Fighting for Control (Against the Cage Book 3) (37 page)

Here.
The bastard had called her four times and texted her three in the last hour and a half.

We’re in the back, to the right of the entrance. Hurry up.

Oh, he was in a hurry, all right—in a hurry to get his hands on this piece of shit and make sure he never bothered Clover again. He couldn’t believe the bastard had used him to blackmail her. If he hadn’t come for her when he did, how far would it have gone? How long would she have let him control her to protect Nikko’s secrets? When he thought of her sacrifice, what she’d done to protect him, it made him sick with guilt. But he had her back now. He had a second chance to do things right, and he wouldn’t let her go again.

Nikko followed Barry’s directions. It didn’t take him long to spot the arrogant prick in his three-piece suit, sipping a glass of white wine as he spoke to the man and woman across from him. The empty seat beside the guy was obviously intended for Violet. Nikko locked his stare on him, giving Barry the same glare he gave his opponents at the CFA weigh-ins.

Barry saw him approach, and his initial surprise morphed into anger, but the closer Nikko got, that anger quickly gave way to uncertainty and then finally fear. Guess the bastard had some self-preservation instincts in him after all. If he knew what was good for him, he’d run. Right. Fucking. Now.

“What are you doing here? Where’s Violet?” he demanded in a voice that held zero authority. All the color drained from his face. The guy looked like he might actually piss himself.

“Right where she belongs. With me.” He snagged the empty chair and turned it to face Barry. Boxing him in, Nikko straddled the seat. “You want to get rid of your friends or you want to do this with an audience?”

Barry’s eyes darted across the table. “Will you . . . excuse us for a minute?”

“Wise choice.”

The couple shot him a wary glance and vacated their seats like it was a Chinese fire drill.

Turning his attention back to Barry, he growled, “I want you to know what an exercise in self-control it is for me not to kill you right now. I suppose you have Violet to thank for that.”

Barry’s pale-blue eyes grew round, the last bit of color draining from his pretty-boy face.

“Answer me this . . . Did you think you were going to get away with it? That I would just let her go? You’ve read my file. You know what I’m capable of.”

Grabbing Barry by the collar of his button-up silk shirt, Nikko jerked him closer to observe the last remnants of arrogance draining from his face. He wanted the bastard to see the truth, just in case he had any doubt.

“In the Marines, we have a name for men like you who have never so much as gotten their hands in the dirt, walking around in your three-piece Armani suits, thinking you’re so powerful that you can threaten and manipulate people to get what you want. We call them cowards. Do you have any idea how easily I could make you disappear? Someplace no one would ever find you. Or . . . I could always make it look like a suicide. It wouldn’t be hard. You’ve got plenty of reasons to off yourself. You’re bankrupt, your practice is failing, you’ve lost the best thing you ever had because you couldn’t keep your dick out of your secretary. How’s that going for you, by the way? She dumped you when she found out you were broke, huh? You see, you’re not the only one who’s been doing his homework. You may know my secrets, but I know yours, too.”

He twisted his grip on the collar of Barry’s shirt, applying enough pressure to bring the color back to the other man’s face.

“Let’s get something straight, and I want to be clear so that you
and I have no misunderstanding. Violet is
mine
. Stay away from her. If
you so much as contact her again, I will not hesitate to kill you, and I
promise I will make it hurt. And if the word
Alice-Gahn
ever so much as touches your lips, if you think to expose my sins to the world, well,
I won’t be the only one who will want you dead for it. So go ahead, carry out your little threat and see if you don’t seal your fate. Oh, and just for giggles, I think I’ll be making a call or two of my own to the Pentagon. How do you think they’re going to respond when they find out a civilian is running around with illegally obtained, classified information? You know, people go to prison for that. Hope you enjoy looking over your shoulder for the rest of your miserable life.”

Nikko released him with a shove that nearly toppled him from his seat. Barry took a gasp of air that sent him into a coughing fit. Nikko stood to leave, pretty sure if he spent one more second in this bastard’s presence, his control was going to slip and he just might off the piece of shit right here and now.

Vi paced in front of the wall of glass, too worried about Nikko to enjoy the magnificent view of Manhattan. The bridge was lit up, stretching across the East River connecting Lower Manhattan with downtown Brooklyn, and the skyline glowed with buildings reaching toward the heavens. Whoever this Kruze guy was, he must be loaded to afford a place like this. Her private tour had revealed no personal effects to help solve that mystery, but one thing was for certain: this place was well above a fighter’s pay grade.

Nikko had been gone over an hour, with the parting command to
stay here
. He hadn’t told her where he was going, but considering
the mood he’d left in, it wasn’t hard to figure it out. That locked-down expression of simmering rage almost made her feel sorry for
Barry—
almost. She hadn’t even tried to stop him, knowing she’d only be wasting her breath. But now that they were approaching the hour-and-a-half mark, she was beginning to second-guess that decision.

Selfishly, she just wanted to be free of Barry, once and for all, and she didn’t really care how Nikko planned to make that happen. But now she was really starting to worry. Was Nikko capable of murder? Definitely. But would he kill Barry? She didn’t think so. Acting in the line of duty, under the duress of war, was a lot different than killing someone in cold blood. She didn’t think he would do it, but God help her, she didn’t want to be the reason he failed that test. If he did it, if he killed Barry, there would be no coming back from that. She believed with all her heart she could save Nikko from his past, but not if he stained their future with Barry’s blood.

The keypad chirped outside the door, sending her heart galloping inside her chest. She raced down the hall to meet Nikko and skidded to a halt as the door opened, her breath catching in her throat with a surprised gasp. Someone was breaking into the penthouse! The man entering saw her standing there and abruptly stopped. Surprise flickered across his face—a handsome face, were it not decorated with lip and brow piercings and gauges in his ears. Eerie amber eyes locked on hers, holding them with a dark, foreboding scowl.

Her gaze dropped, taking in the rest of him. He was big, not quite as large as Nikko, but just as definably cut. There was no way she could hold her own against the likes of him if he got his hands on her. He was heavily muscled, his arms sleeved in tattoos. He looked like a cross between a beach bum and a goth rocker. A look she might have admitted he was pulling off rather well, were she not afraid for her life. She tensed, getting ready to bolt into the back room where she could call the police, when a female voice stopped her. The woman came in on the heels of the man and ran right into him. He didn’t even budge.

“Damn, babe, if you’re going to stop short, give a girl a warning, huh? It’s like running into a brick wall,” she complained. She tried to skirt past the man, but he moved frighteningly fast, grabbing the woman’s arm and pulling her back behind him like
Vi
was the threat here.

“Mind telling me who you are and what the fuck you’re doing in my condo?” His voice was as dark as his looks.

His condo?
Nice try.
No way could
that
guy afford
this
place. How stupid did he think she was? More than likely, they’d realized this place was empty, or at least should have been, and came here to rob it. The guy definitely looked like he’d seen time behind bars. She took an involuntary step back, anxious to put a little more distance between her and her apparent attacker, her mind scrambling with a story to tell him and his redheaded accomplice that would get them to leave without anyone getting hurt—her being that anyone.

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble, okay? If you leave now, I won’t call the police. I swear . . .”

He must have thought she was joking, because that dark, pierced brow arched in amusement, his top lip pulling into a smile revealing teeth too white and too perfect. All right, she’d admit it, he was a gorgeous man, but there were no rules saying hot guys couldn’t be criminals—or killers.

“Lady, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’ve spent the last twelve hours crammed into a plane, so I’m running low on patience. If you don’t tell me who you are and how you got in here right now, we’re going to have some serious issues.”

Vi’s eyes flared wide with panic. She had to run—it was her only chance. If she could make it to the bedroom, she could lock herself inside and call 911 from the landline. She didn’t have Nikko’s number and regretted not getting it before he left. She readied to bolt when the woman behind him sighed dramatically and said, “Stop it, Aiden. Can’t you see you’re scaring her?”

She elbowed past him and stood in front of the man who towered over her by a good eight inches. “Give her a chance to explain.”

The woman gave her a warm, nonthreatening smile. Her beauty was startling. Dark, fiery hair spilled past her shoulders, offset by the most brilliant green eyes Vi had ever seen. She was slender, everywhere except through the middle, where her form-fitting top revealed a distinct baby bump. “What’s your name?” she asked.

Shit, should she give the woman her name? What could it hurt? If she told them the truth, maybe they’d leave, realizing she wasn’t alone—she hoped. “Violet Summers. I’m staying here with my boyfriend. I expect him back any minute.”

“Really?” She didn’t think it was possible for the man’s scowl to darken more, but it did. “Who is your boyfriend?”

“Nikko Del Toro.”

The redhead’s eyes grew wide with surprise at the mention of Nikko’s name. They must have heard of him. There had been a lot of publicity surrounding his upcoming fight. The man muttered a curse and reached up, scrubbing the back of his neck. Yeah, they should be scared . . .

But then he laughed. He actually laughed, and all that hard-ass tension evaporated. The woman was wearing an ear-to-ear grin when she turned to the man and said, “I can’t believe it! Nikko’s here. And he has a girlfriend.”

“I guess wonders never cease,” he chuckled, staring at her like she was some sort of a zoo oddity.

Spinning back around, the redhead rushed toward her and pulled her in for a big hug. “It’s so great to meet you!” She let Vi go and took a step back. “My name is Ryann, and this is my husband, Aiden Kruze.”

“Kruze . . . ? So you really do live here?”

“I told you I did. Who did you think we were?” he asked, closing the door behind him and coming down the hall.

“I thought”—how embarrassing—“I thought you were here to rob the place.”

Instead of taking offense, which he had every right to do because she had definitely judged that book by its cover, the man laughed—and so did Ryann.

“See, honey, I said you should cut that hair.”

“It’s the hair, isn’t it?” she whispered to Violet, loud enough for her husband to hear, and then gave him a teasing wink. “Makes him look all scruffy.”

Was she kidding? She had to be kidding. “Yeah, that’s definitely it.” It was so not it. The guy had more ink and metal than Dave Navarro.

“So where’s Del Toro? I can’t believe he’s here. What timing.”

“He umm . . . stepped out for a little bit. I expect him back soon, though.”

“Great. I’m going to hit the shower quick, give you girls a chance to get acquainted.”

Aiden pressed a kiss on the top on Ryann’s head as he walked by
and headed down the hall toward the bedrooms. Ryann grabbed both
of her hands, giving them an excited squeeze. “I have to admit, I’m
shocked Nikko is seeing someone. Come with me.” Ryann led her into
the kitchen and began preparing two cups of tea. “You have to tell
me
everything. How did you meet? How long have you been dating?”

Vi sat on the stool at the center island in the kitchen, feeling a little shell-shocked. Was this really happening? Did this woman expect her to confide in her like they were long lost BFFs? Apparently so, because she handed Vi a steaming cup of tea and settled in beside her, turning so they faced each other. Well, she was definitely
going to give her the PG version.

“We met seven months ago on a flight from here to Vegas. A month
ago, we ended up crossing paths again, and, well, he won me over.”