Her eyes narrowed. “And I am. Hark Akula is perfect protection for Zhenya and your Sophia. The next best thing after you told us you didn’t want her at your house.”
“How the hell would you think he’d be a good protector for a defenseless woman and infant? And why the fuck aren’t Jude and Micah enough?”
“Because if Sebastene is looking into Zhenya’s background, he’s going to immediately start digging into Caelan’s background, which will lead him to discover the club. How long do you think it’s gonna take for him to figure out who the major players are? To track her down at my place?”
A new voice answered the question. “Not very long.” Jude came to stand next to Olivia. “I just got a tip from a friend at the Greek Consulate that a man fitting Sebastene’s description just entered the country in New York. His flight plan shows him headed to Denver with a layover in Chicago. He’s on the move.” He brushed a kiss over the top of his Mistress’s head. “I’ve already called Hark and warned him. He’s going to take extra precautions to keep the girls safe as am I. I called Micah and he’s securing the condo as we speak, and is planning on an extended stay for all of us here at the club.” He nuzzled her head. “We really ought to replace the daybed in your playroom with a king size bed, as much time as we end up spending here.”
“Hmmm, I’ll think about it.” She wrapped her arm around her submissive. “Did I ever tell you how much I love it when you go alpha on me, pet?”
“What about Zhenya and Sophia?” Gabriel clenched his fists. “You’re honestly going to bring them into a BDSM club?”
Jude gave him a confused look. “You didn’t tell him, did you?” He asked softly.
She shook her head and Jude sighed. “I thought we talked about this. You were supposed to tell him last week.” He stepped away from Olivia and placed his body between hers and Gabriel’s.
The move grated on Gabriel’s already strained nerves. “Tell me what? And why the hell are you protecting her? I’d never hurt her.”
A disgruntled look crossed Jude’s face. “Call it my protective streak. I’d step between her and Micah if I thought she was at risk.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And I know you’re gonna hit the roof when I tell you, which is why I asked Olivia to do it last week after Laura, our decoy at Caelan’s apartment, received a threatening text on Zhenya’s phone from that ass. We moved Zhenya and the baby out to Hark’s place north of Zion.”
Gabriel clenched his jaw and fought the need to deck Jude. “You should’ve just let Sebastene take her and Sophia.”
“Gabriel!” Olivia’s outrage was lost on him.
“The man fucking killed my sister, her husband, and their child. How could you let a defenseless woman and baby go with him?”
Olivia stepped out from behind Jude and tapped Gabriel in the chest with her crop. “How many damn times do I have to tell you, Hark didn’t kill them? He did the right thing calling George and Teresina to come get him. He had no business getting behind the wheel of the car after drinking as much as he had. How was he to know the idiot at the bar had friends, or that they’d attack the people coming to pick him up? Not even you could fight off eight men with knives.”
Clenching his teeth, Gabriel shoved the crop from his chest. “He should’ve never called them. He could’ve gotten a cab…and then my sister and George would still be here. We’d have been celebrating little Alex’s fifth birthday this year, if he’d have called anyone else but Teresina.”
She sighed. “I’m not going to argue with you about this. You aren’t stupid. There was no way Hark could’ve ever predicted what would happen…”
“Then don’t. It’s in the past, and I’m not going to ever forgive Hark.”
Jude interrupted him before he could go off on another tirade. “I can’t believe you’re acting like this… you didn’t want her at your place…besides Caelan put me in charge of her safety…”
“And I can’t believe you’d do this, knowing how I’d react to finding out you put another woman’s and child’s lives at risk…”
“Enough!” Olivia shoved between them. “One!” She pointed at Jude. “This isn’t a pissing contest. He’s not insulting your manhood. It’s what’s best for Zhenya and Sophia. And two!” She glared at Gabriel. “She’s not your submissive. You ran as fast and as far away as you could. You have no reason to be pissed about Jude and Caelan deciding Zhenya and Sophia would be safer with Hark. Quit being an ass.”
Ice washed over him. “So it’s like that? Fine.” He wrenched open his locker and grabbed his toy bag from inside it. “Don’t let me impose on you anymore.” Slamming the door, he stalked out of the club. The night definitely hadn’t ended as he’d hoped. Or at least not yet. Slipping behind the wheel, he pointed his SUV towards Zion. He was going to bring Zhenya and Sophia home where they belonged. Hark Akula wasn’t going to get a chance to sink his hooks into another innocent woman.
Chapter Fifteen
"Thanks for the warning, Olivia. I'll be ready." Hark slowly hung up the phone back on its base next to the kitchen door. His shoulders slumped a bit before he straightened. Sitting at the table, Zhenya looked up from the newspaper she'd been pouring over. In her bouncy seat next to the table, Sophia cooed and kicked her feet.
"Is everything okay?" She set down the pencil she'd been using to work on the crossword.
"Your man is coming." He turned, his face expressionless. Gone was the affectionate brother figure she'd grown accustomed to in the past month. In his place was the warrior she'd had dealt with the first day.
Alarm flowed through her and her heart began to pound. "Sebastene found out we're here?" Panic consumed her. She had to get out of here. She had to run. She couldn't let her daughter go to that man. "I…we need to leave."
"This isn't something you can run from, Zhenya." He moved to the table and squatted down next to her. "And it isn't Sebastene. Olivia just told me Gabriel found out you are staying with me. He’s on his way here now, and I'm sure the hell gonna miss you and Miss Sophie when you leave." He sighed, before rising up. He laid a hand upon her shoulder. "I enjoyed having a family underfoot for a change. I'd forgotten how nice it was. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a woman and child in my home." He moved to the window and gazed out onto the street. "Crap is going to hit the fan when your Gabriel gets here. I want you to remember the shit that comes spewing out of his mouth is not going to have a thing to do with you, okay? Let me deal with him. The issue is between him and me."
Confusion swamped her. "Why would he be coming here? He's not my Dom, Hark. He only delivered Sophie because he was on hand and I begged him not to leave me. Any obligation he had was finished after she drew her first breath. He shouldn't care one way or another."
A soft laugh escaped him. "You've never had to deal with a Poulanos before, have you?" He checked the lock on the window, probably just for something to do, then shoved his hands inside his pockets. "They broke the mold when it came to the men who carry the last name Poulanos when it comes to protectiveness. At times I swear Gabriel got a double dose of it. They take their responsibilities very seriously. "
She frowned, scooping up Sophie and joined him at the window. "Be that as it may, I'm not going with him, Hark. I’m not his responsibility. I'd rather be here with you. I had the option of staying with him when this first happened. I refused." Holding her daughter against her shoulder, she gazed outside.
"Too bossy for you?" Hark asked softly. “I know he’s a Dom through and through.”
She shook her head. "No, too much in love with another woman. Staying with him wasn’t an option. "
His confusion was apparent. "Why should it matter that he’s still mourning Sara? Has he given you any indication that…”
She looked up at him. "…that he might see me as more than a woman needing protection?” She sighed. “We have physical chemistry, that much I’m certain of, but I know myself. I'd have fallen in love with him, sure as rain. As a Dom he's firm but still
affectionate. I never knew that it could be like that. It's something my husband couldn’t be. Ossie could be firm but as a traditional Greek man, he wasn't allowed to show any affection in public with his wife. Common courtesies most women take for granted were not common place in my marriage." She rubbed Sophie's back.
"So Gabriel’s little idiosyncrasies with women were like being in a candy shop after a lifetime of bread and water, wasn’t it?" Hark brushed his fingers over Sophie's downy soft cheek. Zhenya smiled and nodded.
"And it would be too easy to mistake those gestures as affection, so I refused to go with him. I'd rather stay here."
Hark met her eyes. "Okay. Take Sophie upstairs. I'll deal with him. He can't make you leave if you want to stay."
As the squeal of tires from a Suburban pulled into the drive, Hark gave her one last smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Go. Let me deal with the Neanderthal.”
She chewed on her lower lip, as she took in the obvious pleasure Hark seemed to be displaying at the idea of dealing with Gabriel. “Please don’t fight on my account, Hark.”
He cupped her cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt pretty boy too much.”
The pounding of a fist on the front door followed by Gabriel’s demand to be let in, had her scurrying up the steps with Sophie. Even as much as she longed to see Gabriel again, she didn’t trust herself to not fall under his spell once more. There was no way she could risk being around him.
Just as she entered the nursery Sophie had been using, she heard Gabriel’s voice in the foyer.
“Where the hell are they? I’ve come for my woman and child, Akula.”
Her foolish heart leapt at the possessive tone in Gabriel’s voice, but she reminded herself, she’d never been Gabriel’s woman, merely a responsibility he’d taken on out of necessity. Deciding nothing good could come from eavesdropping, she shut the door as she heard the deep timber of Hark’s voice when he responded.
* * * *
Gabriel clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to deck the smug ass in front of him. It had been nearly two years since he’d seen Hark, at the lawyers office after his sister’s and her husband’s funeral to be exact. It still irked the hell out of him that George and Teresina had left the house they’d worked so hard to make into a home, to the man who was responsible for them being killed.
He shoved the thought of them away, because there was nothing he could do to change the past. No, he had to deal with the present, and that meant focusing instead on the situation at hand: Zhenya and Sophie. They were coming home with him even if he had to haul Zhenya over his shoulder and carry Sophie out tucked under one arm.
Crossing his arms over his chest, looking like a cigar store statue with his long braid tossed over one shoulder, Hark just stared at him. “No. She doesn’t want to go with you, Poulanos.”
“She’s not staying here with you.” Gabriel glared back at the man.
Hark sighed and dropped his arms. “I’m not going to argue this with you. If she wanted to go, I’d let her. But she doesn’t, so she’s going to stay.”
Gabriel’s hands went to his hips. “She also promised to obey when it came to issues concerning her safety.”
Shifting his stance, Hark nodded. “Yes, she did. There probably isn’t a safer place for her at the moment than my home. She never met me before last month. Olivia and Jude were right to bring me in. With my background in the service and my lack of obvious ties to Olivia’s, I provided the perfect alternative for little Sophie’s and Zhenya’s protection.”
Frustrated, Gabriel wanted nothing more than to kick Hark’s ass, but his need to see Zhenya and Sophie overrode his need to kick Hark Akula’s ass up between his shoulder blades. Not that he was entirely sure that he would be able to accomplish it. Standing at least seven inches taller than his own five eleven height, the man not only was taller but outweighed him by at least a hundred pounds. He still could remember the aches and pains from his last tangle with Hark. “Screw this, she’s mine to care for. I’ll find her myself.”
He moved towards the steps assuming the bedrooms would be a logical place to start looking.
“Stop!” Hark shifted just enough to block the steps. “She doesn’t want to go with you.” He repeated. “I won’t let you take her just because you’re pissed she’s here under my protection.”
“Like hell. When she ends up the same way Teresina did, what will your excuse be then? That you tried but were overpowered by Sebastene’s goons?”
Even as he looked for a reaction, Gabriel wasn’t surprised when he got none. The cold- hearted bastard didn’t care about anything or anyone other than himself, as usual.
“Sebastene’s goons won’t get past the front door. Now I’d like you to leave. She doesn’t want to go with you and I have security measures to attend to.”
Digging his heels in, Gabriel glared at him. “Not until I hear it from her mouth myself. I want to talk to her.” A rapid plan formed in his head. He only needed five minutes alone with her. Five minutes and she’d be a puddle in his arms. It was low, but worth it if it got her out of Hark’s home. And the fact his cock was half hard at the thought? Well that was merely a physical reaction to the adrenalin rushing through his veins. “I’m not leaving until I talk to her — alone.”
Hark watched him impassively, obviously weighing his seriousness. Finally he sighed. “I should just toss your ass out the door right now, but out of respect for your sister I won’t. Stay here, I’ll see if she wants to talk to you.” Hark ordered before disappearing up the staircase.
While he was gone, Gabriel glanced around the living room. Other than a baby swing he assumed was Sophie’s, nothing had changed since his sister’s death. Her touch still lingered in the dried flowers over the mantel and throw pillows on the couch. There were more whittlings flanking either side of the dried flowers. Hark was obviously still plying his knife to occupy his hands. Gabriel was tempted to go and see what new masterpieces the man had made, but had to remind himself this wasn’t a social visit. No matter how much he enjoyed Hark’s work, he was here to retrieve Zhenya and Sophie, not admire carvings.
“You wanted to hear it from my own mouth? I’m staying here.” Zhenya’s voice drew his attention away from the mantel.
He hungrily took in her appearance. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a peasant’s blouse over it which exposed the tops of her shoulders and the upper swells of her breasts. His mouth grew dry as he imagined running ice or better yet dripping hot wax on the smooth skin exposed to his gaze. He instinctively moved to her, frowning when she stepped back from him. A frown crossed his face. She had no reason to fear him. He’d never hurt her. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hopefully look less threatening. “Why?”
“Because I’m safe here.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, her defensive stance as if she were expecting him to hit her. He found he didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Why are you acting like this?” He dragged his hand through his hair. “It’s not safe for you here. There are things you don’t know about Hark. Dangerous things.”
A brittle laugh escaped her. “What? That he was once a part of a relationship with your sister and her husband? Or that he blames himself for their deaths? We all have baggage, Gabriel. And you better than most should realize that. I feel safe here with him.”
He wanted to hit something, but managed to keep his voice even. “Do I need to call Caelan and make it a direct order, Zhenya? You promised to obey him in regards to your safety.” He reached into his pocket for his cell. He had no intentions of actually calling his friend, but if it got her to come with him, it was well worth the bluff.
She shook her head. “I’m not going with you - even if Caelan gives me a direct order. I’m happy here, Gabriel. Hark is a wonderful man and will make a wonderful father….”
Anger clouded his judgment as he covered the scant feet separating them. Jerking her up against him, he covered her open mo
uth with his. She was his, not Hark’s…just like Sophie was his, and he’d be damned if he was gonna let the other man take what he wanted. His tongue thrust inside to tangle with hers as he enveloped her with his body, his arm around her waist lifting her up and into him, while his other hand was buried in her long hair, keeping her still for his possession. He groaned as the taste of butterscotch disks and sweet tea filled him as their dueling tongues mated. Growling deep in his throat, he wanted to place his mark upon her in a way she’d never forget.
By the time he lifted his head, her fingers had slipped under his jacket and were clinging onto his shoulders. He relished the prick of her nails through the loose silk shirt he’d paired with his leather pants in anticipation of playing at Olivia’s. As his chest rose and fell heavily, he wondered why he’d tried to find what he needed in some nameless sub’s arms, when what he’d really wanted was right in front of him, her lips swollen from his mouth. “Mine…” He narrowed his eyes when she opened her mouth to more than likely protest. “Not Hark’s. This body will belong to me…” he rocked her up into the cradle of his hips, loving the way her breath caught as she felt him against her soft belly. “And Sophie is mine too…I brought her into this world…and I want her.”
“I….no, we’re not…you’re still in love…” She stumbled back, her face flushed with passion, but she even as she was trying to reason with him, he came to a shocking realization. He meant every word of it - he was ready to move on. But before he could put it into words, a shout came from upstairs.
Hark came rushing down the stairs with Sophie crying in the cradle of his arm. Immediately his ardor died a swift death. What the hell had the man done?
Gabriel's Light (Doms of Chicago) Page 12
