“It was fine. Excuse me.” Attempting to breathe through her mortification, she turned toward Gabriel and felt the smile fall from her face. Delivering a daggerlike glare at him, she retrieved her purse and then disappeared into the luxurious restroom in the corner.
Without hesitating, feeling shamed when she shouldn’t, and incensed that her first sexual experience had turned into such a disaster, she flung open the door that connected the restroom to the outer corridor and called it a day.
ELEVEN
Thirty minutes later, still cursing the man who’d put her in this position because he’d wanted to get laid, Eva slammed her way into her house. She jammed her finger into the keypad to shut down her beeping alarm system and roughly wiped away the drying tears on her cheeks.
She wasn’t equipped to deal with people’s judgments, goddammit! She wasn’t like Nika! Didn’t have skin thick enough to let people think what they would without caring!
She’d spent her whole life striving for perfection, for fuck’s sake!
God, what would her mom think of her now?
Banging her purse onto the console table, she snatched up the cordless phone to call Nika. Something she could have done from the car had she not left her stupid cell on her fucking desk!
“Gabriel!” she shrieked, slamming the phone down when she got Nika’s voice mail for the third time today. “This is all your fault!”
She stilled when her voice bounced off the walls. Okay. She took a breath and forced herself to get a grip. She was going batty. Yelling at no one. Blaming someone else for her own forgetfulness—or cowardice, depending on how you looked at it. With a low grunt that wasn’t very lady-like, and the only solution to her problems swirling through her mind, she stomped upstairs to change.
She had to quit her job.
Her pride screamed like it was being burned at the stake.
Too bad. There was no other alternative, she fumed as she tore the binding from her hair. After only one fucking day. Off came her jewelry. How embarrassing. She kicked off her shoes. But no way could she keep a position that people would think she’d screwed herself into.
She also couldn’t do her job well when constantly remembering how powerful her boss’s naked body had been as he’d positioned her on her hands and knees so he could fuck her into an addiction she didn’t want. She couldn’t succeed when her thoughts were filled with how her boss had felt inside her. What he’d looked like as he climaxed. The rough, possessive sounds he’d made…
Eva nearly shivered right off her feet.
She fell to the edge of her bed and stared at the sky-blue throw rug under her feet. How could she want all of that again after this? He’d lied to her. Turned her into this paranoid people-are-judging-me person that she hated. Yet…
She sighed, feeling defeated. Had Gabriel’s day been as difficult as hers? Had he been upset when she hadn’t come back from the restroom? Would he understand when she told him she was quitting? She bit her lip. She’d go in tomorrow morning. Get her phone and tell him she wasn’t going to work for him after all.
At least she’d be able to see him one last time.
As her nose burned and her chest began to ache, her gaze landed on the framed photo sitting on her dresser. It was of her and her mom.
Closing her eyes to the sight of it, not needing the reminder of the damage Gabriel could cause her, Eva clasped her hands in her lap and hung her head, fear of the unknown giving her a chill.
She didn’t want to give him up yet. It was so, so stupid. But she couldn’t deny it. He’d hurt her, embarrassed her…but she did not want to give him up yet.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she whispered just before the sound of shattering glass had her head whipping toward the door.
She jumped to her feet, her heart kicking into a rapid beat as she tiptoed from the room. Even as she tried to tell herself one of the neighborhood kids had probably thrown a rock or a baseball off target, fear crowded in and she instinctively crept along the wall. As she neared the end of the hallway, she made sure to block all thoughts of intimidating mafioso and undelivered messages. That would only make her—
A man with dark hair that was cut in a Mohawk was already halfway up the stairs.
Spinning around, intending to run to the bathroom because it was the only door with a lock on it, she didn’t get one stride in before the intruder threw himself up the remaining stairs and grabbed her ankle. The momentum sent her crashing hard to the floor, her cheek smacking painfully on the solid surface. She kicked wildly and her heel connected with what she was sure was his jaw, but the slim-fitting skirt of her dress didn’t allow for much movement and she was soon being yanked across the slippery hardwood.
“Settle the fuck down, kitty,” he gritted out. “You don’t wanna piss me off.”
Not knowing what else to do, but believing him, she stilled, and was shocked when he released his grip on her. Taking advantage, she crabwalked back to the wall to put some distance between them.
“Wh-what do you w-want?”
He rubbed at his jaw for a second, glaring at her with a terrifying look in his dark eyes. “Stay away from Gabriel.”
Cue record scratch.
She blinked in confusion.
Wait. What? Not “Where do you keep the cash and jewelry” or “Do you have any drugs in the house?” but “Stay away from Gabriel”?
“I d-don’t understand.”
“It’s not that hard. The boss wants you to stay away, you stay the fuck away. Gabe isn’t who you think he is.”
Gabe? The boss? “Gabriel is your boss?” she asked, feeling stupid because she didn’t get what was happening.
The man scoffed. “He fuckin’ wishes. This is the only warning you’re gonna get. Listen to it.” He raked down her body with a hungry look that made her shrink back, then he turned and headed down the stairs.
He opened the front door and glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t call the cops. They can’t help you.” Reaching into his pants pocket, he withdrew a surprisingly large wad of cash. Peeling off two bills, he dropped them to the floor. “For the window,” he muttered before he walked out.
As reaction set in and her teeth began to chatter, Eva pulled herself to her feet with the help of the stair railing and carefully moved down the steps on legs she couldn’t feel.
She had to shut the door. He’d left it open.
Then call the police.
No. He’d said not to.
But how would he know if she did? And what would he do…
Come back.
Okay. She’d call Caleb. He’d know what to do. Before she left New York, he’d added a contact in her phone. An ODMC member from the Seattle charter…
Fuck. She couldn’t call either of them because she didn’t have her phone and, of course, she hadn’t memorized the guy’s name or number any more than she had Caleb’s newest pre-paid.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and winced when glass shards bit into the soles of her bare feet as she slammed the door shut and locked it with barely working fingers. Anger sparked in her chest when she saw the alarm pad. It was smashed, damaged so badly it most definitely needed replacing.
Going to the phone, her hand hovered. Who could she call? Nika? She wasn’t answering. Gabriel? She’d been told to stay away. Why? What did that guy mean about Gabriel not being who she thought he was?
As her feet began to burn, the sting of the cuts belatedly registering, she lifted one foot to swipe away the glass, then did the same with the other, hissing when a jagged shard that was embedded in her heel cut into her palm. She swore like a sailor as she pulled it out to drop it on the floor, then screamed and swung around when a fist pounded on the door.
“Eva! Open up!”
Peace invaded her at the sound of that deep voice. Not giving a shit why, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and rushed to fling the door open. When she saw him, she gave up on the day and threw herself into the safety of Gabriel’s wa
iting arms.
† † †
The fear on Eva’s pale face, coupled with the smear of blood on her forehead, went through Gabriel like a bullet. With one quick scan, he took in the trashed alarm, broken window, glass littering the floor. His lip curled up in a feral snarl when he saw two crisp Benjamins among the mess.
“What the fuck happened,” he demanded as he scooped her up and moved into the house, closing the door behind them.
“A m-m-man b-broke in.”
She pressed her face into his neck, seeking solace as rage consumed him. Aimed at himself because he hadn’t been there to protect this woman who was his responsibility.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I got you,” he murmured into her hair. “Tell me he didn’t hurt you.”
When she shook her head, he closed his eyes in relief then just held her, running his hand up and down her back in soothing strokes, the pads of his fingers skipping through each ridge in her spine. Even though he loathed, fucking loathed, the tremors he could feel slowly fading from her body, truth was, he wanted to strangle her slender neck and comfort her at the same time for leaving the office without telling him.
After that fierce look she’d leveled at him before disappearing into the restroom, he’d waited only a few minutes before checking on her. When he found her missing, he and Quan had tracked her with the GPS they’d installed on her car before she’d arrived home from New York. Thank God he’d had the foresight to, again, invade her privacy with that little piece of technology.
“Where is the blood coming from?”
“I stepped on a piece of g-glass. Sorry. I…I’m kind of freaking out.”
“Don’t apologize,” he ordered as he saw blood dripping off the fingers of her left hand. He crunched over the debris and quickly moved down the hall.
After bashing the light switch on the kitchen wall, he brought her to the counter next to the sink. The sight of her bleeding was doing something to him. Something unexpected and more vicious than he could handle.
“Towels.”
She pointed to a drawer behind him and he pulled it open to snatch up some white terry cloth. After tearing one in half, he efficiently cleaned and wrapped her dripping palm. “Keep that elevated,” he ordered, reaching for her feet. He checked for shards and, finding none, cleaned and bandaged them as well.
Detesting the silence, he gritted his teeth and glanced up to see her staring at him. Unsurprisingly, she’d pulled herself together and now appeared calm yet wary. He brought his hand up to her reddened cheek and bit back a dirty curse when she winced and ducked away from his touch.
“I will kill whoever did this to you,” he vowed. “I will kill him with my bare hands. I promise you.”
The softening of her expression was interrupted by her gripping his forearm, her nails stinging as they dug in while she crowded into him. He understood her reaction had nothing to do with his pledge but was caused by the sound of the front door opening. He flicked the snap with the bottom of his shoe to free the pistol on his ankle.
“He’s back,” Eva whispered, just before Quan appeared in the kitchen doorway. Her pent-up sigh was followed by a quietly relieved, “Shiiit.”
Quan met Gabriel’s gaze and sadly shook his head, which meant Eva’s neighbor, Nick, was dead.
Fuck. Fuck! No matter how many times it happened, losing a man who worked for him, even though they knew the risks, was a blow Gabriel felt right to his soul. Nick had technically been hired and placed by Vasily, but Gabriel still felt responsible.
Quan focused on Eva. “Rude that you had a party and forgot to invite us.” His tone was easy, but Gabriel saw how his boy’s features harden as he took in Eva’s injuries. He handed over a small black bag that Gabriel opened to reveal basic medical supplies.
“Won’t happen again,” she said with the beginnings of a smile that failed to appear once she saw what was in the bag. She looked between it and her makeshift bandages then at Gabriel. “Huh. A doctor as well as a CEO. We’re just full of surprises, aren’t we.”
The bitchy display would have had him smiling had the circumstances been different. Shit scared and injured but rebounding already. He admired her more with every second that passed.
“I’m no doctor, sweetheart, but since I do know how to administer a painkiller, I’ll do that while you tell us what happened.”
“Stop calling me that. And I don’t need a painkiller.”
Rebounding spectacularly. “Not right now you don’t, but once the adrenaline leaves your system, you might.”
“Then I’ll take some Tylenol.”
Fine. “What happened, Eva?”
“How are you here right now, Gabriel?”
He eyed the stainless-steel refrigerator and wished he could give it a right hook. Man, she was her father’s daughter all right. “You left the office without a word. You were obviously upset, and I was concerned.” He dug her phone out of his pocket and placed it next to her leg. “You also left your phone on your desk.”
“Oh.”
He raised a brow. “What. Was my explanation too reasonable? Nothing to say?”
Her lips thinned, her sapphire gaze distractedly glancing off his mouth again. “I’ll think of something.”
“No doubt you will.”
Quan cleared his throat, and by the way Eva shot him a quick glance, she’d forgotten he was in the room.
“Thank you,” she muttered, touching her cell. “I could’ve used this earlier.”
“Welcome.” He looked at Quan. “Clean up the broken glass from the window and then go upstairs and pack her a bag.”
“What?” She straightened from the exhausted slump she’d been settling into. “Why do I need a bag packed?”
“I’m bringing you back to the hotel—”
“No, you’re not.”
“—until it’s safe for you to return home,” he finished as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll have someone come in and repair—”
“I can call someone myself.”
“—the door,” he ground out. “In the meantime, we’ll—”
“No, we won’t.”
If there was anything bound to set Gabriel off, it was being interrupted. He. Fucking. Hated. That.
Without another attempted word, and a glare that had Ms. Fucking Tarasov-to-the-Bone bravely tipping her chin up, he slammed the towel he held into the sink and stormed out before he gave in and demo’d her kitchen.
Ten minutes later, after having gone upstairs to pack two suitcases himself—punched a few pillows to the point of near death—Gabriel returned to the kitchen a little calmer and with a clear plan.
He’d decided the only thing to do was let Eva call Nika to see if her friend would put her up for the night. And pray the redhead said no for some reason. He didn’t care what the reason was at this point, he just wanted Eva to be stuck. For him to be her only option. He wanted her in the suite. With him. Where he could keep her safe.
But he wanted her to agree to come on her own. Yeah, he could force her, like he would have anyone else. But, for some reason, with her, the I-order-you-obey dynamic felt wrong. Disrespectful on a level it shouldn’t considering she was female.
Had to have something to do with her being Vasily’s daughter, he thought as he joined her where she sat across from Quan at the small dining room table. Her cell rested in her palm, and her dark head was bowed so that her silky hair hid her face.
“You can call Nika,” he said begrudgingly.
“I tried. She isn’t picking up.”
He barely refrained from fist pumping. “Try again,” he offered, feeling generous now.
“That’s okay,” she mumbled.
“It’s only past eight, do you think she’s out for the night?” Why was he pressing this? He was about to get what he wanted.
She shrugged but didn’t look at him. As she traced the outline of her cell, her finger had a barely perceptible tremble, but he saw it.
Yeah. He was about to get what
he wanted. But he was now realizing that what Eva wanted was more important.
She wanted her friend. She wanted the familiar. She was in a tough place, had shit coming at her from every angle, and her only option was a man she was angry with. A man who’d lied to her. A man who was still lying to her, by omission, only she didn’t know it yet.
Holy Christ.
He rubbed at the burn behind his sternum. Goddammit, why couldn’t he hand her care over to Alek and be done with it? Regardless what Vasily thought, Alek was more than capable of protecting his cousin, even in his current state.
He considered what that might look like.
And killed the idea in the next second. Hell, if Vasily called him right then and demanded he hand Eva off to one of the boys, no way would Gabriel comply. No fucking way. She’d made the mistake of giving herself to him last night. She’d gifted him with her innocence. Her trust—that he’d already damaged.
Unfortunately for her, and despite all the reasons he shouldn’t, that meant he was keeping her for as long as he could.
† † †
Eva looked away from the blaze of possession darkening Gabriel’s green eyes. She didn’t want him looking at her like that. As if she were his. She didn’t want to feel as if she were his.
Did she?
So fucking torn, she ran her finger over the screen on her phone, tempted to try Nika’s cell again. But she didn’t want to appear any kookier than she already did to Quan, who’d only minutes ago sat there quietly watching her frantically redial Nika’s number almost a dozen times. She’d quit when she’d heard Gabriel coming back from his time-out.
Why had he done that? Stormed out in the middle of their conversation. Because he’d been angry that she wasn’t following his orders?
Quan had neither confirmed nor denied her suspicion. Which, aside from his easy companionship, was something she liked about him. He hadn’t talked about Gabriel behind his back. Instead of gossiping, he’d simply helped her from the counter and over to the table, saying she might as well get comfortable.
Vengeance Unleashed (The Wanted Men Series Book 1) Page 14
