viper and Kane’s inner vampire came out, they were scary motherfuckers, leaving no doubt they came from the loins of Vlad.
Showtime!
Grigore called forth his vampire. A growl bubbled up his throat. He was so pumped, every muscle in him ached with the need to cause some serious fucking damage. His hot gaze landed on Kaleb, who held up his hand and started ticking off his fingers one-by-one.
When his pinky touched his palm, Kaleb barked into the intercom, “Let’s rock!”
Grigore moved to the thick iron gates. A keypad was positioned to the right. He wouldn’t be needing the code. Gripping the bars in his fists, Grigore’s muscles bunched as he pulled them apart. Metal screeched and bars popped from the frame, though not separating the opening and triggering alarms. The same reason they had decided not to leap the gates. Kane and Kaleb slipped through the opening he had created. Grigore followed along the wall behind them as they stayed out of the line of sight and headed for the mansion. Hell, he didn’t think he had ever been inside an estate this elaborate. Raúl had good taste, Grigore would give him that much.
Skirting the swimming pool and the spa, Kane and Kaleb arrived at the first-floor entrance without being seen, most likely due to their speed and agility. Grigore had a hell of a time keeping up. Raúl had a complex alarm system, one Constantine hadn’t been able to disarm. Once they opened a door or entered through a window, chaos would in all probability ensue. They were about to take the house by storm.
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