In fact, life had become incredibly comfortable with Justin. They’d been back from London only a week following Colton’s unfortunate death. Gabriel’s apartment had been cleaned out, and his things were either crowding Justin’s house or in storage. They needed to find a better solution for it all, but for now, they were content to spend their days together puttering around the house, screwing in any room they wanted, and learning more about each other.
At Marilyn’s prodding, Justin had taken on a new job, and the man had finally let him into his secret lair of computers, allowing him to help here and there. Gabriel wasn’t pushing too hard for a true partnership in work because he understood how hard it was to suddenly work with a partner. They were still finding their way and he loved it.
Loved Justin.
He’d never expected his life to be like this. To be so damn happy.
The only hole in his life was his mother. He’d started some searches and had feelers out, but the past weeks had turned up nothing. Nadia had also begun her own research and was using a few contacts in Russia, but there had been no word yet. He knew in his heart that there was a good chance she truly was dead, but he owed it to his mother to at least try to find her just in case she was alive and in hiding. With the death of his father, they stood a chance at being a real family for the first time in their lives.
But even if it never happened, Gabriel was happy with the life and family he had with Justin.
For now, he wanted to rest and relax. He planned to catch up on his reading and spend some valuable time going over his investments. He wasn’t looking to take more jobs in the field from Marilyn, and his skills didn’t lie in computers like Justin. If he wasn’t going to have a steady stream of income pouring in, he had to make sure that his money was well-managed. He was content to be retired for a while until something hit his fancy. His life had been about killing for so long that he wasn’t quite sure what else interested him.
The front door shut, and Gabriel strained to hear Justin returning to the back deck. His man still moved through a room like a damn ghost, but sometimes he would give little hints. Gabriel was just happy when he could simply feel him close by. The screen door opened and Justin poked his head out.
“You think you can haul yourself into the house for a minute?”
Gabriel glared at him as he lowered his feet to the floor. He really needed to stop eating like this, or he was going to need someone to help hoist his ample carcass around. He stopped just over the threshold at the sight of a large box with holes in the sides. There was some soft scratching like claws.
“No, you did not get a baby gator,” Gabriel said in the most threatening voice he could muster. “You know we have nowhere to keep it.”
“Oh, my God,” Justin groaned. “It’s not a baby gator. I was just joking and you know it!”
Gabriel smirked as he slowly entered the living room, drawing a little closer to the box. They’d been lying in bed one night, still naked and sweaty from sex, when Justin started the dog versus cat conversation again. Except this time, he’d argued that they should get a pet gator first. He’d been joking, but he’d made some surprisingly interesting arguments for why they should at least consider it.
“What is it?”
“A box.”
Gabriel glared at Justin, who chuckled. “Think of it as a ‘welcome home’ gift.”
Gabriel smiled at his lover. Yes, they’d been living together for a bit now. Roughly four months had passed since Nicolai’s death and their misadventures through Europe, but it was only recently that life had settled into something quiet and normal. Gabriel was able to finally start feeling at home both in Justin’s house and in his new life.
Very carefully, he pulled back the flaps to be greeted by two sets of wide yellow eyes in fluffy triangular heads. One kitten looked perfectly black while the other was black with some white hints on its paws and chest.
“Oh, God! You got me kittens,” he said when he could pull air into his lungs.
Justin stepped up behind Gabriel and placed his chin on his shoulder. “I got you a pair of Norwegian Forest cats. Brothers, actually. Three months old.”
Gabriel scooped up the one that was closest to climbing out of the box and cuddled him close, earning a loud meow as he demanded to keep climbing up Gabriel’s arm with his sharp needlelike claws. Justin reached around him and picked up his brother, cooing at him as he scratched his belly. “The owner just dropped them off. She told me that their parents were nearly twenty pounds each, so they’re going to be some big boys.”
Gabriel sat on the floor, trying to hold the kitten but the little ball of furry energy had no interest in sitting still. Free of the box, he was ready to explore his new terrain while at the same time calling for his brother to join him. Reluctantly, Gabriel placed him on the floor but continued to stroke his soft fur as he sniffed around. Justin sat next to him and placed the kitten brothers together.
Wrapping his arms around Gabriel’s waist, Justin laid his head against his shoulder and kissed him. “Do you like them?”
Gabriel cocked his head at Justin, surprised by the insecurity he heard in the question. “They’re perfect. You didn’t have to do this. I know you’ve got your heart set on a pack of wild dogs to roam the house.”
Justin’s smile dimmed a little, and he kissed Gabriel’s shoulder again. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that.”
Still smiling, Gabriel lifted an eyebrow at his lover. “You thinking is rarely a good thing.”
“Ha. Ha. Seriously though, the house is nice and the neighborhood is nice, but it doesn’t feel like our house, and the neighbors definitely wouldn’t appreciate a pack of dogs.”
Gabriel’s heart sped up at Justin’s adamant words. It was like he’d known the little nagging feeling deep in his chest that he couldn’t bring himself to admit to. The house had been designed and decorated by Justin. No matter what, the place would feel like his space and Gabriel was just occupying it.
“We’ve talked about starting fresh,” Justin continued. “Leaving our old life behind and finding something new. Let’s do it somewhere new where no one knows us.”
“You got somewhere in mind?”
“Actually…I was thinking about Colorado. Or maybe Wyoming or Montana. We could get a big place, lots of land. You can send me and the dogs outside to play when you get sick of us. You can lounge about with the cats or join us for some hiking. We can build a place big enough for both of us, the dogs, cats, and whatever work we want to do. Enough space for Alexei and Nadia to visit.”
Gabriel had been sure that he couldn’t love the man sitting on the floor next to him any more than he already did, but Justin had a way of surprising him at every turn.
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing I never unpacked all my stuff. Sounds like we have a big move ahead of us.”
Justin lifted his head, arms squeezing tighter around Gabriel. “Are you sure? Because if you’re not sure, we can talk about it, look into other places or—”
Gabriel halted any additional comments with a long, draining kiss that left his lover leaning heavily against him when he broke it off. “I’ll happily go wherever you go. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Love you,” Justin sighed.
“Love you too.” He leaned in to kiss him again, when a sharp claw dug into his thighs, causing him to yelp. Justin laughed and Gabriel looked down to find the black kitten climbing into his lap, meowing. “What should we name these little devils?”
The black kitten had rolled over onto its back and was batting at Gabriel’s hand with all four of its paws while his brother was currently sniffing his shoe.
“Chase Miller.”
Gabriel looked over at Justin, his brow furrowed. “You want to name one Chase and the other Miller?”
“No.” Justin paused and licked his lips. His breathing ticked up, and he glanced at Gabriel, looking a little unsteady. “Chase Miller…is my real name. My birth name.”<
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Gabriel’s heart swelled and he blinked a couple of times against unexpected tears. He’d waited months for Justin to finally trust him with some little shred of his past, some little something that indicated that Justin truly believed in him. It was the perfect start to their new life.
“You’ll always be my Justin.”
“And you’ll always be my G Love.”
Final Lover
Book 3 of the Exit Strategy Series
By Jocelynn Drake
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
FINAL LOVER Copyright ©2019 Jocelynn Drake. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Jocelynn Drake.
Cover art by Stephen Drake of Design by Drake.
Edited and proofed by Flat Earth Editing.
Created with Vellum
Chapter 1
Another barrage of bullets slammed into the concrete wall. Justin ducked his head lower, grateful the barrier he was leaning against was thick. In the back of his mind, he was counting down. Another thirty seconds and then Gabriel should…would be in position. When the bullets stopped, he swung around and fired at the mob muscle that was trying to end his life and failing miserably. The bruiser with the shaved head and heavy tattoos up his arms shouted and dropped for cover.
“I was thinking we just rip out all the plumbing in the second bathroom as well as the wall for that hall closet. We expand the bathroom so we can double the size of the shower,” Justin suggested calmly into the little mic he was wearing.
“Why do you want to double the size of the shower?” Gabriel whispered into his earpiece.
“So we can both fit.” Justin smirked and shook his head. He’d thought the answer to that question was obvious. “Put a couple of shower heads in there and maybe one of those big benches that’s all tiled over with those really slick, smooth tiles.”
“I get that you want to fuck in the shower, but—hold on.” A couple of muffled shots came over the earpiece. There was a sharp cry and a heavy thud. “But I don’t understand why you want to renovate that bathroom,” Gabriel continued without missing a beat. “It’s not the master bath. It’s on the opposite side of the house. It would be used mostly by guests, assuming we ever have guests.”
Gunfire roared closer to Justin now. The damn tattooed asshole had gotten his Uzi refilled and was once again peppering the low wall Justin was leaning against. This was getting irritating. The guy wasn’t making a damn bit of progress.
“Because the master bath already has the giant bathtub we can both fit in. I figured if we wanted a little variety, we could use the shower in the other bathroom.”
“You’re all the variety I can handle,” Gabriel muttered. “Heads up.” Gabriel fired two quick shots, but this time they sounded like they were at the opposite end of the long warehouse. The onslaught of bullets immediately stopped. Justin poked his head over the wall to find Gabriel standing over the bruiser as he put another bullet in the man’s chest.
“It’s called a ‘double tap’ for a reason,” Justin said as he stood and started crossing the main floor toward his boyfriend. “Double means two. Two shots.” He held up two fingers on his empty hand.
“I’m sorry. Are we rationing our bullets now? I didn’t know I was dating a bullet miser.”
“Hey, I’m just saying the third shot was overkill.”
Glaring at Justin, Gabriel blindly pointed his gun at the dead man and unloaded two more shots into his chest. “That’s overkill. The original three shots were being careful.”
“And now you have to replace your magazine.”
Gabriel kept his face blank as he deftly popped the magazine from the butt of his gun and slapped another in its place, his eyes never wavering from Justin’s. God, he loved watching this man work. It really was indecent to have a fucking hard-on while infiltrating a mob boss’s drug warehouse, but he couldn’t help it when Gabriel was being all cocky and domineering.
Grabbing Justin’s shoulder, Gabriel pushed his lover down, lifted his gun toward the second-floor catwalk, and fired twice. A man shouted as he tumbled over the railing and landed with a sickening thump against the concrete floor. “You’re getting sloppy.”
“I saw him,” Justin said, clearing his throat. Actually, no, he didn’t. And Gabriel was correct that he was getting sloppy. He was letting himself be distracted by Gabriel, and he needed to fucking concentrate before they were both killed.
Of course, he’d never expected to work another contract with Gabriel after their first one in Cincinnati, but Marilyn turned up one case after another. The money wasn’t big, but it was usually enough to cover their expenses and add a little to their bank accounts. The important thing was that they were helping people who couldn’t help themselves. The little guys.
They were doing good work, and it made them feel better about themselves after too many years of doing things at the request of other people that left dark marks on their souls. He wasn’t sure if any amount of good would ever remove those dark marks, but it at least helped to quiet the voices of the dead from his past.
And in truth, he liked working with Gabriel. He was a sneaky son of a bitch who was amazing in a fight. He was just as lethal with a knife as he was with a gun or a piece of garrote wire. Hell, there had been one time they were attacked in a fucking cube farm in an office complex, and he watched Gabriel kill a man with a stapler. When they were working together, it was like they could read each other’s minds, anticipate the other’s moves.
“Ready?” Gabriel asked, motioning toward the doorway leading to the back office.
Justin stepped forward, taking the point position as he cautiously walked toward the room. They had taken out most of the mob enforcers as they worked their way through the warehouse. He was expecting only a few more assailants, including their main target.
“If you don’t want to change up the bathroom, we can leave it as it is…” Justin started again.
“I didn’t say that,” Gabriel quickly replied. “It’s just that when we bought this house, I wasn’t expecting to do so much construction to it.”
Justin chuckled. “You saw my last house. Did you really think we weren’t going to have an underground bunker for the computers or a false wall with an escape route?”
“I’m surprised you don’t want an escape tunnel like Grunt.”
“Who says I don’t?”
Of course, he wanted his own underground escape tunnel leading from the house into the woods. He was just looking into efficient ways of getting it done that wouldn’t require him to hire outside help. He also wanted it to be wide enough that he could easily move equipment through it. Grunt’s tunnel in the Ukraine had been way too narrow and claustrophobic for his tastes. Justin also had no doubt that the man had dug that shit out by hand, inch by painful inch. Justin could live without a fucking escape tunnel if that was his only option.
Technically, they shouldn’t need any of that stuff. When he and Gabriel decided to give dating a try, the idea had been to leave the mercenary life behind and just disappear from existence. No one would come looking for them. The family members that wanted Gabriel dead were wiped from the earth, and Justin’s enemies were either dead or had learned that it was wiser to steer clear of him.
But the high security around his place meant he felt safe when he was home. It meant his G Love was safe in their home.
As th
ey neared the main office, bullets flew out of the open doorway. Justin and Gabriel darted behind the opposite side of the doorjamb to protect themselves from the bombardment, guns held up at the ready.
“Motherfuckers! You fucking dare to come after me! Don’t you know who I am?”
Justin looked over to see Gabriel roll his eyes. It really was a stupid question. Of course, they knew who he was. That was why they were there.
“On three?” he asked.
Gabriel nodded.
Justin lifted one finger after another until he reached three, perfectly timing it to a pause in the shooting. They both smoothly swung into the doorway and opened fire on the man who had single-handedly overseen the introduction of a new drug into a school. A school that had been making strides to clean up its grounds and turn around the lives of students in at-risk areas. The death of this fucker would remove the distribution avenue and at least temporarily slow up the flow of drugs. The local cops would have to deal with the individual salespeople.
Bullets slammed into the man’s head and chest. His gun flew out of his hand and he stumbled back against the wall, jerking and twitching before he finally collapsed behind the big metal desk.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Justin announced. He was sure they’d cleared out the warehouse, but he still pulled the empty magazine from his gun and shoved a fresh one home. If he was wrong, he wasn’t going to be caught unprepared.
“It certainly wasn’t the worst contract we’ve worked on,” Gabriel muttered.
“Hey! Marilyn was the one who submitted the scouting report on the Wisconsin job. She’s the one who failed to mention that the bastard was a cat hoarder.”
Justin looked up to see a twinkle of laughter in his lover’s dark eyes. “It might be because most former assassins wouldn’t consider a small herd of Persians a real threat. They loved you, though.”
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