day I left New York, he vowed to kill any woman I got involved with the same way I’d killed the woman he loved.”
With Eva now directly in front of him, her expression tormented, Gabriel skidded down the last stretch.
“The man you met at Caleb’s place the day you left New York.” He paused, frowning when her eyes fluttered. “Stefano Moretti is my brother, Eva. And he’s coming for you.”
He caught her as she went down.
As he lifted her into his arms, he cursed in every language he knew, placing her on the bed and brushing her hair away from her face. He pulled the covers from beneath her to tuck her in, terrified by the icy feel of her skin. Straightening, he jogged out to the living room to grab his phone from where he’d dropped it earlier. He whistled for the boys as he hauled ass back to Eva, knowing one of them would have stayed on his door.
In seconds, Alek, Jak, and Micha were all barreling into the bedroom, their steps pounding like thunder.
“What happened?” Micha asked as he went to his knees beside the bed.
Gabriel was about to level him for his gall, but then remembered the guy had been medically trained in the army back in Russia. “She passed out. Dead faint.” He also remembered that Stefano’s underboss had escaped their custody, critically injuring a man in the process. He turned to Jak. “How’s Abel? And you’d better tell me someone found Furio.” He snapped the throw blanket from the chair in the corner and stalked over to drape it over Eva’s still form.
“Abel’s in surgery. Jerod said he’d call but it doesn’t look good. Furio is still MIA.”
Gabriel saw red. “That cocksucker. If Abel dies, too, I’ll…Jesus Christ,” he growled, deflating at the thought. “I should have sent someone else out with them.”
“The twins have never needed a third, G,” Alek said. “That’s why we have them. This isn’t your fault. You can’t control everything.”
“I haven’t controlled shit since this one came into my life.” His voice cracked like lightning bolts in the quiet room as he flung his arm toward Eva. She didn’t budge.
“Her pulse is slowing.” Micha got to his feet and looked down at Eva. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Moretti. She’s Vasily Tarasov’s kid. This is totally doable for her.”
Fuck, he hoped so. He sank onto the edge of the bed and slowly counted to ten. Very gently, he rested his hand on the flat expanse between Eva’s hips and measured her breathing.
“I sent Vito and Bobby T to the airport, and Maks is monitoring everything else under the sun. We’ll find him.”
He looked up at Jak and was grateful the guy was getting on with it. “Furio is as experienced as we are. I never should have underestimated him.”
“We’ll find him,” Jak repeated as he waved at the others to head out. “I doubt she’ll want an audience when she comes to.” He halted mid-step and palmed his phone. He read what had to be a text and then sighed in a way that could only mean one thing. “Abel’s out, and barring anything unusual, should be fine.”
Gabriel sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Jerod would have been lost without his brother.
Jak slapped the doorjamb on his way out. “We’ll call if we hear anything else.”
“Not if it’s her,” Gabriel stipulated, causing three sets of eyebrows to go up. “She’s going to need to let the steam out. And I have a feeling it’s going to come in the way of a few hundred choice words in my direction.”
“Set your phone up in the corner; video and audio,” Micha instructed with a straight face. “Maks will want the footage.” The asshole closed the door behind them.
† † †
Awareness returned slowly to Eva as thick layers of darkness separated, stretched apart, and then dissipated altogether. An odd sense of comfort battled with anxiety as she opened her eyes.
“Come on, sweetheart. You’re killing me here.”
Well, that explained the warmth. Gabriel was holding her, and she was wrapped up in his bed like a Christmas cracker. She shifted and he reared back. Their eyes met.
“Finally.” He sounded so gut-wrenchingly relieved that her stomach tightened.
“What’s wrong…” She stiffened when it all came rushing back.
“Shh. It’s okay,” he murmured, cupping her cheek. “Please stay calm. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Fine? How could anything ever be fine again after all the shit this psycho had told her?