Grayson's Angel_Brotherhood Protectors World Read online

  “I care more than you know. I’m choosing to live my life. If I don’t, Phantom, Pyro, and Reaper died in vain.” Grayson pointed at his knee. “Every time I take a step, I am reminded of what happened that day.”

  “At least you still have a leg.”

  “Yes. I’m sorry you lost yours. We can’t go back in time and change the outcome.”

  “Fine. I’ll run the ranch for one week.”

  It took everything in Grayson to suppress the smile that wanted to spread across his face. It was the first time he had seen hope in his brother’s eyes.

  “Thank you.”

  Noah snorted. “Don’t thank me yet. Who knows if this place will be standing when you get back.”

  “I have faith in you.”

  “We’ll see.” Noah turned and headed toward the house.

  “I thought you were going to give him more time to get acclimated.”

  “Shit! You scared the crap out of me, Thomas.”

  Thomas Carpenter was the foreman at Lazy S Ranch. He flicked a piece of straw he’d been chewing from his mouth. “You think he’s ready for this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  But Grayson felt he had to do something. Watching his brother walk around with no life in his eyes was killing him. The doctors and nurses at his brother’s rehab facility were struggling to battle his depression. They had thought it might help if Noah went home.

  Thomas walked into the stall and took the rake from Grayson. “I think you’ve done enough today, son.”

  Grayson had to hold back the growl threatening to escape. He hated looking weak. “I can finish the stall.”

  “Let the young bucks do this.” Thomas jutted his chin in the direction Noah had gone. “How do you think he’ll do without you around?”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Grayson answered, “I think he’ll do fine. With me gone, he won’t be able to hide away in the house, on the computer. I’m heading to Montana for a week with some of my military friends.”

  “Don’t worry about this place. We have it handled. I think you're right that Noah needs a swift kick in the ass.” Thomas left the stall, taking the rake and shovel with him.

  Grayson muttered a “Thank you” at Thomas’s retreating back. The inside of his knee was throbbing. He didn’t have any fight left in him. Grayson reached for a towel to wipe away the sweat running down his face. The sweat wasn’t caused by the heat. It was from the pain radiating from his knee. Maybe a weekend off would be good for him also.

  Later that night, Grayson called Hank Patterson to let him know he would be in the neighborhood. So many times, Hank told him about fishing and hiking in Montana and the crystal-clear streams. He couldn’t wait to dip his pole into the Montana water.

  Chapter 3

  Kara tapped the shoulder of the man sitting in 2B. “Um, I have the window seat, sir.” The flight from Denver to Bozeman was an hour and a half. She had booked a first-class seat, hoping she could drink enough liquid courage to tackle the day ahead of her.

  When he stood from his seat, the man towered over her five-foot-two height. Kara thought he had to be at least six feet three and pure muscle. When her eyes met his crystal-blue ones, she forgot how to breathe. How can one man be so captivating?

  “Ma’am.” He motioned for her to move into the seat.

  A light blush crept up her neck in embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to stare, but he was the sexiest man she had ever seen. She was causing a backup in the aisle.

  “Sorry,” Kara murmured before taking her seat.

  The man let out a small chuckle. “No problem, ma’am.”

  “Please stop calling me ‘ma’am.’ My name is Kara.”

  He removed his cowboy hat, set it in his lap, and turned toward her, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Kara. I’m Grayson Steele.” He had a hint of a Southern drawl that made Kara’s lady parts swoon.

  “Are you heading home?”

  “Nope. I have a ranch outside Denver. I’m heading up to a town outside Bozeman, Montana, to visit friends. How about you?”

  “I’m heading to Bozeman to visit my father.” The sexy man didn’t need to know about all the baggage that came with her father nor that this was the first time in five years she was heading home to see him.

  A shadow crossed Grayson’s face at the mention of her father. “Make sure you spend time with the ones you love. You never know how long they will be around.”

  “I know what you mean. I lost my mother six years ago, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don't think about her.”

  “You never forget them, but the pain lessens over the years.”

  The conversation was getting too heavy for a plane ride. “You mentioned you live on a ranch. How long have you lived there?”

  He frowned. At first, Kara didn’t think he would answer.

  “The ranch has been in our family for four generations,” he said tightly. “Six months ago, I was medically discharged from the military. While I was recovering, my father passed away. I’ve been running the ranch for the last six months.”

  “Thank you for your service.”

  “Thanks,” he murmured. Her seatmate’s smile didn’t reach his eyes anymore. It looked forced. “Do you and your father have anything planned?” he asked.

  Kara glanced out the plane window, watching the traffic-control workers wave the plane forward. “No. He’s in the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Is he going to be okay?”

  Before she had time to reply, the flight attendant brought them water and asked, “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Yes, tomato juice and vodka, please.”

  Grayson gave her a raised eyebrow and told the flight attendant he would have the same.

  Kara originally planned to have a drink to calm her nerves before having to deal with her dad. But she really needed the drink to cool herself down. The man next to her was emanating testosterone. Looking that good should be illegal, and he seemed like the nicest man she had ever met.

  “My father is in a coma. More than likely, he didn’t pay his bookie,” Kara complained as she took a sip of her drink. “I will check on the ranch, get information from his doctor, and be on the first flight out on Sunday.”

  “He might need you to help him.”

  “Ha!” Kara barked too loudly. “He lost that option years ago when he chose to release his grief through his fists and by gambling away the money he made each month.”

  Her companion tensed, and she could feel the anger vibrating off his body. “Is anyone going to the hospital with you?”

  Kara sighed and checked the time on her phone. She had one more hour before she landed and had to deal with her father’s issues. “I can handle my father.”

  Grayson wrote something on a napkin and handed it to Kara. “Here is my number. If you need anything, I can help.”

  She took it but knew she wouldn’t bother the man on his vacation.

  “You know I’m retired military and working on the family ranch. What do you do for a living?”

  “I work as an ER nurse at the Mile-High Medical Center.”

  “I suppose you see some interesting things come through the ER doors.”

  The vodka was flowing through Kara’s veins, and she couldn’t hold back the giggles, thinking about the case that came in the previous night.

  “Now you have to tell me. What has you giggling?”

  “Last night, I had a patient who got her boyfriend’s phone stuck in her cookie.”

  Grayson looked puzzled. “Cookie?”

  “You know, her kitty, whisker biscuit, coin purse, banana basket.” When it looked like Grayson wasn’t catching on, she said, “Her vajayjay.”

  Grayson’s smile took her breath away. “You mean vagina?”

  Kara reached for her drink and downed the remaining vodka. “My friend Steph and I don’t like the word vagina, so we come up with alternate words.”

  “How did she get he
r phone caught in her”—he raised his hands to make air quotes—“goop chute?”

  Vodka flew out of Kara’s mouth. “That is the worst name I’ve ever heard! You need to work on your wordplay.”

  For the remainder of the flight, she talked about funny things she’d seen in the ER. He told her about daring his younger brother to shove marbles up his nose. One had gotten stuck, and they had to go to the emergency room.

  When the buckle seatbelt sign flashed, Kara looked at the cowboy in the seat next to her and memorized his features for later. He would be at the forefront of some future fantasy, she was sure.

  She gripped the armrest tightly during the descent, and the plane came to a bumping halt on the airstrip in Bozeman.

  She was back in Montana, and every inch of it was full of memories she didn’t want to resurface. The first one to appear was of the week after Mom passed. Dad had come home drunk and accused her of killing her mom. She never saw the first strike coming. By the time he landed the fifth, she was out cold. The memory sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Here you go, Kara.” Grayson handed her the carry-on bag she’d boarded with. “If you ever want to go riding, make sure you call me.”

  She croaked out an “Okay.”

  He tipped his cowboy hat before grabbing his camouflage backpack and exiting the plane. Kara hefted her carry-on and scurried across the seats to exit the plane. Grayson was walking up the jetway to the airport. His tight jeans accented his fine ass. When he turned and winked at her, a blush crept up her neck. The man knew how sexy he was.

  Grayson gave her a wave as he walked toward the car rental. Kara continued down the escalator to baggage claim to retrieve her second bag.

  A man approached her, dressed in a red velour tracksuit with gold chain necklaces that hung to the middle of his chest. “Ms. Davidson?” he asked in a thick Russian accent.

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. “I think you’ve got the wrong person,” she replied. Kara searched her soundings, looking for a cop or anyone that could assist if things went wrong.

  “No. You are who we are looking for.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of Kara in her senior year of high school. He pointed at the picture. “That’s you.”

  “Why are you looking for me?”

  “Your father owes my employer lots of money, and he promised you as payment. Time to take a ride.”

  Kara had taken self-defense classes. She knew if she got in the car with the man, there was no turning back. If she was going to make a run for it, she needed to do it immediately. The Russian was blocking her way to the exit. He was around five feet nine and slender, so she might be able to take him.

  “Excuse me if I don’t take your word for it.” Kara spun on her heel to run back the way she had come, up the escalator to the other exit. When she spun, however, she ran smack dab into another velour-tracksuit-wearing Russian. His arms wrapped around her, leaving her with no way to escape. He smelled of alcohol and stale smoke.

  She felt a hard metal object poke into her back. “Time to move.”

  Not giving her an option, they pushed her toward the door. A black limousine was waiting at the exit, with a man in a suit waiting by the back door. They shoved Kara into the back of the limousine. There was no chance to escape.

  Kara reached for the handle on the opposite car door. When it clicked, she attempted to jump out. But when she was only halfway out of the limo, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back into the car.

  “Don’t piss me off, Ms. Davidson.”

  Kara sat back in the seat. She was sandwiched between the two Russian thugs from inside the airport. A slender man in a black Armani suit sat in the seat across from them. His expensive leather shoe was tapping on the floorboard of the limousine.

  “What do you want with me?” she asked, trying to think of a way out of the limo.

  The man sitting across from her tapped his cigar in the car ashtray before saying, “I thought you would want to know about your father.”

  “More than likely, he’s the reason I’m sitting in a car with a bunch of Russian thugs.”

  “Ding, ding, ding. You’re correct. You will pay your father’s debt.”

  “How much?”

  Laughter burst from his mouth. “You don’t have enough money to pay his debt. Your father has been spending time in Las Vegas, running up a large tab.”

  “If you don’t want money, then what am I here for?”

  “That is a question I’m happy to answer. You, Ms. Davidson, will be my bride. By the end of the night, you will be Mrs. Rovshan Nikitovich.”

  She had come to Montana because her father was supposedly in the hospital. Instead, she was being set up to pay for her father’s gambling addiction. No matter how mad she was at her father, deep down, she was worried her father was already dead. If he was, she had no reason to go through with a farce of a wedding.

  “Before I agree to anything, I want to see my father.”

  “So, you do have a heart, and care about your father. He’s fine, and you will see him after the wedding.”

  Anger bubbled to the surface. Her chances of living through whatever the Russian had planned were slim to none. If these overgrown thugs thought she would roll over and give them what they wanted, they had another thing coming.

  “I want to see my father before I agree to this. If you want the wedding to happen, then let me see my father.”

  The Armani-clad Russian leaped across the car and wrapped his hands around Kara’s neck. The two thugs sitting in the seats next to her held her hands down so she couldn’t fight him. “Let’s get one thing straight, Ms. Davidson. I run the show, and what I say goes. I have a very short temper and am not in the mood to be questioned.”

  When he released her throat, Kara gasped for air. She had been close to losing consciousness. She knew she had to find a way to escape, or she wouldn’t see the next day. Nikitovich had no reason to keep her alive, but he wanted to marry her for some reason. She needed to figure out what that reason was.

  Chapter 4

  Kara tugged the top of her strapless A-line wedding gown for the hundredth time. The dress was too large and kept slipping down. She pulled the veil out of her hair and chucked it across the room. Weddings were supposed to be the happiest day of a girl’s life.

  This wasn’t her happily-ever-after. She was signing her death warrant.

  She needed to find a way out of the wedding.

  She still hadn’t been given the opportunity to talk to her father. Was he dead? Glancing at the mirror, she thought the light bruising around her neck was a clear sign that she was dealing with a ruthless man, as if his actions hadn’t been enough. Really, all he’d had to do was say his last name to convince her he was ruthless. Nobody with a working brain cell dealt with that family.

  Fuck. How had her dad gotten messed up with the mob? And on top of that, the Nikitovich family? She had recognized the name the second it had left his lips. The previous year, Rovshan’s father’s trial had been in the news. He was charged with two hundred counts of human trafficking. The family had been kidnapping women who were on vacation in Las Vegas and selling them on the dark web. They also kidnapped kids and teenagers.

  The famous crime family had taken a large hit. Half of the men they had working for them were being tried in the trafficking case. Rovshan had been in Russia for the last few years, so the FBI hadn’t found any evidence that Rovshan was involved in the trafficking. Last she heard, Rovshan’s father had been sentenced to life in prison, and he had taken over the family.

  Yep, she was marrying the man in charge of the Nikitovich family. With a grunt, she flopped into the white chair. She felt numb.

  A memory of earlier that morning filtered through her mind. Grayson would know how to handle a situation like this. He would use his massive arms to take Rovshan down. Those arms were drool-worthy. Grayson was nothing like the man she was being forced to marry. He was a mons
ter.

  Mom had always said that monsters got what was coming to them. She could only hope that the monster in the adjoining room would get what was coming to him in the next thirty minutes.

  Kara glanced around the room, looking for anything she could use to escape. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something shiny under the espresso vanity. The hairdresser from earlier must have dropped the scissors—either on accident or on purpose.

  The hairdresser had been shoved into the room and told to get Kara’s hair done in thirty minutes, or they would kill her. She had been shaking so fiercely while styling Kara’s hair that Kara had doubted she could finish the task. But she managed to style Kara’s hair into an elegant updo while tears ran down her rosy cheeks. She must have known Kara was being held against her will and so left Kara the scissors in sympathy.

  A new wave of hope soared through Kara for the first time since she had been grabbed. If she survived, she was going to track down the tall hunk from the airplane and ask him out. Too bad the men took her suitcase and purse and she no longer had his number.

  Kara needed to get the door open and get the hell out of the church before she was wed. She wondered why Rovshan was going through with a church wedding. When he said they would get married, Kara thought they would head to the clerk of court. Instead, they drove an hour from Bozeman to a town called Eagle Ridge. Her family ranch, Montana Gold, was only fifteen minutes from Eagle Ridge.

  Listening to make sure no one was walking down the hall, Kara tested the door handle, hoping the last thug had left the door unlocked. The doorknob didn’t move. She reached to grab the veil lying on the floor. On the end of the veil was a thin barrette that could use to pry the lock back.

  She slipped the barrette into the space between the doorframe and the door. A minute later, Kara heard the click of the door release and let out the breath she’d been holding. When she didn’t hear footsteps or voices, she peeked her head out the door and looked each way down the hall. The coast was clear, so she worked her way out the bridal suite door.