Taking Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy Book 1)

by Wild, Nikki

  Holy shit.

  I recognized that voice.

  But it was Hannah Hargreaves’ next words that absolutely shook me down to my very core, sweeping the air straight out of my lungs…

  “You are aware, of course, that I am acting in proxy for Soroka Sarkonov.”

  What.

  The.

  Fuck.

  I didn’t have to see Talon to know that he stiffened up at the confirmation. I could feel the rising tension crackle in the room at her words.

  “Yes. I’m aware,” he replied coolly, his voice trickling to a low, menacing tone. “Does your big, dangerous brother your role in all of this?”

  “Absolutely not,” she replied aloofly.

  “You seem so sure, but perhaps I know Hunter Hargraves better than his own sister,” Talon remarked coolly. “I keep him in contempt, and I sure as shit don’t respect him, but I know that he’s good at sensing a snake in his midst – experience has made him rather cautious.”

  “My brother was happy to see me,” Hannah laughed. “I’m just a defenseless, traumatized woman, aren’t I?” Her voice turned sickeningly sweet, drenched in venomous sarcasm. “Wandering around the country, barely keeping in touch, all under my strong, capable brother’s protection…”

  I absolutely loathed how she mocked the father of my child with that tone. Oh, the things I would have given to wrap my hands around her fucking throat and pin her up against the wall…

  How can she betray us like this?

  What the hell was her angle?

  “Aren’t you just little miss fucking sunshine,” Talon replied wearily, leaning forward in his chair enough to barely pass into view. “Save an old, dying man the bullshit. I know that you’re here to kill me.”

  “I could, yes. But I’m a reasonable woman, as is my employer,” Hannah replied aloofly.

  Talon didn’t sound particularly convinced. “I hope you realize that my men won’t let you leave this place alive… regardless of how fucking reasonable you are.”

  Hannah laughed airily at the threat. “And you are aware that my death would rain down fire upon them, all of their loved ones, and wipe your pathetic little faction off the face of the Earth?”

  She laughed at his pause, and it sent chills down my spine. “You overestimate your position, Talon. Even threatening me could be a death sentence.”

  “Point made,” Talon begrudgingly admitted. “Tell me, proxy: if not to kill me, what exactly brings you here?”

  Hannah passed into view as she placed her hands down flat against the desk, leaning over him. It blew me away that she had fooled us all so easily.

  “It’s your lucky fucking day, Talon, because I’m here to solve problems for the two of us. A little bird told me you ‘lost’ our container offshore. We know you’re using sonar to try and find it, but that’s like searching for a needle in a goddamn haystack.”

  Talon stiffened up. “You can find it?”

  “There are contingencies in place. Short range transmitters on board the container, similar to the ones found in an airplane’s black box.”

  “And you choose now to come forward with this?” Talon sounded irritated.

  “I had to be sure that you weren’t involved in the cargo’s disappearance. You can thank my little brother and that insufferable brat he calls his lover for this visit. She convinced me that you had nothing to do with what happened here… in a way, you and your entire club owe that woman your lives.”

  An uncomfortable silence swept through the room, and my head was spinning faster with every new revelation that they spat out at each other.

  I convinced her of what?!

  When Soroka had texted me just two days before, I’d been clear that I thought Talon was involved. Every single bone in my body was sure of it.

  This bitch and her boss threatened my fucking family! I was hiding like a trapped rat in a goddamn locker because I was bound and determined to prove Talon’s involvement, and now she wanted to make fucking nice?

  My blood was really boiling now.

  “What do you need from me?” Talon finally said, breaking the dark calm between them.

  “Those are the words I wanted to hear,” Hannah audibly relaxed. “I need a crane with the strongest magnets on the dock, one of your barges to haul my cargo up, and a capable truck that can handle the package. Get me out on the water where the container was dumped, and I’ll point you right to it. We’ll have the damn thing off your port in the next few hours.”

  Talon’s voice revealed that he didn’t consider that within the realms of possibility. “You believe that you can locate it that quickly?”

  “Do you suffer from shit memory on top of that ugly fucking face?” Hannah lashed out. “I told you. We have a contingency in place. I can fucking find it.”

  Jesus.

  Hunter was terrified of this guy, but his older sister was just absolutely wrecking the old fucker to his face… and she apparently had him by the balls.

  “And what makes you think whatever’s inside that crate is still going to be in one piece?”

  “The container is weatherproof, waterproof, and fucking lead-lined. It’s going to be intact. You’ll want to go slowly when you bring it up though, because the cargo is rigged to explode – violently – if some asshole tries to open it up without the key code.”

  Wait… what?

  Hannah continued darkly: “Now, are we going to sit here or are you going to get me a fucking boat?”

  Before he could answer, she withdrew a screen about the dimensions of a smartphone from her pocket. “I need to be within about a seven miles’ radius of this thing to activate… and well, would you just look at that?”

  The screen was active, pinging some sort of quiet alarm. Talon’s visible body posture relaxed.

  “That’s the locator balloon. The crate probably released that when it hit the water. We’ll need to get within two miles’ range to get the signal from the container itself.”

  “You have my cooperation. Do I have your word that my club can move peacefully past this… unfortunate hiccup?”

  “As a proxy of Soroka Sarkonov, I am empowered to make deals on her behalf,” she spoke with surprising authority. “I can give you my absolute word that your cooperation will not go unrewarded.”

  “That’s not the same thing and you know it,” he smirked. “I’ve been around the block a few times. I know what kinds of rewards people in your position tend to give out.”

  Hannah chuckled. “Help me put this container on a fucking truck and give me the keys, and none of you will be harmed. You’ll never see me again… and you will never be unfortunate enough to meet my superior.”

  “Give me a few minutes to call the boys on the dock, and I’ll have them get us a boat ready.”

  I was on the verge of a panic attack. Hannah was working for Soroka…

  Talon was working with Hannah to recover the crate, but I already knew he was a dead man walking. Once she found the cargo, Soroka wouldn’t need me anymore, and there was no telling what she would do to the rest of the Devil’s Dragons.

  Something told me she wouldn’t exactly differentiate between the Los Angeles and El Paso clubs…

  But that wasn’t all.

  There was something far more dangerous than Soroka rolling around in my mind. With just a few words, Hannah had flipped the switch inside me that still believed the pledge I’d made when I originally joined the police force. Maybe I wasn’t a cop anymore, but that vow was life-long: the pledge to serve and protect.

  The missing container is waterproof…

  Weatherproof…

  Rigged to explode…

  That was ominous enough, but then Hannah had dropped the bombshell.

  It’s lead-lined.

  I only knew one thing Sarkonov could be shipping that would need a lead-lined container, and if she was half as dangerous as the term international arms dealer made her out to be, then it could be well within her power…

&nb
sp; Soroka was shipping a fucking nuclear bomb.

  I have to do something.

  Thinking fast, I carefully reached for my phone. I had to text Hunter and let him know what was going on… He couldn’t trust his sister. She was the enemy all along… We have to stop this container from getting to its destination!

  Nausea chose to hit me right then and there, and hard. Before I knew what was happening, my fingers fumbled with the phone as I tried to steady myself in the locker, keeping from puking my guts up.

  CLANG!

  My heart stopped in my chest as the locker door swung wide. I realized to my horror that I’d dropped the phone and, in an instinctive attempt to catch it with my foot, I’d accidentally kicked the locker open.

  Talon lowered his cell phone from his face as I locked horrified eyes with Hannah Hargreaves. She was staring at me with benign amusement.

  “You have got to be shitting me,” she laughed. “Well, this certainly makes things a bit more interesting.” Lifting a pistol, she aimed the tip at my chest. Fully standing in the locker, I had nowhere to move but directly forward, otherwise known as stepping closer to the gun.

  “It’s a real shame, Sarah. I didn’t honestly think that you were this stupid. C’mon, out you come!” Hannah ordered me. “Over here, down on your knees, hands above your head. Face the front door.”

  I reluctantly followed her orders, held at the mercy of the woman that my man had nearly given up his life to save. She pressed the tip of the gun against the back of my skull, and I hastily made peace with the fact that I was probably about to die.

  When that bomb came into Sarkonov’s hands, I probably wasn’t going to be the only one who died…

  “If you don’t mind,” she switched gears, talking to the equally surprised Talon, “have your guys bring some rope – and make it the good stuff. It looks like I’m going to have to add kidnapping to today’s list of felonies.”

  With that, I felt the sudden, unexpected smash as she pistol-whipped the back of my head, and the world went dark before I hit the ground.

  Hunter

  I was just trying to get a goddamn little nap in when my world went completely fucking crazy.

  It started with a knock at the door.

  Skid was playing doorman at the time, and I heard a slight commotion from further inside the headquarters. Grumbling, I pushed up off of my shared cot with Sarah, and noticed something was wrong.

  Sarah’s not here.

  With growing irritation at that fact, I turned my attention to the noise inside. Throwing open the door between my club and my room, I prepared myself to roar in frustration…

  Skid was standing on the other side, fist raised for a knock, a growing look of surprise on his face.

  The other Dragons glanced over at me as I looked from him to the others, and then back again.

  “What the fuck is going on out here?”

  “You have a guest, boss.”

  “Awesome,” I growled, letting the sarcasm slip into my tone. “Who the fuck is it this time?”

  Grizz checked the door, speaking loudly enough for me to hear – and therefore the unwanted guest, as well.

  “It’s Talon.”

  The entire club went quiet enough to hear a pin drop. My men started reaching for weapons as I crossed the threshold and relieved Grizz from his post at the door.

  Questions rolled through my head:

  What the fuck was Talon doing here?

  How the hell did he even find us?

  With a reluctant groan, I unlocked the door and pulled it open. Sure the fuck enough, there stood Talon, a wicked grimace crossing his lips. Behind him, a van sat parked on the other side, one of his own Dragons standing watch beside the driver’s door.

  If Talon was so fucking displeased to see me, he could have just not shown up.

  “Hunter,” Talon replied, his growling tone bearing a sadistic glint. “I believe that it’s time you and I had another talk…”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is,” his voice rattled in his lungs. “They say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and you and I have a mutual enemy with a particularly large footprint…”

  “Soroka Sarkonov,” I acknowledged. “Talon… it was you, wasn’t it? Disappearing the crate like that… I know for goddamned certain she’s going to rip your balls off when she finds out you had a hand in dumping that container into the Pacific.”

  “Both are true when it comes to that bitch,” Talon chuckled, “and I think you’ll be singing a different tune when you know what she’s done.”

  “Straight to business, I see. Alright, Talon, I’ll bite – care to fill me in?”

  Talon tilted his head, watching me carefully. “Where do you think your woman is right now?”

  The air escaped my lungs.

  I fought down the burning rage that flared up, filling my very core. Rising inside and building pressure, it threatened to snuff out and sear away every ounce of rationality inside me.

  “What did you do, Talon?”

  “I didn’t fucking do anything, Hunter,” the diabolical biker president responded with complete seriousness. “The proxy of Soroka Sarkonov came to see me today, and your little bitch decided to eavesdrop on our little conversation.”

  “How do I know any of this is true?”

  Talon reached into his pocket, pulling out a smartphone and handing it to me. I recognized those little scratches and scrapes, and that lock screen wallpaper. It definitely belonged to Sarah.

  “I believe that this is hers.”

  My world came crashing down.

  I could hear my men mobilizing behind me, but I waved them away. Drawing weapons now was not a good idea.

  “You… you let her die…”

  “I didn’t let anything happen, boy,” Talon instantly cut in. “And the last I saw her, your woman was still alive. We found Sarkonov’s cargo container, and the proxy took Sarah with her when she left…”

  He descended into a coughing fit.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I demanded to know, the second he regained his breathing. “Answer me, Talon… We have fucking bad blood between us. I’ll kill you right here with my bare fucking hands. Why the fuck did you come to taunt me?”

  “Taunt you?” Talon roared. “Why the fuck would I taunt you? I need you! Time is of the fucking essence…”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, trying to force my building anger back down. If there was any chance that she was still alive…

  I could see the calculations running in the back of his head as he turned. The old bastard was weighing his words, carefully reflecting on precisely how to answer my question.

  “Sarkonov’s proxy is responsible for your missing girlfriend,” Talon finally replied. “But Sarkonov herself has been a thorn in my side for a long fucking time. I need the bitch disposed of, and I need it done quickly.”

  “You want to drag me into a fight.”

  “As I recall, our enemy doesn’t have my pregnant girlfriend,” my nemesis continued. “I am giving you a rare and unique opportunity.”

  I crossed my arms as I coolly regarded him. “And what is that, exactly?”

  “Your woman is locked in the sealed container.”

  I felt my eye instinctively twitch.

  “The container is on the back of a truck, and it left my jurisdiction just over thirty minutes ago. Pretty soon, it’ll leave Los Angeles, and you’ll never fucking see her again.”

  “Get to the point,” I snarled.

  Talon appeared to contemplate savoring the moment, but quickly decided to relinquish his strategic position over me. “I know where it’s going, and I know who will arrive to take things from there.”

  “Soroka Sarkonov,” I groaned.

  “She won’t trust anyone else on this one,” he explained. “Once she discovers the liability locked inside, your woman is as good as dead.”

  I gazed down at my hands. They were balled into shaking fists
at my sides, the knuckles white with fury.

  My family was in danger.

  I had to rescue them, and fast.

  Lifting my gaze, I matched his gaze with a dark glare. Paternal anger fueled my words as I decided that, whatever the cost, I would strike a deal with the Devil if it meant the safety of my child… and the safety of the woman.

  “What do you want, Talon?”

  The biker president smiled wickedly.

  “It’s your lucky day, Hunter,” he replied. “I’ll give you the destination, and I want you to kill Soroka Sarkonov.”

  “You want me to kill the most dangerous fucking woman in the world?”

  He took a step forward.

  “I didn’t ask for any of this,” Talon snarled, his rotting breath slipping into my lungs. “The evils that I call my clients – the evils that I know – are nowhere near the danger that she represents.

  “You want to smuggle some drugs through my port? Fine. You want to ship some guns through? Sure. I’ve let shit move through that dock that would make your toes curl, and I have never said a fucking word. I keep my mouth shut, I keep the shit protected, and I take my money.”

  “So why the fuck did you dump Soroka’s cargo into the goddamned ocean, Talon? You started this, and now you want me to fucking end it?” I replied, growling. It was written on his face now.

  He was responsible for all of this.

  “I didn’t know it was her fucking container, all I knew was what it had on the inside... Trust me, I did the fucking world a favor when I shoved that piece of shit straight into the water, and you’ll do the world a favor when you put a bullet in Soroka’s fucking head,” Talon replied angrily.

  “What’s in the box, Talon?” I demanded.

  “The crate’s lead-lined,” he answered cryptically.

  ...Fuck.

  “There are few things in this world that would make an dangerous woman of her caliber scramble like this,” Talon continued, “and now you know why I did what I had to do. I knew the repercussions, and I expected to die, but still… I couldn’t have predicted any of this.”