The Salvation of Vengeance (Wanted Men #2) (2 page)

CHAPTER 1

SIX WEEKS LATER . . .

Soon.

Nika gave that word she was coming to hate a figurative one-finger salute and slid the zipper closed on the suitcase she’d just packed. Placing it on the floor, she winced when her back protested the weight. She dropped down to sit on the lumpy mattress.

It would be soon, though; wouldn’t it? Had to be. Because she was nearing the end.

Who was she kidding? She’d neared the end the minute this nightmare had begun.

Her shoulders slumped as she sighed and bowed her head, even as she rebelled against what she saw as weakness.

Dredging from her dwindling reserve, she forced herself to straighten and bring her head back up. She would not wallow in this. She wouldn’t give up.

She’d been here since September. It was now the end of July. Two more months and it would be a year. She blinked at that. She hadn’t realized. A year . . .

She’d lost almost a year of her life to this unbearable situation.

But no matter how horrible things became, she
would not
give up. She couldn’t. Not until she found the evidence Kevin had on her brother—a recording that would send Caleb to jail. For a crime Nika knew had to be justified. Yes, he’d taken a life; Kevin had made her watch the video. But she knew her brother well enough to believe, with her whole heart, that he’d done so for a damn good reason, and once she was able to ask him, when this was all over, she’d find out what that reason was.

When this is all over.
She repeated the phrase in her head. That could be as soon as today. Maybe tomorrow, depending on how things went once she and Kevin reached New York. It was entirely possible she might gain her and Caleb’s freedom before the weekend was over!

She tamped down the optimism, knowing better than to feel it, and glanced from the suitcase she’d just packed to the engraved wedding invitation sitting on the nightstand. Picking it up, she wondered how many times she’d read it since receiving it.

Evangeline Marie Jacobs/Tarasov
And
Gabriel Albert Moretti
Request the honor of your presence to share in the celebration
Of their marriage

She blinked away the burn from behind her lids. Her darling Eva, best friend and sister in every way but blood, was marrying an intense, most times too serious, overprotective Italian American mobster. Those were the bride’s words. Nika didn’t know Gabriel well enough yet to make any calls on who he was.

She and Eva had spoken about the wedding during the few phone conversations she’d been able to sneak in when Kevin wasn’t around, but holding the actual invite in her hands brought it home. Her bestie was going to be the wife of a newly crowned mob boss. And not even two months after finding out she was already the
daughter
of a
Russian
organized crime leader.

Holy crap.

Eva had taken the mafia world by storm. Claiming two of their most powerful—one as a parent, the other as a husband. Brave girl. But Nika had already known that about her.

She focused on the card in her hand and noted the street address in Old Westbury, New York—a small village not far from Long Island. She and Kevin would be staying in Brooklyn, but Nika didn’t care. She’d have been fine at Rikers, as long as Kevin, in his perpetually paranoid state, brought the evidence against her brother with him, as he did whenever they went away for more than a night.

Passing her thumb over the address once more, Nika’s heart jumped, quickening her pulse. But it wasn’t due to thoughts of letting loose her brother and his notorious motorcycle club on Kevin once she had the evidence in hand. No. This silly excitement was caused by thoughts of who else would be attending the wedding.

Gabriel shared a house with three of his friends. Maksim Kirov, the gorgeous, if not absurdly arrogant, Russian mobster who owned a swank nightclub in Hell’s Kitchen. Alekzander Tarasov, Eva’s cousin and another Russian made man, just as gorgeous but a little less
I-know-you’re-staring-because-I’m-hot
. He and Gabriel owned TarMor, the übersuccessful project management firm where Eva now worked as an associate business manager.

It was the third housemate who had caused Nika’s body to react. The one who’d been haunting her dreams for weeks now, taunting her, making her relive the bone-rattling kiss they’d shared in a quiet corridor of the Crown Jewel, the posh hotel Gabriel and Alek owned here in downtown Seattle.

Vincente Romani.

Caleb had told her Vincente owned a midsize company called ROM Construct that was based out of Manhattan. Oh, and it seemed when Gabriel had taken over as boss of the crime family he’d grown up in, Vincente had stepped in as his underboss. He’d been a lieutenant in the Moretti family before that, to the former boss, Stefano, who was Gabriel’s older brother. According to Eva, Stefano had disappeared a few weeks ago.

The bottom line was Nika had been having inappropriate dreams about an undeniably gorgeous but deadly Italian mobster.

Aim high, sista.

She ignored the high five her pride figuratively offered, leaving it hanging, too busy trying to pretend it wasn’t desire that curled through her body at just the thought of the man. The first time Nika had seen him, he’d been standing on the sidewalk in front of the Crown Jewel. She’d crossed the street, worrying over what Kevin’s reaction would be when he found out she’d left their apartment—after all, she’d just taken a beating like no other from him a few days before—and had glanced up into a face that was sinister and cold, yet so beautiful she’d been instantly captivated. His hair was long and black and fell past his broad shoulders. He was taller than she was, which was something, considering she loved to wear heels that put her at a healthy six-one, give or take an inch. His body had been tightly muscled, his features equally cut and hard. And his eyes—those dark-brown, haunted eyes—conveyed a blatant
move-on-or-be-sorry
to anyone who dared to meet them.

Well, she’d met them, but she had yet to move on. What she’d seen had shaken her to the core. So much so that she’d stumbled and would have fallen had Vincente not caught her.

And then he’d kissed her only minutes later.

She shifted and cleared her throat, feeling jittery. It was stupid to feel excitement at the thought of seeing him again.

Would he look at her with that same interest as last time? Did he even remember their last encounter? Did he think about it? The way she did so often?

That kiss, a simple meeting of their mouths, had stayed with Nika. Why? Because she’d been aroused by it. By him. And then she’d been relieved. The desire that had crashed over her when Vincente kissed her had let her know Kevin hadn’t won. It was still possible for her to feel something for a man, even after everything that had been done to her.

Not that she wanted another man. She shuddered. Maybe not ever.

Once she found that memory stick and she finally allowed Caleb to deal with Kevin as he saw fit, she was done. Oh, she might fool around someday, if she was able to go further than a kiss. But she wouldn’t know that until she tried. Wouldn’t know just how fucked-up she was after the way she’d been living this past year until it was all over.

Then she could experiment. Test boundaries. But one thing was for certain:
never
would she put herself in the position of being under a man again. The shots would be hers to call. The relationship hers to dictate. Hers to walk away from if she so wanted. Hers to control.

Vincente Romani’s dominant, blatant alpha-male countenance wouldn’t stand for the type of woman Nika vowed she’d be once she was free. So, as she told herself every time she thought of him, he wasn’t for her.

No matter how sexy and heroic he’d appeared to be when he’d swooped into town a few weeks ago, along with a few others in Gabriel’s organization. He’d been in such control dealing with the situation Gabriel’s brother had created. And that capable confidence had been so attractive to her.

Heroic. A definite draw. She’d dropped him into that slot the day Eva had left Seattle. Nika had returned to Kevin’s apartment after spending the night at the Crown Jewel with Caleb. Her brother, for goodness’ sake. Her reasons for her absence hadn’t mattered to Kevin. That Eva had almost been killed hadn’t mattered. He’d been enraged, having stewed all night, and by the time he’d finally allowed her to crawl into the bathroom, out of his reach, she’d been panting through every painful breath. He’d layered his hits over the ones he’d given her only days before, and it hadn’t fazed him. She’d been horrified by his cruelty. As she’d rinsed the metallic taste of blood from her mouth, pressing a cold cloth against her throbbing ribs with a trembling hand, she’d wished with everything in her that Vincente would burst through the front door and destroy the abomination she’d been forced to marry.

Thank God Eva and Caleb had left for New York that same night and neither of them had seen her afterward. She wouldn’t have been able to fake her way through the casual hugs and false smiles. Not that time.

With a tired sigh, she pulled her hair back, securing the mass of bright reds and golds with the hair tie she always wore on her wrist. What she wouldn’t give to sleep for a year.

“You ready?”

A flash of alarm buzzed through her like a shock from an exposed electrical wire. She dropped her arms from her messy bun without looking up. She had to play this smart. If the sadist suspected she was looking forward to this trip, he’d shut her down. He’d nod at the suitcase, tell her to unpack it, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing she could do about it. How long would she have to wait for her next opportunity to find that damned memory stick?

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him in the doorway—dark aura, receding brown hair buzzed off, hooded brown eyes on her. His arms were crossed over his chest, feet planted . . . as if he’d been there for a while. Watching as she remembered Vincente.

God, she hoped not. That was private to her.

And dangerous.

If Kevin suspected she was sitting there mooning—not that she was mooning—over another man, she didn’t even want to think about what he’d do to her.

She cleared her throat and schooled her features to show absolutely nothing before lifting her head and turning to him.

“I just finished packing.”

“What were you thinking of just now?”

You. Dead.
“I was wondering what I should wear tonight, since I’ll be changing out of it and into the dress Eva has for me the minute I get there. The outfits I have are either off-season or for the office.” An office she no longer had. Because of the condition Kevin sometimes left her in, she’d come to miss so many days she’d eventually decided to quit her job as an accountant. Thinking ahead, wanting to ensure a good reference later, she’d left just after Christmas and Kevin had been pleased, saying they’d get by without her paycheck. They weren’t, if the few twenties he tossed at her before she left for the grocery store were anything to go by.

“What the fuck is off-season?”

“They’re winter dresses.” Which was probably a good thing because they had long sleeves and would fully cover her. She’d already packed one of her silky wraps in case the bridesmaid dress Eva had bought her was off the shoulder or, God forbid, backless. She prayed it wasn’t, because she’d have no choice but to refuse to wear it. And how would she explain
that
without having to reveal the bruising that still littered her body?

“Well, pick one out and finish up before I change my mind about bringin’ you to this joke.”

Anger burned in her throat, but she swallowed it. She went to the closet and withdrew a silky gold dress she’d bought a couple of years ago on a trip to New York. She and Caleb had gone to visit Eva during her first year at Columbia.

After wrapping the dress—which would make her look as though she were inept at choosing proper clothing for the season they were in—in a garment bag, she laid it out over the suitcase. She folded a pair of gold earrings and the matching bracelet that used to be her mother’s into a satiny cloth and tucked it into the zipper of the carry-on. Her shoes were already packed.

The whole time, her spine was so stiff she was surprised she could even move. Kevin was too quiet. Too focused on her. More so than normal.

Could he know? Had he somehow found out about the kiss with Vincente? Her greatest fear.

“You looking forward to going to this wedding or something?” He said
wedding
like the average person would say
mass murder
.

Shrugging, her voice as emotionless as she could make it, she said, “Eva and Caleb would find it suspicious if I didn’t go to her wedding. If not for that, I wouldn’t be flying across the country to sit there and watch two people exchange meaningless vows.”

Yes, I would! I would crawl over a field of spiders to see my best friend pledge herself to the man she loves!

He snorted. “That’s the only reason we’re goin’. Grab the stuff. Cab’s waiting downstairs.”

With that, Kevin disappeared down the hall, leaving Nika to gather her purse, her carry-on, the garment bag, and the suitcase.

Relief weakened her limbs as she trailed her own personal Satan out of the hell he’d created for them.