Grayson's Angel_Brotherhood Protectors World Read online

  Kara hugged the wall as she tiptoed down the hallway, trying not to make a noise. The rustling of her skirt echoed through the hall with each step forward. When she passed the room two doors down from hers, she heard men’s voices. At the sound of her name, she stopped.

  “Kara has no clue what she’s been sitting on since her mom died. Her father has kept her in the dark for years. That old man couldn’t care less what happens to her as long as he gets his payday.”

  Kara thought she recognized the voice on the other side of the wall. It was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she knew it from.

  Rovshan’s voice came in response. “Time for you to head out. We don’t want anyone seeing you here. Use the back door.”

  Kara heard footsteps heading away from the door she was standing at and breathed a little easier. Nevertheless, she gripped the scissors tighter in her right hand and prepared for anything that might come.

  The familiar voice spoke again. “Good doing business with you, Mr. Nikitovich. I will be at the meeting point around nine tonight.”

  She heard a door close. Kara was frustrated that she couldn’t place the familiar voice, but she focused on the continuing conversation.

  “You know, boss, she is a pretty lady. Maybe you should keep her around longer than you planned.”

  “Yeah, she is a hot piece of ass. I was thinking about keeping her around for a few weeks to get my rocks off. Maybe let the team have their way with her. At least I’m not marrying some old hag. I would rather have kept her on the side for a few years, but the only way I can get my hands on the land is to marry her. And to top it off, there are stipulations about the wedding day.”

  Why does he think I have any land? Maybe he has the wrong person.

  “I want you and Bennie to go to the meeting point at nine tonight and take that man out. After I’m married to Kara, we won’t need him any longer.”

  “Are you going to tell her about…”

  Gripping the scissors in her right hand, Kara leaned in closer to the door to make sure she heard what Rovshan was about to say. The bustle of the wedding dress knocked against the door, causing a creaking noise to echo through the hallway.

  “Who’s out there?”

  Loud footsteps echoed on the other side of the door. Not waiting to see who was coming, Kara gripped her bustle with one hand and the scissors in the other and took off as fast as her short legs would go. She made it to the first turn, and though Rovshan and his men were coming after her, his footsteps were still a few feet behind her.

  The church’s front doors were in sight, or she could go left and look for her father, though she had a feeling he was already gone. But there wasn’t time to get her dad at the moment. Regardless of whether he’d gotten her into this situation, Kara would find a way to save him. At least, hopefully, she could save him.

  Kara looked over her shoulder to see if they were getting close. Rovshan was only a few steps behind her. Her heart was pounding with fear of what he might do if he caught her. She pumped her arms, trying to run as fast as she could, but a hand wrapped around her hair, jerked her head back, and caused her to stumble back into Rovshan’s arms.

  She kicked her leg back, hoping to connect with his groin. When she missed, he tightened his grip around her waist. He was holding her so tight that she couldn’t get a breath. Not wasting any more time, Kara swung her arm downward, praying the scissors would impact the man somewhere. She heard him grunt in pain, and he loosened his hold.

  Kara used that opportunity to get loose. She didn’t wait to see how badly he was hurt. The shouts of Rovshan’s men were getting louder. Kara yanked the only weapon she had out of Rovshan’s leg. The heavy footsteps of the guards were getting closer. The doors to the outside world were less than ten feet away. Using as much energy as she had, she forced herself to keep running at full speed. When she made it to the front door, she threw it open with all her weight.

  There was no time to ponder her next move. She was covered in blood from stabbing Rovshan in the leg, and it had soaked into her dress. She knew that the moment he found her, he would kill her. There was no going back from stabbing the leader of the Nikitovich family.

  Kara dashed down the stairs then took a left and ran down the street. The pavement tore her bare feet with each step. When the first shot sounded behind her, she ran in a zigzag motion. She spotted a Ford F150 parked at the red light. The stranger’s truck had to be better than anything behind her. She needed a ride to the police station, and then everything would be okay.

  The next shot missed her by a sliver. She could feel the air swoosh next to her head. The windows to the truck were down. She didn’t have time to ask for a ride. Reaching through the window, she pulled the lever to the door and hoisted her fifteen-pound dress into the truck.

  The bustle of the dress was so large that it was a challenge to close the door. Kara didn’t have time to look at the driver. She turned in the seat to see if Rovshan’s thugs were still chasing her. The moment she turned around, one of the thugs raised his gun. She could see his finger squeezing the trigger of the 9mm.

  “Go!” she screamed.

  Another shot rang through the air, breaking the back window.

  Chapter 5

  No matter how hard Grayson tried, he couldn’t forget the brown-eyed angel on the plane. Her golden-blond hair had reminded him of a halo. Her tight white shirt had molded to her curves and accented her perfect figure. When she spoke, her husky voice had gone straight to his groin.

  An image of Kara floated through his head, causing his pants to tighten.

  It had been too damn long since he’d gotten laid. He hadn’t been with a woman since he’d been injured. Even before then, he’d been getting sick of one-night stands. He’d been in the hospital in Germany for three months before he was discharged. Then he came straight home to take over Lazy S Ranch after his father passed away.

  Grayson was ready to find “the one.” Maybe when he got home from Wyoming, he would start dating again. No, scratch that. I’m going to set up profiles on every dating website, no maybes about it. I’m not getting any younger.

  He tapped his fingers on the center console of the F150 he had rented, waiting for the traffic to clear. The fresh, crisp Montana air breezed in through the open window. The smell of lavender filtered into the truck, reminding him of the blond-haired angel. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  The sound of the phone ringing through the car speakers interrupted his thoughts. Clicking the hands-free button, Grayson answered the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “How close are you to Eagle Ridge?”

  “I stopped and picked up a few things for the fishing trip. I should be at Oak Creek in thirty minutes. Are we heading out to the fishing cabin tonight or tomorrow?”

  “Bear is finishing up a case as we speak. We were all planning to go up tomorrow. Tonight, I figure you and I could get caught up, and Sadie can’t wait to meet you.”

  Grayson had met Hank ten years ago when his SEAL team worked with Grayson’s to retrieve a captured solider in the Paktika province of Afghanistan. The solider had walked away from his post at night to meet a local woman he had fallen for. She claimed her son was missing and needed help to find him. But she turned on him and led him into a trap. The solider had spent three weeks being tortured before they could save him. The soldier they rescued, Travis Carpenter, had never fully recovered from his torture and took his life a few years back.

  “Sounds like—”

  The door to the truck swung open with so much force that the metal ground in protest. A puff of white shoved into the passenger seat of the vehicle. When the blond-haired angel from earlier that morning peeked through the dress, Grayson couldn’t help but stare in astonishment, but a loud gunshot soon captured his attention.

  “Go!” she screamed.

  The second shot hit the window and shattered the glass. Cars were coming toward them in the other l
ane, so making a split-second decision, Grayson jerked the wheel to the right and put his foot down on the gas. Kara let out a loud squeal when the first wheel went over the curb. In his peripheral vision, he saw her hand shoot up to the oh-shit bar.

  Once all tires were on the sidewalk, Grayson laid on the horn, hoping everyone on the sidewalk would get out of their way.

  He had forgotten Hank was still on the phone until his voice came through the speakers. “What the hell is going on, Gray?”

  Kara startled at Hank’s voice.

  “Uh, not much. Bride of Chucky jumped in my car, and then I was shot at. You know, the usual when you’re on vacation.”

  Grayson thought he could feel Kara glaring at him. When he glanced her way, his assumption was confirmed. She looked wild, and her eyes burned with emotion.

  “Are you headed out to the ranch so we can figure out what’s going on?”

  Grayson quickly assessed the woman in the passenger seat. Her face was stained with tears, and her dress was covered in blood. Kara grasped a bloody pair of scissors so hard that her knuckles were white. She needed to be protected, and he would do everything in his power to make sure she was.

  “No, but I need to go somewhere.”

  Through the phone, he could hear Hank shifting in what sounded like a leather chair. He let out a long breath. “Why don’t you come out here, and we can figure out what is going on together.”

  Grayson let out a frustrated breath. “I’m not bringing this to your doorstep. You have a wife and child at your house. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with quite yet. If it ends up being something little, we’ll head out to the ranch. The men shooting at us were on foot when I jumped the curb and took the corner. It looks like we lost them.”

  “There is a motel ten miles north of town. It's called Hill Ridge. Get a room, figure out what is going on, and then give me an update.”

  “Grayson!” she screamed in a hoarse voice.

  When he glanced into the rearview mirror, he saw a black town car was close to rear-ending the truck. “Hank, I’ll call you later tonight. I have a tail to lose.” Not waiting for an answer, he clicked the end-call button on the steering wheel.

  “You want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Grayson growled. “Hold on.”

  Before she could reply, he took a sharp right. The truck’s tires squealed around the corner. One side of the vehicle rose from the street, and the smell of burned rubber wafted through the window.

  The black town car didn’t have time to react and missed the turn. Grayson heard the tires of the car squeal to a stop and start to reverse. Before the goons had time to make it back to the intersection, Grayson turned down a side street. He hauled ass down the block and flew through the intersection without looking. An oncoming car screeched to a halt only inches away from the driver-side door.

  Clearing two more blocks, Grayson pulled into the parking lot of a local diner and hunched down in his seat.

  “What the hell is going on?” Grayson asked. “Why do you look like the Bride of Chucky?”

  She picked at the bloody dress. “I don’t even know where to start.” She threw her hands up in the air. “This day has been a total cluster fuck.”

  Grayson pinched the bridge of his nose. His nerves were running thin. “Start from the beginning, and I want to hear everything, including why you are covered in blood.”

  Her eyes were glued to the review mirror. He could see the worry swimming through her brown eyes. “After our flight, I went to baggage claim, where I was kidnapped by two Russian thugs.”

  “Are you sure they were Russian?” he asked.

  Kara leveled her eyes at him. “Yes. Are you going to let me tell the story, or are you going to stop me every few seconds?” When he gestured for her to go on, she continued. “I tried to escape, but they put a gun to my back. They shoved me into a limousine. Rovshan Nikitovich was in the car. He informed me that we were getting married today.”

  Grayson couldn’t believe his ears. He knew who Rovshan Nikitovich was. Anyone who watched the news knew the Nikitovich family. They ran Vegas. Anyone who crossed the family ended up dead.

  “Are you sure it was Rovshan Nikitovich?” The words came out before he could stop them.

  Kara rolled her eyes and said, “Yes.”

  Realizing they were sitting ducks in the parking lot, Grayson put the truck in reverse and headed north toward the motel.

  “Don’t you want to hear the rest of the story?”

  “Yes, but this is worse than I originally thought. We need to ditch the truck and go to the motel, where you can tell me everything else. Then we can come up with a game plan.”

  Grayson heard Kara huff. “The gunshots weren’t a clear indicator that this was a bad situation?”

  He stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process the situation.

  “Angel, you realize you have the biggest crime family in the United States after you, right?”

  “I don’t need a reminder,” she grumbled.

  Grayson drove until he figured they were about a mile from the motel. He made sure to park it behind an abandoned building that was surrounded by trees so it couldn’t be seen by cars on the road. Luckily, the road to the motel wasn’t very busy. Kara stuck out like a sore thumb in her wedding dress. Grayson reached into the back of the truck, dusted the broken glass off his duffel bag, and grabbed his stuff.

  When he turned and saw Kara shivering from the cool spring air, he reached into the bag for one of his flannel shirts. He handed it to her, and she wrapped it around her arms and shoulders.

  The walk to the hotel went quickly. Behind the building was a fenced-in area near a pool. It was too cold to use the outdoor pool, so no one was near it. He grabbed Kara’s arm and moved her behind it to shield her from the road and people walking by.

  “Stay right here. I will get us a room.”

  When she started to protest, he continued. “If Rovshan’s men come asking the front desk clerk if he recognizes you, I don’t want him to say he saw you.”

  “Fine. Hurry. I don’t want to be left alone.”

  Kara voice was shaky for the first time. Grayson assumed her adrenaline was wearing off and expected she would crash very soon. He needed to get her into a room before that happened.

  “Don’t leave this spot.” He turned on his heel and ran toward the entrance of the motel. He was determined to secure a room in record time.

  When he made it back to where he’d left Kara, she was gone. There was no sign of her anywhere.

  Chapter 6

  Kara replayed Grayson’s words in her head. Don’t leave this spot. She knew deep down she should listen, but every sound was making her nervous. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and it felt like someone was watching her. When a black town car pulled into the parking lot, Kara knew she needed to move.

  A family of four exited the side of the building. Slipping her hand in between the door and the frame before it could shut, Kara made it into the motel without having to go through the front. She also wasn’t in view of the town car that pulled into the parking lot.

  Kara rested her back against the wall closest to the door so she could see out. She slowly slid down the wall and planted her ass on the floor, the layers of her dress piled around her. When she looked down at the bloodstained fabric, the events of the day came crashing down.

  Her father might still be out there. She had no clue if he was alive or dead. And she had also pulled Grayson into her problems.

  As if summoned by her thought, Grayson ran by the door, and she jumped into action. He would be pissed she had moved. After checking to see that no one else was around, she yanked the door open.

  “Grayson, I’m over here.”

  His head whipped around at the sound of her voice, and he jogged over to the door. “I told you to stay put.” His voice was full of worry.

  The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry. He had helped her out so much already. If he hadn’
t been at the stoplight, she wouldn’t still be alive.

  The words came out between sobs. “I thought… I saw… a town car.”

  Strong arms wrapped around her body. Grayson pulled her against his firm chest. He smelled like the outdoors. She let out a long breath and laid her head against his chest.

  Grayson rested his chin on top of her head. “It will be okay. I was worried when I didn’t see you outside. Let’s get you out of this dress.”

  “Okay.”

  Kara followed Grayson to their room. It was a basic corner room next to an emergency exit. A king-size bed was covered with a crisp white bedspread, and a plaid couch sat under the window.

  He must have noticed her staring at the bed. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Why don’t you jump in the shower and get the blood out of your hair? You’ll feel better when you’re clean. While you’re in the shower, I’ll order us some food, and we can talk more about what happened.”

  “I hope you like cheese bur—” Grayson’s words stopped midsentence when Kara stepped out of the bathroom.

  “Holy shit,” Grayson gritted out. “Let me find something for you to wear.”

  She had stepped out of the bathroom in a small white towel. There was no way she would have put the ruined wedding dress back on. Kara had forgotten to ask if he had a shirt before she stepped into the bathroom to take her shower.

  Grayson tossed her a white T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and headed back to the bathroom. The shirt reached her knees, and she had to roll the shorts over five times before she could get them to stay up.

  When she exited the bathroom, Grayson was standing next to the window, watching the cars go by. At the sound of her footsteps on the carpet, he turned around.

  “Our food is here.’”

  “Thank you. I’m starving.”

  “Let's sit down on the couch to eat, and then you can tell me everything.”

  “Thinking about it is making my appetite go away.” Kara was frustrated that her day had not gone the way she had planned at all.