Loving Attention

by Becca Van

  Rig disconnected his call and started punching more numbers into his phone. “The sheriffs putting out a BOLO on her and Hes’s truck, but he and the deputies are busy at the library. Someone set a fucking bomb off inside the building.” He hit another button on his phone, and the sound of ringing echoed through the cab. The call rang three times before it went straight to voicemail. Hes’s heart ached when he heard Niki’s voice.

  “Did you say a fucking bomb?” Brent asked.

  “Yeah,” Rig replied hoarsely. “It wasn’t big but there’s a lot of damage and pandemonium.” Rig disconnected the call to Niki before immediately hitting redial.

  Hes’s phone rang and he answered. “Kat’s gone, too? Are you fucking shitting me?” The knot of fearful anxiety in his gut grew until he felt as if he’d swallowed a lump of lead. This was bad. Very, very bad. He had a dreadful feeling that he knew why Niki had left, if not her location. “He has to have them.”

  Hes pushed the speaker-phone button, and Jalen Donnybrook’s voice boomed out of the speaker. “I think the bomb was a diversion so that one of their father’s minions could get to Kat. The asshole probably called Niki from Kat’s phone to blackmail her into going to her sister.”

  “Motherfucking son of a bitch,” Rig shouted.

  Brent punched the dashboard.

  “Has anyone seen my truck?” Hes asked. He was so scared for Niki he had no idea how he was able to think logically, let alone speak coherently.

  “No,” Jalen answered. “She could have taken the back roads to wherever she was going. I have everyone out searching, but until we have a sighting, we have no idea where to look.”

  “Fuck!” Hes scrubbed a hand down his face. He was full of adrenaline and ready to fight, but he had no one to take his terror and anger out on. When they found the fucker who had his woman and her sister, Hes was going to beat him to a bloody pulp. The thought of shooting the asshole between the eyes filled him with satisfaction, but first they had to find Niki before he could exact revenge.

  Hes had a feeling this was going to be one of the longest days of his life.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Niki pulled the truck close to the curb behind the motel on a side street. She was so scared, she couldn’t remember the drive toward Slick Rock. All she remembered was the need to keep off the main roads in case her men had figured out she was missing and had called 9-1-1. She turned the ignition off, fumbled with the clasp on her seat belt, and heaved in breath after breath to try and calm her raucous nerves and racing heart before she got out of the truck. She left the keys in the truck and walked shakily along the narrow pathway toward the back of the motel.

  Vinnie had told her to come in the back so that whoever manned the reception desk wouldn’t see her. Niki wished she had the backbone to defy Vinnie’s directives and go in through the front entrance, but she didn’t want Kat being hurt because of something she’d done.

  As she stumbled along the pavement, she felt the gun press against her lower back and prayed with everything she had that she and Kat would come out of this alive. They’d suffered enough at the hands of evil men, and she was sick of living with fear. She’d found love and seen how caring, protective men treated the women they loved, too. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t care if she got beat up, but just the thought of Vinnie raping her made her feel sick to her stomach. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn’t be able to handle him touching her. Not after making love with the loves of her life. In fact, she knew she wouldn’t be able to deal with being sexually violated even if she hadn’t found the Lyndon brothers.

  She stopped in the shadows to gain some courage. She saw Brent’s, Hes’s, and Rig’s handsome smiling faces in her mind’s eye. They were courageous men, had fought in the Marines and had vowed to protect her with their lives. Just because she was terrified out of her mind didn’t mean she couldn’t fight. And fight she would.

  Niki was going to fight with everything she had so that she and Kat could live long, safe, happy lives.

  She had her Glock and she knew how to use it.

  She would have to wait for the perfect moment to make her move, but if Vinnie and one of his cohorts searched her for weapons, she might never get the chance to defend herself or her sister. But if she went in with guns blazing, Kat might end up getting shot. She didn’t want to accidentally shoot Kat. That was something she’d never be able to live with.

  “You can do this, Niki,” she muttered under her breath. She spied one of the security cameras on the corner of the building. Right now it was pointed away from her, and though she had no idea if it moved to sweep the lot and the alleyway, she hoped it did. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and placed it on silent, then punched in 9-1-1 and hit send. Just as she was about to speak to the dispatch operator, she heard the motel door around the corner open. She quickly placed her phone on the ground against the brick wall in the shadows and hoped that the operator didn’t think she was a prank caller and hang up on her.

  Niki hurried around the corner to meet her fate.

  Brent squealed to a stop outside the library and was inside moments later. He hoped the camera-feed footage would be able to give him and his brothers a place to start looking. He ignored the deputies milling around gathering evidence, taking statements, and soothing frightened women as he raced toward the office behind the desk.

  Hes and Rig were right on his heels.

  He stopped so suddenly he nearly slipped, but caught himself in time. Jalen, Mica, and Dante glanced at him before they turned back to the computer monitor they were staring at.

  It was difficult to see because of the smoke and the water dripping from the automatic sprinkler system. He curled his fingers into a white-knuckled fist and ground his teeth together.

  It wasn’t until the shot shifted to the loading bay that they had a clear picture. A muscular blond man had an unconscious Kat slung over his shoulder as he carried her out the back to the loading bay.

  “Zoom in,” Mica ordered brusquely. “I want to see the number plate on that car.”

  Brent narrowed his gaze and followed where Mica pointed. He had a good eye because Brent hadn’t even noticed the parked vehicle. He’d been too intent on studying the face of the man who’d been kidnapping his woman’s sister. Niki had described to him and some of the deputies what Vinnie Ramos looked like. The description didn’t fit the man abducting her sister.

  “Got it,” Jalen said.

  Dante pressed the button on his shoulder radio and called the number plate into dispatch.

  Brent’s heart flipped when he realized the vehicle was registered in Chicago, Illinois, but he quickly pushed his trepidation aside. He needed to keep his wits about him so that he could rescue the other half of his heart and soul. If he let his fear rule, he wouldn’t be able to do what was necessary when the time came.

  And it would come, because he wasn’t giving up until he had Niki back in his arms and his bed.

  Niki had to restrain her instinct to scream and go for the gun when she came face to chest with Thaddeus. She should have known that Vinnie wouldn’t do all his dirty work alone. She’d always known that Thad wanted Kat, but none of the men had been brave enough to go against Matteo’s wishes. That was until he’d traded her to Vinnie for a car. She was glad her father was dead because she’d never have to worry about seeing his ugly face or feel his brutal fists on her body again.

  “You made it in the nick of time, Nikita.” Thad gripped her arm tightly as he leered down at her. She kept her face a blank mask and didn’t try to struggle free even though he was hurting her. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t think he expected her to. Too bad if he did.

  He hauled her into the motel room, and she gasped when she saw Kat tied spread-eagle to the bed. The whole right side of her face was swollen and black and blue. She was gagged and naked.

  Niki hadn’t expected them to stay at the motel. She’d thought they’d be smart enough to transport her and
her sister out of town and then do what they wanted with them.

  “Let her go,” Niki demanded when she met the evil gaze of Vinnie Ramos.

  “Now, you know that’s not going to happen, Nikita,” Vinnie said smarmily. “You and your sister have been very bad girls and need to be punished for your crimes.”

  “Your beef is with me, not Kat. I’m the one who gave her the means to escape and then waited for my chance to leave.”

  “Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” Vinnie shouted as he stalked toward her. Kat moaned, drawing Niki’s gaze. Her sister started bucking, yelling and rolling her head back and forth as she tried to dislodge the gag tied around her head.

  Tears filled her eyes when she met Kat’s good eye, but she inhaled and quelled them. She wasn’t going to give these assholes the satisfaction of seeing her pain and emotional turmoil. They’d taken more than enough from her and her sister already. She wasn’t going to allow them to take anything more.

  Vinnie slapped her across the face so hard she stumbled and temporarily lost her vision and then her face got hot and started throbbing. She wanted to pull the gun out from under her shirt at the back of her jeans, put the barrel to his head, and pull the trigger, but she wasn’t sure she’d be fast enough to take both Vinnie and Thad out.

  However, she had to do something before she ended up trussed up like her sister. If that happened, she’d have no control over what happened next.

  Niki backed away from Vinnie, keeping her peripheral gaze on Thad as she edged toward the wall. She put her hands behind her, and as soon as her fingertips brushed the wall, she whipped the gun out of her jeans, aimed, and fired.

  Her aim was off, but Vinnie screamed as the bullet pierced his chest, and he fell to his knees then to his back on the floor.

  As she aimed toward Thad, she dove to the floor but she wasn’t fast enough. Simultaneous gunshots rang out, and then all she felt was searing pain. She’d been shot in the thigh, and the agony was so intense she couldn’t even scream.

  All she could do was moan.

  Her head swam and she tried to blink the darkness from her eyes to make sure she and Kat were safe, but her vision wouldn’t clear. She could hear Kat’s muffled screams, and tears streamed from Niki’s eyes. Her sister sounded like she was being tortured.

  She’d failed and now they were both going to die.

  “I love you, Kat,” Niki rasped out just before she lost consciousness.

  Rig wanted to yell and blame Hes for Niki’s disappearance, but it wasn’t Hes’s fault. Niki had deliberately distracted his brother so she could leave without him being aware. Rig’s emotions were all over the place. Fear and rage were waging a war, but he knew that there would be no winner.

  Yes, there will. I, my brothers, the sheriffs and deputies are going to find Niki and Kat and save them.

  “Is there any way you can follow where that car went?” Hes asked.

  “We’re on it,” Dante murmured.

  Jalen was talking to dispatch and Rig wasn’t listening to him, but then the dispatcher’s words registered. “Shots fired at the Slick Rock motel. All available units respond.”

  “We’re at the library,” Jalen called in. “We’re only a block away. We’re on the move.”

  Rig and his brothers, along with the three Donnybrook deputies, raced out of the staffroom-cum-office toward their vehicles. Brent started the ignition and took off before Rig had even closed the door. He hung onto the oh-shit handle instead of putting on his seat belt for the short trip.

  Hes cursed when he bumped his hip on the center console as Brent careened around a corner. Hes was on his knees on the floor. He’d lifted the back seat up to access the hidden gun safe. They were all licensed to carry concealed weapons and had guns in each of their trucks just in case. He was glad they’d stashed guns for easy access because this was one time where they were going to need as much firepower as they could get.

  Rig prayed that Niki was still alive.

  If she wasn’t…

  Hes was glad he had something to do as Brent sped toward the motel. He knew the owners and hoped that the retired soldiers had heard the shots and were in control of the situation, but he had a feeling they were heading to a standoff.

  He was pumped full of adrenaline and ready to shoot to kill to rescue Niki, but he had a feeling the Donnybrook brothers were going to beat them to the scene. He wanted to have a hand in rescuing their woman since she’d managed to slip away from him while under his guard.

  If something happened to her, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to live with the guilt. Brent stood hard on the brakes, screeching to a halt in the middle of the road outside the motel. Jalen and his brothers had beat them by less than a second and blocked the entrance to the motel parking lot. The three Donnybrook men were out of the vehicle, running with guns drawn. Hes and his brothers sprinted after them moments later.

  One of the motel owners was standing outside the open doors to the last two rooms. Hes nodded to him and tried to get inside to see if Niki and Kat were inside, but the door was blocked by Mica and Dante. Hes’s brothers jostled him as they tried to set eyes on their woman and her sister.

  “Paramedics are minutes out,” Mica said.

  When Hes heard Kat screaming for Niki, he shoved his way through. He gasped and tears burned his eyes when he saw Jalen was working on the love of his life. She was on the floor, her eyes closed and blood pooling under her legs. His knees buckled and if it hadn’t been for sheer and utter determination to stay upright, he would have sunk toward the floor.

  “Hes, get over here and help me,” Jalen ordered. Hearing his friend’s voice snapped him out of his shocked state, and he rushed over to kneel at Niki’s side. Jalen was pressing down hard on her blood-soaked thigh. “Give me your shirt,” Jalen commanded.

  Hes was aware of his brothers crowding around him and Niki, but he ignored them as he tugged his shirt off over his head, wadded it up into a thick pad, and covered her wound and pushed down hard. Relief surged through him when he saw her pulse fluttering in the hollow of her neck, and he wasn’t aware that tears were rolling down his face until a drop landed on the back of his hand.

  When his wits finally returned, he gazed about the room while continuing to apply pressure to Niki’s wound. Kat, who’d been tied to the bed in her bare skin, was being tended to by Dante. There was no need to secure either of the prisoners because they were dead. Kat was crying and sobbing out the same words over and over again. “She saved me. She saved me. She saved me.”

  Hes saw the gun Brent had given Niki to protect herself with and knew she’d been the one to shoot those evil fuckers. Though he was glad they were dead, he hoped she didn’t have nightmares and suffer from guilt for taking two lives. If she did, he and his brothers would stand by her no matter what. They knew what it was like to kill and see so much violence and would be able to help her through any post-traumatic stress.

  “Hang in there, baby,” Brent said as he brushed the hair back off Niki’s forehead. “You’re safe now, Niki.”

  “I’m so proud of you, sugar.” Rig laced his fingers with Niki’s, lifted her hand to his mouth, and kissed the back of it. “I love you, Niki.”

  Hes wanted to speak, too, but his throat was so tight with emotion he wasn’t sure anything would come out, however, he needed her to know he was here with her just like his brothers were. After taking a few deep breaths, he said, “I love you, honey. Please come back to us. Open those pretty green eyes for me, Niki.”

  Niki moaning was the most wonderful sound he’d ever heard. Her eyes fluttered open and she met his gaze. “Love…you…all…” Her eyes closed again as she once more lost consciousness. Hes glanced at his brothers and when he saw tears in their eyes, he didn’t feel so bad for his loss of control. They’d all been so fucking scared that Niki would never wake up again, but she’d managed to tell them she loved them as much as they loved her.

  The sirens he’d been hearing in the distance g
rew closer, and a couple of minutes later the paramedics were there. He nodded at the three Tremaine brothers, glad to see familiar faces. He’d known and had trusted Raiden, Brigg, and Tane while they served, and now, he was trusting the three paramedics with his woman’s life. Hes knew she was in safe hands.

  Once they had Niki hooked up to an IV and patched up the gunshot wound to her thigh as best they could, they loaded her onto a gurney and wheeled her out. Hes followed them, determined to get into the back of the ambulance and stay with his love.

  Thankfully, Brigg didn’t give him any grief when Hes climbed into the back of the ambulance after them. His brothers would follow them to the hospital as soon as they could.

  Hes just hoped that Niki made it through surgery without any hitches.

  Epilogue

  Three weeks later…

  Niki had been convalescing at the ranch after spending two days in the Slick Rock Hospital. For the first week Brent, Rig, and Hes hadn’t left her side. They’d left the running of the ranch up to the Sonny brothers.

  When she’d woken up after surgery all her men had been sitting in chairs surrounding the hospital bed. She’d smiled at them and immediately drifted back to sleep. The second time she’d woken up she’d been more alert and had cried when she’d seen her sister battered and bruised and fast asleep curled up in Jalen’s lap. Her crying had woken Kat up and they hugged each other, cried together until the nurse had come in to see what all the ruckus was. Thankfully, she’d been understanding and hadn’t kicked everyone out of her room.

  Brent, Rig, and Hes hadn’t left the hospital and while she’d tried to urge them to go home and get some sleep, they’d refused.