GraceinMoonlight (19 page)

Any other day, he would’ve handled this situation much
differently. But on any other day, his mate would
not
have deliberately
placed herself at risk by leaving the den to speak to her
Mal
grandmother and leaving herself open to an attack by her crazy ex.

Behind him, Duke motioned to Nic, who turned to face the
guards who’d seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Two of them had low-level
power, the third, strictly human.

Kaisie never took his eyes off the receptionist. “I am not
here to hurt you. I’m not here to hurt anyone except Ettore Marrucini. But if you
don’t—”

“Shit, Kaisie. I think we’re gonna be late to the party.”

All of the guards started to run for the elevators and
Kaisie motioned for Duke and Nic to follow them. Then he nodded to the young
receptionist. “You’re going to want to leave. Now. I’d suggest you get out and
don’t come back. Trust me, you’ll find a better job elsewhere. One that won’t
involve crazy people and werewolves.”

Her eyes widened as he took off at a run to the elevators,
where Duke and Nic had already convinced the guards to let them go with them to
where they were going in such a hurry.

Of course, the boys hadn’t given them much choice in the
matter, as Nic had shifted into his pelt and growled at them and Duke had
swiped one of their weapons.

Kaisie looked at the gun then at Duke, who shrugged.

“What? I can’t play with their toys?”

“Don’t hurt yourself with it or Tira will have my head.”

Nic snorted, shaking his head and twitching his tail back
and forth. One of the guards actually tried to take another step back but
couldn’t because he’d come up against the wall.

“Hey, man,” Kaisie said, “if the wolf freaks you out, you
might want to make a run for the doors because that’s nothing compared to what
you’re gonna see on the top floor.”

The guy did exactly what Kaisie told him to do and Duke
turned to watch him run before he turned back to Kaisie with one lifted
eyebrow. “Dude, you’ve got such a way with words.”

Kaisie gave him the finger. “Anybody else wanna make a
break, now’s the time.”

The two guards who remained held their ground, never turning
their backs, not even to get on the elevator.

The ride up was quiet except for the tasteful classical
music pumped in through the speakers. It drove him fucking insane while he
watched the numbers count upward and Duke and Nic kept an eye on the guards.

“Kaisie, she’ll be fine. John’s with her. He won’t let
anything happen to her.”

He knew that. He knew his daughter’s mate would take a
bullet for Grace. And wouldn’t that be fucking awful. To have to tell his
daughter John had been killed defending Kaisie’s mate.

Fucking hell.

He shoved that thought out of his mind. He needed to have
his head on straight or he’d be the one they dragged out in a body bag.

By the time the doors opened, he’d managed to get his game
face plastered on, despite the fact he’d been able to smell blood since he’d
gotten in this little metal box.

And when the elevator opened into an office that looked like
a warzone, he had to mentally hogtie his wolf to stay calm.

Two large men lay on the floor outside the elevator. They
accounted for some of the blood he smelled. But not all.

Kaisie stared into the spacious reception area that guarded
a single door behind it. That door stood open and Kaisie could smell the scent
of blood coming from there. As well as Grace’s and John’s scents.

He saw no one else but could now make out the voices he’d
been able to hear but not understand before. Grace, angry, haughty. Another,
older woman he didn’t recognize but who had the same haughty attitude as Grace.
Then John, low and timid, speaking to Grace, trying to get her to be quiet, to
calm down.

John was working an angle. Unfortunately, Kaisie didn’t know
enough about the situation to know what angle. He could fuck up John’s plan if
he walked into that room without knowing what the hell was going on.

Yet, he couldn’t wait out here any longer.

He motioned to Duke and Nic, letting them know he was going
in and they were to wait outside the room for his signal. Duke rolled his eyes
and Nic bared his teeth and shook his head but Kaisie had too much to lose in
this scenario and he wasn’t about to trust anyone else with Grace’s and John’s
lives.

Slipping out of the elevator, he headed toward that open
door.

“Ettore, stop this madness right now.” The older woman, who
Kaisie assumed was Grace’s grandmother, snapped out words with the attitude of
someone who expected to be obeyed. “You will not murder my granddaughter. She’s
offered to go with you to retrieve the children. What more do you want?”

“What you promised me, old woman. This company. Grace did
her part. I don’t give a shit about her. I want my daughter and I want what you
told me was mine when I agreed to let Grace and Alex go that first time. But
you backed out of the deal, you bitch. So I took back the boy.”

“But you couldn’t keep him, could you? Or my daughter.”

That was Grace again, deliberately goading Marrucini as
Kaisie’s blood froze. He hoped like hell she knew what she was doing, that she
knew, somehow, that he was here. Because if she didn’t…

Kaisie had made it to the door without being seen but he
still hadn’t been gotten a look inside the room. The door was only open a few
inches.

So he got on his stomach and crawled the rest of the way. He
thought about shifting into his wolf but figured Marrucini would be able to
sense the magic when he did and he didn’t want to give the guy any reason to
suspect anything.

Obviously, he hadn’t sensed their arrival or he would’ve
sent someone out here to check them out. Kaisie couldn’t believe the guy had
come alone. Especially since he was injured.

Taking a deep breath, he scented the acrid odor of
Marrucini’s pain, Grace’s fear and anger, another female’s fury, John’s cold
calculation…and now he picked up on the scents of two other men in the room.
They were faint but there. Almost completely blocked, even from his senses.

Shit. Guess he was going to have to do this the hard way.

Motioning for Nic to come at the door from the other side of
the room, he slid forward, trying to get a peek into the room without actually
sticking his head into the doorway.

He got lucky. The floor-to-ceiling tinted windows provided a
hazy picture of part of the room.

John stood just inside the door. That was good. The two
goons holding guns on him, not so good.

An older woman he was assuming was Grace’s grandmother stood
to the left of him with another goon on her. Again, not so good. But Kaisie
didn’t give a shit if Grace’s grandmother got caught in the crossfire. That
bitch would deserve whatever she got.

He couldn’t see Marrucini or Grace so he had to assume they
stood to the right of the door.

The back and forth between Marrucini, Grace and her
grandmother continued, but Kaisie barely listened to the words. His brain was
running strategy, his anxiety increasing as he picked up on the escalating
threat in Marrucini’s tone.

He wanted to warn John but couldn’t see a way. John was
smart and fast and he’d figure it out.

Looked like the only options they had were speed and
surprise.

He signaled to Nic, who nodded, then turned to do the same
to Duke.

Kaisie’s mouth curved in a grin. Duke had been busy. He’d
knocked out the guards from the elevator and used their unconscious bodies to
hold open those doors. They didn’t need to be looking over their shoulders
while they got Grace and John out of there.

Okay. Time to go get his woman.

* * * * *

Grace felt Ettore shaking behind her.

The arm he held around her neck practically cut off her air
supply but she forced herself not to struggle.

She and her grandmother had been tag-teaming Ettore for the
past ten minutes, trying to buy time. Goading him.

Kaisie was on his way. She just had to hold out until Kaisie
got here.

Not that she planned to play the damsel in distress. No, she
was going to kill Ettore herself. She just needed Kaisie to distract the
bastard so she could take the knife he held at her side and jam it down his
throat.

It would end his life too quickly but that couldn’t be
helped.

The bastard had planned to sell their daughter to the
highest bidder after her grandmother had handed him her business.

She couldn’t believe her grandmother had planned to give the
business to Ettore. Grace wondered if her father knew. Not that she really
cared but, damn, her father would be crushed. Which she figured didn’t come
close to being what he deserved.

“I want you to sign the papers now, Graziella. Sign
everything over to me and I’ll allow your granddaughter to live. She and the
children will live with me. We’ll all be so happy in New York, won’t we,
Grace?”

“But you’ll never find the children, Ettore. Trust me,
they’re far from your control now.”

Blessed Goddess, she could practically smell the rage coming
off him. And the stink of injury. He was hurt badly. His skin burned against
hers and he was drenched in sweat.

Unfortunately, he could still stand and hold a knife to her
chest.

She choked a little as his arm tightened and she saw John’s
eyes narrow with deadly intent. He was going to get himself killed defending
her. And that was simply unacceptable.

She stared at John, tried to get him to relax, but he had
his gaze laser-sighted on Ettore.

Blessed Goddess, please
, she silently prayed as her
grandmother spoke in haughty tones about betrayal and consequences and Ettore
raged back. Their words meant nothing to her.
Please don’t let John be hurt.
Kaine would be inconsolable.

Because she was watching him so closely, she saw John’s
attention waver for a brief second. His gaze focused on a point just over
Ettore’s shoulder. Something in the window.

Ettore’s focus never wavered from her grandmother. The
guards made no movement.

Then John’s gaze shifted back to her and he mouthed one
word. She hoped like hell she got it right because, out of the corner of her
eye, she caught a flash of movement.

Closing her eyes, she forced her body to go limp as all hell
broke loose.

Ettore let her drop as the growls of two wolves echoed in
the room. Shouting and gunfire erupted around her and her first thought was to
find Kaisie. She knew he was here.

Above her, Ettore howled with rage and she opened her eyes
to see a fast-moving blur jump at him. With a startled cry, she scrambled out
of the way as Kaisie took Ettore to the ground.

The knife Ettore had been holding fell out of his hand and
she lunged for it, grabbing it and moving as far away from the men as she
could.

She had no doubt that Kaisie would best Ettore but she
wasn’t going to give Ettore any advantages.

When she reached the wall of windows, she stood, holding the
knife out in front of her. Beside her, she felt her grandmother stand next to
her.

She kept her eyes on Kaisie, ready to fight beside him if he
needed her, which it didn’t appear that he did. Ettore was fighting for his
life and he knew it but Kaisie was wearing him down.

“I’m assuming you know these men?”

Her grandmother’s quiet comment drew Grace’s attention away
from the fight for a brief moment.

“Yes.”

“That one.” She pointed at Kaisie, currently pounding his
fist into Ettore’s face. “He’s claimed you.”

Grace wanted to laugh at the archaic phrasing but
considering it was basically true, she didn’t bother to contradict her
grandmother.

“Yes.”

Grace winced as Ettore landed a blow, drawing blood from
Kaisie’s lip that he spit on the pristine, white carpet.

“So you’ve taken up with the
lucani
. He seems strong
enough to protect you. And the children.”

Grace slid her grandmother a quick look. “That almost
sounded like approval.”

“Just an observation.”

A growl from the other side of the room drew her attention
away from Kaisie long enough to see that John and the two wolves, who she
believed were Duke and Nic, had dealt with Ettore’s two men. She had no idea if
they were still alive and didn’t care.

She wanted Ettore dead.

She got her wish a few seconds later.

Ettore hadn’t stood a chance against Kaisie. With a final
twist of his hands, Kaisie broke Ettore’s neck and dropped his lifeless body to
the floor.

She didn’t wait for him to come to her. She ran for him,
remembering at the last minute to drop the knife before she stabbed him with
it.

Throwing her arms around his neck, she clung to him as his
arms wrapped tight around her waist.

“Gods damn it, Grace. The next time I say stay put, I
fucking mean it.”

She laughed because his voice held absolutely no trace of
anger. Just pure exasperation and relief. And his mouth, when he bent to kiss
her, was hungry for hers.

When he finally let her up for air, he shook his head as he
ran a shaking hand over her head. “Are you ready to go the hell home?”

“You’re going to have to clean up your language, you know.
You can’t swear like that around the kids.”

His smile made her light up. “Don’t worry. They won’t get any
bad habits from me. You’re the one with the temper.”

Eyebrows raised, she opened her mouth to respond—

“Grace.”

Her grandmother’s voice totally ripped her out of the moment
she’d been having with Kaisie and back into the reality of a room with at least
one dead body and another two who would probably join him shortly.

She considered ignoring Graziella but knew her grandmother
wouldn’t let her get away with that.