Kade and Viktor hugged the building. A small army of police surrounded it as well, quiet as death. They’d arrived, lights and sirens off so as to not alert the unsub. All the vehicles, including the ambulances were parked down the road. They’d entered the property through the woods on the south side. A single light shone through a window in the back of the building.
“Everyone’s in place.” Bailey peered around the building. “We’re ready.”
Kade nodded, and Bailey gave the signal. Jeremy led the charge in the front, and officers swarmed the entrance, knocking down the door leading into the garage itself. Kade, Viktor, and Bailey led a second team through the side entrance that housed the stairs leading to the apartment upstairs. Bailey kicked in the door and moved cautiously inside, Kade on his heels.
The front area consisted of a living room and kitchen. Dirty dishes lay piled in the sink. He moved farther into the room, his gun held at the ready.
When his eyes landed on the computer screen, he motioned Bailey over. The guy had hidden security cameras both outside and inside the building, front and back. He had to have seen them coming. He knew they were here.
“Well, there went the element of surprise.” Bailey radioed downstairs to check the status. They’d found no one. “He’s either gone out through a hidden entrance, or he’s here somewhere.”
Kade glanced down the hallway where three closed doors waited. Angel might be behind one of them. Or he might have escaped with her.
He nodded to three of the officers, and together with Bailey, they started down the hall, clearing one room at a time.
It was the third door on the left that nearly caused his heart to stop. She was there, naked and bound on the bed. Her eyes met his, and she shook her head frantically, her gaze shooting to his left. He turned, catching the glint of steel out of the corner of his eye. He had just enough time to raise his arm and block knife thrust. Instead of hitting his throat where it had originally been aimed, the blade sliced through his forearm.
A swift kick to his knee, and Kade went down. The unsub turned, catching the next officer coming through the door with a quick knife thrust to his heart, dropping him instantly. He pulled the blade free as Kade struggled to stand. Bailey entered the room, more cautiously than the young officers. Kade shouted a warning, and the seasoned officer dropped and rolled, coming to his knees, gun up and at the ready, but the unsub disappeared out of his line of sight.
“Now, now, gentlemen, I think you both should drop your weapons.”
Kade whirled. The unsub stood behind him, a knife to the throat of one of the officers who’d rushed in to help. The man couldn’t be older than twenty-five. His eyes pleaded for help.
“It’s over, Donovan.” Bailey kept his gun trained on the unsub who was slowly backing toward the door where Viktor waited, his eyes narrowed, intent. “This place is surrounded. There’s no escape.”
A chuckle erupted from Donovan. “Ohh, someone’s been doing their homework. Do you really think I would have gone to all the trouble of burning off my fingerprints if I wanted you to know who I was? Wes Donovan is just one of a hundred personas.”
Kade’s gaze shifted to Angel when he heard her whimper. He’d only glanced at her before, but now he could see the burns on her back, her legs. Blisters were bubbling up. A snarl of rage escaped, and he turned back to Donovan. He wasn’t getting out of here. Dead or alive. The man was going to pay for this.
“What do we have here, Agent Pretty Boy?” Donovan cocked his head and studied Kade. “That kind of rage only comes from someone who’s close to the victim. Who is she to you? Sister? No, I don’t think so. Girlfriend?”
Kade balled his fist.
“Definitely your girlfriend.” Donovan smiled, his eyes as bright as a kid’s in a candy store. “Don’t you want to know what I did to your girl? We’ve had so much fun together.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Viktor moved closer, and Kade took a step toward Donovan, his vision tinted red.
“Uh, uh, uh, Agent.” Donovan pressed the knife into the officer’s throat. To his credit, the man didn’t so much as make a sound when the blade bit into his skin and blood oozed from the cut. “You take one more step and he dies.”
Kade stopped, but Viktor didn’t. He kept edging closer and closer, inching along the wall and staying away from the glare of the hallway light so his shadow wouldn’t appear on the floor.
“She has exquisite skin. Those cinnamon rosebuds of hers like to pucker up just so when you suck on them first, and then use your teeth to pull them. She tastes so good. She felt even better when I buried my cock inside her. All that tight, wet heat. Her voice goes all raspy when she moans around my cock. Yes, Agent, we had so much fun while we waited for you. Best fuck I’ve had in a long time.”
Viktor pounced the same time Kade lost it and rushed the unsub. The officer stomped down hard on Donovan’s foot when Viktor forced the knife away from his throat, causing Donovan to relax his grasp enough for the officer to free himself and move just as Kade’s fist met the unsub’s stomach.
Donovan grunted and leaned forward, slamming his head into Viktor’s hard enough to make Viktor release him. Kade’s grin matched Donovan’s and they slammed into each other, fists flying. It was a dance of punch and move, duck and swing. Donovan wasn’t a weakling. He fought as hard and dirty as any of Kade’s brothers.
Donovan’s eyes were cold, madness swirling in them as the knife swung toward Kade. He leaned back and followed it up with a swift punch to the man’s jaw, taking advantage of the forward motion of Donovan’s swing. What he didn’t count on was Donovan absorbing the punch and using Kade’s momentum against him. The hot sting of the blade entering his flesh barely registered as Kade let out a roar and grabbed the man by the throat, rage guiding him as he stared at the grinning madman who’d raped his wife. He choked him, following him down as Donovan’s legs gave out.
“Kade, let go!”
He ignored Bailey, ignored the futile attempts to pry his hands away from Donovan. He wanted to see the light leave the bastard’s eyes as he died.
“Kade, if you kill him, you’ll go to jail. Then what’ll happen to Angel? She needs you, and if you go to jail, you’ll have left her all over again. Let go.”
Kade tightened his grip on Donovan’s throat, his fingers digging in, but he couldn’t ignore Viktor’s words. He wouldn’t leave her again, and she needed him more than he needed to kill this piece of shit. He let go and several officers rushed him, pulling him away from the unsub.
Angel watched, horrified as they fought. Gagged as she was, there was no way to tell them he was lying, that he hadn’t penetrated her. She saw the rage turn to blind madness in Kade’s eyes. They struggled, and she twisted, ignoring her pain as she tried to see what was happening. When the two of them fell to the floor, she struggled harder. Kade would kill him. Then she’d lose him all over again. Her eyes begged Viktor to stop him. He leaned down and whispered something to his brother. What, she didn’t know, but Kade released the man they called Donovan. Her whole body sagged in relief. He hadn’t killed him. Thank God.
Kade turned toward her, shaking off the officers holding him, and took several steps, but he stumbled. He looked down at his shirt, and she followed his gaze. Several dark red spots were blooming across the fabric. He was hurt. The crazy man must have stabbed him.
“Angel…I’m coming, moye serdtse.” Kade took several more steps toward her, his face going white as more and more blood soaked his shirt. He was trying to get to her, and Angel started thrashing. She needed to make them help him. She couldn’t lose him. Not again. One of the officers rushed to her, taking the gag out of her mouth.
“Viktor!” she screamed.
Viktor hurried toward her, but stopped when he saw his brother, who looked pale and began to sway. He cursed in Russian and barely caught Kade before he fell. “Get EMS in here now!” Viktor yanked Kade’s button down shirt open and gasped. He took off his own shirt and pressed it down on one of the wounds.
“Viktor, is he okay?”
Viktor’s eyes met hers, and she knew. It was bad.
No. God couldn’t be this cruel to her. He’d just given Kade back. He couldn’t take him away. Not now. Please, don’t take him.
“I’m good,” Kade said and tried to sit up. His brother held him down.
“Stay still, fucker. I can’t get this bleeding to stop if you keep moving.”
The officer finally got her cuffs off, and she fell off the bed, not caring she was as naked as the day she was born. She crawled over to Kade and took his hand, ignoring the pain every movement caused.
“I’m sorry, moye serdtse.” Kade’s grip on her hand weakened, and he coughed. “I tried to get here in time.”
“You did, though. He lied. He didn’t rape me. He was about to when his alarm went off. You saved me, Kincaid. You kept me safe.”
“He didn’t?”
“No. He didn’t. I swear it on our son’s grave. He didn’t rape me.”
Kade coughed again, and a small trickle of blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth, causing her and Viktor to flinch.
“Where the hell is EMS?” Bailey screamed into his radio when he caught sight of Kade.
“At least I did one thing right.” Kade took a strangled breath. “Maybe one day you’ll forgive me for all the horrible things I did to you, but I want you to know I love you, Angel. Remember that.”
His eyes closed.
“No, damn you!” Her fist hit him in the chest. “You can’t leave me.”
Viktor tried to pull her away from Kade, and she fought him.
“No. I won’t let him die.”
“Easy, Angel. Let EMS work. He’s not dead yet. He’s a fighter, and he has something to live for. He has you.”
Another crew of EMS swarmed her, but she didn’t pay them any attention. She watched as they worked on Kade, praying and cursing God all in the same breath. When they loaded him up on a stretcher, she made Viktor help her over to him, and she leaned down so her lips were against his ear. “I forgive you, Kade. Do you hear me? I forgive you for all of it, but I swear if you die on me, I will never forgive you for that.”
Viktor pulled her back and picked her up, his gentle movement belying his savage appearance. EMS rolled another stretcher in for her, and Viktor guided her onto it. They made her lie face down and put a wet sheet over her burns. She felt nothing. Her whole body was numb.
She was empty.
Alone.
Kade couldn’t die.
He couldn’t.
“We’ll get you to the hospital in no time, Miss Lemoraux,” the EMS woman told her.
Angel took a deep breath, daring God and fate and whoever else was listening to let him die, before she looked at the woman. “It’s Mrs. Kincaid.”
***
“How is she?”
Kade looked over to see Dimitri wheeling himself through Angel’s door. Dimitri was still having problems with his legs. Not all of the feeling had come back, and the doctors were concerned about the effects of the homemade neurotoxin. It had been a little over a week since the capture of Boston’s now most notorious serial killer. Two of Viktor’s men were having problems as well.
Angel wasn’t suffering the same effects. She’d told Bailey she’d yanked the dart out as soon as she felt it. The doctors thought it saved her from the same complications as the others who’d had that dart in them far longer. She wasn’t out of the woods, but they were hopeful.
“Better. She’s been in and out. Her burns are healing nicely. Thank God, they were only second degree burns. She hasn’t been awake long enough for them to test her sensory depth, though. I know they’re still concerned about her movement.” Her nightmares hadn’t let up, though. She woke up screaming almost every time she closed her eyes.
“And you?” Dimitri inquired. “It’s not every day you get stabbed multiple times.”
Viktor told him he’d been in surgery for hours while they worked to repair his spleen and liver. The knife had done some serious damage. He could barely move without pain, but he refused high doses of pain meds. He’d almost become an alcoholic, so he knew how easy it was for an addiction to take root. He’d deal with his pain.
“I’d be better if they moved me into the same room as Angel.”
“You two had a chance to talk yet?” Dimitri yawned.
“No. Every time we get five minutes, people are rushing in to visit, or the nurses are kicking me out.”
“They need to kick you out or you wouldn’t eat.”
Kade smiled when he heard Angel’s voice. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Did we wake you?”
“No, my stomach woke me. I’m starving.”
Dimitri laughed. “Finally, someone who can eat as much as I can. How about I order us some delivery?”
“Pizza?” Angel asked hopefully.
“Pizza it is, sestra. I’ll be back when it arrives. I need to go convince the nurses to let me sneak it in.”
Angel shook her head as she watched him wheel himself out of the room. He was quite a character. He flirted with every nurse who so much as looked at him. At least she now knew where Nik got it from. Dimitri was the original manwhore.
“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
Kade’s anxious voice pulled her attention back to him. He’d lost weight. It worried her. He didn’t look so good. “I’m fine. Sore, but fine. You look like shit, Kincaid.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t look like roses either, Mrs. Kincaid.”
She scrunched up her nose. Her hair was an oily mess. She could smell it. The nurses promised her a shower in a day or two. The plastic surgeon had better give her the go-ahead. Sponge baths were not her thing.
“You up for talking?”
She swung her gaze back to him. He sounded so serious. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Me and you.” He bit his lip. A new habit she’d noticed he did when he was nervous. He looked more than nervous. There was fear in his eyes.
Angel had been trying to find a way to talk to him about their relationship too. The fear that plagued her the first two days after his surgery still lived like a live wire in her stomach. She’d almost lost him. She wasn’t prepared to let him go.
“I’ve been thinking about us too.” She fiddled with her blanket.
“I’m hoping you’ll think about giving us another chance.” Kade wheeled his chair closer to her bed so he could take her hand. “I know I don’t deserve a second chance, Angel, but I’m asking for one. I love you. More than you can ever possibly know.”
“I’m not going to promise that it’ll work out, Kade, but I love you too. Always have. A wise old flower told me fate sometimes gives us a good kick in the ass when we fall off the path. Seeing you almost die was my kick in the ass. So, yes, Kade, I’ll give us another chance. No more lies, though.”
“No more lies,” he promised and gave her the biggest shit eating grin, which made her laugh.
“Aww, isn’t this just precious?” Nikoli waltzed in. “So, you’re staying in the family, Angel girl?”
“It appears so. At least for now. Kade and I still have a lot to talk about, but it looks promising.”
Nikoli slapped Kade on the back then leaned in to carefully hug her. “Welcome to the family, sestra.”
“You always did have the worst sense of timing,” Kade grouched.
“Don’t be a sore loser.” Nikoli pulled up a chair and plopped down. “You have all the time in the world to spend with your wife. I came to visit. Lily and I are leaving tonight for Virginia. We’re spending Christmas at Adam’s family’s farm. Her mom is flying up. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t need me. I can stay if you do.”
“No, I’ve got Viktor, Dimitri, and Angel. We’ll be fine.”
“Look what I found!” Dimitri rolled back in, Viktor behind him carrying bags of food, the labels reading Joe’s.
“You could have helped me, motherfucker.” Viktor glared at Nikoli, who blew him a kiss.
Angel looked over at Kade, and he smiled, shaking his head. There went their alone time.
But it was good to be surrounded by family. They would have all the time in the world to spend alone later. Right now, they would enjoy their family.