“Youdidn’t see this place,”Josh lowered his voice. “It looked like a ‘Saw’ movie.”
Nikolaicrossed his arms over his chest, the butt ofhis Glock clearlyvisible under the waistband ofhis pants.
“I don’t know you, but I’lltellyouthis much:Mydad doesn’t go ape shit like this unless he cares. I could hear it inhis voice before; he wanted to get Keeganout ofhere, begged Keeganto leave as a matter offact.” Nikolainarrowed his eyes at the agent. “I can see how muchyoucare, too. Agent or not, yougo after himand he willkillyou.”
Devinsnorted, smilingat the younger Markov. “Youare just like your father.”
“Why, thank you,”Nikolaismiled wide.
“Nikolai.”Damonpoked his head out ofthe kitchen. “We need youonthe laptop.”
“Coming.”Nikolaiturned his attention back to Joshand the agent. He thrust his hand out. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Devintook the kid’s hand, sighingand shakinghis head. “You, too.”
“This is goingto be tricky.”James looked over the website for the caverns. “Not a lot ofroomto move around inthere. Besides, we have no idea how far inside the caverns Nardozziwent.”
“He wouldn’t be close to the mouth, he’d go further back,”Vince leaned against the counter inthought. “He’d want us to go in, surprise us, catchus offguard.”
“Inthe dark, he’llhave that element of surprise,”James nodded. “Good news is the park is closed right now, no tourists to get in the way.”
“So, we evenour odds,”Troycame in throughthe back door withanammo box. “Smoke bombs anyone?”
“Tear gas.”Vince looked at allthe meninthe kitchen. “Allofus have had training withit, right? We shouldn’t be as affected as Nardozziand his goons.”
“Let’s get a move on,”James said.
~~ Rileywas inthe kitchenwhenthe doorbellrang. He wiped his hands offona toweland went to answer the door. Damon’s menbeat himto it. Rileystood withhis hands onhis hips.
“It’s mydoor,”Rileysaid. “It is our asses ifsomethingshould happen,”Antonio raised a brow.
Rileythought ofDamonSantorno. “Point taken.”
Antonio peered throughthe peephole and groaned.
“Who is it?”
“It’s the pizza man; I have a large sausage.”
“We did not order a sausage pizza.” Antonio tried to fight the smile risingto his lips.
“I said sausage, not pizza,”Chris chuckled.
Antonio opened the door. Chris Voronova stood withLorenzo and Reece behind him.
“Whydid theysend you?”
“Comic relief?”Chris walked into the house, admiringthe décor. He let out a low whistle. “Nice digs, Ri.”
Rileychuckled softly; he’d met Chris whenthey’d gone to Italyto get James back. The manhad absolutelyno word filter and was a huge flirt.
“Hey, you. Longtime no see.”
Chris hugged Rileyquickly, turninghis attentionto the menbehind him.
“And who’s this mouthwateringman?” Chris sidled up next to one ofthe other men; he had the most gorgeous blue eyes.
“That’s Josh’s husband,”Riley chuckled at the look onMark’s face. “Mark Montgomery, meet Chris Voronova.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”Mark shook Chris’ hand.
“Ohno, the pleasure is allmine.”Chris eyed Mark fromhead to toe, thenhis gaze wandered over the other two. “Wellnow, lookie here.”
Dakota squirmed under the intense once-over he was getting. “Hi, I’mSam’s husband, Dakota.”
Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest. “I’mSawyer Bishop, Troy’s husband.”
“Wellnow,”Chris smiled broadly. “Your menare hotter thanhell, makes sense the husbands would be just as hot.”
“Christophe.”Marco rolled his eyes.
“What? I’mjust makingan
observation.”Chris turned to look at Reece and Lorenzo. “So, who’s this guywho got kidnapped?”
“That would be Keegan.”Riley crossed the roomto the far wall. Takingone ofthe pictures down, he walked back over to Chris. “Cute little guyonthe end.”
Lorenzo peered over Chris’ shoulder at the picture.
“I see now whyVince was attracted.”
Reece studied Keegan. “Aw, he’s so damncute! No wonder Vince is fallingfor him.”
“Youdid not see the house, Lorenzo,” Antonio shook his head sadly. “I believe Vincent is inlove withthe FBI agent.”
“Did it look like the missionto Turkey?”Lorenzo raised a brow.
“It was a horror scene,”Dakota whispered. “The bodyparts…”Dakota put his hand over his mouth. “He just sat there… he looked so… lost.”
Chris looked up. “Vince is inlove? Oh, Nardozziis infor one hellofa surprise. Youdon’t go after someone Vince loves, not ifyouwant to keep breathingair.”
Lorenzo sat downonthe end ofthe couch.
“Vince is inlove.”
“I told you.”Reece slapped Lorenzo inthe back ofthe head.
“Unbelievable.”Chris shook his head smiling, the picture stillinhis hands. “Vince Markovfinallyfellinlove? I never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“Nardozziwillnot live to see another one.”Marco stood inhis guard stance bythe front door. “I do not think I have ever seen Vince as he was last night.”
“Theyare goingto rescue Keegan though, right?”Dakota said, lookingat Marco.
“Vince willgo.”Lorenzo stood, lookingover at Marco and Antonio “He will killeveryone untilhe finds Keegan.”
Antonio nodded.
“Nardozziwilldie a veryunpleasant death.”
“Willit look like the house?”Dakota asked, not knowingifhe wanted the answer.
“No, it willbe worse,”Marco said.
“How longsince Keegan’s been taken?”Chris asked.
Marco looked at his watch. “Seven hours.”
Mark wiped his eyes, he had no idea what Keeganhad endured, but he knew what it felt like to be tortured. “God, I hope he’s okay.”
~~ Troykept lookingover his shoulder; he and Samwere paired withVince’s son, Nikolai. To saythe kid was huge was an understatement; he looked exactlylike his father - you’d think theywere twins. He alreadyhad massive ink downhis biceps. Sam must have beenthinkingthe same thinghe was, because inthe next minute Samstopped and looked at the younger Markov.
“How old are you?”Samlooked the kid over.
“How old do I look?”Nikolaiput his hands onhis hips, strikinga pose.
“I have no idea, twenty?”Samtilted his head.
“Ha! I wish,”Nikolaigrinned. “Let’s just sayI’mold enoughto know what I’m doing.”
Samfelt a smallbreeze and a smell wafted up his nostrils; he went for his gun. “Shit.”
Nikolaicocked his head to the side, his gunflew out ofhis waistband and a shot rangout.
Samstood still; he looked over his shoulder to see a mango down. “Jesus.”
Nikolaiwalked over to the man, keepinghis guntrained onhis head. He kicked the man’s gunawayand crouched down, lookingat him. “Heydickhead, where are your friends?”
“Fuck you!”the mansnapped.
“Now, that’s not verynice,”Nikolai shook his head. He looked up to see Samand Troylookingat himwithdisbelief. “Canyou believe I gave up mysummer vacationin Seattle withSebastianand Wyatt for this piece ofshit?”Nikolaitsked at the manlyingonthe ground. “Hurts, huh? Don’t worry, you’llbe dead soon. Do youwanna tellme where your friends are? I’llmake it quicker, I promise.” Nikolaispunthe gunaround his finger.
“Wait,”Troyshook his head. “Wyatt? Wyatt who?”
Nikolainarrowed his eyes, lookingat Troy. “Quinton, why?”
Troyspluttered. “How the fuck do youknow Wyatt?”
Nikolaistood up, keepingone eye on the manonthe ground. “Whydo youwant to know? No one fucks withWyatt.”
Troycracked a smile. “I’mhis uncle. I’mmarried to his brother Sawyer.”
Nikolaipeered more closelyat Troy.
“Oh! I think I saw a picture, but you had longer hair. I didn’t recognize you.”
“As muchfunas this is, canwe get back ontrack? The sunis comingup,”Sam said, lookingat the manonthe ground. “Searchhimfor a radio.”
“Yes, but we willbe talkingabout this later.”Troynarrowed his eyes at Nikolai.
“You’re so funny, dude,”Nikolai grinned, searchingthe guy’s pockets. “Nope, no radio.”Nikolaileaned downand took the man’s head betweenhis hands, snappinghis neck. “Let’s keep moving.”A large popping noise went offover the ridge and Nikolai looked at Samand Troy. “Daddy’s home.”
“Vince?”Troycocked his head to the side; definite sounds ofmenscreamingfloated their way.
“Yup,”Nikolaiwinked. “Ifyouthink the house looked bad…”Nikolaiclosed his eyes. “More coming.”
“Yep.”Samsniffed the air. “Three more.”
Nikolaiopened his eyes. “How do youknow?”
“We’ve beenat this a longtime, Nikolai,”Troysmiled, gettingreadyfor the three mencoming. “Well, let’s play, shallwe?”
“Oh, I like youguys,”Nikolaiwinked.
~~ Loud screams echoed across the canyon, as Mateo, Josh, Derek and James came up onthe ridge fromthe opposite side. Damonwas coveringthe back waywithVince and Devin. He’d insisted onbeingpart ofthe rescue missionand James was not about to argue withDamonSantorno. The manhad his ownfile, five inches thick.
Mateo stopped and looked at Josh. “Markov?
Joshnodded. “Oh, yeah.”
James kept walkingwithDerek. “Come onguys, we need to get this done, the sunis rising.”
“Get down!”Derek turned, taking James into his chest.
Mateo hit the ground rolling; he squeezed a shot off, takingthe man’s kneecap out. Joshwas onthe guyinaninstant, putting his hand over his mouth.
“How manymore?”Josharched a brow. The manshook his head and Josh sighed. He took his hand and pressed down onthe man’s kneecap. The man’s eyes widened and Joshsmiled. “Now - how many more?”Joshgrinned whenthe manheld up four fingers. “Good boy.”
James scowled at Derek.
“I do have a weapon.”
Derek shrugged his shoulders.
“Instinct.”
Mateo snapped his fingers.
“Incoming.”
The firefight lasted less thana minute. James was readythis time and made sure he took his manout quickly. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate Derek’s protectiveness, but damn, the manhad to know he could take care ofhimself. He was James Bond for Christ’s sake. James chuckled as Derek raised aneyebrow at him.
“What?”James asked.
“I get it okay? Youcantake care of yourself, doesn’t meanI’mnot goingto protect youeverychance I get,”Derek said.
“Just rollwithit, boss,”Joshwinked. “He’s never goingto change.”
“Blah, blah, blah,”Mateo looked at the three ofthem. “Canwe get a move on?”
“Yes, Dad,”Joshsaid, checkinghis clip. “Let’s go, we need to get Keeganback.”
“Theyalldie, no survivors.”Mateo checked his owngun. “Theyare allgoingto payfor what theydid to Keegan.”
“Move out then,”James said. ~~
Damonstood back watchingas Vince and Agent Lyons effectivelywiped out man after manwho came after them. He didn’t evenget a chance to reachfor his gun. Vince alone was scary, but withLyons? It was downright terrifying. James Pruitt had not been jokingwhenhe said Agent Lyons was almost as ruthless as Vince. Infact, right now Lyons was just as ruthless. He had a manaround his neck, but threw himto the ground and crushed the man’s windpipe withhis boot. Damon coughed softlyand Lyons looked up.
“What?”Devinasked.
“I think he is dead.”Damonarched a brow, as Devinground his foot downharder.
“Youcannever be too sure,”Devin grinned, maniacally.
Vince stood up, wipinghis bloody hands offonthe manhe had just killed. “You allright, Damon?”
Damonshrugged. “I did not evenhave a need for mygun.”
“Come on,”Vince wiped his knife off. “Let’s go.”
~~ Keeganopened his eyes again; Nardozziwas crouched infront ofhimwitha longknife. He couldn’t tellwhat time it was, muchless what dayit was. Beinginthe darkened caverns disoriented him. He stretched his legs out, wincingat the crack in his back. Nardozziranthe knife throughhis fingers, smiling.
“Looks like I was right. Vince is dead. He would have beenhere bynow.”Nardozzi took the knife, runningit alongKeegan’s thigh. “So, maybe now I canget downto business.”
“What is withyou? Whydo youhave a thingfor killingkids? I mean, I just want to tryto figure out whyyou’re sucha sick, twisted bastard.”Keegantried to focus onthe cave, bidinghis time. He needed to keep Nardozzitalking, keep himfocused on somethingother thantorturinghim.
“Youknow, myfather loved young boys,”Nardozzipaced infront ofKeegan. “He married mymother just to have children. Oh, granted he never touched me or Carlos, but he touched everyother youngboy. Some ofthemevenenjoyed it; mydad used to take themout to soccer games, dinner, spent hours withthem. He never did anyofthose things withme and Carlos, we were just his sons. The first kid I killed was the one he loved the most,”Nardozzismirked. “Youshould have seenthe look onhis face; he respected me after that, evenspent some time withme. Then Vince came, tore myfather to pieces right in front ofme.”Nardozzi’s eyes blazed with anger.
“Vince killed your father?”Keegan tried to sit up a little more.
“He was ananimal, he stillis.” Nardozzicrouched downinfront ofKeegan again. “He kills withdead eyes, did youknow that? Nothingand I meannothing fazes him. He’s cold and precise; he didn’t evenbat an eyelash.”
“Youare worse,”Keeganhissed. “Youmake themthink theyare playinga game and thenyoukillthem. Youare a sadistic piece ofshit!”Keeganspat inNardozzi’s face.
“Youwillpayfor that!”Nardozzilifted the knife.
A thick, white smoke filled the cavern, makingKeegan’s eyes water. He took shallow breaths, tryingnot to inhale too much tear gas. A bright light shined inhis face and illuminated the entire cavern. Keeganknew what to expect fromthe gas and clenched his eyes shut.
“What the fuck!”Nardozzishouted, his eyes watered and mucus ranfromhis nose.
“I think Vince has arrived,”Keegan coughed.
Shouts and grunts filled the cavern, movement was everywhere and Keegan couldn’t pinpoint where it was allcoming from. A loud shot rangout, reverberating throughthe caverns. Nardozziflew backward witha roar ofpain.
“Keegan!”
“Devin?”Keegantried to openhis eyes; he managed to focus onthe face infront ofhim.
“Here, put this on.”Devinput the gas mask over Keegan’s face. “Let me get the tape offofyou.”
Keeganclosed his eyes againas Devin cut the tape fromhis ankles and wrists. He almost fellover whenhe tried to stand and Devin’s armcame around him.
“I got you,”Devinwhispered in Keegan’s ear.
Another shot rangout and Devinfelt Keegantense inhis arms. He pulled awayto see Keegan’s eyes go wide, and a drop of blood trickle fromthe corner ofhis mouth.
“Keegan!”Devinturned Keegan around; a smallhole was visible inKeegan’s back. Devinlooked up to see Nardozzi standing, guninhand, cackling.
“You’re gettingslow, Agent Lyons. Youwould have checked me for weapons in the old —”Nardozzilet out a strangled screamas heat tore throughhis wrist. He looked downto see a longknife protruding fromhis wrist. Two more shots went offand Nardozzifelt his knee caps explode; he fellto the ground witha roar ofpain. Lookingup, his eyes met withthose ofVince Markov.
“Keegan’s beenshot, Vince!”Devin picked Keeganup inhis arms.
“Get himto the hospitalright now!” Vince shouted, walkingtowards Nardozzi. “I think Nardozziand I have anold score to settle. Youshot myfiancé, Nardozzi? You took him, removed his fingernailand now you’ve shot him.”Vince stopped infront of Nardozzi; he pulled the knife out slowly. Nardozzishoute
d inpain.
“Markov…”Devinsaid.
Vince turned to look at Devin. “Get Keeganto the hospital, I’llbe there as soonas I’mdone.”
“Make sure he suffers,”Devin growled.
“Not a problem,”Vince smiled maniacallyat Nardozzi.
“So it’s reallytrue? Ripley’s your fiancé?”Nardozzitried to get awayfrom Vince, except his legs weren’t cooperating.
Vince waited untilDevinleft the caves withKeegan. As soonas he was sure everyone was gone, Vince crouched downin front ofNardozzi. “Youknow what youdid to Keegansixyears ago? I’mgoingto make it look like a dayat Disneyland.”
“Youare one selfishbastard,” Nardozzisneered.
Vince tilted his head. “Whyis that?”
Nardozzilaughed. “Seriously? Keegan Ripleyand Vince Markov? How longdo you think it willbe untilsome other psycho comes after sweet little Keeganbecause ofyou? He’s goingto have a target onhis back at alltimes. They’llkillhim, just to get to you. Youthink I’mthe onlyone who would love to see you dead or see the ones youlove suffer?”
“Well, at least I won’t have to worry about you.”Vince leaned into Nardozzi’s face. “Feelfree to scream.”
~~
James stood at the mouthofthe cave; a medic helicopter was onits wayfrom Bensonfor Keegan. Most ofthe teamhad met up withthemafter takingout Nardozzi’s men. James had alreadycalled the people incharge ofthe park to let themknow theyshouldn’t openit untilit could be cleaned. He really didn’t want to get into the details. Samhad his shirt over Keegan’s wound, talkingto him, tryingto keep himconscious. Nikolaileaned over Keegan, takinghis ownshirt off.
“Here, youneed to change it out,” Nikolaitried to smile at Keegan. “It’s nice to finallymeet you, Keegan. Mydad cares a lot about you.”
“Youlook j-j-just like him,”Keegan coughed, spittingup blood.
“Hey, don’t talk okay?”Nikolaisat downand took Keegan’s hand.
A loud screampierced the air and Nikolailooked up at allthe mensurrounding him.
“I think mydad’s a little pissed,” Nikolaisaid.
“Just a bit.”Devincrossed his arms.
The sound ofa helicopter approaching had themalllookingtowards the noise, guns drawnjust incase. The medevac unit touched downand EMTs jumped out, runningtoward them.
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