by Barb Han
First things first, he needed to get them to the tree trunks.
They moved achingly slow, but patience won battles and Gabriel had that in spades. He wasn’t a hotheaded kid who ran off before he understood the situation clearly. He’d wasted a lot of time being angry and licking wounds in his youth that, based on what Kinsley had said, never needed to be there in the first place.
If only he could go back.
A noise to his left had him freezing in his tracks. He waited, perfectly still, barely breathing, listening.
After several seconds he determined the sound came from an animal. He pressed on. Fatigue was weighing his limbs.
The tree trunk intersection was just off the path he’d set. He hollowed out a spot and pulled a cloth from his rucksack to cover the area. The cloth had been treated with a special bug repellent that would keep away most insects. It should get them through the night without getting eaten by too many critters if they needed to be there that long.
Whoever was in the woods was near them now should move on within the next half hour to hour. That would be the best time for him and Kinsley to make their move considering his condition and the fact she had no experience.
It only took a few minutes to finish the set up. Kinsley curled inside first and he joined her. He put the Sig in her hand, so she’d be ready, and he kept his Glock in his. And then he closed his eyes and listened. He’d always found it strange how closing off one sense, like closing his eyes or covering his ears, made the others so much stronger.
There wasn’t much going on except for the sounds of insects and that was reassuring.
Gabriel woke with a start. He didn’t dare check his phone or move. He barely gave himself permission to breathe. He’d fallen asleep. He had no idea how long he’d been out. Based on the steady rhythm of Kinsley’s breathing she was out cold. He’d tucked her behind him so he could be first to move if someone got the drop on them.
And someone had done just that.
He silently cursed himself for needing rest. His weakness might just get the one woman he loved killed. Loved? There was no point denying what the heart already knew. Gabriel loved Kinsley with all his heart and he’d tell her the minute he got them out of this mess and put a certain Russian behind bars or in the ground.
Gabriel listened for the sounds of footsteps, anything. Based on the location of the moon the sun would be up soon. Twenty minutes? Thirty?
He prayed Kinsley would stay asleep.
Because he heard a noise and realized it had woken him up moments ago. He’d been half-asleep/half-listening before.
He put his ear to the ground and listened. The earth would tell him everything he needed to know.
Whatever made the noise was coming his way. In fact, unless it turned it would walk straight over him and Kinsley.
Gabriel assessed that there was only one person in the area, which didn’t mean there weren’t others. It just meant they weren’t within grasp. A shout for help could bring any number of helpers. But Gabriel would deal with Walkman first. There was a chance that this guy had gotten away from the group or that he could just be a solitary entity. Not a likely scenario but he could hope.
Walkman wasn’t far away. It was still dark enough for him to have difficulty seeing much in front of his face. Gabriel eased toward the tree trunk, using it to shield them from view. Kinsley was still asleep and if she woke at the wrong moment it could be game over.
Gabriel aimed his Glock in the direction of the footsteps. He kept it hidden underneath a piece of cloth. A glint of metal at the wrong time and he’d be toast. A thought struck that Walkman could be there to help find Gabriel and Kinsley.
Jaden or Daniel would’ve used the code by now. They could’ve sent someone else to help. If Gabriel could check his phone, he could be certain. There’d been no activity and he’d turned it on Mute at the onset of the walk.
The best bet would be to tackle Walkman and then Gabriel would have a few seconds to decide if he needed to pull the trigger or not.
Walkman’s footsteps came closer. Thud. Thud. Thud.
In one motion, Gabriel jumped to his feet and then dove at Walkman from behind. The guy’s knees buckled. Gabriel, still weak, used his adrenaline spike to dive on top of Walkman. Gabriel recognized the man who was called by the name, The Russian.
At five-feet-eleven inches he was several inches shorter than Gabriel but the man was deadly. The Russian had come to personally collect Gabriel’s head in return for Gabriel having killed his brother, Boris Petrov. Vlad Petrov had come to collect his revenge.
The Petrov brothers had maintained control over one of the largest money laundering and gunman-for-hire operations in the world. Boris had gotten himself involved in a side business with a South American cartel, which was the reason he’d crossed Gabriel’s path.
Landing on top of Vlad didn’t mean Gabriel stayed on top long. Vlad must’ve smelled blood on Gabriel because he gouged his fingers into Gabriel’s wound.
Gabriel grunted out a string of swear words.
“What do I do?” Kinsley’s voice came from too close.
“Get away.” A man like Vlad would have no problem using her against Gabriel. He could pretend that he didn’t care about her but Vlad’s chortle said the man picked up on Gabriel’s emotion.
Damn.
Gabriel’s right arm came down instinctively to protect his injury, a little too late. With one arm to use to fight he was at a severe disadvantage. So, he shoved the toe of his boot into Vlad’s ribs. Vlad grunted in pain before landing a fist on Gabriel’s jaw.
Vlad pummeled Gabriel with right hook after left jab until Gabriel’s head felt like it might explode. In pain, Gabriel slumped over onto his side in order to catch his breath. Kinsley appeared with a rock and slammed it against the back of Vlad’s skull.
The Russian spun around in a fury. Before his brain could fully realize what had just happened, he grabbed Kinsley by the ankles. She gasped and tried to shake her leg free from his grip.
Gabriel dug deep in order to move. Kinsley grabbed onto a tree trunk to keep from being pulled down.
With a primal grunt Gabriel forced movement. He grabbed the rock that Kinsley had used in his knuckle and punched Vlad in the temple. Gabriel hadn’t used enough force to kill the man but it was enough to knock him over, unconscious.
Kinsley jerked her leg free from The Russian.
“What can I do?” Kinsley ran to Gabriel’s side and dropped to her knees. It was a bad sign that he couldn’t get up or move. He stayed on his back and his breathing seemed shallow. Her heart squeezed as she got a good look at his face. No. Gabriel. Don’t do this.
“I can’t lose you again, Gabriel.” Tears welled in her eyes. The last time she’d really cried had been her parents’ funeral. The finality of it had struck her. There would be no more time to repair their relationship. There’d be no time to fix what had always been wrong between them. And there’d be no time to find a way to relate to each other.
“My cell. In my pocket. We need to signal. For a pickup.” Gabriel’s eyes fluttered.
“Stay with me, Gabriel.” He was so pale.
Hot tears streaked her cheeks as she fished his cell out of his front pocket.
She pressed his thumb to the phone. He was breathing but his eyes were closed.
“Gabriel.” She searched his contacts and stopped on Jaden’s name.
He picked up on the first ring.
“Help him,” she said through bursts of air. “Please. He’s losing a lot of blood. We have The Russian.”
“Tell me in general where you are,” Jaden said, and his calm voice was a beacon.
She relayed the information best she could.
“There’s an emergency flare in Jaden’s rucksack.” Jaden gave her instructions on where to find it and how to use it.
Kinsley located the flare, cracked it open and tossed it in the air. “Okay.”
“Tell me when you hear the chopper,” Jaden s
aid.
Kinsley listened. There was nothing. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart.
Minutes passed. She checked Gabriel.
And then, blissfully, thankfully, the whop-whop-whop finally came.
“I hear it,” she said.
“The pilot says that he sees the light. He’s sending a man down,” Jaden said.
Those words would normally be music to her ears and they were in part. But seeing Gabriel lie there, motionless, she couldn’t allow herself to feel relief.
“I see someone,” she said to Jaden.
“Stay with him. He needs you the most right now,” Jaden said to her. Those words provided a small measure of comfort. “It’s going to be all right.”
Chapter 14
Gabriel and Jaden sat side by side at the small conference table at Orchard Agency. A few days had passed, and his injuries were healing nicely. The Russian had been turned over to one of those alphabet agencies that Jaden and Gabriel refused to work for again. They would always fight on the side of justice.
Daniel was due to return from his honeymoon today.
“I must’ve had a dozen people reach out to me once they found out what was going on with you,” Jaden said. “I realize this job we’ve done makes us think we can handle anything on our own, and I’m not saying we can’t, I’m just saying that we don’t have to.”
“I’m trying to get better about that.” Gabriel appreciated each and every person who’d come forward to claim responsibility for killing Boris. It sent a strong message to anyone who tried to retaliate on behalf of the brothers and especially the person who would rise from the ranks to take over the business once the dust settled. Someone would. Someone always did. Vlad and Boris had built a profitable business. Someone would claim it.
“Justified has taken a blow. Vlad was in the process of tying together a couple of terror cells to create a bigger organization,” Jaden informed.
“It’s good that we stopped that growth.” They both knew full well it wouldn’t last forever.
“Sounds like a problem for the U.S. government to me.” Jaden quirked a smile and shrugged.
“They have the information. It’s up to them to stay on top of it,” Gabriel admitted.
A knock at the door sounded.
“Come in,” Jaden said without looking up.
Gabriel broke into a wide smile, ready for the teasing that would come when Daniel realized he had a new co-worker.
Kinsley walked into the room instead. And damned if she didn’t look good.
Jaden’s gaze bounced from her to Gabriel. Jaden stood.
He introduced himself to Kinsley and offered her a seat.
“We spoke over the phone. I’m Jaden Orchard and I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for what you did for my friend here.” Jaden stuck out his hand and Kinsley shook it.
Gabriel’s heart pounded his chest like he was still that teenager and seeing her walking into math class for the first time.
“He saved my life. I’m pretty sure I owe that to him,” she said, and her voice was quiet.
Gabriel couldn’t get a good read on her. Rather than let his imagination run wild, he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s good to see you, Kinsley.”
“Please, take a seat,” Jaden said.
“Thank you. But what I have to say can be said standing up.” She leaned her slender hip against the conference table next to Gabriel.
“I’ll leave the two of you alone to talk,” Jaden said before walking out the door and closing it behind him.
Kinsley looked at Gabriel with apprehension in her eyes.
“How’s your friend?” Gabriel asked.
“Do you really think I’d believe that you haven’t already checked on him?” Her incredulous tone caused him to smirk.
“Guess not,” he said.
“Blake’s going to be fine. He wanted me to thank you personally.” She didn’t look Gabriel in the eyes and that made his heart race. The irony that he didn’t get this nervous when faced with a life-threatening situation wasn’t lost on him. Love fell into a whole different set of rules. He loved her. He still did.
“I thought you needed a couple of days to rest and figure out your next move,” Gabriel didn’t want to admit how much those words had been knife wounds when she’d said them to him at the hospital. And right now, he didn’t want to talk about Blake. Not while his heart pounded against his ribs like a nervous teenager.
“Yeah, about that…”
She walked over to where he was sitting behind his desk, pushed his chair back and sat on his lap.
Gabriel looped his arms around her. “I made a mistake once not talking to you. And I lost you because of it. Tell me what’s on your mind, Kinsley. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“I thought I needed time because I’m not one hundred percent comfortable with your job, with your line of work. But I love you, Gabriel. I physically ache when I’m not with you. So, I’ll figure out a way to make peace with what you do for a living. Because that’s what love does. It faces its fears so it can hold onto the only person it could ever love.”
Those were the only words he needed to hear.
“I love you, Kinsley. I can’t see myself ever loving anyone in the same way I love you. I can work with Jaden on my assignments—”
“Thank you for offering, Gabriel. But I love all of you. Everything that you are and, hey, one you’re one bad-ass man whose damn good at his job. I think it’s sexy and I don’t want to change you. I want you to be happy.”
“And what about your line of work? Are you really content to sit lock yourself in an office most of the day leaving only to teach?” he asked but his heart was already ready to burst.
“When you’re ready, I’d like to start a family,” she said honestly.
“Well there’s an important question I need to ask you first.” Gabriel kissed her before looking deep into her eyes. “Kinsley, I don’t deserve you. But if you give me a chance, I promise to always put your first. I promise to keep the lines of communication open. And I promise to love you for the rest of my life. Will you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?”
She looked at him with those cobalt eyes that he loved so much.
“Yes, Gabriel. I’ll be your wife.”
He brought his hands up to cup her face to position her mouth for better access. And then he kissed her.
And for the first time in his life Gabriel knew where he fit. With Kinsley, he was home.
Also by Barb Han
GUARDING LAUREN—TEXAS GUARDIANS (Brotherhood Protectors)
Ex-Special Forces sniper turned Blackwater Agency Operative Jaden Dean takes what should be a glorified babysitting mission while nursing a bullet wound. He quickly realizes that things aren’t always as they seem when his assignment, Lauren James, cleans out her bank account and heads to a known drop spot in the Caribbean. Is she in deep with the criminal brother she supposedly barely knows?
GUARDING CLARA—TEXAS GUARDIANS (Brotherhood Protectors)
Daniel Damon just might be the last hope for Clara Robins. Her niece has gone missing while out of the country on vacation and the government is doing almost nothing to help find the missing teen. The resort is calling Ashlyn a runaway, but Clara knows better. Family is complicated and time is running out. Convincing the ex-Special Operations soldier to take the job is her first challenge. Keeping emotions in check when their chemistry sizzles might just undo them both.
RESCUING EMERY (Brotherhood Protectors)
In Hero’s Junction, Colorado, Ash Cage tries to put the military, his home state of Texas and the past behind him working as a handyman despite nerve damage to his right hand. His plate is full since taking on retired military dog “Seven” who would’ve had a much worse fate if left to the military. Even so, Ash is starting to get his bearings in the civilian world. Until his life is turned upside-down once again when he comes to the aid of a beautiful car crash victim on the run from a killer.
About Barb Han
Barb Han is a USA TODAY, Publisher's Weekly, and Amazon Bestselling Author. Reviewers have called her books "heartfelt" and "exciting."
She lives in Texas—her true north—with her adventurous family, a poodle mix and a spunky rescue who is often referred to as a hot mess. She is the proud owner of too many books (if there is such a thing). When not writing, she can be found exploring Manhattan, on a mountain either hiking or skiing depending on the season, or swimming in her own backyard.
Sign up for Barb's newsletter at www.BarbHan.com.
Brotherhood Protectors
Original Series by Elle James
Brotherhood Protectors Series
Montana SEAL (#1)
Bride Protector SEAL (#2)
Montana D-Force (#3)
Cowboy D-Force (#4)
Montana Ranger (#5)
Montana Dog Soldier (#6)
Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)
Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)
Cape Cod SEAL Rescue (#10)
Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#11)
Montana SEAL’s Mail-Order Bride (#12)
SEAL Justice (#13)
Ranger Creed (#14)
Delta Force Rescue (#15)
Montana Rescue (Sleeper SEAL)
Hot SEAL Salty Dog (SEALs in Paradise)
Hot SEAL Hawaiian Nights (SEALs in Paradise)
About Elle James
ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of books including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. With over eighty works in a variety of sub-genres and lengths she has published with Harlequin, Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, Kensington, Cleis Press, and Avon. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, snow skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at www.ellejames.com
