Madness (Revenge Series Book 3) (5 page)

Our steps are slow as we move to the beat of the music. My eyes are closed, and I am completely absorbed in this stranger’s heat and the sexy lyrics of the song. This is exactly what I was looking for when I came here—complete and total oblivion.

The song hasn’t even played thirty seconds before my peace is interrupted. I sense his presence before I see him. I feel a frigid stare on me, and there is a distinct aroma surrounding me, one mixed with a familiar spicy cologne and natural, intoxicating scent that can only belong to one person. I don’t need to open my eyes to know who is standing near me, watching me.

I pretend to ignore him, hoping he will just go away. I know it’s a long shot, but a girl can hope, can’t she?

“You’ve made your point. Let’s go.” Nikolai’s voice is quiet and lethal.

The man I’m dancing with turns to the side, getting a look at who is behind him as I open my eyes.

Nikolai doesn’t acknowledge him, only keeps his glare on me.

“I’m not ready to leave,” I snap back, trying to turn my back on him.

“You know this guy?” the confused stranger asks through clenched teeth as we keep dancing slowly in a circle. His fists are balled up on my hips.

“Unfortunately,” I huff out.

Nikolai steps to the side and pulls me back. With one deft movement, he has spun me around and detached me from the guy.

My arm throbs where his grasp digs into my upper arm. I try jerking my elbow back, but Nikolai’s grip is too tight.

I look over at him and shiver. Just like the night we had sex, he looks exasperated, and I sense he’s going to do something rash. I highly doubt it will end in the same result as it did then.

“Hey!” the stranger shouts then grabs ahold of Nikolai’s arm. “She’s with me. Get the fuck out of here.”

My buzz disintegrates instantly as the tension sends rockets between the three of us. I can feel the pressure in Nikolai’s grip tighten. I’m familiar with the look in his eye. It’s the same look he gave Gary before he snapped his neck and when we first met: cold, evil, and without caution.

The song is still playing through the speakers when I place myself between the two men. Nikolai lets go of my arm, and I keep my back pressed into his chest. It feels like it’s resting against a stone wall. I don’t move. I keep my feet planted and brace myself to play defense if needed.

“Look,” I say. I hold my hand, alerting the stranger to stop. “This is not a man you want to provoke.”

The stranger connects his gaze with Nikolai’s then back with mine. I can see the flash of alarm on his face as he takes a step back.

“You can have her, bro. The bitch isn’t worth it.”

Nikolai’s frame slightly leans forward, and I press back, telling him with my body that it’s not worth it and to back down.

“Apologize to the lady,” Nikolai seethes.

“
Excuse me
?” The man slowly turns back around, affixing his lethal glare on Nikolai.

My heart starts thudding rapidly in my chest. I know how this is going to end, and it’s not in this asshole’s favor.

“I said …
apologize
to the lady,” Nikolai commands without a change in his expression.

The music is loud enough that only the three of us can hear, but if anyone is watching, it will be clear something violent is about to go down.

“That bitch”—the stranger points to me—“doesn’t deserve it. As for you, you can go to hell.”

Before Nikolai has a second to think, I act.

Spinning on my heels, I latch my arms around his neck and pull him into me. My hips start to sway to the sultry sounds of D’Angelo still playing over the sound system. Nikolai’s jaw is locked in a vise-like grip as he keeps his eyes solely on the tool behind me. I try moving a little more aggressively, yet seductively against him, but he’s frozen to the floor like a beautifully dangerous statue in the middle of a sea of limber, sweaty bodies.

“Look at me,” I whisper, hoping he will hear.

He remains lethal looking, locked in a tight, unmovable position.

I unhook my arms from around his neck and put my hands on his cheeks, directing his face down to mine. “Look at me,” I demand again, more loudly this time.

The seconds pass at a listless pace before Nikolai breaks his glare from the man and looks down at me. I smile, knowing I have won a major battle, and nod my head in acceptance.

I slowly start to move my feet to the rhythm of the music, getting him to at least relax somewhat before we leave. I lower my hands and rest them on his taut shoulders. His muscles are rigid under my palms, but they have loosened faintly since the other guy left.

Nikolai begins to inch his hands up my sides. One possessively snakes around my waist, pressing me closer to him, and the other captures my right palm. He pulls our tangled hands down to his chest, tucking them between our bodies. We sway, our hips in synch, our feet slowly shuffling to the beat of the song.

“No one has ever done that before,” Nikolai whispers in his baritone voice.

I raise my head to look at the uncertainty masked across his face. “Done what?”

“Stopped me.”

I acknowledge his response with a nod. I have questions, several of them, but now is not the time. We have tomorrow to dwell on the aftermath of what just happened. Right now, we simply need to be another couple in the crowd.

Our eyes remain connected. I’m afraid to blink, afraid to watch this peaceful moment between us vanish. I’m comfortable here, protected in his arms, knowing time is not a luxury we have. It only makes me want to hold more tightly to the little time we do have.

The world around us becomes obscured as I envision only us on this dance floor, no longer caring about our treacherous past or nameless futures or the pain we have yet to endure. I am only living in this moment. There’s no time counting down between us. It is intimate, soul-exposing, and raw. Words don’t need to be shared. It’s him and me alone in this world out to get us. For these last precious seconds, we live only here. Together.

C
HAPTER
S
IX

Nikolai

August 15, 2015 3:47 a.m.

T
he internal alarm set in the pit of my stomach jerks me awake. My instincts are what have kept me alive in the direst circumstances, and I feel them wrenching my insides in a major fucking warning.

I roll to my side and feel Josslyn lying beside me. Her hair is splayed across the pillow like a golden fan, her face at peace.

I wanted nothing more than to ravage her after we left the club, but it was a mistake before, and it will be again. I can’t allow myself to act on my desire for her, or anyone for that matter. I need to keep my mind and focus on finding and destroying Stravinsky. It’s been my code for as long as I can remember to never let a woman come between me and my work. Sex fucks everything up, and a woman’s natural instinct to become emotionally attached to her mate, will only deter me from reaching my goals.

Josslyn, although she presumes she is hard as stone on the inside, can’t fight against what nature has in store for her. She is attracted to me, and in the end, that attraction will win. If I allow it. We don’t even know what we will find at the end of the fucked-up rainbow. And if we manage to survive, I will disappear.

I wasn’t myself last night when Josslyn and I went out. I succumbed to her pleading eyes and swaying body. I wanted to forget the plan and just run away with her. For the three minutes I indulged in the dream of being a normal person, it was bliss. Then, when the lights brightened and the music changed, I knew it was time to forget the fantasy I have never wanted until she infected me with it. Josslyn and I will never be a pair.

The alarm thuds inside my gut again, and I know I cannot ignore it. Instinct is telling me we need to get the fuck out of here. I know it’s truly improbable, but someone may have spotted me  in the
thieves
’ den last night. God knows I was distracted.

I pop out of bed and yank on my clothes. As always, my possessions are ready to go in a moment of urgency. Last night before I crashed, I went down to the valet booth to retrieve my keys and put my garment bag and money-filled suitcase in the trunk of the car, but my briefcase is always with me. I should have kept my keys instead of handing them back to valet, another fucking mistake on my part. I’m seriously starting to question my skills as of late. My mind is too distracted with protecting Josslyn and finding Stravinsky. I feel like I’m starting to slip.

I snap my head back to the present and focus on what needs to be done. Shutting the lid of my briefcase, I look around the room to see a sea of clothes. Unlike Josslyn, if I need to fight my way out of a place, I can manage with my briefcase, but not all my stuff. However, Josslyn’s shit is everywhere, and I’m not sure if she can handle it all.

I walk to the side table after securing my gun inside my suit jacket and switch the light on. Josslyn doesn’t budge, yet she makes this faint moaning noise. The sound stirs me
awake
, but I swallow it down and lean over the bed, shaking her shoulder firmly. Her eyes pop open as she tenses from the sudden movement.

“What? What’s wrong?” She sits up and wipes under her eyes.

“We need to go,” I quietly assert as I start picking up her clothes and stuffing them into her gym bag.

She doesn’t argue, just starts yanking on a pair of jeans. She pulls her arms out of her shirt and puts her bra on with a quick yet private movement. I’m fascinated for a moment, but the alarm in my stomach is telling me to hurry the fuck up. She then puts shoes on her feet and starts walking around the room, making sure she has everything.

“We need to move,” I demand a little more urgently.

“What is going on?” Josslyn pulls the strap of her overly stuffed gym bag over her head and slings it across her body. “I thought we didn’t need to leave until six.”

“That was the original plan, but it’s since changed. Now let’s go.”

Josslyn rolls her eyes and follows me toward the exit.

I hold my briefcase tightly in my left hand, and my right is ready to draw my pistol at any moment. The intensity in my gut thuds wildly as I open the door to our suite. The wood is weighted and the hinges creak the farther I open it. I confirm the coast is clear and then ease out of the safety of our room.

I feel Josslyn right behind me. The heat from her breath fans the back of my neck as she prepares herself for the unknown. I turn my head and glance at her. Gone is the confusion and sleepiness, replaced by full-on apprehension and nerves. She senses what I do, or she is reacting to me. Whatever it is, she is ready for a fight-or-flight scenario.

We walk briskly down the hallway, keeping an eye out in front and behind us as we make our way to the bank of elevators. I press the down arrow and stand back, waiting for the doors to open. Not even twenty seconds later, the door chimes, and my gut reacts. That was too quick. Someone was on his way to our floor. But are they after us?

I press my body against the wall, and Josslyn moves quickly behind me. I stand, poised and ready as the steel doors slowly glide open. Josslyn secures her feet to the ground, her fists balled.

The smell of spicy aftershave wafts out of the door. I keep my eyes fixed on the opening; I’m ready to pounce if there is one indication the men are after us. The first man gets one leg out the door, and I snap my eyes down to his hands. Tattoos. It’s the
thieves
.

I pivot on my heel, revealing myself to our killers. Their eyes widen, but I give them no time to think. I wrench forward and kick the first two men. They fall back with a teetering thud, colliding into the other men in the elevator.

“Move!” I scream as Josslyn awakens from her frozen state.

In my next breath, I twist and jerk on Josslyn’s arm, yanking her down the hallway with me where I push open the door to the stairs.

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

Josslyn

August 15,
2015 4:03 a.m.

N
ikolai bellows behind me as he pushes the small of my back. The bullets are flying, pinging off the concrete walls as we descend at a frantic pace. My feet are pounding the concrete floor, and I thank every god in existence that I chose to put on sneakers instead of flip-flops.

How did this happen? How did Vlad’s crew catch up with us? How did they know we were in Vegas? We didn’t even know we were going to be in this part of Vegas!

I was in a deep sleep, dreaming of what would have happened last night if it were up to me. That was … until I was jostled awake and told to pack my stuff. I was certain the danger would have happened once we landed in Russia or when we passed into Chechnya. I was wrong. The
thieves
’ reach is a hell of a lot longer than I ever anticipated.

I knew the moment I saw Nikolai’s face that something horrible was about to happen. His icy blue eyes were concentrated yet feral. His deep voice told me not to argue as he commanded me to move faster. However, when we stepped into the hallway, all my police instincts kicked in to overdrive, knowing something was off just as Nikolai did.

The peace only lasted a few hours, and here we are—running for our lives again and all my belongings compacted in the gym bag fastened to my body.

“Garage level!” I shout as I yank open the steel door and run through.

Nikolai is right behind me, briefcase in one hand and gun in the other. He abruptly stops and thrusts his stuff into my hands, and I juggle the objects with trembling hands.

He turns and grabs a lead pipe from the back of a work truck parked near the door. Nikolai begins to wedge the steel between the door of the truck and under the handle on the door. He puts his weight on it, making sure there is extreme pressure between the two objects.

I can hear the footsteps of the men as they charge down the stairs. They jerk the door open just as Nikolai secures the steel pipe. They hit the door with a loud thud, but it won’t budge. With each slam into the door, the pipe slides to the side. It won’t hold long if the thugs keep hitting as hard as they are.