so he could close the door, then moved down the empty driveway closest to them with the boys glued to their flank. When they reached the quiet forest, they cut across until they were inside the tree line directly behind Eva’s house. With a hand on her shoulder, Gabriel pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before pushing her down into a squat in the damp ferns.
“You stay here until I come for you. Understand?” He looked beyond the fear and concern shining in her eyes and waited for her nod. “You’re with her,” he added, pointing at Quan.
“Her cousin will hang back. I’m on you.”
He ground his teeth. He didn’t need this shit now. “Quan—”
“My detail is you.” The Asian’s gaze held his in a stare down. “My job is to be at your back, no matter what. And that’s where I’ll be. So either you put a bullet in my leg to keep me here or get this show going.”
“We’re good,” Alek interjected with an appreciative squeeze to Quan’s shoulder. “Get this done. Eva and I can hang here and cut you up for a few minutes while you’re out of earshot.”
Feeling outnumbered, and more than a little honored by Quan’s steadfast support, Gabriel pointed at his boy. “Anything happens to me, you come back and you both get her the fuck out of here.”
Eva gasped. Alek nodded. Quan muttered, “Did you hear nothing I just said?”
And then they were gone.
Gabriel moved silently to the far side of the lawn, knees bent, gun pointing down next to his thigh, safety off. When he got to the side of the house, he flattened himself against the rough brick and listened. The deep rumble of a male voice reached his ears, coming from Eva’s kitchen. Without hesitating, he jumped onto the back deck, making sure to stay below the window as he edged toward the door. Quan motioned that he was going around to cut off any escape route out front.
Clearing his mind of his remaining worry for the woman waiting in the trees, Gabriel stood and kicked in the back door, cracking the thing off its hinges. He was in the house, gun trained for the first asshole he saw…
When a female’s high-pitched scream nearly burst his eardrums.
“Nika! Get down!”
Preparing to pull the trigger, the identity of the man, and the name he’d yelled, registered with Gabriel at the same time.
Nika.
Letting loose a stream of foul curses that would have had his mother running for the soap back in the day, he threw his arm out to the side. “Paynne, you stupid fuck! What the hell are you doing here?” He clicked the safety back on his gun.
“Jesus Christ, Moretti! You sure know how to make a fuckin’ entrance,” the biker snapped back as he, too, lowered his weapon.
Spinning away, so he wouldn’t pistol-whip the jerk-off right there, he saw Quan, who had quietly busted into the front entry when he heard Nika’s scream, lower his Glock. Gabriel shoved his gun into the waistband of his pants, trying to blow off the fact that he’d nearly popped a bullet in Paynne’s forehead with his fuckin’ sister watching from feet away.
He pounded his way back out the busted door and headed across the dewy grass. Eva must have seen him coming because she bolted from the trees and nearly tackled him. Holding him in a death grip, she whispered a strangled, “Are you okay?”
“That was quick, even for you,” Alek said as he walked up to them. “Quan take one in the junk? I thought I heard a soprano.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Are you okay?” Eva repeated, her voice shaking.
“Hey.” He cupped her nape and used the hold to force her to look into his eyes. “Hey. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Well, not really, because they now had to go in the house. Where Paynne was.
Following the overpowering instinct thundering through him, Gabriel kissed the woman in his arms like he’d never get the chance again.
“What was that for?” Eva panted when he finally pulled back.
“Staking a claim,” Alek informed her as he walked toward Quan, who was standing on the deck.
“Peace of mind,” Gabriel added under his breath before tucking her into his side and heading for the house. He didn’t miss her frown. “The car doesn’t belong to Stefano’s guys.”
“Whose is it then?”
“See for yourself.”
They climbed the two steps to the deck and walked through what remained of the doorway, which Eva didn’t even blink at. Alek, Quan, Paynne,