by Laurie Roma
“P-paul.”
His grin widened as she stuttered out his name. The self-important bastard thought she was shaking in fear. She was no longer that scared, shy young woman she’d been when she knew him. He had no power over her anymore, and she could use that to her advantage. There was no way in hell she was going to let him hurt the people she loved…not this time.
Paul glanced over toward Fai and Jai Tao, bowing slightly in a mocking gesture as he held his gun out. “Mr. Tao, thank you for leading me straight to your daughter. She has been a little difficult to find these last few months. Naughty, naughty girl that she is. As soon as Fai told me you were heading here, I came down and brought a few friends with me.”
He let out a low chuckle as he swaggered forward a few steps. “Now, we could have done this little reunion in a more civilized fashion, but you had the cops waiting for us. That made me angry, Angelica. Very, very angry. So, this is what’s going to happen. You are going to come with me to collect your violin—”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Dante growled out. He took a step forward, but came to a halt when Paul shifted his gun and aimed it at him.
“Isn’t that sweet? She’s going to do what she’s told or I’m going to kill you and all of your friends. Sorry about your motorcycle, by the way,” he said with a grin. “What an interesting place you have here. The town itself has its appeal, I suppose. But this bar? Then again, I would have never thought to look in a place like this for you.” Furious eyes glared at Zoe. “I could have given you everything, and this is what you chose?”
“I didn’t love you,” Zoe said quietly.
“Love?” Paul scoffed. “What the hell does love have to do with anything? We could have been a power couple…traveled the world together. But you surprised me again. I never would have thought you would pick a man like him.” He glanced over at Dante again. “For trash he does seem…virile, and a little wild.”
The appreciative gleam in his eyes shocked Zoe. She’d always thought he was metrosexual, but his interest in Dante physique was appraising on a sexual level.
“Proletarian men and women do have their appeal, but not for the long term,” Paul said, confirming that he was attracted to both genders. “I’m sure he’s good in bed, but you were meant for more than working in some seedy bar in some nowhere town.”
Dante glared at Zoe’s father. “You picked this fuckhead in the pink shirt to marry Zoe? Seriously?”
“Obviously, it was a mistake,” Jin Tao said dryly.
“Yeah, a big one.”
Paul’s dark eyes glittered with anger. “Say what you want, but I still had her first.”
“And I’ll make you pay for that. That’s a promise,” Dante said, his voice low and deadly.
“I don’t think so. I’m the one with the gun in my hand. And once I have the violin, I’ll become a ghost. No one will find me.”
“You came for my violin?”
Paul rolled his eyes. “You really are stupid. Although you’ve made it impossible for me to continue business as usual, I’ll be taking your instrument with me when I leave. I do have a buyer interested in that particular item, but that isn’t the main factor. You were always my insurance, Angelica. I have fifty million dollars worth of diamonds hidden in the lining of your case. You protected that thing like a child. I knew you’d keep it safe for me until I needed it.”
That floored Zoe. It had never even occurred to her that Paul has stashed away anything in her violin case. “I don’t have it. It’s in a bank vault.”
Paul sighed. “That’s unfortunate, but I figured you might have put it there. Well, you’ll just have to go fetch it for me tomorrow when the bank opens. Until then, I’m be taking your father with me to ensure you bring it back.”
“Bomb disarmed,” Brix announced through the radio link. “Moving up to the hallway to get into position.”
Zoe wanted to take Paul’s attention away from Dante and give Brix a chance to move into the hallway without being noticed so she said, “Why would I bring you the violin? You’d just kill us after I do. Plus, what’s to stop you from activating the bomb as soon as we leave?”
Paul let out an evil laugh. “You’re right. There is no guarantee. However, I’m a wanted man now, and I don’t really want the death of all these people hanging over me. It would only make the cops search for me harder. And I have no reason to kill daddy dearest. I’ll be having him transfer some of his money over to one of my offshore accounts, but then I’ll let him go. Of course, with him, I don’t really need your violin or the diamonds, but I want what’s mine.”
Zoe noticed right away that he’d said nothing about letting her go, but that wasn’t important at this point. She knew—without a single doubt—that Dante would never let her leave with Paul. He’d kill Paul first, even if he had to do it with his bare hands. She was about to speak again when her father said one word that changed everything.
“No.”
Jin Tao might have messed up with his daughter, but he still loved her. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her, and he could sense that Paul Wei had no intention of letting her live. Jin felt a deep sense of regret that he’d lost so much time with his daughter. She was obviously well loved by the people around her, and—even though he wouldn’t have been the man Jin would have chosen for her—Dante seemed to love her deeply.
Loyalty came with a high price, and the lesson had been reinforced tonight by one of his own guards that had worked for him for years. Jin was a ruthless man when it came to business, and he’d do whatever it took to tip the scales in his favor. Observing the three men standing with Paul, Jin could tell that they were nothing but hired help. They’d probably been offered a fee for participating in this little venture with Paul, but Jin was about to change that.
Paul turned. “What did you say?”
“I said, no. I won’t be transferring any funds to you. What I will do is offer any of the men standing with you ten million dollars to shoot you in the head, though.”
Paul gaped at him, and the three men standing with him looked at one another in shock and excitement at the offer. Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “If anything happens to me, I can blow this damn place up and take everyone with me.”
“In position,” Brix said over the radio. “I have a bead on the asshole with the spiky hair.”
“Glasses,” Hammer said softly, claiming the man wearing wire-rimmed glasses.
“I’ve got the fucker holding Zoe’s dad, but he’s got his finger on the trigger. I need a distraction in play for him to move that gun away from Jin Tao’s head, then I’ll take the guard out,” Hunter said as he stared down through the broken skylight from his position on the roof.
“Try to leave them alive,” Storm growled through the radio. “Wei brought ten men with him. Three are dead and the others are in custody, but we want Wei still breathing.”
“Got it. Get ready,” GT whispered. She picked up her gun, moving carefully. From where she stood she’d didn’t have a shot, but she didn’t need it. Pointing her gun at a bottle, she fired. Everyone in the room turned toward the sound, and Fai moved just enough to give Hunter the room he needed.
One shot, one kill.
Fai went down, almost pulling Jai Tao with him. At the same time, Brix fired at his man, dropping him instantly. Hammer grabbed the guy in the glasses, and in seconds had him disarmed and on the ground, unconscious. Dante was going to shoot Paul, but the last man with him raised his gun, aiming for Hammer. Dante took him down before the other man could shoot.
Zoe knew that Sheriff Wyatt wanted Paul Wei taken alive, but she just couldn’t do it. She knew what Paul was capable of, and with his connections, she didn’t trust that the law would keep him in jail.
As Paul took the opening and aimed at Dante, she lifted her own gun. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger. She saw Paul’s eyes widen in shock as the bullet slammed into him. His body jerked, but he didn’t go
down. Staggering, he tried to turn his gun toward her, but Zoe was quicker. She pulled the trigger over and over again, emptying the clip into him.
Unable to move, she watched with horrified fascination as he fell to the floor. It was as if she were some other person, completely detached from her own actions. Logically, Zoe knew she was in shock, but she felt no guilt at killing the monster that had stolen so much from her.
And she’d do anything to protect Dante.
Zoe’s hands were shaking as she set the gun down on the bar top. As she heard the men call out the all clear to the people outside, she took a few deep breaths to try and stop from heaving up her dinner. Then he was there. Dante jumped up and slid over the bar. He jerked her to him, holding her so tight she could barely breathe.
“I had to. I had to do it.”
“I know, baby. I could have lost you. I could have fucking lost you,” he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.
The doors to the bar slammed open, and keeping her head on Dante’s shoulder, Zoe turned to see dozens of people rushing into the room. She had expected to see Sheriff Wyatt and Malcolm, but she’d never expected all of the other people who had come to their aid. There was a group of former military men who volunteered at the rescue center and several others that lived in town. A few of Malcolm Fox’s friends hurried in from the side hallway, and Zoe nearly fell over when she saw Evie, Sam and Francesca with them.
Dare passed the injured bodyguard over to the paramedics, then looked over and saw Evie standing there with a gun strapped to her hip. For a second he just stared at her, so mad he looked like he was about to explode. He stomped over, his gray eyes glittering dangerously. “What the fuck are you doing here, Eve?”
“Don’t you even start with me.” She poked a finger into his broad chest. “You should have been the one to tell me Zoe was in trouble. I shouldn’t have had to find out from them!”
Dare shot a murderous glare at the other women, but they’d already blended into the crowd to escape his wrath. “You shouldn’t be here. And what the holy hell are you doing with a gun?”
Evie grinned. “Honey, I was born and raised in Texas. Of course I have a gun.”
Zoe’s attention turned from the fighting couple as her father walked over to stand in front of her and Dante. She still couldn’t breathe from the hold Dante had on her, but she wasn’t about to complain. She held onto him like a lifeline, afraid that if she let go she would fall to pieces.
“Are you alright, Angeli—Zoe?” her father asked.
“F-fine,” she stammered out.
“You are not fine,” Dante growled. “Damn it, I could have lost you.”
“I’m sorry I led him here. It was never my intention to put you in any danger.”
“I know, Dad,” Zoe said with a sigh. “Despite everything, I’m glad you came. I need to…I can’t talk about this right now. Can you stay for awhile so we can talk later?”
“I’ll stay as long as you’d like,” her father said softly. His gaze shifted from her to the man that held her. “We have much to discuss.”
Sheriff Wyatt stomped over, glaring at them. “Damn it, did you have to kill all of them?”
“I think the guy Hammer took down is still alive. Maybe.”
At Dante’s flippant reply, the sheriff’s expression darkened. “You’re damn lucky I deputized all of you before this shit show started. But I wanted Paul Wei taken alive. Who killed him?”
“I did.” To Zoe’s surprise, her father picked up the gun she had set on the bar top as he casually took the blame for the man she’d just killed. He made sure to grip the handle, then turned the gun in his hand to offer it safely to the sheriff. “Paul Wei deserved to die for what he did to my daughter.”
Storm Wyatt studied the three of them for a moment, then he sighed. “Hell.”
“Quit bitching,” Dante growled. “Oh, and go get that bomb out of our bar.”
“Now, that’s something I never thought I’d hear you say,” Zoe said as Storm stomped away.
Dante laughed, and Jin Tao gave them a slight bow. “I am going to go to the hospital to check on Ru. I will contact you later.”
“Maybe your dad isn’t such an asshole after all,” Dante said after her father had left. When Zoe’s laugh turned into a sob, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, needing to assure himself that she was really alive and well. “I love you, angel. I’m sorry that you had to go through this, but—”
“I’m not. All of this…it brought me to you. I might have some nightmares about this, but I know you’ll be here to help me through them.”
“Always. So, now that you’re safe, are you still going to marry me?”
“You bet your ass I am.”
“Good. You aren’t going to make me wait months, are you?”
She looked up at him. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “Angel, I like the way you think.”
Epilogue
Three days after the shootout, Dante and Zoe officially began their future together.
During those days in between, they’d been so busy they’d barely had time to breathe. Both he and Zoe had been questioned by the cops, the FBI, the US Marshals and even someone from Interpol. The interview with the police had been easy, since Sheriff Storm Wyatt’s main concern was that they were okay and Zoe was safe, but dealing with the agents was a little more difficult.
The Marshals were pissed that Zoe had evaded them for so long, and the FBI and Interpol were determined to use her to take down the rest of the Wei family. Zoe had told them what she could, but they hadn’t been satisfied with her answers. When they pushed—saying they could charge her for using a false identity and a variety of other offenses—her father had surprised them all by sending in an army of high-priced attorneys, gaining her immediate release.
Zoe had slightly appeased the agents when she handed over the fifty million dollars in diamonds she brought into the office in her violin case. They were even more pleased when she turned down the reward for the missing diamonds. The FBI had traced the jewels back to an unsolved case of theirs, and they had been happy to recover them.
Dante had grumbled a bit about her turning down the reward, but he quickly got over it when she agreed to go straight to the courthouse with him to apply for a marriage license. Zoe hadn’t been kidding when she’d said she wanted to marry him as soon as possible. They had to wait a few days, but the plan was put into motion, pleasing them both.
Their friends had come through again while he and Zoe been taken in for questioning. Renovations at the bar had begun, and the windows had been replaced by the time they’d showed up that night. The staff had also been busy inside the bar, cleaning out the debris. Dante had wanted to keep the bullet-riddled walls, saying it gave the place character, but Zoe had quickly nixed the idea.
Since the patio was pretty much destroyed and a lot of the inside had to be repaired, Zoe, Dante and Malcolm discussed doing some big renovations on the bar while it was already closed. The chefs had all but smothered Zoe with gratitude when she suggested making the kitchen area larger. Malcolm wanted a bigger patio area for outdoor seating, and he’d also suggested a private room for parties. The only change Dante had demanded was a stage area for live music. He wanted to hear Zoe play for him. Whether it was after the bar closed or during business hours, he wanted to see her on that stage.
It was going to take a nice chunk of cash to make all the changes they wanted, but it would be worth it in the end. Because of the new additions, Dante thought he’d put off getting a new motorcycle. He wasn’t sure his insurance would cover an asshole blowing it up, but there was no need for him to worry. Zoe had surprised him with a brand new bike, calling it her wedding gift. He’d been shocked by the extravagant gift, and he was touched when he saw she’d gotten Hunter to paint it just like his old one.
Maybe it was a guy thing, but he’d been a little troubled by her spending so much money on him. Wh
en he’d mentioned it to Zoe, she’d just laughed. Then she’d showed him what was currently in her bank account, saying it was just a fraction of what was still in the trust. Dante had never been so shocked in his life. He knew her father was rich, but Dante had never really thought about Zoe having money like that, too.
Just thinking about it made him a little queasy.
When she offered to use her money for the renovations, both Dante and Malcolm had flat out refused. In reprisal, when Dante demanded they sign a prenup before they got married to protect her assets, Zoe refused right back. What she had in the account Ashley set up for her would belong to both of them. She was adamant about that. When he balked, she explained that the way the trust was set up, only their children would have access to the bulk of it after her. That helped settle him a bit, but he was still uneasy about the whole thing.
The next night, they finally got a chance to sit down with Jin Tao. Despite his anger toward her father, Dante made an effort to give the man a chance. It was a strained meeting at first, but Malcolm had showed up with dinner, and his friendly manner had helped put everyone at ease. It was interesting to see the two fathers together. They couldn’t have been more different, but as the night wore on, everyone relaxed a bit. He’d never met a more reserved, tight-assed man before, but Dante could see that Jin Tao did care for Zoe, in his own way.
Jin Tao informed them that he’d rented a house in town. He wanted to stay in the area for a little while in order to mend things between him and Zoe. There wouldn’t be a quick fix for what had been damaged between them, but the gesture pleased Zoe enough to have Dante biting his tongue when what he’d really wanted to do was beat the shit out of the man for all the pain he’d caused her in the past.
