by Sydney Lea
The sound of gravel shuffling under her feet echoed in her ears as they were backed against the metal fence. Harper’s heart beat so loudly and frantically that she was surprised she could hear anything else. Risking a quick glance at Annabella, she saw her fear mirrored in Annabella’s icy blue eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” Annabella whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. “Please believe me. I thought I could keep you out of this. I thought you were safe.”
Struggling to keep calm, at least on the outside, Harper tried to figure out a way to get them past the overgrown apes, Corina, and someplace safe where she totally intended on reaming her friend a new one for keeping this shit from her. That would be easier said than done. Even if she could get them past these people, there were another twenty yards to where their car was parked.
“C’mere, honey.” The middle man grinned as he spoke. Harper shivered in revulsion when the man’s eyes raked over her. Worse still was when he cupped his crotch and licked his lips like they were some sort of delicious meal he couldn’t wait to dig into. God, she was going to be sick.
Annabella reached over and tightly gripped Harper’s hand. She could feel the tremors running through her friend’s body, but she was hiding it well.
“Seems they think they’re too good for us.” The one with the dirty blond hair chuckled. He took a step forward, and Harper couldn’t contain the whimper of fear that passed her lips even as she stepped sideways to place herself in front of Annabella. She was the real target; Harper was just collateral. She recognized that and hoped if she could keep them from getting to Annabella, then maybe they stood a chance of getting out of this.
“Well now, we’ll just have to change their minds. Won’t we, sweetheart?” the man closest to them said with a sneer.
“Don’t be idiots. They are too good for you,” Corina snapped. “And they’re not yours to touch.”
None of the men listened to Corina as they moved closer, a large meaty hand reached out and shoved Harper into the fence, and she knocked her head hard. The move disorientated her, and she went down onto the cold, wet ground. Reaching for the back of her head, she winced when she saw that her hand was covered in blood.
Well, that wasn’t good.
From where she fell, Harper shoved at Annabella, moaning for her to run. Annabella grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up, but she couldn’t focus and continued to push her friend away. Picking up a large rock, she threw it at their attackers to draw their attention. Somewhere to her left, she heard Annabella scream her name, and Harper was relieved it sounded further away.
The man standing above her gripped a fist full of hair and yanked her head back. When she responded by spitting on him, he raised his free hand and slapped her.
Damn, that was going to leave a mark.
Kicking her foot out, she managed to knock him off balance, which hadn’t been as hard as she thought. As he crashed to the ground, Harper managed to regain her footing and blocked the next hit as one of the other morons lashed out at her. Following it up with a right hook of her own, her fist collided with the man’s temple, and the guy went down with a grunt. All those years she had spent learning self-defense paid off, and by the look on the men’s faces, they hadn’t been expecting it. A small sliver of satisfaction ran through Harper. The bastards hadn’t counted on her fighting back.
“Who’s next?” she spat out, anger fueling her fight.
When she realized Corina and two of the men were missing, she panicked, knowing they had gone after Annabella.
Helpless to do any more for her friend, she focused on the next guy. But it was too late, and she felt the cool press of metal against her forehead. A gun. Oh shit.
“Stupid little bitch,” the armed man spat.
She hadn’t thought they were armed, or at the very least weren’t interested in using their weapons since they hadn’t until this point.
Their large hands clamped around her upper arms and held her tight. She struggled, refusing to give in even though she knew it was useless.
Dragging her to the ground, bile rose in her throat as she felt her top rip and another set of hands go for the zipper of her jeans, attempting to tear them open. The fight in her flared once again as the man pulled back the gun. She refused to give in. If she was going to die, she’d be damned if it would happen like this.
A hand came down and clamped Harper’s jaw tightly with a strength that surprised her, and it locked her head in place. Staring into the eyes of her attacker, Harper felt her stomach drop at his malevolent sneer. The assholes were enjoying themselves, Harper could see it. Tears mixed with the blood running down Harper’s cheeks as she acknowledged she might not have the strength to save herself. She said a silent prayer that Annabella had gotten away, and would never see this.
Suddenly, a gunshot ripped through the lot from behind the men holding her down, taking them all by surprise. Then everything stopped.
As they exited the club into the pouring rain, Nikolai and Travis they heard a shrill scream. Not needing to turn and check if Travis followed, Nikolai ran in the direction of the sound.
Nearing the entrance to a nearby parking lot and turning the corner, Nikolai was taken by surprise as Annabella ploughed straight into him.
“Nik? Oh, thank God. Nik, please help her…men…help,” she frantically yelled.
It was then that he saw it…blood.
Immediately, a haze of red clouded Nikolai’s sight. Passing Annabella off to Travis, Nikolai rounded the corner. The sight he found made him draw his gun before it even truly registered.
Two men held Harper down as a third was ripping at her clothing. The more she struggled, the more the men seemed to enjoy it, laughing and tightening their hold. Seeing the pain and tears on her face broke the last thread of Nikolai’s control. In the next instance, he unloaded a round into the bastard who straddled her on the ground and raced forward to clock another with the butt of his gun. Nikolai’s hand wrapped around the closest guy’s throat and lifted him off the pavement and slammed him head first into the wall nearby. It took everything Nikolai had to rein in his instincts that were screaming at him to mow the fuckers down. Shooting the last guy in the leg, Nikolai focused on the young woman.
“You’re gonna pay for that you piece of shit,” wheezed the son of a bitch he’d slammed into the wall.
“Doubt it,” Nikolai snarled aiming his gun at the man
“Bitch means nothing to you. You got the other one.”
The sound of a whimper drew Nikolai’s attention to the young woman on the ground behind him. Nikolai turned toward her, seeing her midnight-blue eyes full of fear and confusion as she curled in on herself and stared at him.
“You okay?”
“Nik?” Harper’s gaze darted back and forth between him and the other man, her eyes widening abruptly. “Behind you!”
After that, too many things happened at once. Nikolai spun, giving himself just enough time to see a flash of metal before searing pain shot through his arm. Within seconds he looked up to see Travis put a bullet square between the fucker’s eyes.
Behind him, Harper screamed and was out of reach before Nikolai could grab her. On her feet and racing out of the parking lot.
“Jesus Christ!” he spat, and took off after her, as he shouted to Travis over his shoulder. “Get Annabella to the car. I’ll meet you there.”
Seeing Harper in the distance with two men and a woman on her tail, Nikolai pushed himself forward, darting across the street and was nearly taken out by oncoming traffic. He didn’t care. He had to get to Harper before she told someone what she saw or worse. Better he gets hit by a car trying to stop her, than having to face the family and tell them he let a witness slip free.
Harper ran. Her legs burned, her chest was tight, and fear clogged her throat. It was so completely overwhelming that she knew any minute her entire body would give out on her. The heavy rain pelted down, and her small stature, with hardly any muscle or bulk, quivered from
the strain. But she pushed herself through the pain and refused to give up.
Her head throbbed, and blood dripped from her wound, but the pure panic and fear she felt helped her to ignore it for the most part. She heard Nikolai call her name as soon as she veered into the park but she refused to stop. She admitted that she hadn’t known him well, and he had kept his distance from her, but she had never thought he was capable of murder. A flash of the man with a bullet through his brain slid through her mind. The blood, the flesh, the thoughts almost sent her careening off course.
Harper swiped her raven hair out of her face so she could see better. The normally well maintained locks hung plastered to her forehead by sweat and rain.
“There she is!” a familiar voice shouted.
Corina
Alarm shot through her when she realized Nikolai wasn’t the only one after her. A whimper broke free as she darted through the thick foliage and branches that cut through her skin. She almost lost her footing over a protruding tree root, but luckily she was able to leap at the last moment, landing firmly on her two feet.
Just as she regained her stride, a heavy mass ploughed into her, sending her careening to the ground. Her skull collided with something hard, wet, and unyielding. An icy cold feeling encompassed her, leaving her trembling and terrified, and the last thing she saw before she blacked out was a furious Nikolai.
Eye’s flying open with a start, Harper’s heart beat wildly as she desperately searched her surroundings. There was no slow progression, just the instinctual knowledge that she was in danger. Harper couldn’t remember how she’d gotten to the dimly light room, only that she wasn’t safe, and mostly naked under the soft sheet spread on top of her. Very naked, except underwear, but in her current state of distress, she wasn’t sure if that made much of a difference.
Struggling to sit up, Harper sucked in a deep breath when she noticed her left wrist was bound to the bed with a pair of handcuffs. Not the fluffy ‘I’m about to have some orgasms’ handcuffs, but the ‘oh shit what mess have I gotten myself into’ handcuffs. She sincerely hoped they weren’t attached to the ‘only way I’m getting out of these is if I’m dead’ set of keys.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What the hell?” Her gaze darted around the room as Harper searched for anything that could help her. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.”
And then the memories hit her.
A fight, gun, blood. There was running, falling, and so much cold and then...Nikolai.
“Oh fuck me,” she whispered.
The rattling of the door handle startled her. Sucking in a breath and tensing, Harper lifted her gaze and watched in a strange mix of numb fear and curiosity as the door opened and revealed the man she was sure would haunt her nightmares for a long time to come. Well, that’s if she continued to live after this.
Nikolai leaned against the door jam, one hand slipped into the pocket of this pants while the other held some sort of covered tray. She swallowed a sound of distress as she eyed the tray with apprehension. Every fiber in her body screamed that she probably didn’t want to know what was under the cover.
“You’re awake,” Nikolai finally spoke, drawing her attention back to him.
She fought her natural response to roll her eyes at the man’s obvious statement, proud that at least in a possible life and death situation her survival instincts were somewhat intact. “Where are we? And where are my clothes?”
An arched eyebrow was her only response as the man moved further into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. She tensed, not sure what to expect from a man she clearly knew nothing about. Harper flinched, then widened her eyes in disbelief when Nikolai presented her with the tray and removed the lid.
No torture tools, no nasty looking devices...but that was one mean looking steak and steamed vegetable mix staring back at her.
What the hell?
“Your clothes are drying after you decided to take a header into a small pond mostly full of ice. They’ll be done soon. Hope you don’t mind, the steak is medium. Wasn’t sure if you were more of a rare girl,” he said with a smirk, amusement sparkling in his eyes at her reaction. Nikolai’s gaze traveled downward, giving Harper the feeling of being caressed as it slipped to where the sheet barely covered her breasts and back up again. “Though there is something to be said for being...well done.”
She couldn’t help it. His comment, so much like the Nikolai she had come to know, made her laugh. Though if she were honest, it came out as more of a snort.
His features softened somewhat. “You’re right, that was one of the worst lines I’ve ever used.”
The sudden easiness in which he spoke through her off and Harper couldn’t seem to get her bearings. Her whole perception of him was distorted. Gentle lover. Cold blooded killer. Terrible flirt.
Who was this guy?
He shifted towards her and Harper curled in on herself. No matter how calm Nikolai acted, Harper couldn’t get the image of him shooting a man in the head. The cruel, sharp twist of his lips as they formed a sneer, the satisfaction of taking a life that glimmered in his eyes. She had never truly known fear until that moment. Knowing that fear was directed at the man she had been slowly falling for over the last year nearly undid the last of her sanity.
As if reading her mind, Nikolai placed the tray on the bedside table, opened the top draw, and pulled out a key holding it up in front of her. “I know you’re scared. For the most part, of me. I just need you to remember that I would never hurt you, okay? Do you believe that?”
The truth was, she didn’t. If she had learned anything over the last few hours, it was that she had no idea what the man in front of her is capable of.
With a sigh, Nikolai leaned closer, seeming to ignore her panicked breathing, and unlocked her left wrist. “Listen, I’m undoing this because I trust that you know not to do anything stupid. There is a lot I have to explain to you, and I’ll do that while you eat. Just...don’t be stupid.”
Pressing her lips tightly together, she nodded.
Harper winced as he lowered her arm and gently soothed the area where the cuffs had rubbed a little too harshly.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make them so tight. I just had to make sure you wouldn’t try and run again before I could explain.”
She stared at him incredulously, as she sat up and tucked the sheet tighter under her arms. She may have her bra, and he may have seen it all before, but she needed some sort of barrier between them. “Explain? I think it was all explained when you shot that guy.”
Immediately, she clamped a hand over her mouth, mentally chastising herself for not keeping it shut. Her lack of a filter always got her into trouble.
Unexpectedly, instead of annoyance, Nikolai chucked. “Your honesty is so damn refreshing. You know that?”
Dropping her hand, she cocked her head to the side. “That so?”
“You have no idea.” The words sounded almost...wistful? “In my line of work honesty is a rare commodity. A safety net that doesn’t exist.”
“In your line of work? You mean the hired gun for the mob, and killing people kind of work?”
They were both startled when a phone chimed, and Nikolai quickly tugged it out of his pocket. As he read whatever message he had received, a peculiar expression flittered across his handsome face. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, and morphed into something far graver. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Oh? How so?”
Instead of answering her question, he gestured to the food on the bedside table. “You better eat before it goes cold.”
He stood and made his way to the door.
“Wait,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. Nikolai didn’t face her, but his head was partially turned in her direction. “You said you’d explain while I ate.”
“I’ve got something I need to do first.”
With that statement, he left the room and firmly closed the door behind him. The sound of a lock slid
ing into place making her flinch.
“Oh, Harper. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?
Pacing the patio of his apartment, Nikolai continuously threw looks toward the now closed and locked doorway that lead to his bedroom while he waited for his call to be answered.
He blew out a sharp breath and leaned against the chrome railing, flicking off a stray leaf and watching as it fell eleven stories to the ground. Ironic that the leaf seemed to be mimicking the direction his life had suddenly taken. Down, down, down. All the way to the bottom where it would land with a splat. Everything was going to shit.
I’m so screwed.
“Quinton’s Patisserie. You crave ‘em. We bake ‘em. How may I help you?” an overly sweet voice greeted him finally.
“I’d like to place an order for a dozen red velvet cupcakes with green icing,” he said simply, following the protocol previously established.
The woman on the other end went quiet for a moment, before responding. “Are you sure you don’t want white icing, sir. That is more traditional.”
He grunted, knowing this was all part of the screening process. “No. Green icing. I like the festive coloring.”
“It’s never too early for Christmas,” she answered. “And when will you need this order filled by, sir?”
“Immediately.”
“I see. Please hold.”
Within seconds there was a distinct click, and then a gruff and more familiar voice picked up. “Wilks.”
“It’s me.”
His words were met with a long string of cursing. “Tell me your cover isn’t blown?”
Nikolai grimaced, and dragged a hand through his hair. “Not exactly, but there is a situation.”
“There always is with you,” his FBI handler, Wilks grumbled.
“It’s a girl.”
“Of course, it is.” Wilk’s clipped, mono tone pissed him off.
Choosing to ignore the man’s jabs, he continued, “Her name is Harper. She’s a college friend of Annabella’s. She was out of the loop. Had no idea about Annabella or her family.”
