Vanished Pride (The Seven Sin Sisters 4) (14 page)

“Mrs. Sabatini,” Trevor nodded and reached out to shake her hand.

“Oh, wow, you can’t call me that,” Paige laughed, “I think you might be
the first person to use that title. Why don’t you just call me Paige?”

Trevor looked over at Donovan who nodded. “Okay. Paige it is,” Trevor
said. “Now what can I do to help?”

Paige handed him an apron to match the ones Sadie and Gracie wore. Then
she pointed him in the direction of a large storage room, handed him the
packing slip and sent him to find her boxes she had shipped the week before. With
the muscles that young man had, he could lift her heavy boxes of pans and
ingredients. She had no intention of doing this without her own supplies, but
getting Sadie to help Gracie move them was so not happening.

“I have to go. I’ll see you tonight. Hopefully by then, we’ll have this
wrapped up, Nassir removed and I can enjoy watching you announced winner.”

“Really? You think this could happen today?” Paige’s heart rate shot up,
and her hands suddenly grew sweaty. Goddess, maybe she shouldn’t have insisted
on coming. What if she put all these people at risk? Her sisters? Her mate?

“Paige, look at me,” Donovan took both her hands in his and leaned his
forehead down against hers using their mental connection. “
Madden wanted you to come even before I could argue against it. This is
our clearest way to capture Nassir and find out exactly what he knows about the
Valendite Breed and how he plans to use the information. Nothing that happens
during this mission is your fault.
”

Swallowing down her doubts and worry, she gave Donovan a tight smile,
squeezed his hand and let him go. Paige headed in the direction of the storage
room where she could hear laughing. It was time to get to work and win this
competition.

* * * *

Donovan spent the next few hours setting perimeter security before they
sat waiting for what was to come. Donovan paced. His blood levels were still
unstable from being newly mated and he couldn’t seem to sit still. The constant
movement helped with the feeling of having disconnected from Paige. He knew he
was partly to blame for the argument with Paige on the airplane, and he felt
miserable each time he thought back to his father’s words on the plane.

“Son, you are the head of your household. There is much responsibility
with that task. Your mate must always come first, even above your own emotions.
Find a way to rein them in and focus on her needs.”

His father was exactly right. He’d been out of his mind with worry and
hadn’t stopped to think about what Paige was feeling. Even more stupid is that
he simply needed to be still and tap into her emotions through their connection
to know what she needed.

Caedon’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “I’ve got eyes on
movement in the third quadrant south, along the alley. Two men in suits. All
guests have been entering through the front. These men do not belong.” Caedon
moved his hands across the keyboards faster than Donovan could follow. Madden,
Seamus and Gage had already spread out over the building entrances.

“That’s my angle, guys, and I’ve got eyes on them now.” Gage stated over
the radio.

“Just watch. Don’t make any moves,” Caedon answered.

As if on some kind of unspoken cue, Caedon’s phone rang. The shrill of
its jingle startled Donovan as Caedon reached to answer it. Placing it to his
ear, he said nothing and waited.

A husky masculine voice came across the line. “I hope you’re prepared
for company. We will be there soon to retrieve what you took from us.”

Caedon switched the call to speaker so the man’s deeply accented voice
filled the room. He continued tapping away at keys as Donovan stalled the
caller.

“Who am I speaking to?”

“I believe you know exactly what I’m talking about and who I am. Now, my
boss wants his property and we have come to reclaim her.” The man spoke calmly,
certain of himself.

“Reclaim who from where?”

“We’ve got the cabin surrounded,” the man’s heavily accented voice
stated.

Donovan muted the phone and told Caedon, “He thinks we’re at the cabin.
He fell for it.”

“I need to get on the phone to Nico and Granger,” Caedon said, “You
handle him.”

Turning back to the phone, Donovan played along with the caller’s
misperception. “We won’t be returning anything. She’s being taken care of after
the poor treatment she received from you.”

“I dare say she enjoyed my treatment of her,” the man laughed.

“You’re disgusting. She was a prisoner and we have no plans to allow her
to be captured by you again.” Donovan grew angrier the more he heard the
cockiness in this man’s voice, but he knew Caedon needed him to stay on the
line.

“Very well then. We shall take her by force. I suppose this means we
don’t need you to put the tea on. We’ll just shoot in and grab her.” His words
ended and the line went dead. The man hung up.

“I’ve got a lock,” Caedon said. “The call came from about forty miles
north of the cabin.” Caedon opened the line to the other men and relayed the
message. He worked at getting coordinates in to Nico who was running
communications at the cabin.

 
Gage reported in. “They seem to
be doing recon, nothing but poking around and checking doors. Nothing is
unlocked except the loading dock. I’ll keep my eyes on them.”

“We’ve got eyes on them here too. And we’ve heard from Nassir. His group
seems to be focused on the cabin. I don’t think they’re aware of our presence
here,” Donovan reported since Caedon was relaying their new intel to Nico.
Donovan had to give Nassir credit for the simultaneous attacks. Had they not
been on the top of their game, they may have missed one to cover the other.

“Caedon reporting to Nico?” Madden asked.

“As we speak,” Donovan confirmed. Surveying the monitors again, he
spotted what he never thought he’d find so easily. “Fuck. Nassir just showed
his face.”

“Location?” Seamus called out.

Caedon ended his connection to Nico and zoomed in on the monitor Donovan
was pointing to. A few keystrokes later, a second of holding his breath and
Caedon confirmed Donovan’s assertion. “It’s him – a definite match. I’ve run
facial recognition and its 99%.”

“The bastard is coming right in the front door.” Donovan grabbed his
jacket that held his weapons and headed out the door to join the others.

“Gage, hold position. You’ve got the backdoor boys. Now that we have
Nassir sighted, take them out – as discreet as possible. The rest of us are on
Nassir.” Madden gave the order and the mission was a go.

Within seconds, Donovan rounded the corner to the alcove just inside the
front door of the event center. Cautiously, they perched in waiting to see
where Nassir would head to once he entered. Every member of TEU wanted to
capture Nassir. The last time they thought they had him, only to have him
disappear from their grasp when they attempted the handoff with the CIA. They
wouldn’t be making that mistake again. This time, they’d be keeping him as a
houseguest. Nassir was no ordinary human. Donovan had begun suspecting he may
be super-charging himself on Valendite blood and he might take this chance to
test his experiments. Still, he couldn’t help but consider that maybe killing
Nassir was the better alternative.

“Madden, we’ve got to take this bastard out or none of us are safe.” Donovan’s
voice was strong despite his consuming fury. Everything changed now that he had
a mate. Missions were no longer fun and games. This threat was all too real and
all too personal.

“We hold to our plan. He still believes he took us by surprise.” Madden’s
voice came across strong and fierce. It left no room for argument.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Caedon reported movement again. It
seemed Nassir was doing some personal surveillance since he didn’t enter the
event center immediately. “He’s entering the far left door, VIP ticket in hand.”

“He’s an invited guest. This means he’s got more access.” Donovan
thought aloud, “The meet and greet with the contestants is in a half hour. All
VIPs are invited to attend the reception. That’s why he’s here today.”

“I’ve removed the two in the back,” Gage’s voice came through the
headset. “Clean-up and disposal is happening now. Those boys in black do not
look happy with us, Madden.”

“I’ll deal with them later. Circle around and cover the front door. Do
everything we can to take him alive,” Madden issued the command, “No deviation
in that plan.”

“Okay. Show time. Follow that hall to your left. Second door on right is
an empty storage room. Nassir will head that away; and luck is on our side
because he’s alone. You’ve got, I’d say, three minutes. Go. I’ll pick up the
van and meet you in the back with Gage,” Caedon gave directions and cut the
line.

Moving as quickly as they could, the three of them—Donovan, Madden and
Seamus—entered the storage room and allowed the door to remain cracked open. It
was only moments before they scented Nassir with their heightened Valendite
Breed senses.

Madden stepped into the hall and faced off with Nassir. Donovan and
Seamus moved to either side of Madden and waited for Nassir to realize who they
were.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Nassir spoke, confused by their presence. This
confirmed their suspicion he’d believed they were all following the attack at
the cabin. “I received confirmation from my men in the United States.”

“There are some men there as well. It was simple to follow your
two-pronged attack plan.” Madden glared as he answered Nassir.

“So you’re going to
kill me,” Nassir clucked his tongue, shook his head and continued, “Then you’ll
have no information. You’ll never know who is aiding me in my search.” Nassir
was incredibly pleased with himself.

Donovan wanted to wipe
that grin right off his face. “We have no plans to kill you. We’re going to
have you as our houseguest for a bit.”

A quick jump in the
clench of Nassir’s jaw let Donovan know he’d rattled him. “You’ll turn me over
to the US government and still get no information.”

Madden took a step
forward and Donovan and Seamus moved behind Nassir so he was now surrounded.
“We never said we were turning you over. As Donovan said, we plan to have you
as our guest. Won’t that be fun?”

The sarcasm in Madden’s
voice was not lost on Nassir who seemed to pale at Madden’s declaration. He
pivoted to take a step backwards but was stopped by Seamus and Donovan. “You
are going nowhere.”

With hands in a vice
grip on his arms, Seamus and Donovan followed Madden toward the back entrance
where Caedon was waiting. Nassir didn’t put up much of a fight. He suspected
the first thing they’d do is scan him for any tracking devices. Once burned,
twice shy and all that. Donovan shook his head but mostly, he was simply
relieved to have Nassir in their custody. His mate could now enjoy the Coupe Du
Monde.

Chapter Eight

They celebrated Paige’s
victory in the Coupe du Monde in the most charming Parisian restaurant with all
their friends, some of her sisters and Donovan’s family surrounding them.
Madden and Gage had flown back to the United States with Nassir but everyone
else remained to take part in the Coupe du Monde de la
Boulangerie
.
The competition attracted more than eighty thousand visitors since it was much
like a fair, held in conjunction with the
Europain
.
Everyone was in high spirits with the stress of TEU’s mission behind them and
the victory celebration at hand.

Still, Paige couldn’t
wait to be alone with her mate. Aside from drinking from one another and a
quick stolen moment, they hadn’t spent much time together over the last three
days. She was more than ready when he suggested she make it an early night.

Goddess,
help her but she could hardly make the walk back to their hotel suite with
running her hands up and down his muscular chest as they walked. Paris was
beautiful at night. Paige knew she should soak in the moment but nothing
compared to her mate. She may not have spent a great deal of time with him but
his mother joined her for a meal each day and Paige came to understand more
about Donovan.

His
expression before dinner when Paige had agreed to be pierced tonight was one of
dark hunger. He’d spent most of his time since then watching her and growling.
Paige suspected his impatience was as great as hers as he hurried them along
the quiet streets of Paris.

When
they finally made it to the elevator and were gloriously alone, Donovan pushed
her against the wall and held her off the ground with his body flush against her.
He claimed her mouth in a bruising kiss, bit down on her lower lip and drank in
her blood. His tongue sought entry into her mouth and she tasted his blood. He
must’ve punctured his own tongue to share his blood as well. Paige sucked on
him, pulling in his warm, syrupy blood and reveling in the firmer connection
forming between them.

Breaking
the kiss when the elevator indicated they’d reached their floor, Donovan picked
Paige up and swung her over his shoulder.