Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) (25 page)

The hairs on the back of her neck tingled. She felt like they were being watched. She dug her fingers into Niko’s side and glanced around, but it was too dark to tell if someone lingered in the shadows.

“You have a car?” Niko asked.

Mark nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

Mark turned back the way they’d come.

Damn, it was a good thing she was strong for her size, because Niko leaned heavily on her as they followed Mark. By the time they reached Mark’s car, Niko had vomited once at the side of the road and was swaying so forcibly, she could barely keep him in a straight line.

Mark, the selfish jerk, didn’t offer to help.

Niko didn’t make a sound as she eased him into the backseat of Mark’s low-slung sports car, even when she accidentally knocked his wounded arm against the door frame. The leg room was so scarce, she figured it would be more comfortable for him to lie across the seat, so she situated him with his back against the far door.

She gnawed on her lip. He must be hurt worse than he’d let on, because he let her move him like he was a rag doll. His eyes were closed and she wasn’t certain if he was unconscious, or simply conserving energy.

The last thing she wanted to do was sit up front with Mark, but there wasn’t enough room for her in back with Niko. As soon as her door was closed, Mark gunned it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped.

She glanced over at Mark, not understanding why he was angry. Why did he care? Not interested in arguing with him, she gave him a shrug.

He pulled out onto one of the main streets, then glanced at Niko in the rearview mirror. “Hospital?”

Somehow Mark managed to make the word sound like an insult.

“No…hospital. Hotel…Excelsior.” Niko’s voice was the merest vibration, barely audible over the roar of the engine.

Mark’s flash of jealousy as he recognized the name of the expensive hotel made Jenna feel good in an entirely juvenile way. She hoped Mark was staying in a pit.

The rest of the ride to the hotel was made in silence.

The moment Mark pulled the car up to the back door, Jenna hopped out and maneuvered Niko from the backseat onto his feet. After one step, his knees gave out. Jenna banged on the car’s roof to get Mark’s attention.

“I need help.”

“Figures,” Mark said grudgingly, climbing out of the car. He put his arm around Niko’s waist and together they got Niko up to the room, into the bathroom and seated on the counter. Niko started to fall sideways, but braced himself with his good arm.

“Thanks,” Niko said to Mark, his voice slightly slurred. “We’ll take it from here.” For a long, tense moment, the two locked gazes, Niko clearly challenging Mark.

Then Mark shrugged. “Good-night.”

Jenna followed him across the living room. As Mark pulled open the door, he muttered, “Nice company you’re keeping. Do you know Andros used to work for Alvarez?”

Jenna went still with rage. How dare Mark bring that up!

She expected Mark to step out into the hall, but instead, he backed away from the door, crowding her back into the sitting room.

Jenna peered around his shoulder and saw Rafe standing in the doorway, cold eyes measuring Mark for a shroud.

“For the record,” Rafe said in a voice so chillingly polite it was menacing, “My brother was undercover with Alvarez. His work led to Alvarez’s arrest.”

Mark made a rude sound of disbelief, pushed past Rafe, and disappeared down the hall.

Rafe glared after him. Then he looked at Jenna. “You okay?”

She nodded.

“Good. I’ll be right back.” He started to follow Mark, then hesitated and turned back to her. “Niko’s a good man. What he did during his time with Alvarez, it hurt him.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “It’s another reason why I respect him.”

“Thank you.” Rafe smiled, planted a quick kiss on her cheek, then hurried after Mark.

Shaking her head in bemusement, Jenna closed the door and returned to the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway, her heart squeezing tight.

Niko’s head rested against the wall, his eyes closed. A scrape running along his right cheekbone sluggishly oozed blood.

He looked vulnerable and defeated. This was a side of him she’d never seen before. She wanted to pull him into her arms and heal him. Yet at the same time, she didn’t want to disturb him.

He must have sensed her presence, however, because his eyes opened. He stared at her, gaze unfocused and without recognition. She quickly stepped forward, afraid he might lose consciousness. But then, with a force of will she could practically feel, his eyes focused on her.

“How bad is it?” she asked.

He glanced down at his arm. “I don’t know. Hurts like a sonofabitch though.” He lifted his head and met her eyes. “You’re going to have to take my shirt off so we can take a look.”

The thought of undressing him made her mouth go dry. Her pulse quickened as she remembered the sensual tension that had built when he’d tended her wounds back at the cabin. Underneath the pain in his eyes, she thought she saw an answering flare of heat. But it was so brief, she probably imagined it. So she nodded and stepped in between his legs.

Her fingers shook slightly as she worked the first button free. The smell of sweat, blood and Niko’s own spicy scent teased her nose. She barely managed to stop herself from leaning forward and nuzzling against his throat.

Telling herself to stay objective, she briskly slid the shirt off his good shoulder and down his arm past his tattoo. This close, she could see that part of the skin under the tattoo was raised. She traced her finger over it. The skin was rough and uneven.

“Scar tissue?”

“Yeah. Alvarez used a branding iron to mark me as his.” Niko shrugged. “Once I was free, I had the tattoo done. Those are, uh…symbols of honor, courage and strength. Aztec and Greek, mostly.”

Jenna clamped her lip between her teeth. She could picture it all too well, men holding Niko still while the hot iron seared his flesh. Yet she was sure he hadn’t made a sound of pain.

Sorry she’d asked, and needing to do something to soothe him, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the branded skin. Niko hissed in a breath, as if she’d shocked him.

She pulled back quickly, embarrassed, and kept her eyes lowered as she finished moving the shirt sleeve off his arm. It got stuck at Niko’s wrist where she’d forgotten to undo the buttons. She shook her head and shot him an apologetic smile. She fumbled open the button and a moment later his arm was bare. She peeled the shirt away from him until it hung from his injured arm.

Now she could see the flattened bullet still lodged in the Kevlar mesh, inches from Niko’s heart.

The room spun and she closed her eyes. He’d come too close to death. She couldn’t…she wouldn’t…

This is why she didn’t want to care about Niko. There was too much to fear. Too much that could happen to a person.

“Hey.” Niko tipped up her chin with the tip of his finger. “I’m okay. I’ll have a bruise, and breathing will be uncomfortable for a while, but the vest did its job.”

She didn’t want to think about why the vest was necessary in the first place. So she shoved all her concern down into her internal lock box, and focused on unfastening the heavy vest.

She lifted the Kevlar away from Niko’s body. And just stared at his bare skin.

Oh, God, he was just as magnificent as she remembered. A strange mix of lust and tenderness burst inside her. She wanted to run her hands over him, both to soothe and arouse.

Focus on the job.

She set the heavy vest on the lid of the toilet, then took hold of the other side of his shirt. But some of the blood was starting to harden over his knife wound.

She bit her lip. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, gesturing to the bloody shirt.

“I trust you.”

Three simple words, but they cut her to the bone. Her throat tightened around a lump of emotion and she swallowed hastily. She nodded, then slowly began to peel his shirt away, occasionally pausing to wet the fabric with water dribbled from a plastic cup.

It wasn’t as stuck as she’d feared and Niko didn’t make a sound throughout. Finally she tossed the shirt in the trash, then took a good, long look at his arm.

She sucked in a breath. The slice was deep enough to expose muscle.

Niko glanced down and cursed. “This needs to be stitched, dammit. Hand me my cell phone. I need to call a doctor.”

“I’ll dial for you.”

He nodded and rattled off a string of numbers. As she punched in the last digit, she handed the phone to him. To give him some privacy, she stepped into the hallway, but she stayed within earshot so she could reach him quickly if he needed her. She knew she was being foolish. He was no stranger to pain.

Yet, foolish or not, she couldn’t stop herself from hovering. She felt an urgent need to help him. Because it was her fault he’d been hurt. She should have been more careful trailing Kai. She’d just been so excited to find him so quickly, she hadn’t thought about the danger. She’d acted on impulse.

Just like she’d done too often as a kid.

“Hello, little Miss Impetuous.” Kai’s head appeared first, emerging from the leaves of the tree branches below her like a God rising from a pond. “What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

“I climbed the tree to get Missy, but she jumped to the ground. And now my ankle’s stuck in this stupid crack.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day, Jen-shine. Your kitten is safe on the ground and I’m here to rescue you.”

Jenna shook her head, forcing the memory away. She didn’t want to think about that, or all the other times Kai had rescued her while growing up.

Her heart skipped in panic. Kai had been shot tonight, but she refused to believe he was dead. Couldn’t bear it if her revenge was snatched away from her. Instead, she held onto the grim hope that Kai was alive and a prisoner of Alvarez. If so, she’d do whatever was necessary to reach him.

Absolutely anything. Because failure was unacceptable.

“
Gracias
,” Niko told the person on the other end of the phone line. He put the phone down on the counter, then leaned sideways to rest his head on the wall.

She let him be for a moment, then asked, “Do you want me to clean your cut?”

He swiveled his head so he could look at his injured arm. “No. There might be bits of shirt embedded in the wound. Let Dr. Perez clean it.”

“Can I get you anything? Ibuprofen? Something to drink?”

“I’m good, thanks.” He raised his eyebrows and his eyes drilled into her. “What the
fuck
were you thinking? Didn’t you learn anything from Moscow? It’s not safe for you to run around the streets alone.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just reacted.”

“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t cut it. Next time you might not be so lucky.” His last words were slurred and his eyes drifted closed, as if that small outburst had sapped his remaining energy.

Jenna resisted the urge to smooth his hair back. Instead, she contented herself with watching him.

A loud knock at the suite’s door made her jump. She hurried over to the peephole and saw Rafe and a stranger. She opened the door and nodded to Rafe. The other man was tall and muscularly bulky. A doctor’s kit was in his left hand. “
Hola, señorita, yo soy Dr. Perez.
”

Jenna shook his hand. “
Tengo mucho gusto en conocerle,
” she answered. “
Me llamo Jenna.
”

“So where’s my lazy brother?”

She stiffened, even though she knew Rafe was teasing. She turned and pointed to the bathroom.

The men walked down the hall and crowded into the small space in front of Niko.

“Ah, Jesus Christ, bro.” Rafe’s words, soft as they were, roused Niko and he gave Rafe a wan smile.

Dr. Perez set his bag down and lifted Niko’s injured arm. “This will need to be stitched. Where else are you hurt?”

“Chest. Nothing’s cracked, just sore. Vest took a bullet. Head,” Niko said. “Hit the pavement.”

“Ah.” The doctor turned Niko’s head toward him and flashed a penlight in his eyes. “Is there dizziness? Double vision? Nausea?”

Niko shrugged. “Some.”

Jenna saw what she’d missed before. The hair on the back of Niko’s head was sticky with blood. As if he’d felt her gaze on him, Niko met her eyes. “Out.”

“No,” she said.

Rafe raised his eyebrows and glanced between her and his brother. His mouth turned up at the corners, but he didn’t say anything.

Niko glared at her, trying to force her by sheer will to back down. But she needed to stay.

Dr. Perez started swabbing Niko’s arm with antiseptic, but Niko’s eyes didn’t leave Jenna.

She couldn’t keep her gaze from flickering back and forth from the wound to Niko’s eyes. The sight of the blood, of the doctor’s latex covered hands, of the needle puncturing Niko’s skin as the doctor stitched up the wound, everything combined into a dark, greasy mass sliding through her stomach. Threatening to bring up her dinner and cut off her air.

She dug her fingernails into her palms and concentrated on breathing. Whenever she started to remember her mother’s blood-stained face, she’d look into Niko’s eyes. And although she knew she ought to be sending him messages of warmth and comfort, instead she took strength from him.

Finally, the doctor gave Niko two shots and it was done. “You shouldn’t use this arm for several days,” the doctor warned as he placed his trash in a portable biohazard bag. “But I have little doubt my recommendation will be ignored, as usual.” He shook several pills out of a bottle and placed them in a plastic baggie.

“For the pain,” he explained. He handed two to Niko and waited patiently until Niko obediently swallowed them with a glass of water.

“You must keep the wound clean and watch for infection. Also, you have a slight concussion. Someone needs to wake you every hour while you sleep and check your pupils.”

Both Jenna and Rafe nodded and the doctor smiled in satisfaction. Then the men assisted Niko into bed.

“Now,
señorita
, let me take a look at you.”