Read Gabriel's Light (Doms of Chicago) Online
Authors: Dakota Trace
When it was over, he leaned over and
clicked on the bedside table lamp, before returning to her. The smile he wanted
to see was there, her cheeks flushed. “Absolutely beautiful.”
She gazed up at him for a moment before
her expression clouded. “I shouldn’t be…”
He placed a finger over her lips. “Shhh.
You needed it - hell, I needed it. It’ll help us get through the next few hours
of this nastiness. Pleasure, whether it’s sexual or emotional, is a powerful
thing. It feeds hope, and I’d say,
louloúdi
mou,
we need all the hope we can get, don’t you?”
She nodded, wrapping her arms around him. “Yes. I don’t
know what I did to deserve you, Master, but I’ll take you for as long as I can
have you.”
He growled playfully against her neck.
“Be careful what you wish for…it might just come true.” He knew then without a
doubt, the door Sophie’s birth had cracked open, had left enough room for her
sexy mother to slip in and fill the empty spot Sara’s death had wrought. Nope,
he wasn’t letting her go when this was over - he was keeping her if he had
anything to say about it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“So Jude was able to track down the man who attacked me to this
building?” Zhenya asked Gabriel from the passenger seat of the SUV. She was
dressed in dark jeans, a black sweatshirt, half boots, and a midnight blue
parka. She was nearly invisible in the darkness. It’d only been two hours since
she’d woken up from her nightmare. The fast and furious planning Jude had done
while she slept still amazed her. Somehow he managed to coordinate with the
police force with the help of Detective
Bobrow
and
his partner
Kusner
. Surrounding an abandoned
warehouse west of the Dan Ryan, not only were there several unmarked sedans,
but also a S.W.A.T. team on call in case the battle got bloody. She had a
sneaky suspicion the only reason she was here was her threat to disobey and
sneak out after Gabriel and the rest of the men.
“Yes. Evidently the attendant recalled seeing a man matching his
description leave the parking garage with a baby. I’m just glad the man was
retired ex-military, and noticed he had a baby with him when he didn’t have one
when he came in. He wrote down the plate number, so Jude was able to track it
with some help from
Bobrow
, who put a BOLO warrant
out on the vehicle. A beat cop spotted it at this warehouse. I’m still
surprised the detectives were willing to accept Jude’s help.” He glanced over
at her.
“Evidently the lure of having several military trained men,
including two who have the reputation of not letting murdering assholes live,
was too tempting to turn down.” she suggested.
“True. Jude and Jackson are both a force to reckoned with, as are
Hark and Ethan. Those men have seen Hell and have lived to tell about it. Makes
me glad I’m not on the receiving end. I still can’t believe I let you talk me
into letting you come with us.” Gabriel drummed his fingers on the wheel until
something loud, like a gunshot, echoed through the early morning darkness.
Gabriel straightened, and touched the earpiece in his ear. “Shit.” Then he
waited for a moment before keying the mike. “Copy that.” He turned to face her.
“They need me. Stay put - do you understand me? Lock the doors and don’t open
them for anyone other than Jude, Hark or me. If something happens to you, I’m
going to paddle your ass until you can’t sit for a week.”
She nodded. “I understand, Master. But what’s going on? I promise
I won’t leave the SUV? Is it Sophie?”
“No. One of the police offers took a bullet to the shoulder, and
they want me to help him back to the ambulance. S.W.A.T. is getting ready to
swarm the place.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Don’t leave this truck,
do you hear me? There’re gangs nearby who’d love nothing more than to get a
hold of you.”
She nodded again. “Yes. Be safe, Gabriel, please?”
“Always, Zhenya. I feel alive - for the first time in a long time.
I’m not going to risk losing it.” Then he was gone and the waiting began.
At first she fiddled with the radio, then she shut it off, a
restlessness she knew wouldn’t cease until she had not only Sophie back in her
arms, but her Master as well. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. There was no
denying it any longer - to herself or Gabriel. She was his whether he kept her
or not after they got Sophie back and Sebastene taken care of. She could only
hope he decided he wanted them. Perhaps she could ask him about doing scenes
with him occasionally at the club once things settled down. They could take it
slow until he was ready for more.
A sudden rapping on the SUV’s window had her looking up. Peering
through the glass of the side window, she was shocked to realize she recognized
the person on the other side. When the person motioned for her to roll the
window down, she shook her head. There was no way she was letting the person
have access to her. Not only was her salt and pepper hair and clothing rumpled
as if she’d taken a nasty fall, but Zhenya trusted
Anastassia
Sikkenga
about as far as she could throw her, and
that wasn’t damn far. Her mistrust was proven right when her former
mother-in-law raised a silver pistol and tapped it against the glass.
“Come out Zhenya, darling. You and I have business to take care
of.” The words were muffled but the shrewdness in
Anastassia’s
gaze didn’t reassure her.
She shook her head. “Like hell.” There wasn’t even a remote chance
of her unlocking the door, and it wasn’t just because of her Master’s promise
to warm her bottom if she left the vehicle which kept her hands in her lap, it
was the vibe she was getting off the other woman. She never would have guessed
the whole time she’d been married to Ossie his mother could handle a gun. It
was so out of character for
Anastassia
, Zhenya was
quite sure she’d gone off her rocker.
“Now.” The woman tapped the glass a bit harder. “I have no problem
shooting you, Zhenya. You’ll either sign the papers I’ve had drawn up, or I’ll
kill you. It matters little to me. Be smart. Sign and walk away, or don’t.
Either way, Sophie’s mine.”
Her face must
’ve paled because the other woman smirked at her.
“You didn’t realize I knew your baby was a girl? Of course I knew. From the
beginning, but I couldn’t tell my dear husband that, not after what he did to
our only daughter. Tossed her out like trash because she was born with a club
foot.” A maniacal laughter bubbled free of the woman. “What? You didn’t realize
Ossie had a sister? A twin sister? One my dear husband decided wasn’t fit to
live in our home because of her deformity? Well, your Sophie is going to
replace my Sophia. Now get the hell out!” Evidently tired of waiting for her to
comply,
Anastassia
smashed the gun against the
window.
Zhenya flinched as the glass held. Reaching for her seatbelt, she
unfastened it then crawled over the console between the passenger and driver’s
seats. A scream left her throat as she heard a snick and then felt a whoosh of
air, before a pair of hands pulled her out of the SUV. When the man stood her
on her feet, she tried to dart away, but he caught her by her injured shoulder
and squeezed it, sending agony racing down her arm until she was ready to pass
out from the pain. That’s when he spun her around and she caught a glimpse of
her attacker’s face. Cyrille
Karas
smiled down at her
as
Anastassia
walked around the front of the vehicle.
She motioned for Zhenya to follow her.
“Come, dear. You have papers to sign.”
* * * *
Gabriel looked at Jude in
confusion when he stepped inside the control center, which happened to be the
back of a dark black cargo van.
“What do you mean there was no man down? I got a radio contact
from you - stating there was an officer down who needed help back to the
control center. That was after I heard a shot.”
“There were no gunshots, Gabriel.” Jude surged to his feet, nearly
knocking over the chair in the process. “Where is Zhenya?”
“Back in the SUV, locked in with instructions to not unlock the
door for anyone but you, Hark or me.”
“Fuck!” He pushed Gabriel out of the way. Jumping down out of the
van, he barely faltered as he landed. A second later Hark hit the ground next
to Jude. “We’ve got to get back to her. The downed officer was nothing more
than a diversionary tactic. They wanted us to bring Zhenya with us.”
“But he could’ve taken her in at the doctor’s office!” Gabriel
protested.
“And dealt with a struggling woman and a screaming infant? I don’t
think so. I knew the trace was too damn easy.” He took off at a run towards the
SUV, which sat just beyond the perimeter. Fear coursing through him, Gabriel
followed Jude back to his truck. His heart started pounding as he saw the empty
front seat. “Whoa!” Jude grabbed him, stopping him. “Let Hark do his thing.”
It took all his considerable self-control to wait while Hark
circled the SUV with his flashlight, studying the ground. He paused next to the
passenger door, and then again by the driver’s side door, before squatting down
to study the dirt. Cursing long and low in his native tongue, he finally
straightened. “She didn’t leave the truck willingly. She was forced away,
Gabriel.” He nodded to the left. “The tracks led this way. Let’s go. I have a
feeling we’re going to find a back door to where they’re holding Sophie.”
“Shit.” Jude went to grab the mike to radio instructions to the
rest of the group, when Hark grabbed his hand.
“Don’t. We can’t trust the radios. They used them to lure Gabriel
away. Let the other guys go in the front. We’ll follow them in the back and
surprise them.”
“What if they’re expecting that?” Gabriel asked, leery of doing
anything that would jeopardize either of his females. “What if they hear us
coming and hurt them?”
A slow cold grim
crossed Hark
’s face. “We don’t let them
hear us, Poulanos. If you can’t sneak up on a bunch of thugs, then you aren’t
worthy of
sh’da’zha
’.
I’ll take her back home and introduce
her to some of my friends. I know a few who’d be more than happy to take care
of her.
”
“Like fuck you will. She’s mine!” Gabriel bristled.
“Sure couldn’t prove it to me. You were the sap who let
yourself be lured away from your woman,” Hark taunted, his arms crossed over
his massive chest.
“Listen here, you son of a bitch, I’m more than
worthy of her...”
“…and turnabout is fair play, buddy-boy.” He leaned
over and clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. “You put me through hell when I
joined your sister and her husband’s relationship. What makes you think I’m not
going to deal you the same shit?”
Gabriel saw red and lunged at the smirking ass. He
didn’t care if Hark kicked his ass or not. He would’ve made it too, if it
hadn’t been for Jude’s restraining arm.
“Ladies, enough posturing. It’s time to take the
fight to the assholes who deserve it.” He glared at Hark. “I don’t care what
barbs you think he deserves, this is about rescuing Sophie and Zhenya. Keep
your smart ass comments to yourself until this over.” Then he shook his head at
Gabriel. “And you, Poulanos, you’re dumber than a fuckin’ box of rocks for
taking on Hark that way. He’d wipe the floor with you - then what would your
submissive think?”
“She picked the wrong Dom?” Hark taunted, seeming to
be unable to resist one last taunt.
Gabriel acted without thinking and punched the smug
bastard right in the mouth before Jude could stop him. The tension mounted
until Hark spit out blood and smiled. “It’s about time you, prick. I always
wondered if there was a man behind that polished facade of yours. Now hang on
to your anger, you’re going to need it to survive tangling with
Karas
and his men.”
Jude groaned. “Hark, you’re an asshole.”
“But one who gets the job done. Now let’s go before
the fireworks start.” Then he took off at a jog following the tracks only he
seemed to be able to see.
Jude cursed. “Damn Injun. Come on.” He took off at a
fast clip for a man with a bum knee.
When they finally caught up with Hark, they saw him
lowering an unconscious or dead man to the ground. Gabriel was almost afraid to
ask when Hark stood up. Then he pressed his finger to his lips, before he
slipped through a partially concealed door Gabriel finally noticed. Entering
the empty, cavernous warehouse, they made a conscious effort to walk quietly.
The last thing any of them needed was for their footsteps to echo and alert the
bad guys they had company. As Hark slowed and held his hand up for them to
halt, Gabriel finally heard what had caused the other men to stop.
“No! I’m not signing any fucking paper!”
The sound of Zhenya’s voice sent hope through him.
If she was still being feisty as ever, maybe she was okay. Then a high-pitched
squeal sent his heart plummeting and his fury rising. How dare they lay hands
on his woman! He moved forward, but Hark threw an arm in front of him.
“Don’t break her hand, Cyrille. She can’t sign if
her hand is broken….”
“No, not yet. She’s fine,” Hark whispered, before
nodding to Jude, who slipped away after a flurry of hand signals Gabriel had no
hope of even beginning to understand. “Let me and Jude get into position before
you go barging in. Once we’re both in position, I’ll signal with one short
burst of the mike and Jude with two. Once you’ve heard both signals, I want you
to walk in there bold as you please, as if you’re doing nothing more than
taking a stroll in the park. I need you to get to the baby and cover her.
Thermals earlier showed Sophie’s on the inside wall at the northeast corner of
the office they’re holding both her and Zhenya in. You need to walk over to the
baby and block her body with yours. Jude and I are both damned accurate shots,
but we’re not taking chances with the baby. Zhenya knows when she hears gunfire
to go limp. I worked with her on evasive maneuvers when she lived with me. So
your job is to protect Sophie. Got it?”
He nodded. “Protect Sophie.”
“I mean it, Gabriel. If you don’t do your part, we
might not be able to save both of them.”
“I got it,” he whispered back. Then Hark disappeared
into the depths of the warehouse. Long minutes of listening to his woman being
tortured caused time to drag. The keying of the mike startled him. “One, two…”
he whispered softly. Jude was in place. As another minute passed the cries
coming from Zhenya grew louder, until he was ready to say screw it and charge
in, when the mike keyed again in his ear. “Finally….” Then shoving his hands
into his pockets, he followed the sound of the voices. It was time to make his
move.