by Lynn Hagen
The street wasn’t that crowded. There were some people walking by, a handful of others watching the tow truck.
“Shift in the alley,” Gabe said. “We’ll follow you.”
I wasn’t completely healed from my injuries, but that didn’t matter. The only thing on my mind was getting to Danni. I walked to the nearest alley and stripped, setting my things aside before I let my wolf take over. Scents became a hundred times stronger. So did sounds. I immediately caught Danni’s smell. He’d been there recently. His scent was still strong, giving me something to latch onto.
My friends joined me, clearly having gone back to our SUV because they were all armed now.
“Go head,” Max said. “We’re right behind you.”
When I reached the fence, I had to shift in order to jump over then returned to my wolf form. When everyone else was over, I continued on.
Danni had changed direction, moving away from his house. Smart guy. He hadn’t wanted to lead whoever was following him back home to his mother.
But I’d gotten three distinct smells aside from Danni’s. He had three men in pursuit of him. He didn’t stand a chance unless we got to him.
When we reached an abandoned apartment building that was boarded up, I shifted back to my human form. Gabe handed me my clothes. I dressed and then entered the building, Max giving me my guns.
The place smelled rancid. Urine spots and trash littered the hallways as we searched the first floor, desperate to find Danni. I was no longer angry that he’d left. This was the kind of thing any human in their right mind would fear.
I was a fool to think we could have had a life together. This just proved I couldn’t keep him safe, even if Danni had been the one to walk out. I was also going to find Robert and rip him to pieces for this.
It was one thing to target me, but he’d gone after an innocent. My hands ached to curl around his throat. My canines throbbed to rip flesh from bone.
He would know true horror when I got my hands on him. That fight we’d had two weeks ago was nothing compared to what I would do to him.
Someone raced from one of the apartments. Lucas was on him, tackling the guy. The rest of us ran into the apartment, and my heart nearly stopped.
Two guys were kicking and punching Danni, who was curled up into a ball, his arms over his head. I lost it. Fucking lost it. I shifted and attacked, taking the first guy down, tearing at him with such vengeance that I doubted anything would be left to bury.
Max took out the other guy. I returned to my human form and knelt next to my little nurse. “Can you hear me?”
“Reese?” Danni slowly lowered his arms. “Is that really you?”
I wanted to pull him into my arms, to hold him close, but I didn’t know what injuries he’d sustained. “Tell me what hurts on you.”
“Everywhere,” Danni said. “But you got here before they did any real damage.”
I wanted to collapse from relief. He had bruising on his arms and face but was able to sit up. Fuck being apart from him. Fuck him running from me. I yanked him close and held him tightly, swearing to myself that I would never let him go.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Lucas said as he entered the room. “Guess who I’ve got right here.”
With Danni still tucked in my arms, I turned, and my canines descended. “Alfonso? What the fuck?”
“He refuses to talk.” Lucas shook Alfonso so hard the guy whacked his head against the wall. “Seems we have a traitor in our midst.”
“Not again.” Max cursed under his breath. He stormed across the room and shoved Alfonso against the wall. “How much? How much were you paid to betray us?”
Alfonso turned his head, his lips set in a grim line. I set Danni aside, making sure Gabe had him before I got up and walked across the room. I shoved my claws into Alfonso’s gut.
“You better start talking, or I swear you’ll see your entrails spilling out. I trusted you, and you turned on me, beat on Danni, and for what? A lousy few bucks?”
“I had debts,” Alfonso screamed. “Robert paid them off, got the creditors off my back. I would’ve lost the house.”
“And you couldn’t come to me?” I snarled. “You thought your chances were better with the enemy? You traded our friendship, your debts, to go after Danni and kill him?”
“No.” Alfonso shook his head. “I even tried to warn you. It was never about killing Danni. I never even laid a hand on him.”
“And that makes it better?” I’d heard enough. I killed him where he stood and then walked out of the apartment. I couldn’t look Danni in his eyes after what I’d just done. I’d only proven myself to be a monster.
And the betrayal had shaken my foundation, made me question the loyalty of the Russo pack. That was the second member to sell us out. Were there more traitors? Were others plotting against us?
Max joined me in the hallway as I leaned against a wall. “It’s never ending,” I said. “The war, the backstabbing, the shady deals made in the dark. I trusted him with my life, and he spit on our friendship to save his house.”
“And that’s why we have to keep fighting,” Max said. “Weed out the corrupt, punish those who betray us, take scum like Robert down and replace him with someone who is more concerned with business than personal vendettas.”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Don’t you ever get tired of it, Max? Don’t you ever have an urge to just walk away?”
Max leaned next to me and sighed. “All the time. But if I do, then evil wins, and I can’t let that happen. I care too much about this city. I know we walk in gray areas, do things that would be frowned upon if anyone ever found out, but we do it for the betterment of Ridgeview. We can’t let them win.”
Gabe helped Danni from the apartment. His scrubs were torn, and he was filthy from being on that disgusting floor. I was afraid to go near him for fear Danni would push me away.
“Go to him,” Max said. “He needs you.”
Danni looked hesitantly at me, as if I would be the one to reject him. I pulled him into my arms and held him close, one arm around his waist, the other holding the back of his head.
We left the building, and Danni and I waited until Gabe went after our SUV. Since I’d shifted while still dressed, my clothes had shredded. I was standing there naked but didn’t care.
“Why?” I asked when we were alone. “Why’d you leave?”
“Can we talk about this later?” Danni pressed his face into my chest. “I don’t want to talk right now.”
When Gabe and the others arrived, I scooped Danni up and carried him outside. We made it back to the hotel, and Danni took a long shower, while I threw some underwear on.
My friends had left the room but said they would get a room of their own so they could stay close by.
My future with Danni was uncertain, and already I wanted to join him in the shower, to hold him close and never let him go. But I had to wait to see what he would do. This was all up to him. Whatever Danni wanted, I would respect, even if that meant letting him go.
Chapter Ten
Danni…
He saved me. I’d honestly thought I would die in that crappy building, but somehow, against insane odds, Reese had found and saved me.
And I was still stunned that Alfonso had been involved. I was in shock when Lucas hauled him into the apartment. Gabe had shielded me from seeing anything, but I’d heard it all.
Alfonso had turned on me because of his debt. I’d been drowning in debt, but I would’ve never betrayed anyone to get out from under it.
I was spitting mad. If Reese hadn’t killed him, I would have. How could anyone do that to another human being? Okay, so Alfonso hadn’t been human, but that was beside the point.
Now I was super confused on what to do. Seeing Reese in that apartment, knowing he’d come after me… Shit, my love for him had grown. His world was still a scary place to be, but living in my world without him was an even scarier thought.
I loved him.
Yes. I loved him.
Was that enough to live in this insanity? Did I love him that much that I would allow my life to be changed? If I were honest with myself, my life had already changed. There was no going back. The enemies knew I had a connection to Reese Corbin.
And going back to my life without Reese in it… I didn’t want to do that.
“Reese!”
The bathroom door swung open. I saw him through the glass enclosure. Tall, broad, dark, and handsome. My body ached to be in his arms.
“Get your ass in this shower,” I said. “We have some talking to do.” This was what I should’ve done in the first place instead of running away from my fears. I knew that now, and I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Reese stripped naked and joined me. I had to back up to allow him entrance. It was a fancy hotel, and the bathroom was amazing, but the stall was only so big.
The water cascaded down Reese’s body, wetting his hair, making him look ten times sexier as he stood there looking down at me. “You’re being awful bossy, beautiful.”
I loved how he kept using endearments with me. It melted my heart in ways no one else ever had. “Tell me how we can get rid of this madness,” I said. “Who exactly is after you and why?”
Reese placed his hands on my hips and turned me until I was under the spray. He grabbed the washcloth from my hands and started washing my chest, his hand gliding over my wet skin.
I couldn’t help my body’s reaction. I was instantly hard, but I wanted to settle matters before we rocked each other’s world.
“His name is Robert Liotta. He’s pissed at me for kicking his ass in front of some of his followers.” Reese turned me again and began to wash my back, sliding the washcloth between my ass cheeks. I felt myself blush at such intimacy.
“So this is about some guy’s ego?”
I wasn’t sure what kind of answer I’d been expecting, but that hadn’t been it. Alfonso had betrayed us because of a debt, and now Reese was being pursued because some guy had gotten his butt whooped?
“That about sums it up.” Reese grabbed the shampoo bottle and washed my hair, his fingers sliding through the wet strands.
“So how do we get him to stop coming after you?” I looked over my shoulder as Reese continued to wash my hair. He was having a little too much fun with it. “I’m totally against violence, Reese. But this has to stop. If we’re going to be together, I need a semblance of normalcy. I can’t have strangers chasing me down every time I leave work, and I definitely can’t have them going after my mom.”
My stomach revolted against the idea of such a life.
“First, you’ll have a bodyguard just like your mother has,” Reese said. “I’d already planned on putting one in place whether we were together or not.”
I wished I’d had that bodyguard before I’d taken off earlier.
“As far as Robert goes, I was waiting until I was healed before I confronted him again.” He didn’t give any more details, and I didn’t ask for any. For sanity’s sake, the less I knew about Reese’s business, the better. I was perfectly happy being ignorant of the things he did.
“What if…” I didn’t want to ask the obvious.
“What if he wins the fight?” We both knew I meant, what if Robert killed him?
“He’s a challenging opponent, but I wouldn’t be too confident when I say that’s not going to happen.” Reese stuck my head under the spray of water. I closed my eyes and let him rinse my hair. I hadn’t asked him into the shower to wash me, but I had to admit I liked the pampering.
Reese turned me to face him. I opened my eyes and stared up at him, still so freaking enamored with the guy. I got lost in those eyes, drowned in them, my breath coming out in shallow pants.
“I’ll never let you regret being with me.” Reese cupped my face with his strong hand. “I’m not promising things won’t get complicated, but I’ll try my best to shield you from the darker side of things.”
“The dark side.” I chuckled. “Why did Star Wars pop into my head?” I sobered. “Sorry, this isn’t a funny moment. You’re trying to be sincere.”
“Trying?” The side of Reese’s mouth curved upward as his hand pressed against my lower back. “I thought I was doing one hell of a job. You know how to crush a guy’s ego.”
“You know your damn ego can’t be bruised so easily.” Hell, he’d recovered faster than I’d expected. His will and determination had proved to me his ego was as strong as he was.
“True.” Reese cocked his head to the side. “Even so, you could have bruised it.” He cupped my face. “You’re the only man who has that kind of power over me, Danni.”
Swoon. “I do?”
He tapped his chest. “I don’t let just anyone in here. Other than my friends, you’re the only other person on this planet I would die to protect.”
“Let’s not test that statement.” I wasn’t sure why I was so shocked at what he’d said. He’d found me when I thought I was done for, had rescued me, and brought me back to him. He was my knight in tarnished armor.
Hey, not everyone had a knight in shining armor. Reese had a bunch of dents in his, but I was willing to take him, flaws and all. He’d promised me a bodyguard, though I wasn’t fond of the idea, but if that enabled me to stay with him, I’d deal with it.
Just as long as I never had strangers chasing me down again. This wasn’t a perfect fairy tale. I was dating someone who lived and worked in a gray area. But I loved Reese and was willing to do whatever it took to be with him. I’d done a one-eighty from earlier, but I’d realized when I was rescued that I didn’t want to live without him.
“By the way.” Now I was the one cupping his handsome face. “I forgot to tell you that I love you.”
Reese’s eyes became molten liquid as he stared down at me. “I love you, too, beautiful. You’re the very beat to my heart.”
Yep, I was putty in his hands. I jumped, and Reese caught me just under my ass, the water still cascading down my back. I would take that leap anytime when it came to the man I loved. And I knew in my heart that Reese would always catch me.
* * * *
Reese…
After making sure there were three guards watching my hotel room, I met up with my friends downstairs. We strode to the waiting SUV and climbed inside.
Already I missed Danni and couldn’t wait to get back to him. But if I was to make his life easier, I had to take care of Robert. Until then, the bastard would never stop sending men after me and Danni. I had to put an end to this.
“My informant said that Robert is having another one of his meetings,” Lucas said as Gabe pulled into traffic. “He’s in some loft on the west side. The Brighter Building on 42nd Street.”
The west side was a high-end neighborhood. Robert seemed more low-rent. I didn’t care about the reason he was there. I just wanted to end him. Not because of what he’d done to me but because his men had gone after Danni.
I ground my back teeth, finally letting the fury take hold. I’d kept it in check around Danni, trying to be the solid rock he’d needed. I would be anything my little nurse needed.
I’d never thought I would be lucky to find someone like Max and Gabe had. I’d envied their relationships with their better halves. I was nearly forty and had struck out many times when it came to love.
Now I had Danni in my life, someone who made my heart race, made me look forward to waking up in the morning. I wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from me.
Before my brain could catch up to what was happening, it was too late. The truck T-boned us, sending the SUV spinning out of control. I slammed my hand against the roof for balance until the vehicle came to a stop.
“Is everyone okay?” I was shocked I wasn’t dead. The truck had hit my side of the SUV, and I’d been sitting in the back. Aside from a mild ache in my hip, I was unscathed. Fuck. Fate was definitely looking out for me.
“I’m okay,” Max said from the passenger seat.
“Wha
t the hell happened?” Gabe asked.
“Get down!” Lucas shouted seconds before a burst of gunfire hit the SUV. Lucas opened his door, and we both crawled out, crouching low to avoid getting hit. Gabe and Max joined us.
“The council is no longer welcome in Ridgeview,” the gunman shouted. “There’s a contract on all your heads. Nowhere is safe for you mutts.”
We returned fire, trying to take down the gunman. But there was more than one. Three men were firing at us.
“We have to get this off the street,” I said. “There’re civilians all around us.”
“This way.” Gabe took off, and we followed.
Contracts? I doubted Robert could pay such a fortune. This had to be Antonio’s handiwork. If he got rid of us, he could take over the city, get rid of the Russo and Romano packs, and pure chaos would rein.
“Fuck replacing Antonio,” Max said as we rushed to an underground parking garage. “We’re wiping the Malkovich pack off the map.”
God, I was getting too old for this shit. If I was truly honest with myself, my heart was no longer in it. I still wanted to practice law, but I would gladly walk away from the council gig if I knew pandemonium wouldn’t ensue.
I never thought I’d feel that way. I’d lived for that kind of life. But even before I’d met Danni, I’d grown weary of the fight. The pack members didn’t have the respect they’d once had. The younger generation wanted power and wealth without putting in the hard work like their elders had.
“We kill Antonio, take out Robert, and make sure the Malkovich pack has a decent leader, then I’m done,” I said as we moved past cars. “The game isn’t even the same anymore.”
No one said anything as we looked for the gunmen, who I knew had followed us.
“Retirement?” Lucas arched a brow.
“Just from this.” I gave a weary sigh. “Taking weeks to recuperate put things into perspective for me.”
“You mean that human,” Lucas said.
“Hey, now.” Gabe held up a hand. “Now is not the time. Let’s live through this first.”
Max’s and Gabe’s boyfriends were human, too.
