given up smothered everything in its path. Fear, sorrow, and loss went down as her arm came up. This prick was probably going to kill her, so she might as well die like a Tarasov, she thought as her closed fist caught him right on the jaw. The hit sent him stumbling back, and she lunged for the door. He beat her to it, slamming it shut before ramming her so hard into the brick wall she felt something in her shoulder snap out of place. She cried out as he came in close, pressing into her from behind.
“We’re gonna have some fun before I put you down, Jacobs.”
With a hard yank, Furio spun her around. She didn’t see what hit her, but it sent her spiralling into darkness.
† † †
As Gabriel paced in front of the fireplace, he wrenched his head to the side to dislodge the pressure climbing from his neck into the base of his skull. Fuck. He wanted to go get Eva. Wanted her with him. Sitting in the corner, following him with her eyes, the way he’d gotten used to her doing.
“Is there any point in going over it again? We bring the girls and Paynne to the airport then head to Enumclaw. Simple as that.”
Only Maks could see this operation as simple when nothing about it was. Micha was next to him, looking prepared for anything.
Vasily hadn’t returned yet. He’d gone down to do a sweep of the hotel with Dmitri when the radio signal in their earpieces started fucking up.
V had his back to the room, his focus on the dark sky. Hadn’t moved from that window in an hour.
Alek had his shoulder against the wall, his pale gaze straying to the door every so often, as if he, too, were wondering where the fuck his uncle was.
Feeling edgy as shit, Gabriel finally gave into the urge and sent Eva a text.
You hanging in?
He wrenched his neck again and waited for a response.
“Since we’re not moving, let’s try a different angle,” Maks suggested. “Vasily and Dmitri can go home with the girls. They lead the bikers while we take care of business.”
Fucking Mr. Party Planner needed to shut up for a minute. “Vasily needs to send a message. Didn’t you hear him earlier? Weren’t you fucking here?” Gabriel snapped as he remembered Vasily apologetically informing him that Stefano would be killed in such a way that the Tarasov enemies would think twice before ever coming after one of his own again.
His fucking brother was going to die tonight, and, despite their contentious relationship, that wasn’t sitting right with Gabriel.
He looked at his phone. And why the fuck wasn’t Eva responding to his message? A simple yes would suffice.
“I must have dozed off for that one, you asshole, considering I’ve been up for close to forty-eight hours covering your ungrateful ass.”
Lifting his eyes, Gabriel saw Maks’s long middle finger on display. He went over and clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Sorry, brother. I’m feeling…fuck. I don’t know. Something’s making me itch.”
The suite’s door banged open and Vasily stormed in with Dmitri, Aron, and goddamn Paynne on his ass. As everyone snapped to attention—why the fuck was the biker not with Eva?—Gabriel braced himself.
The worst came when Vasily searched the room, and finding Gabriel, looked him dead in the eye. “She’s gone.”
TWENTY-THREE
“Gone? What the fuck do you mean she’s gone.”
Much of the time, “gone” in their world meant dead. But no way did Vasily mean that. No way, Gabriel told himself. Eva had promised him she’d stay. She’d given him her word. It was his job to keep her safe. She wouldn’t fucking dare leave him.
“You make me ask again and someone’s gonna end up dead,” he snarled as his insides started quaking. “Where is she?”
Paynne stepped forward and explained what had gone down, but no relief came from the biker confirming that she was only missing. Everything around him began to slow as he fell with open arms into the zone he’d come to hate, but now appreciated more than he could say. Without effort, he compartmentalized and focused on what needed doing.
“Get Jak on the security footage,” he told Quan as he went to the safe behind his desk to arm up. “Alek, call our guy at SeaTac. We need two choppers. Caleb?”
The biker came over with guilt shadowing his eyes. “Yeah, man.”
As much as he wanted to kill someone for allowing this to happen—Paynne would have been first on his