He saw Jake’s gaze stray to the corner, eyes narrowed. Locals knew enough not to screw up in Jake’s pub. Chris had seen him toss people out on their ass more than once. And God help the man who messed with his sister. Chris suspected Jake enjoyed a good fight as much as he did.
Maggie’s voice raised. Jake set the bottle on the counter. “Excuse me,” he said and strode out from behind the bar.
Chris spun on his chair to watch the show. Prepared to give backup if needed.
But, the events unfolding in front of him had him out of his seat and following Jake.
One of the bikers had pulled Maggie onto his lap and had his hand on her breast while the other cajoled him for more. The look of disgust on Maggie’s face sent a wave of anger through Chris.
Jake grabbed the one touching his sister by the throat and squeezed. Maggie scrambled off his lap, adjusting her shirt. Jake lifted the man to his feet by the neck.
“You dare fondle me sister?” Jake growled.
The other three stood, ready to help their friend, but Chris stepped in, throwing a right hook that put one down face-first into the table and an elbow to the other’s midsection that had him doubling over.
Adrenaline kicked through his system. Damn, he’d needed a fight tonight.
Chaos broke out after that. Chris lost sight of Jake as he traded punches with a man twice his bulk. They double-teamed him, slamming him against the wall, knocking a photo down. The glass shattered at their feet. Chris dodged a jab, but took a strike to the nose. Bone crunched, blood poured.
Chris grinned and charged, hitting the meaty bastard in the gut with his shoulder and driving him into the table. Which collapsed under the force of their weight.
Someone grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Chris turned, prepared to swing, but it was Jake who stood there, his eye already turning black.
“Help me throw these dobbers out.”
Chris grabbed two of them while Jake grappled the other two. They tossed them out the door on their asses and went back inside.
“Show’s over, folks,” Jake announced. “Next round is on me.”
Cheers erupted as the patrons went back to drinking and chatting.
“Thanks for the backup,” Jake said.
Chris grinned, swiping blood from his nose. So much for his buzz. Adrenaline had kicked it out of his system. He didn’t regret it. Fighting was a much better buzz. “Happy to help.”
They made their way to the bar. Maggie came around and pressed a wet towel to his nose. It wasn’t concern he saw in her flashing blue eyes, it was anger.
“I ought to wallop the both of ya,” she said, casting a glare at her brother. “If I needed yer help I would have hollered.”
Her spunk made him grin wider behind the white towel now turning red.
“Go put ice on that eye,” she ordered to her brother. Jake sent her a look and returned to his station behind the bar. He went to work as if nothing had happened.
“And you,” Maggie said, turning her ire on him. “You need to have that nose looked at. It’s broken and needs reset.”
Chris rearranged the towel. “So sweet of you to worry about me.”
Maggie’s eyes flashed. “I’m not worried about ya. You don’t need another bend in that crooked nose of yers.”
Chris laughed. God, it felt good to laugh. It had been awhile since anyone gave him reason to.
“Come home with me, Maggie,” he said. “Nurse me back to health.”
She smacked him on the arm and lifted her chin. “You couldna handle the likes of me. Now, off you go.”
Chris left the bar grinning, his early edginess gone. He got behind the wheel of his 1968 Charger, tossed the bloody towel in the passenger seat and turned the key. The powerful engine growled to life.
With Maggie’s words echoing through his head he gunned the motor and peeled out of the driveway.
Damn woman intrigued the hell out of him.
Jamshid, Azbakastan
“Mr. Miller.”
Kell shot to his feet and approached the receptionist desk. “Can I see her?”
“Yes, but only for a moment,” the nurse said. “Please don’t be alarmed when you see her. The restraints are for her own safety.”
Safety? Restraints? What was she talking about? “Why is she restrained?”
The nurse lowered her voice. “Well, she tried to commit suicide, sir. It’s standard hospital procedure.”
She couldn’t be serious? Shea had been covered in bruises and marks. They didn’t think she did that to herself? The marks on her wrists from the restraints should have told them as much.
“I need to speak to the doctor.”
The nurse nodded. “He will meet you in the room. 138. Just down the hall and to the right.”
He thanked her and followed her directions to Room 138. With a soft knock he entered the room. Shea lay in a narrow hospital bed, surrounded by machines and monitors. Her eyes were closed, her face pale beneath the bruises. Oxygen snaked out from beneath her nose to the wall. IV’s pumping fluids and blood into her body. She looked small and vulnerable lying there with restraints strapping both her arms at her sides. Her wrist had been bandaged halfway to her elbow.
Kell felt like someone had punched him in the gut seeing her like this. This was not a weak, powerless woman. She was strong, smart, tenacious. A force to be reckoned with. The woman lying in that bed was not the Shea he knew.
A nurse fiddled with her IV. A dark haired man in a white coat was making notes in a chart. He looked up when Kell walked in and held out a hand.
“Mr. Miller? I’m Doctor Haydarov. Can we speak outside for a moment?”
Kell followed the doctor into the hallway. Dr. Haydarov waited for the door to close before speaking.
“Your wife has suffered severe blood loss. We are giving her blood now, but the next few hours will be touch and go. She has not regained consciousness yet. A blessing in this case, I think. Her body will need time to heal.”
Wife echoed through his head. He knew hospital policy. If he hadn’t put her down as his spouse they never would have let him see her. Not without permission from Shea or family. She had no family, that he knew. And he was the closest thing she had to a friend right now.
“She’s restrained,” Kell said, hating that word.
The doctor nodded. “Yes. It’s our policy. But only until we’ve evaluated her and deemed her safe from self-harm.”
Self-harm. It was almost laughable. Shea would never hurt herself. She was too stubborn. Too driven to her work. But, for now, it would be safer for them to assume she’d done this to herself as to not raise any suspicions. The last thing they needed was an investigation. Until Kell knew what was going on he needed to keep Shea safe.
“When will she wake up?”
“We can’t be sure. We will continue to monitor her.”
“Can I sit with her?”
“Of course.”
Kell shook the doctor’s hand and walked back into the room. The nurse finished what she had been doing, sent him a sympathetic smile and quietly left the room.
Pulling a chair close to the bed, Kell sat down and put his hand over Shea’s where it extended on top of the scratchy blanket.
“You’re safe now,” he told her. “Whatever happened, you can count on me to be here to help sort it out.”
He meant it. Whatever Shea had gotten mixed up in, he would be there to help her straighten it out. Someone had left her to die and no way in hell would he let them get away with it.
Besides, he needed answers. And Shea was the only one who could give them to him.
9
Jamshid, Azbakastan
Her body felt disconnected from her mind. Shea tried to move her limbs, but they refused to cooperate. She drifted in and out, not really sure if she was awake or asleep. It felt odd. But, the pain had receded. Replaced by blessed numbness.
Was this what it felt like to die? Not exactly what she’d expect
ed. She didn’t know what she expected, really, but this dark haze she was in certainly wasn’t it. She didn’t know where she was. Still in that cold room, strapped to a metal table, her lifeblood draining out of her arm? It didn’t feel as cold here. Empty, yes, but not as chilly.
Something warm touched her hand. She looked down, but all she could see was blackness. It felt good. Safe. She latched on to that feeling, trying to follow it to the source.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
And in that darkness, somewhere far, far away, a voice. She strained to hear it, but it was too soft. Then it stopped and she wondered if she’d heard it at all.
Sadness filled her. She’d spent most of her life on her own, but now it felt cold. Where was the voice? She wanted it to come back to her. Lead her out of the darkness and into the light.
Please, please, come back.
Kell’s cell vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out. Quinn. He couldn’t keep ignoring his brother’s calls. They would send out a search party if he didn’t answer.
Swiping his thumb across the screen he put it to his ear. “Hey, brother.”
“Where the hell have you been?” Quinn growled.
Avoiding the question, Kell said, “I saw the news. The bastard is dead.”
“We did some damage control. Everyone is handling the news pretty well.”
Kell rubbed his jaw, feeling a couple days worth of stubble. “Mom?”
“She’s good. Made Sunday dinner.”
A good sign. Their mom cooked as a form of therapy. And she was one hell of a good cook. Sunday dinners had been tradition since they were children. She liked her family together so on those rare occasions they were all in country they spent the day at home, filling up on homemade comfort food and playing football.
A knife speared through his chest. Sunday football just wasn’t the same without Ryan. Made it bittersweet to say the least. And he knew his brothers felt the same way.
“So where are you?” Quinn asked again.
“Long story.”
“I have time.”
Kell leaned back in his chair, letting go of Shea’s hand. “I’m in Jamshid.”
“Azbakastan? What the hell?”
“Shea sent me an SOS. Well, her maid did. She’d been missing six days so the maid sent out pre-written texts as instructed.” He left out the third. The video. That was for his eyes only.
Sharply, “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have any answers yet and believe me, I have a lot of questions. Right now Shea is in a coma in the hospital. I’m here with her. Someone slit her wrist and left her to bleed to death.”
Quinn let out a low curse. “Can’t be a coincidence it happened the same day Diakameli was found dead.”
“My thoughts exactly. Until Shea wakes up I have no answers. I registered her under a false identity as my wife so I could have access to her medical records.”
“Good plan. Someone wants her dead. Watch your back. And call if you need backup. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean it. Don’t play the goddamn hero.”
“I said I got it, big brother. I’ll call if I need backup.” The Wolff brothers had a tendency to go lone wolf when they thought they needed to protect the family. It usually didn’t work out well.
“Watch your six, bro,” Quinn said and disconnected.
Kell slipped the phone back into his pocket and scrubbed a hand down his face. The couple hours sleep he’d had wasn’t enough. His eyes were gritty and dry, his eyelids heavy. He didn’t want to miss Shea waking up or anything happening while he slept so he rose from his chair and paced the room. What he wanted was a good workout and a long run to ease his anxieties.
Those weren’t an option either so he settled for pacing and putting this puzzle together. Of course, without Shea that would be nearly impossible.
Especially the part about the baby they lost.
Their baby.
He still couldn’t wrap his head around that. That weekend had been burned into his memory, spoiling him for other relationships. He’d had a couple one-night stands, but it ended there. Both women had been beautiful and good in bed, but Shea had tainted him. He just couldn’t enjoy sex with anyone else like he had with Shea. Despite the fact she’d ripped his heart out of his chest. Which made it even more infuriating. The woman had a hold on him he couldn’t shake.
He glimpsed at the bed where Shea lay among white sheets. They made her skin appear more pale. Stark. The dark circles under her eyes stood out like beacons. She was thin as a rail. Too thin. She’d always been slender, with a strong, lithe body, but now she looked gaunt. He didn’t like seeing her like this. She didn’t deserve what had been done to her. And he’d be damned if he let the bastards get away with it.
He returned to Shea’s bedside and sat down again. He twined her fingers through his, wishing she would squeeze them back. Show some sign she was here.
Nothing. Not even a tremor. So Kell did the only thing he knew how and started talking. Telling stories of his childhood and all the stupid things he and his brothers had done. They hadn’t had much time to talk last time they were together. He owed her this.
Cedar Falls, Michigan
Bailey Wolff put her pencil down on the slanted desk and watched it roll to the bottom and fall into the slot that held her other drawing pencils.
She put her chin in her hand and let out a sigh. She had lots of work to do, but her mind just wasn’t focused on work. It kept wandering to the news reports on every channel of the television. One more bad guy gone from the earth. Good riddance. Especially this one since he had tried to tear her family apart. They were still putting the pieces back together and trying to move on with life minus a brother, son and fiancé.
And soon, dad.
She still couldn’t process the fact Dani was pregnant and trying to beat a drug addiction. Bailey was going to be an aunt. Her parents were going to be grandparents. And Ryan wasn’t here to raise his child.
Pain spread through her chest at the thought. God, she missed her brother. They’d always been close being the two youngest siblings. He was the youngest brother and she was the baby of the family. Of all her brothers, Ryan was the only one who treated her without kid gloves. Well, not completely true. He still over-protected her like the others, he just spent more time listening to her than her other bull-headed brothers.
Even after the kidnapping.
Bailey ran a thumb over the scar on her neck. Barely there, but always in the back of her mind. Sometimes in her nightmares. Not as frequently as when she’d been a child, but still there.
She’d thought being kidnapped was the worst thing to happen to her. Losing a brother was much worse. It left a hole in her heart, an emptiness inside she couldn’t fill.
Didn’t help that her brothers put themselves in danger for a living and she could lose another one of them at any time. She respected what they did, was proud of them, but that didn’t make it any easier. She’d lost one brother she didn’t want to lose another.
Sunday dinner was already different without all of them home. And football just wasn’t the same. But, they were still a family and they would get through this.
Bailey pushed off her stool and wandered to the window of her office. Not that she could see anything outside. It was the middle of the night. In her mind she envisioned the lake, deep blue and tranquil. A place of solitude for the Wolff family.
A dip in the cool waters sounded good right now. Something to help her sleep. She’d tried to work, that didn’t happen. And she was still wide awake, too many thoughts running through her head to relax.
If she had a man she’d let him take her mind off her troubles. That wasn’t going to happen either. She didn’t have a man. Hadn’t even had sex in over a year. Between work and family she hadn’t had a minute to spare.
Oh, who was she kidding? She had to get out in order to meet someone. Bar hopping didn’t appeal t
o her in the very least. One-night stands weren’t her thing.
Bailey scowled at her reflection in the window. Her love life could be summed up in one word: nonexistent. And if her brothers had anything to say about it, it would stay that way. Bringing home a date in high school had been like walking the gauntlet. Poor guys. Every one of them turned tail and ran, not wanting to be on the wrong side of a Wolff brother. Totally sucked for her. Like having six watchdogs who snarled at anyone who gave her a second glance.
Ugh. Brothers. She thought they’d grow out of the overprotective crap, but, no. It only got worse. Especially now.
Annoyed and restless, she left her office, switching off the light on her way out. She went downstairs, her bare feet padding lightly on the pale, white oak flooring. She loved her urban-style house. It was elegant and functional, perfect for her. A little big with three upstairs bedrooms, but she liked the space. Maybe someday she would fill those rooms with kids.
Secretly, she’d always wanted to be a mom. Wanted what her parents have. True, everlasting love. Quinn and Nate had found it. Maybe, someday she would meet her Mr. Right.
As soon as she put herself out there, that is. Hard to find a soulmate when she never left Cedar Falls.
She flipped on the kitchen light and crossed to the teapot sitting on the stove. Some chamomile tea might do the trick to help her sleep. Dreaming about Mr. Right certainly didn’t help.
While the tea kettle heated, she sat at the island on one of the stools, a foot tucked under her, and scrolled through her emails on her phone. Mostly clients. And one from her best friend, Harper, time stamped a few minutes ago. Guess she wasn’t the only one not sleeping tonight.
Curious, she opened the email.
Hey, girl. Saw the news. Happy and sad. How are you doing? Listen up, I’m whisking you away to Hawaii for a girls week of fun, sun and hotties. Before you object, hear me out. I need a vacation and so do you. After my breakup with Todd I need a change of scene. And you work too hard so keep a lookout for travel itineraries coming in the near future. The trip is on me—no objections. I want to do this and you aren’t stopping me.
Worth the Risk (Book 3, Wolff Securities Series) Page 5
