No Greater Loyalty (20 page)

CHAPTER 31

"I know who you are, of course, Dominick." His name rolled smoothly off Melania
’s tongue in an accent that was as sweet as the finest of wines. "I see Angelo has passed my message on to you. Good. Therefore, we both know what this is about, but before we go any further..." Her eyes moved past him to settle on a point to his right. "I suggest you reconsider your position."

Dominick pulled his eyes away from her and looked in the direction she was staring in, but he already knew what he would find.

The breath all but left his body when he saw the woman who had posed as a maid standing behind Keisha clutching a handful of her hair with one hand and pointing a gun to Keisha's temple with the other. She must have slipped away without Dominick noticing. And now she had his wife.

Dom felt the first stirrings of panic. "Baby..."

Keisha stared at him with eyes that told him how terrified she was, but she didn't make a sound.

Dominick swallowed hard, holding her gaze and conveying without words to stay calm. "You okay?"

Keisha bravely nodded, but he could see she was anything but.

"Everything'll be alright. I promise you. Just do as-"

Melania interrupted him. "
E-noouugh
," she drawled, rolling her eyes as if bored with the both of them. "Do not make promises you cannot keep, Dominick. Everything will
not
be okay.
This
I promise
you
." Her eyes flickered down his body and back up again. "But I'm in a generous mood. Maybe I'll leave your pretty little wife alive so that she can live out the rest of her days in pain and heartache every time she thinks about you. I know a little bit about how that feels. I will do that for you, Dominick, but only if you do as I say."

Dom's fingers flexed then tightened around the butt of the gun. "And what might that be?"

"I don't have time for this foolishness. Put the gun down and come with us."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, your wife has ten seconds to live."

Dom's hand gripped the gun tighter. "Let her go and I'll do anything you say."

"Oh, you will do that anyway,
querida
. It's cute that you think you have options though." Melania's tone told him it didn't matter to her one way or another if Keisha lived or died. She glanced down at her watch. "Five seconds."

"Alright!" Dominick's eyes went back to Keisha. He removed his arm from around Javier's neck then held his hands up, the gun dangling from his finger.

Javier snatched it from Dominick, coughing and rubbing his neck once he was finally able to get air into his lungs. Snarling and breathing heavily, he swung the gun up and slammed it against the side of Dominick's head.

Blood gushed from the cut that opened up. Grunting, Dominick fell to one knee. He glared at Javier with murder lurking in his eyes, all but promising that he was a dead man the second the opportunity presented itself.

Dom’s eyes went to Keisha. Seeing how afraid she was, he stood on shaky legs to reassure her, blinking to bring the room into focus and stop it from spinning. That’s when he saw the identical expressions on the faces of Melania and her people. They were out for blood…literally as well as figuratively.

Dominick instinctively knew he was out of time. The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion. He looked at Keisha again. Desperate to say one last thing before it was too late, he whispered fiercely, "Don
’t forget what we talked about last night, baby. Remember your promise. Alright, Keisha?"

He only had time to see her nod vigorously before his head seemed to explode into a thousand agonizing pieces. Whatever hit him sent him staggering to his knees. He vaguely heard the thud of an object being thrown to the floor beside him by Javier. His vision blurry, Dom managed to make out the heavy statue that had been sitting on the end table by the sofa. He stared at it for a moment before it registered that there was blood on it. His blood. Rivulets of it rolled down his face and splattered to the wood floor.

Sucking deep breaths of air into his lungs, Dominick fought unconsciousness. He struggled valiantly to stand, but a booted foot came swinging forward, catching him in the face. The last thing Dominick heard before darkness claimed him was Keisha hysterically screaming his name over and over again.

CHAPTER 32

Angel stood in his son's room with a smile softening his lips as he looked down at A.J. sleeping in the “pirate’s fort” Nikki must have helped him build. The flimsy structure consisted of sheets and blankets draped over several chairs to cover an area large enough for him to stretch out under comfortably. Mounds of pillows were piled up around the perimeter. Angel knew from prior forts that they acted as protective walls to keep him safe from fire breathing dragons. Too little to sleep on the floor with A.J., Christian was tucked safely in the bottom bunk bed with a railing pulled up for safety.

A wave of regret hit Angel because he'd promised the boys that he would make it back before they fell asleep, but once again, he'd been gone longer than he anticipated. Bending down on one knee, he carefully removed the pirate
’s hat his son still wore and pulled the blankets around him. Angel kissed him on top of his head then went to the bed and did the same to his nephew before quietly walking out of the room.

He brought his hand up to the massage the back of his neck as he made his way to his bedroom where his and Nikki's suite took up an entire side of the second floor.

Angel glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost three o'clock in the morning. He’d been on the phone with Lucas Pattel for the last hour. They had a problem.

Lucas had flown to Mexico yesterday under the guise of business, but that had only been an excuse to get close to Melania and touch bases with their source, but neither had happened. He hadn
’t been able to catch up with Melania and their contact had disappeared. Angel had a bad feeling about the entire thing. This was the one situation he couldn’t afford to be wrong about.

Angel had briefly wrestled with the decision of whether or not to call Dom, but had decided against it. Even though he'd asked Angel to alert him if any news came up, Angel wanted to wait until they had more information. There was no need to call him right now when they didn't know what the hell was going on yet.

"Made it home?"

Hearing Nikki
’s voice, he looked up and saw her sitting in bed flipping through a magazine. "Thought you’d be asleep.”

Angel went over and lowered his mouth to hers, frowning when she barely kissed him back.

"I’ve been awake for a while." Nikki leaned back against the headboard, watching Angel empty his pockets. "A.J. kept asking about you."

"I was hoping to get home hours ago but couldn
’t get away."

"Again,"
” Nikki mumbled. "You didn’t see him last night either."

Angel
’s eyes narrowed as they swung to her. "You know I would’ve been here if I’d been able to, Nicole. It was-"

"Business," she cut in, finishing the sentence for him. "Yes, I know. You got tied up with business." The look she directed towards him was a brief one, but Angel saw the accusation that accompanied it. "I, of course, understand that, but he doesn
’t."

In the process of unbuttoning his shirt, Angel
’s fingers stilled. His eyes turned decidedly chilly. It was late. He was tired and not in the mood. "It couldn’t be helped."

Nikki knew that tone. It was an indication that she was treading on dangerously thin ice as far as his patience was concerned, but she
’d just have to bring her life preserver if she fell through because she was going in. This was about so much more than him not being here tonight.

"I
’ve asked you not to make promises to A.J. if you don’t know whether or not you’ll be able to keep them. It only ends up disappointing him." She turned the page of the magazine with a crisp snap.

Angel studied the obstinate set of her mouth, barely managing to reel back the biting lash of words resting on the tip of his tongue. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fight off the beginnings of a headache that had been tapping away at his temples all night. His temper was being kept in check by a weak, frayed string; it wouldn
’t take much to make it snap, and Nikki was doing her best to gnaw through it until it did.

The next words he spoke started off in a deceptively calm voice, but with each sentence he uttered his tone sharpened until it ripped across the room like metal strips of razor wire.

"Let’s get this over with. For some reason, you’re itching for a fight. I’m telling you right now, it would behoove you to let it go. Please, please understand me when I say I’m not in the fucking mood, Nicole."

Eyes flashing a frosty green, he finished unbuttoning his shirt and practically tore it off his body. Balling it up into a crumpled wad, he flung it across the room and gave Nikki his full attention.

"It’s obvious that something other than me getting home late has pissed you off, so tell me what that something is." When she cut her eyes away from him and continued reading the magazine, he growled through clenched teeth, "Now, Nicole!"

Her eyes flew back to his, realizing she
’d handled this all wrong. Nikki had intended to broach the subject with him in a more relaxed manner, but the more she thought about it tonight, the angrier she’d become.

However, she knew from experience that if she let that anger get the best of her, Angel would shut down completely and she
’d get nothing, no answers whatsoever. This was one of those times where the situation called for her to appease rather than antagonize, so swallowing her anger, she made an effort to keep her voice as even as possible.

"Fine. Hawk Pattel."

Angel’s expression remained noncommittal. "What about Hawk Pattel?"

"What is this sudden interest he has in my sister?" She paused, her eyes never leaving his. "And what do you have to do with it?"

The burning intensity simmering in his eyes turned them to glittering emeralds. He was trying to intimidate her. She knew that, but she wasn’t backing down.

"Let it go, Nicole."

Nikki’s back straightened, her spine stiff. "I won’t let it go. Raven is my sister."

"Your sister is a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. I hardly think she needs you to protect her."

"I’ll always be there to protect her, the same as you’re doing with Dominick." Nikki’s voice sharpened to match his.

Angel
’s hand lifted, waving away the statement as if it were inconsequential to what they were discussing. "That’s not the same thing and you know it. Raven and Hawk are intelligent, consenting adults who obviously have an attraction to each other. If they want to fuck their brains out from here to the ends of the earth it’s none of our business, is it?"

"I don
’t trust him."

"We
’re even because I don’t trust your sister." He headed towards the bathroom with the intention of taking a shower and cooling off. "This conversation is over, Nicole."

"You didn
’t answer the second part of my question. Exactly what role are you playing in Hawk’s sudden interest in Raven?"

The string holding Angel
’s anger intact snapped. He was tired of talking about Nikki’s conniving sister and didn’t intend to say another word about her. "What part of ‘this conversation is over’ didn’t you understand?" he hissed.

Nikki
’s mouth gaped open. "Who do you think you’re talking to?" she whispered.

"I was getting ready to ask you the same question. You don't interrogate me, Nicole, are we clear?"

Angel sucked in a deep breath before exhaling. The last thing he needed right now was crap from her about her sister.

"Nikki, I
’m not in the frame of mind to choose words to avoid hurt feelings so I’m just going to say this straight out. I’ve let you get away with a helluva lot lately…"

"Let me?" Nikki leaned back against the headboard and folded her arms. "Interesting."

Angel continued as if she hadn’t spoken. "But make no mistake about it, it’s only because I chose to indulge you. Don’t ever lose sight of that fact, so the next time you decide to bring up a particular subject, I'd advise you to remember that even though I love you more than my own life, you and I are
not
equals when it comes to certain things. Please be clear on this. There are things that I have to handle right now, issues that need my full attention. Raven is not one of them." He spat her name out like it soured his taste buds to even let it rest in his mouth. "You can fool yourself into thinking that last visit was about nothing more than her wanting to reconnect with you and A.J., but I know better."

"She promised me that
–"

"I don
’t give a fuck what she promised you. She’s lying. Listen to me closely, Nicole. I don’t want us to go through this again. I want to move forward, not backwards. When you decided to come back several months ago, you told me you accepted the man that I was. Do you remember that?"

"I also said I didn
’t want any secrets between us and you agreed, but it’s obvious that only applies to secrets you choose to divulge."

Angel nodded. "You
’re absolutely right."

Nikki stared at him in surprise. "So you admit it?"

"I sincerely hope you didn’t think I was going to run every decision I made by you first and get your approval. If so, you were seriously mistaken."

"Of course I don
’t expect you to do that, but…"

"Good. Then that
’s settled." A warning smoldered just beneath the surface of the look he directed at her.

Nicole stared back, eyes flashing before she calmly resumed perusing the glossy pages of the magazine. "Fine. But just so there are no more
‘misunderstandings’ between us tonight, I’m sure it goes without saying that the last request you made when we spoke earlier will
not
be happening." She glanced up briefly to add in an obviously insincere tone, "I have a headache."

Angel gave no outward indication that he was affected by Nikki
’s gibe, but inside he was fuming. Nicole could push his buttons like no other because he gave her so much more latitude than anyone else on this earth.

Angel was the first to admit he wasn
’t an easy man to live with, but he had ways of getting his point across when he was displeased and those methods were extremely effective. His wife would find that out tonight.

When he
’d spotted Nicole at a
DWC
business meeting a couple of years ago, he had found himself instantly head over heels in lust in a way he’d never experienced. Angel never expected to fall in love with her.

In all of his years, he
’d never been involved with a woman like Nicole, had never particularly found businesswomen attractive. Before her, he’d much preferred females who were content with their life goals set no higher than that of ornamental arm candy, docile women who didn’t question his authority or challenge him at every turn.

Jaw locked tight, Angel strolled over to the chair on the far side of their bedroom where he
’d thrown his jacket. After retrieving a Cuban cigar and lighter from the inside pocket, he took great pleasure in lighting and inhaling it in deep, satisfying puffs. Nikki didn’t like him to smoke in the bedroom. He did so now to annoy her more than anything else. Ignoring her grimace of irritation as she eyed the cigar, Angel sat down, preparing to thoroughly enjoy it.

Through the thin veil of smoke, his gaze skimmed over the short, sexy nightgown she wore. There wasn
’t much to it, a couple of scraps of black lace panels and silky material that barely covered the tops of her thighs. His thoughts went back to that little sarcastic taunt of hers. Of course, he vividly remembered the conversation the two of them had engaged in several hours ago. He’d called Nicole to check on her and the kids but the subject had somehow changed and turned sexual. They’d ended the call with Angel explaining in explicit detail the things he planned on doing to her when he got home. And now she was saying that wasn’t happening? Bullshit.

Casually crossing his legs, he silently reflected on his other half. His wife was one of those good girls who
’d always done what was expected of her in order to please her parents, her friends, and society. She’d graduated at the top of her class, gone to an Ivy League school, and finished magna cum laude. Immediately afterwards, she’d stepped into a position at a Fortune 500 company drawing a six-figure income at just twenty-two years old. Impressive feat, be it man or woman.

No, Nikki had never even considered being bad and telling the world
‘fuck what you think’…until him. He was her forbidden fruit. Once she’d taken a bite and experienced the things he could make her feel, the good girl was gone forever. She eagerly hungered for the freedom he gave her, sexually and in other areas of her life.

Angel was an alpha through and through and he made no apologies for it, not even to his wife because she knew that about him before she married him. He loved control, and deep down inside, it was something Nikki craved. But from time to time, the independent woman in her balked at the very thing she ached for and admirably tried to take a stand. Like now.