The Chimera Affair: Gay Romance

by Keira Andrews

  Kyle’s expression softened, and he seemed about to say something when he glanced at Marie, waiting by the door. He was all business once more. “Remember not to open the door for anyone. No matter what they might say.”

  “Got it.”

  “I left you a gun.” He nodded to a .45 resting on the bedside table. “You know how to use it. Don’t hesitate.”

  “I’ll be fine, Kyle.” Sebastian picked up the weapon, flicking the safety off and on.

  “I know.” He shouldered the backpack carrying his supplies, following Marie out the door. Before he closed it, he glanced back. “Just…remember what I taught you. Stay safe.”

  Long after the door had closed, Sebastian stared at it, the weight of the gun in his hand a strange comfort. He didn’t hear the floorboard creak behind him until it was too late.

  Outside the hotel, Marie gave him the keys to the rental sedan. “I’ll be waiting. Going to check in with the other team now.”

  “Capture or kill?”

  “Will depend on the circumstances. The section chief would like irrefutable proof. But termination is an acceptable outcome if necessary.”

  As he turned to leave, an unfamiliar anxiety coursed through Kyle, making his skin itch. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and glanced back at the hotel. He looked back at Marie when she made a soft tsking sound. “What?”

  Her face softened. “I never thought I’d see you in love. You were always so…sensible.” She straightened her dress and hair. “Time to go. He’ll be fine. He’s safer there than anywhere.”

  “I know. It’s reckless. I’ve never…” Kyle breathed deeply. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

  She laughed kindly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Yes, darling, it’s called love. Happens to the best of us.” Her expression sobered. “Rarely ends well. Now go do your job. Good luck.”

  “You too.” As they parted, Kyle didn’t allow himself to look back at the hotel again.

  An hour later he leaned against the rock face of the cliff, his feet secure on a small ledge. He listened carefully for any sounds of movement. His head was two feet below the top, and he knew a guard was scheduled to patrol the bluff in seven minutes. No sign of him yet, although Kyle didn’t dare take a peek.

  He’d arrived at the base of the ragged cliff on schedule as the sun dipped below the horizon. The climb up had been a challenge. There were enough handholds and stepped sections of the cliff to allow for free climbing, and the crampons he’d fitted over his boots gave him traction. The night was dark, the moon having waned, and heavy rain clouds had moved in, obscuring the stars but for a few that peeked through.

  It had been a long climb, and sweat dripped down the small of his back. He breathed steadily, resting before his encounter with the guard. As the minutes ticked by, Kyle thought of Sebastian. With his fear of heights, he’d have never been able to scale the cliff. Kyle himself certainly wasn’t looking down. Always best to keep focus on the present.

  He knew Sebastian was safe in the hotel, but worry stubbornly gnawed away at him. He’d never felt so attached to another person. He knew it had to be infatuation; surely once Sebastian was gone, beginning his new life, he would be but a pleasant memory. It wasn’t possible to actually fall in love so quickly. Both of their emotions were simply heightened by the danger and the incredible sex. It couldn’t really be more.

  Could it?

  Right on schedule, he heard a faint noise approaching. His steps muffled by the lush grass, the guard made very little noise. Kyle inched up the last couple of feet, the whiff of cigarette smoke reaching him. As it grew stronger, he coiled his body, ready to launch himself over the top of the cliff and onto solid ground.

  As he did, the guard exhaled, a puff of smoke coming from his lips, the glowing tip of the cigarette visible in his hand in the darkness. The two shots from Kyle’s gun—one to the head, one to the chest—were quiet enough thanks to the silencer. Crouching down by the body, Kyle ground out the cigarette and removed his crampons.

  Proceeding on schedule, he approached the main villa in the shadows. All the cameras in the villa and on the grounds should have begun playing a loop of surveillance video thanks to the technical wizardry of ground support from the Association. Kyle could only trust that they were able to remotely take over the villa’s servers.

  Lorenzo Bruno’s security had a surprising amount of holes. Entry from the main drive would be impossible, and there was a great show of fence and gate and guards. Perhaps he thought the climb up the cliff impossible, or, as Kyle suspected, he let his reputation precede him, and woe to anyone who had the nerve to attempt an assault on Bruno’s compound. Ego could never be underestimated.

  Crouching in the shrubbery at the side of the lavish, three-story structure built into the side of the cliff that extended above this plateau, Kyle listened. He was surprised the buyer would agree to meet on non-neutral territory, but apparently acquiring the Chimera was worth the risk.

  Hugging the stucco wall of the villa, Kyle made his way in the shadows to a window in the main room. Light shone from most windows in the house, including this one, and Kyle held out a small mirror to catch a glimpse inside. He spotted Sebastian’s father right away and was surprised to be hit by a wave of hatred for the man. Exhaling sharply, he refocused.

  Bruno was also present, a fat man famous for his belly-rumbling laugh—which would sound jolly if one was unaware of how many men, women, and children Bruno had slaughtered in his time. He would do anything and everything for money, and for his famiglia. He and Brambani were speaking with heads close together. No laughter tonight.

  The buyer or buyers didn’t appear to be present yet. The other occupants in the room were a handful of lackeys. None appeared to be armed—although they surely were—and Kyle could spot no case or container the Chimera might be kept in. Nothing near Brambani.

  Good.

  Plan A was to acquire the Chimera before the meeting with the buyer. If Kyle could replace the vial with a decoy and slip out with the real thing, it would be the most desirable outcome. This of course would depend on where the Chimera was and how many guards were posted.

  Keeping low, he quickly stole around the side of the villa. Creeping vines covered the side of the structure, and Kyle tugged on one as he examined the thickness. Should hold. With his gun safely in a holster on his back that he could access in one point two seconds, he hoisted himself up and climbed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As Sebastian crawled back to consciousness, he puzzled over why there was such an intense pain in his head. This wasn’t the kind of headache caused by too much wine, and he was in a vehicle that rocked steadily.

  Then he remembered Kyle and the last insane days of his life. He thought back, trying to make sense of the jumble of images and memories… Kyle leaving on his mission. Their hotel room. The gun in his hands, the door locked. And then…a sound behind him, two men rushing toward him, overpowering him before he knew it. Then agony and blackness.

  He listened carefully for any sounds of movement, any clues as to his location. The vehicle slowed and made a right turn. Was he in the trunk? He didn’t think so—the sounds were clearer than they’d been when Kyle had forced him into the trunk and driven out of Como.

  Sebastian didn’t feel ropes or cuffs around his wrists or ankles, and as he shifted ever so slightly, he realized his arms were unbound at his sides. He’d been so consumed by the throbbing pain in his head that the rest of his body was an afterthought. He was stretched out on his side and thought maybe he was in the back of a van or small truck.

  He froze as a voice spoke from not far away. It was Eastern European—Serbian?—and he couldn’t understand what the man said. Another male voice answered, and they spoke quietly.

  Opening his eyes a fraction, Sebastian peeked out through his lashes. Night had fallen, and the van had no windows in the back. His head was toward the rear, and he glimpsed streetlights through the front passenger window. No
one watched him, so he shifted his stiff limbs, biting back a wince as he lightly probed the swollen lump on the side of his head.

  His hair was sticky with blood. Why hadn’t the attackers killed him? Why not a bullet to the head rather than a wallop? What did they want with him? He craned his neck but couldn’t see over the empty backseat. The men were silent again, and Sebastian concentrated on the feel of the road. It was smooth but now more twisting. They were going uphill.

  He had a feeling he knew exactly where they were headed.

  Before long the van stopped, and he snapped his eyes shut, trying to remain motionless. A new voice asked what their business was, and Sebastian realized they were at the guarded fence. The unseen driver replied in rough Italian, and Sebastian’s body went rigid.

  “We’ve got what Mr. Brambani’s been looking for. All in one piece. For now.” The man chortled.

  Sebastian could hear the mechanized whir of heavy gates opening, and they drove on. He kept his eyes closed, concentrating on breathing evenly. He had no weapon. He had only a vague image of the men who had stormed into the hotel room, flattening him before he could even shoot at them, but he was sure he couldn’t overpower them.

  He took a chance and opened his eyes again, scanning for anything he could use to defend himself. Clearly they didn’t see him as a threat since he was unbound, but the van was empty. No tools, no tire iron. Not even a soda can.

  Taking a deep breath, he rattled off a pi sequence in his mind. As the numbers flickered through, calming him, he thought about what he was wearing, and his hands went to his belt. Heart pounding, he unbuckled it as quietly as possible.

  He needed the element of surprise, and before he could talk himself out of it, Sebastian crawled forward and launched over the backseat, wrapping the belt around the driver’s neck and yanking with all his strength.

  The van swerved, and Sebastian kicked at the passenger, knocking the man’s gun to the floor. The driver clawed at Sebastian with one hand, the other on the wheel as he slammed on the brakes. Just as the other man found his weapon, the van rocked and tipped onto two wheels, slamming over onto the passenger side.

  They all went flying as the van spun to a screeching stop. Sebastian crashed into the sliding door, and he covered his head as the van scraped across the road. Then they were still, and he forced himself forward, dropping the belt and searching for the gun. The driver had landed on the passenger, and they both groaned and swore as they tried to disentangle themselves.

  Sebastian’s ears rang and he hurt from head to toe, but as he caught a glint of metal in the well of the passenger-side door, adrenaline urged him on. He grasped the weapon as the driver hauled him up by his collar, face scrunched in fury as he swore loudly.

  Sebastian pulled the trigger.

  The man exclaimed, just a noise of shock as he slumped back, blood blooming over his chest. The passenger was climbing over the seat, shouting in Serbian, and Sebastian pulled the trigger again. But the man was still coming, so Sebastian scrambled back out of his reach before shooting again.

  The bullet blew open the man’s head, spraying Sebastian with blood. The Serbian collapsed, suddenly motionless and silent. Gasping, Sebastian forced air into his lungs. The driver moaned, moving his arms and legs uselessly as his blood soaked into the ruined van. Scuttling backward, Sebastian found the back door and climbed out.

  He stumbled a few feet and crumpled to his knees, vomiting on the side of the lane that led to Bruno’s villa. Voices cut through the night, and he wheeled around, gun raised. Rubbing his eyes, he concentrated. The voices were Italian, and they were coming from up the hill.

  The van had ended up facing the way it had come, half in a small ditch. There were trees on either side of the driveway, and Sebastian stumbled off the road, keeping low as he put some distance between himself and the van. Hiding behind a thick stand of shrubbery, he thought about what Kyle would do as thunder cracked overhead.

  They’d expect him to run back downhill to safety, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get over the fence or past the guards. The lights of the villa shone from above. Tucking the gun into his waistband, he forced his battered body to move, stumbling upward through the trees.

  There were no blinds drawn on the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, and Sebastian squinted across the clearing from the safety of the tree line. The place was in an uproar, everyone shouting at once, his father’s face red with familiar fury. Growing up, he’d cringed at the sound of his father returning home, his strident voice echoing off the walls.

  He assumed his father’s rage was directed at the Serbian hit men who had failed to deliver Sebastian to him, but with a vicious shove onto his knees, the object of Arrigo’s wrath staggered into view. Sebastian swallowed his cry as his father jammed a gun to the back of Kyle’s head.

  He wanted to dash forward, shouting at his father to stop, but that wouldn’t help Kyle. Sebastian needed a plan, and he needed it fast. His father wasn’t a patient man, and the fear that he would pull the trigger any second twisted Sebastian’s gut. From downhill he could hear agitated voices drifting on the whipping wind as fat raindrops began to fall. A dog barked.

  Sebastian had to move. Keeping his eye on Kyle through the rain, he made his way through the trees until he was within sight of the side wall of the villa. His father seemed to have been distracted and was speaking to a guard. He waved his hands, gesturing wildly with his gun. With a deep breath, Sebastian dashed across the wet lawn, sneakers slipping on the soaked grass.

  As a bolt of lightning flashed overhead, he knelt in the flowerbed beside the villa. Keeping out of sight, he calculated the distance to the second floor. If he fell from that height, his weight times velocity would lead to an impact rate of—“Stop!” he muttered. Just do it. You can do it.

  Grasping the vines, Sebastian hauled himself up. The storm was in full power overhead, the rain pelting him and making the vines dangerously slippery. He hadn’t climbed so much as a ladder since the tree incident, and his heart pounded painfully. He felt strangely detached from his body, his fingers almost numb.

  But he made it up, one step at a time. He didn’t look down as he pried a window open and heaved himself into a darkened room. It seemed to be a library, the walls lined with bookshelves and several plump reading chairs scattered throughout the room. Dripping a mix of blood and rainwater onto the gleaming marble floor, he swiped his arm over his wet face and pulled the gun from his waistband.

  He crept to the door, which stood open. No one seemed to be alerted to his presence, but he waited anyway before inching to the doorway. It sounded as if someone was noisily ransacking one of the rooms to the right, just off the curving grand staircase. His father still shouted from downstairs, ordering someone to find Sebastian before the buyers arrived. Sebastian checked the gun’s clip. Three bullets left. He wasn’t a good enough shot to guarantee he could make them count.

  An image of the Serbian’s head exploding ricocheted through Sebastian’s mind, and he tamped down the nausea. Focus. He needed to create a distraction. He imagined the villa blueprints Marie and Kyle had pored over, trying to remember something that could help, wishing he’d paid more attention.

  As thunder boomed, the lights flickered. With sudden clarity Sebastian knew what he had to do. To the left there was a small back staircase for servants that should lead all the way to the basement. He just hoped what he was looking for was down there.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The metal pressed into Kyle’s skull, and he allowed a moment to curse himself for the botched getaway. He’d dispatched the upstairs guards and had the Chimera in hand when a damn lapdog out for a walk had alerted outside guards to his presence in the flowerbed as he made his escape.

  Getting the Chimera had been surprisingly simple, given it had been moved into a brand of secure briefcase Kyle had learned the trick to opening years ago. It hadn’t taken more than a minute, and the mission should have been a success. He should be on hi
s way back to Positano. Back to Sebastian.

  Exhaling, he focused on his current situation. His weapon and pack had been taken from him, and a pat down had revealed the knife strapped to his thigh. They had missed the small dagger tucked into his boot. Along with the gun currently against his head, the other eight men in the room all appeared armed except the large man sitting in a leather recliner. Bruno.

  One of the guards finished searching Kyle’s pack. He shook his head. Waving the gun inches from Kyle’s head, Brambani came around, his face beet red, spittle on his lips as he snarled a string of Italian expletives. “Filthy dog. You’re going to pay for this. For all of it.”

  A guard ran in and distracted Brambani, speaking in rapid-fire Italian that Kyle struggled to keep up with. He did make out something about a van and dead men and—his heart skipped a beat—Sebastian. Was Sebastian dead? No, not him. Kyle’s pulse raced, panic choking him.

  Another man appeared. He reported that they were searching the hillside, which was a good sign. He had no idea how Sebastian had ended up at the villa, but he prayed to anyone or anything listening that it was Sebastian they were looking for. That he was still alive.

  Brambani muttered, and Kyle understood every word this time. “That boy was always a disappointment. Get rid of the bodies and find him!”

  Kyle couldn’t hide a smile as Brambani turned back to him. “That boy is a man, and you’ve always underestimated him.”

  His vision went hazy as Arrigo slapped him hard across the face. “You shut up! Disgusting piece of shit. I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

  “Papa?” Sebastian’s brother appeared. He swallowed hard, eyes wide. “What is this? You said…this is a business deal?”

  “This is revenge.” To Kyle Arrigo added, “So kind of you to deliver yourself here tonight. Saved me the trouble of hunting you down.”