It was tedious and painful work. The duct tape bit at her skin, but her sweat softened the adhesive. Here, small movements did more than wild flailing ever would.
While waiting for them to ignore her presence, she had plenty of time for self-reflection. She realized that she’d not even done half of the things she’d wanted to with her life.
She’d never scaled a tall mountain or swam with a dolphin. She’d never gotten married, had children, or learned to ride a motorcycle. She’d not visited the Great Pyramids, watched a Hawaiian volcano erupt, or visited Yellowstone and watched the geysers.
She’d done nothing except come to Greece, and that trip had been an utter failure.
She had so many things she wanted to do with her life, and this man was threatening to take it from her. She wasn’t ready to die. She had wondered if Ries would come.
If he didn’t, she’d just have to fend for herself.
If he did – the need to escape became even more urgent. She couldn’t let him die.
A life without Ries in it would be no life at all.
When she heard Ries’ voice, she felt both relief and fear in a combination that was almost paralyzing.
The fact that he’d shown up, prepared to sacrifice himself for her, was amazing. Maybe he really was the man she’d thought he was. Maybe her love story was real, after all.
It was also stupid and dangerous on Ries’ part, but Stephanie could hardly lecture him about that today.
She wanted to yell for him to get back and tell him how she truly cared for him, but she didn’t want to anger the men with the guns. When Angelo stepped forward and pressed his gun to her temple, Stephanie was prepared to die with Ries. She didn’t really want to live without Ries in the world. She didn’t want to watch him die because of her.
She tensed, preparing to spring. Praying that she could rip her hands free when the time was right. Praying that she could distract at least one of the gunmen long enough. Long enough for Ries to shoot the other.
But now, Angelo had her by the throat and had a gun to her head. Any resistance would mean instant death – and instant loss of her ability to protect Ries.
Her opportunity to attack was slipping away and she only hoped that Ries would be able to escape before she died from the bullet, she was sure to take.
When she saw Ries take a step forward, intending to lay his gun down on the ground, she knew her time was up. As Ries bent down, Stephanie exploded into action. She kicked her legs hard against the mattress, sending her own body – and Angelo with her – flying backwards onto the warehouse floor.
The assassin was so startled that the gun was jarred from its place before he pulled the trigger, going off several inches from Stephanie’s face.
She then head-butted him hard, slamming the back of her head into his nose, and heard his gun clatter to the floor.
She also heard Carlos yell, and heard more gunshots.
She focused with single-minded purpose on the one thing she could do: keep Angelo busy. He snarled and rolled to face her, pinning her body underneath his.
That was when Stephanie ripped her hands free and fastened them around Angelo’s throat.
The look of surprise in his eyes said it all as she held his throat as tightly as she could.
He fumbled for the gun he’d dropped, but Stephanie turned the tables on him, pinning him to the ground by his throat.
But then she realized she couldn’t pin his hands and throat at once. Even as she put all of her weight on his windpipe, she couldn’t see his hand – or how close it was to the gun that could end her life.
Chapter 21
Everything happened so fast that Ries reacted without even thinking. He saw Stephanie attack Angelo and dived for his own gun just as Angelo’s guards revealed themselves from behind the tall stacks of crates and started firing. Ries didn’t have time to worry about their bullets – he was worried about Stephanie.
Ries grabbed his gun and rolled to his back, immediately taking aim and firing at the guards who were shooting toward Stephanie. He hit the first man in the chest, dropping him to the ground, and then hit the other man in the back. As the man turned to return fire, Ries fired a third time, and the third man went down as well.
All those summers at the shooting range were paying off.
Ries got to his feet and raced toward where Stephanie and Angelo were still struggling. Stephanie’s body blocked Angelo’s almost completely as she pinned him, making it impossible for Ries to hit Angelo without going through her. But Angelo’s hand groped dangerously near to his discarded pistol, his fingers only inches away from its trigger.
Ries raced toward them, crouching to make himself a smaller target. He could now see that the corner of Stephanie’s mouth was bleeding, but she wasn’t shrinking away from the man who’d caused such damage. In fact, Angelo’s flails were growing weaker – Stephanie almost had him unconscious.
But as Ries watched, Angelo’s fingers closed on the handle of the gun.
Ries surged forward and brought the butt of his gun down, hard, on Angelo’s wrist.
The man dropped the gun one last time, and lay still.
Ries quickly picked up the assassin’s gun, turned the safety on and crouched low as he looked for other sources of danger. Stephanie had rolled off of Angelo and was trying to get to her feet, but she looked dizzy and weak. Ries reached down with one arm and pulled her close, shoving her behind him as he wasn’t convinced the danger was past.
“Where is Carlos?” he asked.
Stephanie struggled to get control of her breathing. “I don’t know. He went that way when Angelo grabbed me.” She pointed down a darkened aisle.
Ries helped Stephanie to sit on the mattress and then quickly scanned her for injuries, all the while keeping his gun at the ready. “Are you hit?”
Stephanie was shaking badly but shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She glanced fearfully at Angelo on the floor. “Is he dead?”
“Not yet.” Ries handed Stephanie Angelo’s gun, keeping his own firearm in-hand. “Watch him.”
He paused then and turned to face Stephanie, tipping her chin up and looking into her face. After reassuring himself that she would be okay for a few minutes, he nodded and told her:
“Stay here while I check to make sure we don’t have anyone else that’s going to try and kill us. Carlos is still in here somewhere, and he wants me more than you.”
Ries left her sitting, tying the unconscious Angelo up with the same roll of duct tape he’d discarded after binding her.
Two guards were deceased and had been struck multiple times by bullets. From their fellow guards. It seemed that placing armed guards on both sides of the aisle had worked against Angelo – the bullets that hadn’t hit their targets had flown straight on and hit their colleagues.
Ries kicked their guns away and then went in search of Carlos. Rage seethed in him as he imagined the man – who had seemed a faithful servant – attempting to poison him again and again. He had been saved only by Stephanie’s affection.
Ries found his body lying a few feet away from the exit door, two bullet holes in the back of his head. Another victim of the guards who were supposed to have been working for him. Brought down by friendly fire as he tried to escape.
Ries took a deep breath, steadying himself. Then he returned to Stephanie, who was sitting on the mattress, looking numb. A
He pulled her into his arms, and she collapsed in tears, mumbling accusations at him.
“Why did you come here?”
“To save you,” he told her.
“That was so stupid. They wanted to kill you and you knew that. I can’t believe you risked your life like that. You were supposed to be at the apartment, safe.” Anger burned out of Stephanie, even as she glared through tear-filled eyes.
The image almost made Ries laugh.
“There was no way I could sit at home, knowing they were going to kill you, Stephanie,” he said softly. He tipped her chin
up and searched her eyes, lowering his voice. “Don’t you know how much I love you?
“I would rather die than have to live without you, knowing it was my fault that you’d died. I could never live like that.”
Something changed in Stephanie’s eyes, light and hope flooding them with a new wave of tears that spilled over onto her cheeks.
He kissed her then, passionately and making every effort to pour what he was feeling into his actions. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered between kisses. “I didn’t know how to keep you safe. I didn’t know how to respect you and protect you at the same time.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Stephanie murmured as she pulled his lips back to her own.
“It does,” he told her, pushing her away so that he could look into her eyes while he finished his apology. “We need to learn to work together. I knew I couldn’t say ‘no’ to you while you were in my arms, so I pushed you away. I couldn’t live with the thought of you coming to harm, so I kept you prisoner. I knew you wanted more than that. I knew that you were strong and brave. But I couldn’t let you put yourself in danger. I was being selfish – thinking only about my desires, and not yours. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I wanted to be with you, too,” Stephanie sobbed. “I just wanted you to talk to me and let me help you.”
“I know,” he kissed her again, smoothing hands up and down her back. “And I know that, if we stay together – I will have to let you take your own risks. I cannot just control you.
“I didn’t mean any of those hurtful things I said. Not a word.” Ries’ thumb stroked her cheek.
Stephanie clasped his face and kissed him deeply before telling him:
“I love you, Ries. I realized last night that I don’t want to live without you. I don’t know if that’s even possible now. You’ve become a part of my life just like my need for air.”
Ries hugged her close, “I am so happy to hear that.” He kissed her again, allowing the passion between them to grow, but she pulled back a few minutes later.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to say this.” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry.”
“Stephanie, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”
“But I do, I was intentionally pushing you away to try and save myself. I thought – I thought you were going to leave me.”
“I don’t understand,” he told her, searching her face.
“I spoke to your brother and afterwards, his words wouldn’t leave my mind.”
Ries clenched his jaw and asked tightly, “What did Damon tell you?”
Stephanie shook her head and cupped his jaw, “Don’t be upset with him. He was trying to help me, to help us both. He could tell I was getting attached to you and he told me that it would hurt more if I waited to break things off with you. He assumed – he said you’d leave me. Like you had left many women before.”
“He thinks I left them?” Ries asked, very quietly.
Stephanie looked at him helplessly.
Ries turned away. “He doesn’t know, then. He really doesn’t know. Stephanie, those women – they left me for him. They only wanted the family money. Not me.”
To Ries’ surprise, Stephanie clung to him hard, pulling her into his arms. “How awful! I love you, Ries. I’d rather live with you in a cardboard box than with Damon in a palace.”
Ries was shocked to feel something he hadn’t felt in years. Tears. Tears, coming to his own eyes.
He kissed her once more and Stephanie shivered.
But slowly, reality set in. They couldn’t just bask in their mutual love while surrounded by dead bodies.
The authorities needed to be called, as did his brothers and his security team. There would be many questions to answer in the coming hours, but Ries knew that his most important question had been answered.
With Stephanie by his side, they would see this investigation through to the end and then they were going to have a long talk about the future.
A future that included being by her side for the rest of his life.
Chapter 22
Stephanie sat in the back of the black SUV that Chris had driven to the warehouse, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a bottle of water in her hands.
Chris stood in the open doorway, his back to her, protecting her from prying eyes of the media and others as the Greek authorities finished interviewing Ries and investigating what had transpired in the warehouse.
She’d already answered their questions, identified Angelo – who had thankfully regained consciousness, albeit it with a horrible headache, and she had been assured by the federal detectives that he would be facing multiple counts for smuggling, attempted murder, and other illegal activities.
In their own words, “Angelo would be going away for the rest of his life,” once the courts finished prosecuting him.
For the first time in months, Stephanie felt satisfied. The threat against Ries, at least from Angelo, was over.
Angelo had adamantly refused to answer any questions relating to his working for Dmitrius Yttrios, so that was still a threat against the Kafatos brothers that would have to be dealt with in the future. But she felt better knowing that she and Ries could now work as a team. He had promised never to shut her out again, and she had promised to abide by his safety advice – as long as she had useful work to do at the same time.
Chris had received information from his informants that Dmitrius had left Stavros, and his yacht was no longer within Greek waters. What that meant for the future, no one quite knew. But for the moment the threat against Ries and his brothers seemed to have retreated.
“Thank you, Detective,” Chris said, standing between Stephanie and the mob of enforcers. You know where to find us if you have any other questions. I’m going to take Stephanie away from here now. She’s been through a lot.”
“That’s a good idea,” the detective responded, nodding respectfully to Stephanie and tipping his hand. Then, Chris moved out of the way to admit a more welcome visitor - Ries.
Stephanie lunged for him, crawling into his arms as Chris shut the door. She just wanted to go home with him, to lounge quietly somewhere while her body recovered from the day’s trauma.
“Shush,” he hushed her softly. “It’s all over now.”
“What will happen next?” she asked, pulling herself up so that she was sitting on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck.
“They will search the warehouse, Angelo’s residence, and his other buildings scattered around Greece. I imagine they will find enough evidence to charge him with even more crimes.”
“Are all of the others dead?” she whispered. Stephanie had never seen anyone die before. She knew that the memory of Angelo staring up into her eyes as she strangled him would haunt her for a long time, even though he had lived.
“Yes. But you don’t need to worry about that.”
Chris had started up the SUV and they were now headed away from the warehouse and the emergency lights.
Ries was quiet for several minutes and then he added, “You might be interested to know that the police officers you originally made your reports to, about the stolen artifacts, are going to be fully investigated. They’ve known there was collusion within the department for a while now, but they’ve never been able to prove it. Your testimony just gave them enough information to launch a full-scale investigation into those officers and the department here in Stavros.”
“Good,” Stephanie told him, relief flooding her. “They were an embarrassment to the badges they wear on their chests.”
“I agree. Now, I have already heard from Nicolai and Damon that they expect me to return home. Immediately. The family jet is currently being fueled and readied, and I expect you to come with me. We are a team now, and I’m not letting anything come between us again,” Ries spoke with a commanding voice, but looked cautiously at Stephanie, as though for permission.
“We are going to meet your brothers?” Stephanie asked. The ‘we’ was never
in question. Whether she wanted to meet Damon in person, on the other hand...
“Yes. I want you to meet them and I want us to begin to put this behind us.”
“What about…Ries, I can’t just leave Stavros today. My things...”
“You can. Chris had the housekeeper pack up your belongings and they will be brought to us at the airport.”
“Wow. Does everyone do what you say?” she smiled a little.
“Everyone but you,” he told her, grinning, and kissed her again.
He kissed her until they reached the private airfield, and then he quickly escorted her up into the plane. After greeting the pilots and the steward who would be with them during the flight, he directed her back to the bedroom and attached bathroom.
“Take a shower and then you can rest until we arrive.”
“A shower? On a plane?” Stephanie looked at him dubiously.
Ries tapped her on the nose and opened up the door to the luxurious bathroom. “Money can buy all sorts of things. I never truly appreciated them before, but seeing them through your eyes, I realize how blessed I’ve been. Get used to being pampered, Stephanie. Kardiá tis kardiás mou.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered, staring at the marble bathroom fixtures.
“Heart of my heart. My heart belongs to you, now. It beats when your heart beats. It hurts and rejoices when yours does.”
Stephanie’s eyes filled with tears of love for him and they kissed once more before Ries gently pushed her toward the shower with a smile. “Clean up and then rest. I’ll shower in the other bathroom and then join you.”
She smiled at him and then suggested, “We could shower together.”
Ries nodded, “We could, but then neither one of us would get cleaned up nor would we get any rest.”
Stephanie nodded and then shrugged, “You’re probably right about that.”
“I know I am. There will be plenty of time for loving. Right now, you and I both need rest.”
Especially me, Ries thought. I’m going to have to face Damon once we arrive and I can’t say I’m looking forward to that. I need to be rested so that I can provide a buffer between Damon and Stephanie. She doesn’t deserve Damon’s censure or biased judgments.
Protected By Him (The Greek Brothers Book 4) Page 13
