Taking Meghan: A Dark Romance (Disciples Book 5)

by Izzy Sweet

  “I’m your guardian fucking angel,” comes out of my mouth as I stand up before her.

  “How long will you be gone?” she asks.

  “A few hours. We’ve got food in the house now… Don’t answer the door,” I say, and take her delicate hand in mine.

  Pulling her forward, I wrap my arms around her shoulders. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how fucking small she is compared to me. Or the way it feels like she was made for my body. Made to fit me perfectly.

  “Okay,” she murmurs into my chest.

  “I’m leaving the handgun and the AR-15 with you. I’ll pick up your body armor after I check out the bank. Then we’re going to head out to the gun range. You need to show me what you can do.”

  “Promise me we’ll get Alexei,” she whispers, looking up into my eyes.

  “I promise we will.”

  * * *

  A burnt-out husk of a building looks pretty fucked up in the dawn’s early light. If Alexei wanted to send a message, he sure as fuck did it right.

  Message received.

  Putting the phone to my ear, I stare at the smoldering building while the fire department slowly combs through it.

  “I have Lucifer on the line with us,” Simon says.

  “How’s the property?” Lucifer asks.

  “You can’t see this shit from all the security cameras we have around here?” I ask as I look up to one and shoot the middle finger.

  “We do, but what’s your impression? You’re the explosive expert,” Lucifer says with a growl.

  “They used some seriously heavy materials to hit this level of devastation,” I say.

  Even the vault and safety deposit are in bad shape. Everything was blown to fucking bits. This was a tough job to do. You could have used a rocket launcher and not have gotten these results.

  “I’ve put out to the media that this was a disgruntled person we foreclosed on,” I say as I start walking around the building.

  I’m surprised that Alexei had this kind of team working here in the states. This is some heavy fucking shit he’s blowing up.

  “It’s a good enough excuse as any,” Lucifer says.

  “They knew where to plant the bombs. Knew where to get the biggest bang for their buck,” I say as I bend over a couple of bent and charred metal beams. “Someone gave them the blueprints. I’d get on the line and find out who. They came here to put a dent in us, this wasn’t for show.”

  Rubbing off the dark burn marks on the metal, I sniff at the acrid smell. “This wasn’t C-4. I’d get the fire department to take samples so that we can start trying to identify exactly what was used.”

  “Will do. Have you spotted any faces in the crowd?” Simon asks.

  “None. At least, none that look out of place. I doubt whoever did this is still in the city,” I say.

  “Do you think this was one of Alexei’s men?” Lucifer asks.

  “Is he recruiting former FSB or SVR?” I ask.

  Standing up from the metal, I start heading back to the truck.

  “Yes, from the intel we’ve amassed, he’s been recruiting heavily from their ranks,” Simon says.

  “If that’s the case, I don’t think he used an outside contractor for this. This was too well put together, and in such a short period of time.... I can’t believe they managed to pull it off this quickly.”

  I hear a new voice in the background. “Agreed.”

  “That Andrew?” I ask.

  “It is. Meet us back at the compound,” Lucifer says.

  “On my way. Get me a new vehicle, Simon. This one’s not going to be good for much longer. I can guarantee the Russian’s got eyes on me right now. They’re probably in a building somewhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t have a message for us sometime soon. They want to talk.”

  * * *

  Walking down one of the many hallways in Lucifer’s home, I see Simon standing outside of the office, talking on his cellphone.

  “It’s time to come in from the cold, Eric,” I hear him say as I get closer.

  Walking past him, I stop and look into the office, spotting Andrew sitting in a chair across from Lucifer. Johnathan looks up from where he’s perched on the side of a chair and nods at me.

  “Think about what I’ve said,” Simon says into his phone before he disconnects.

  “I’ve put out a call to a man I know and want to bring into the circle,” Simon says as he walks past me.

  Following him, I’m tempted to trip his ass, but right now I’d rather just get this shit over with so I can get back to Meghan.

  “What kind of guy?” I ask as I take a seat.

  “Hitman. Very good at his job, and very trusted. He’s worked for us in the past, out east. Reliable, and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s had a spot of trouble with some of the heavy hitters, got shot up in Cincinnati. But with the time and healing he’s had, he’s ready to land somewhere permanent,” Simon says as he gets comfortable in a chair with his laptop in his lap.

  “Get him here as soon as you can. If you vouch for him personally, I’ll meet with him,” Lucifer says, then motions to me. “So what do you have for us, any more thoughts?”

  “Nothing beyond these guys are going to start hitting more and more targets. I’ve seriously pissed them off if they’ve gotten their shit together quick enough to hit us like this,” I say as I look down at my hands.

  Something doesn’t sit right, though.

  Looking back up, I add, “I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t in the plans all along. They had to work too quickly to get shit like this planned out. I know I’ve been inside of a cage for ten years, but I can’t imagine they were able to get all the shit they needed in the scant hours they had.”

  “How long would it take to get the materials for something like this, Simon?” Andrew asks.

  “For us? In our own backyard, six to eight hours,” Simon answers without hesitation.

  “We’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. Shit like this would take some time to set up, especially if they needed the building blueprints, materials, and the right guys to pull it off,” Johnathan says.

  “They had it in the works then. Perhaps even before the wedding. What if this is just a continuation of the bombings they started with Lucky Tails?” Lucifer asks.

  There’s a long silence as we all think about that.

  “Then it’s time for me to ramp shit up,” I say with shrug. “Where’s James and Jude?”

  “James is with the police chief, smoothing things over. It seems that Sommers isn’t as useful as he used to be,” Simon says. “Jude is watching over a few guards for a couple of investment properties we can’t afford to lose right now.”

  “Strip joints?” I ask with a chuckle.

  “Our other banks,” Lucifer says with a smirk of his own.

  “Fuck, we’re going that legitimate now?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

  “For our progeny. We’re still the disreputable crowd, as always,” Lucifer says.

  Well, fuck me running. Being legit is a scary fucking thought.

  “You’re not expecting me to wear suits like those two fucks?” I ask, pointing at Simon and Andrew.

  A large grin spreads across the evil fuck’s face as he says, “Of course, in due time.”

  “I’d rather fucking choke,” I snort.

  “Back to the business at hand. The new tech that Sommers has talked about is now on every police vehicle in Garden City. It’s called an LPR, or License Plate Reader. We’ve known about the software and hardware since its inception, but until recently it’s been tightly controlled,” Simon says.

  “Isn’t that thing the little mod they have affixed to the cop cars now? Reads the plates of every car they pass?” Andrew says.

  “Exactly,” Simon says. “Going over the video feeds around the church, I was able to pull two license plates numbers. Although I’m unable to ascertain which exactly is Alexei’s, I’ve put in a tracking request for those two plates
.”

  “As soon as they start moving, we should be able to find them?” I ask.

  “Yes, with time I should be able to follow them through Garden City and Bethlehem. If a police car picks them up, I’ll be able to link them through traffic cameras and such,” Simon says with a grin as he flips the laptop around for us to see. “Two black Audis. One was riding with enough weight to show it had at least four passengers, perhaps five. The second had two or three men in it.”

  “You don’t think they’ll swap plates?” Johnathan asks.

  Simon shrugs his shoulders. “More than likely, no. They don’t have our developed contacts and information. If they do, it will make our job of tracking these men down much harder.”

  I nod my head. “Figures. Any trees you need me to shake?”

  Lucifer shakes his head. “Not yet. With the hit on the restaurant and the bank, we need to keep our actions more covert. Let’s see what kind of message they try sending us. It should be soon.”

  “Sounds good, but I’ve got a feeling the Irish aren’t going to be happy with us no matter the outcome of this little war. We’re working with the Italians. From what Meghan has told me, her mom getting hit with a car bomb has put a huge rift between the two factions,” I say.

  “I don’t buy it being the Italians. They had no reason to when it happened, and it’s not their style anymore,” Andrew says.

  “Really?” I ask as I turn to look at him.

  “Yeah, the Italians weren’t even trying to take over territory in Bethlehem. They were busy fucking around with the Russians when that shit went down over here in Garden. Why the hell would they go for a war on two entirely different fronts?” Andrew says and points to Lucifer.

  “He’s got a very good point,” Lucifer says as he looks over to Simon. “Put a call over to our Italian contacts. Let’s see what they have to say. I think us befriending the Irish would go a long way in offsetting what the Russians have been doing.”

  “If the Italians didn’t do the hit, who did?” I ask the room.

  Snickering, Johnathan says, “They don’t call the drink the Irish Car Bomb for no reason.”

  Laughing, Lucifer says, “Now that would be interesting.”

  “It would,” Simon says, “This could be falling back to the troubles the Italians and Irish were having over in Ohio. Two of the best hitmen in the world dropped off the map after the big dust up over there. What if the Irish were trying to take over more space and needed to pin serious damage on the Italians?”

  That’s some convoluted thinking, if you ask me. But if the Irish killed the wife of an Irish boss… fuck me. That’d be a mess to deal with. They’d have to have a damn good reason for doing it.

  “Any chance it was the Russians?” I ask.

  “Blame the Italians, cozy up to the poor little Irish and get their allegiance?” Andrew asks.

  “I’ve got a thousand bucks right now that says it wasn’t the Italians who did it,” Johnathan says with a laugh.

  Snorting with a chuckle, I say, “Not taking that fool’s bet.”

  As soon as we start standing up to go about our tasks for the day, Lucifer’s phone starts ringing on his desk.

  Looking down at the phone, he frowns at it. “It’s an unknown number, Simon.”

  “I’ll start a trace,” Simon says quickly.

  Lucifer picks up the phone and waits a moment before saying, “Hello.”

  Simon makes a thumbs up gesture from his laptop and motions for us to stay.

  Lucifer grins as he says, “Let me put you on speakerphone.”

  Pushing a button, he sets the phone down in the cradle and a Russian voice comes over the line. “Of course.”

  “Now that we’re all here, how I can help you… Alexei?” Lucifer says in a smooth drawl.

  “It’s been an exciting week so far, for the both of us. Too much excitement. Perhaps we need to come to an understanding,” Alexei says.

  “What kind of understanding?” Lucifer asks.

  “You have property of mine. You stole it, and I want it back,” Alexei says with a small growl to his voice.

  “Ah, you speak of Mr. Callahan’s daughter,” Lucifer says with a grin.

  “Yes,” he says. “Give her back to me, and all will be forgiven.”

  My eyes widen with anger as I stomp toward the phone. A growl of anger begins to work through my throat.

  Then a strong hand grips my bicep, stopping my forward moving progress.

  Lucifer looks into my eyes then, his grin only widening as he says, “No.”

  I’m not sure who he’s speaking to, and I don’t really care. Meghan’s mine. Anyone who tries to take her will die. I won’t be creative in my killing, either. I’ll simply put a bullet through their heart and stop them dead.

  “No?!” Alexei spits out through the line, and I can imagine his face turning beet red from his anger.

  “Correct,” Lucifer says in that smug way of his.

  “I’ll fucking murder you all. I’ll take your women and rape them to death. I’ll have my men fuck your children. All of your lives are forfeit!” Alexei screams at us through the phone.

  “Hmm, let me think about this, Alexei. I’d hate to be rash,” Lucifer says quietly.

  “You better. You have no idea what kind of hell I will bring on your heads!”

  All around me, the inner circle bristles with fury. It’s one thing to threaten one of us. But to threaten our families….

  Alexei has gone too far.

  “Here’s my offer, Alexei,” Lucifer says after a moment of quiet. “You will give us all the properties in Garden City that you still hold.”

  “Done,” Alexei says a bit too quickly.

  “You will give us all the properties in Bethlehem, as well,” Lucifer says.

  “Sure—” Alexei tries to say.

  “I’m not finished,” Lucifer snarls. “You will then remove all of your men from my country. You will return to Russia with your hands empty and your testicles left on my desk. You will each put a bullet through your brains, and then, when you reach hell, you will submit my name as your fucking Master.”

  “I will fucking end you all,” Alexei screams. “I will blow—”

  Lucifer pushes the disconnect button and looks to all of us. “I want them all dead. I do not care how much blood is spilt. They all die.”

  Nodding our heads at Lucifer, we look to Simon.

  “The tracer failed. He’s hiding behind too many firewall layers. He used a satellite phone that’s former Russian military hardware. I could hack their systems, but it’s unlikely I’ll be able to locate him. The phone is used to latch onto as many satellites as possible to give it a broad reach. Triangulating will be next to impossible,” Simon says with a sigh.

  “I fucking hate Russians,” I say with a deep growl.

  16

  Meghan

  I begged Gabriel for space, and now that I finally have it, I don’t know what to do with myself. The house is quiet and empty. Too fucking quiet and empty.

  Every little noise has me on edge.

  Every shadow is a person who wants to hurt me.

  All alone with my thoughts, I feel like I’m going a little crazy.

  I pace the rooms, the halls, passing time until Gabriel returns to me, and find myself missing his presence.

  I try to convince myself it’s only because I feel safer with him, but it’s more than that…

  Much more than that.

  Dammit, I think the fucker is growing on me.

  Shaking my head at myself, I stop in the bedroom and stare down at the bed. His scent still lingers in the air, a raw, unapologetic masculine scent, and there’s an imprint in the shape of his huge body in the ruffled sheets.

  Reaching down, I trace the outline of his back, remembering that blissful moment of feeling safe.

  What we did last night, the things he said, the way he desperately thrust himself inside me and held me in his arms afterward… I think it’s compl
etely broken me.

  Broken me in a way that can never be fixed.

  There was truth in the way our bodies joined, an unmistakable truth I can’t ignore or deny.

  Despite the circumstances that brought us together, despite everything against us, he honestly wants me and needs me.

  And worst of all, I think I need him in return.

  It’s insane, so damn insane.

  And wrong on so many levels.

  He goes against everything I’ve ever believed.

  But after everything I’ve been through, I can’t stop myself from wanting him to be someone I can lean on. Someone I can count on.

  The one person in the world who will never abandon me. The one person who will always stand beside me.

  After he said it, I’m honestly starting to believe that he just might be my guardian angel.

  God’s fucked up answer to all my prayers.

  Stalking back into the living room, I pull the curtain back on the front window just enough to peek my eyes out. The neighborhood is alive with activity. Kids playing, riding their bikes, or chasing each other and being noisy. Neighbors working in their gardens, chatting, and doing other things.

  I search for anything suspicious, anything that could be out of place.

  It’s not lost on me that despite all that’s going on outside, that if Alexei has been watching us, if he knows I’m here, then this would be the best time to grab me.

  Fuck… Alexei.

  Just thinking his name sends chills through me. Reaching down to my hip holster, my fingers squeeze around the handle of the pistol Gabriel left me.

  I didn’t think I could hate the man more than I already do, but after Gabriel told me about Beth, her friends, and Charlie, I was filled with this mix of sheer anger and horror.

  I knew that pathetic slimeball was selling kids. I fucking knew it. Yet meeting one of his victims face to face makes it more real.

  More awful.

  The pain, the suffering he’s caused, can’t go unpunished. And if Gabriel ends up being the one to punish him, I hope I’m there.

  I hope he lets me put a bullet between his soulless eyes.

  Dropping the curtain, I force my fingers to release the butt of the gun and pace my way back down the hall.