“Now that we’re all here, how I can help you… Alexei?” Lucifer says in a smooth drawl.
“It’s been an exciting week so far, for the both of us. Too much excitement. Perhaps we need to come to an understanding,” Alexei says.
“What kind of understanding?” Lucifer asks.
“You have property of mine. You stole it, and I want it back,” Alexei says with a small growl to his voice.
“Ah, you speak of Mr. Callahan’s daughter,” Lucifer says with a grin.
“Yes,” he says. “Give her back to me, and all will be forgiven.”
My eyes widen with anger as I stomp toward the phone. A growl of anger begins to work through my throat.
Then a strong hand grips my bicep, stopping my forward moving progress.
Lucifer looks into my eyes then, his grin only widening as he says, “No.”
I’m not sure who he’s speaking to, and I don’t really care. Meghan’s mine. Anyone who tries to take her will die. I won’t be creative in my killing, either. I’ll simply put a bullet through their heart and stop them dead.
“No?!” Alexei spits out through the line, and I can imagine his face turning beet red from his anger.
“Correct,” Lucifer says in that smug way of his.
“I’ll fucking murder you all. I’ll take your women and rape them to death. I’ll have my men fuck your children. All of your lives are forfeit!” Alexei screams at us through the phone.
“Hmm, let me think about this, Alexei. I’d hate to be rash,” Lucifer says quietly.
“You better. You have no idea what kind of hell I will bring on your heads!”
All around me, the inner circle bristles with fury. It’s one thing to threaten one of us. But to threaten our families….
Alexei has gone too far.
“Here’s my offer, Alexei,” Lucifer says after a moment of quiet. “You will give us all the properties in Garden City that you still hold.”
“Done,” Alexei says a bit too quickly.
“You will give us all the properties in Bethlehem, as well,” Lucifer says.
“Sure—” Alexei tries to say.
“I’m not finished,” Lucifer snarls. “You will then remove all of your men from my country. You will return to Russia with your hands empty and your testicles left on my desk. You will each put a bullet through your brains, and then, when you reach hell, you will submit my name as your fucking Master.”
“I will fucking end you all,” Alexei screams. “I will blow—”
Lucifer pushes the disconnect button and looks to all of us. “I want them all dead. I do not care how much blood is spilt. They all die.”
Nodding our heads at Lucifer, we look to Simon.
“The tracer failed. He’s hiding behind too many firewall layers. He used a satellite phone that’s former Russian military hardware. I could hack their systems, but it’s unlikely I’ll be able to locate him. The phone is used to latch onto as many satellites as possible to give it a broad reach. Triangulating will be next to impossible,” Simon says with a sigh.
“I fucking hate Russians,” I say with a deep growl.
16
Meghan
I begged Gabriel for space, and now that I finally have it, I don’t know what to do with myself. The house is quiet and empty. Too fucking quiet and empty.
Every little noise has me on edge.
Every shadow is a person who wants to hurt me.
All alone with my thoughts, I feel like I’m going a little crazy.
I pace the rooms, the halls, passing time until Gabriel returns to me, and find myself missing his presence.
I try to convince myself it’s only because I feel safer with him, but it’s more than that…
Much more than that.
Dammit, I think the fucker is growing on me.
Shaking my head at myself, I stop in the bedroom and stare down at the bed. His scent still lingers in the air, a raw, unapologetic masculine scent, and there’s an imprint in the shape of his huge body in the ruffled sheets.
Reaching down, I trace the outline of his back, remembering that blissful moment of feeling safe.
What we did last night, the things he said, the way he desperately thrust himself inside me and held me in his arms afterward… I think it’s completely broken me.
Broken me in a way that can never be fixed.
There was truth in the way our bodies joined, an unmistakable truth I can’t ignore or deny.
Despite the circumstances that brought us together, despite everything against us, he honestly wants me and needs me.
And worst of all, I think I need him in return.
It’s insane, so damn insane.
And wrong on so many levels.
He goes against everything I’ve ever believed.
But after everything I’ve been through, I can’t stop myself from wanting him to be someone I can lean on. Someone I can count on.
The one person in the world who will never abandon me. The one person who will always stand beside me.