Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (11 page)

The
footsteps crossed the cement floor to the office where the money
waited for Enrico and the specially selected men to transport it to
‘the vault’. Only those few chosen men knew the location
of the vault and Johnny would give anything to find out.

Johnny
crouched down low to the cold cement floor to make his way around the
boxes. Once he came into view, he’d have very few valuable
seconds to do the deed.

“
I’ll
check in with you later,” Wil said before ending the call. He
slipped the phone into the back pocket of his jeans.

Johnny’s
heart pounded in his chest as he moved quickly behind Wil, expecting
the much taller man to turn around at any second.

And
then he did, sending everything into warped speed.

Questions
flashed in Wil’s eyes as he took a step toward Johnny while
reaching for his gun. Before Wil had a chance to pull the Glock all
the way out of the waistband of his jeans, Johnny jabbed the tip of
the switchblade into the side of Wil’s neck. Blood sprayed
toward Johnny, sending him back a few steps, and dripped down Wil’s
shirt. Wil wrapped his fingers around the black handled knife. He
gave the knife a yank, sending another spray of blood. A second
later, a small gurgle escaped from between Wil’s lips and then
he dropped to his knees. Johnny turned to the door, leaving the man
to drown in his own body fluids.

Too
bad he wouldn’t be able to see the shocked faces of the men,
including the man Wil confessed too, who found Wil. Oh well. Wil now
lay on the cold, dirty concrete as nothing but a corpse. And that’s
what mattered.

The
world seemed a little brighter just then as a smug smile played on
Johnny’s lips. He sauntered across the dirt to the gate,
knowing he’d taken out one of the Medini Family’s top men
without much effort at all. Watch out Mikolas Russo, a new man was on
his way to the top.

He
whistled a catchy tune as he twirled the key chain around his finger.
The brand new sports car Enrico had recently bought him waited to be
raced down the desert roads as fast as the adrenaline that pumped
through his veins.

****

Mikolas’s
eyes ached from hours of driving and the constant concentration on
the road. After the rest stop at the gas station, they had made a
turn and headed to higher ground. The Sierra Mountains of northern
Nevada.
Why?
This didn’t make sense. As far as he knew, neither of them had
any family or friends up there. Wait a minute! Her father’s
cabin rested somewhere in Nevada, but he didn’t know the exact
location. He’d been invited on a few trips there but never had
attended due to other obligations.

They
passed through a small town void of cars, people along the streets,
or even a police officer. He watched the stores as they drove by,
eyeing the closed signs in all the windows. How long had it been
since Mik had been in a place that actually closed up for the night?
He couldn’t even wrap his mind around the thought.

He
shouldn’t be surprised that everyone snuggled up behind closed
doors tonight. The night grew colder with each passing minute and
he’d rather be inside too. It seemed to be a constant fight
between the chill of the night air creeping in and the constant blast
of heat from the heater vents.

Gabrielle
pointed at a road a few feet ahead. “Turn right.”

“
Where
are we going?” He followed her instructions and then looked
over at her.

Damn!
He felt like shit and she looked worse. Her liveliness had
disappeared and every part of her body appeared weighed down with
fatigue. Her head rested against the leather seat and she glanced up
at him for a second. Her eye lids fluttered as if they’d shut
at any moment. As if catching herself falling asleep, she snapped her
eyes open and gave a half-hearted attempt at sitting up straight. He
wished she’d trust him, so she’d be able to get the rest
she desperately needed.

Letting
her head drop back against the seat again, she pointed toward another
road with the width only narrow enough for one car to drive up at a
time. “Turn there and follow the road up the mountain.”

“
But
where exactly are we going?” he asked again. Didn’t she
realize that if he had wanted to escape her kidnapping, or whatever
she called this stunt, he could? So she had a gun. He knew how to get
around harder obstacles than a firearm if he wanted. Curiosity kept
him in the seat, his love for her kept him driving them to the
unknown destination.

“
My
father’s hunting cabin. I heard it’s beautiful up here
this time of year.” Her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
“Mik, I’m freezing. Can we turn the heat higher?”

“
I’m
drowsy already. The heat’ll only make it worse. I’m
sorry.”

So
now she had finally told him which was a step in the right direction,
but the location only added more questions to the tip of his tongue.
Mikolas fought the temptation to pump her for more information.
They’d have a lot of time to sort stuff out. Why they were
here, his feelings for her, and at one point, he’d be
explaining why he had some suitcases packed. He kept his mouth shut
though while he did his best to focus on the road.

The
SUV hit a patch of ice, sending them sliding slightly to the left. He
regained control. Focus only on the road, he ordered himself. The
trees had suddenly had become more dense, giving Mikolas the
impression they’d been sucked into some sort of dark wilderness
tunnel. The SUV climbed higher in elevation. Sheesh, when she picked
a place, she really made sure it was out there. Were they taking a
trip to the end of the earth or what?

She
glanced down at the paper in her hand and then sat up straight.
“Quick! TURN!” Her hand shot out toward the dirt road.

Mikolas
jerked the wheel to make the turn onto the road. “Shit, Gabi!
Tell me a little earlier.”

“
Just
drive. The cabin is up there.” She adjusted herself in her seat
and seemed to be wide awake again.

The
headlights gave only a sliver of light through the blackened
wilderness. He wasn’t fond of the woods, and if it was anyone
besides Gabrielle pulling this ridiculous stunt, the person would’ve
been taken out already. The headlights cast light across the Medini
hunting cabin.

He
pulled to a stop in the dirt driveway and stared up at the cabin with
surprise. Most people had little one-room shacks with outhouses for
their hunting cabins, using the excuse that it was fun to rough it in
the woods. Not the Medinis’. Mikolas had only heard about the
trips some of the men in The Family had taken to the cabin but never
attended a trip with them.

“
This
is some place, Gabi.” He whistled as he stared at the
cream-colored house. It wasn’t as big as the Medinis’
regular house but looked more expensive than the average person’s.

“
It
should only be a one bedroom.”

“
Haven’t
you been here before?”

She
rubbed her eyes with her hands. “Nope. Have you?”

He
shook his head, not sure that this had turned out to be such a good
idea. “I don’t think this place is used all that much.
Gabrielle, are you sure there’s electricity and water up here?”

“
Yes.
Can I have the keys?” She didn’t wait for an answer
before leaning over and slipping them out of the ignition. “Let’s
grab the bags first. It’ll make one less trip out here.”

“
Oh,
Gabi. Do you really need this stuff tonight? I’m beat.”
He’d rather do anything but be out in the cold a minute longer.

She
glanced at Mikolas. “Wow, Mik, a Mafia man whining. That’s
one for the books.” Sarcasm dripped from each word.

“
You
don’t know anything about what I do,” he whispered as
trepidation swirled through him. How much did she know? He snapped
his gaze away from her as heat rushed over his cheeks. If she noticed
him blushing, she’d surely tease him even more. She wanted to
have the bags brought in right now? Fine. It would keep him away from
her awhile longer. Just what he needed to prevent himself from
pinning her against his SUV to ravish her sexy-as-hell mouth.

She
shoved past him to grab a suitcase. He watched her as she pulled what
looked like the heaviest suitcase, the one housing his firearm, out
of the back of the SUV. He grabbed another, strode past her, and
headed into the house.

He
was exiting the house when she’d reached the stairs. “Let
me take that. It’s too heavy.” Rushing over to her, he
reached for the black designer luggage.

“
Nope.”
She pulled it to the stairs and struggled to heave the heavy suitcase
up each step.

“
It’s
too heavy for you. Let me help.” He reached for the handle a
second time.

She
put her hand up, almost dropping the suitcase down the stairs she’d
gone up. “No, it’s not.” She swiped at her eyes as
if she’d started crying again, but he couldn’t be sure
since she kept her face turned away from him. “I’m tired
so leave me alone.”

“
Well,
you have more important things to do than rest.” He walked
toward the truck but glanced back at her when the suitcase hit the
porch.

She
stood with her hands on her hips. “Like what?”

“
Like
have me at gun point all night, preventing yourself from getting any
rest.” He intended on the statement to be a joke, but the words
came out a little too harsh for either of them to laugh at.

“
I’ll
just put this in the cabin and you’ll have your wish
fulfilled,” she spat.

“
Being
at the end of your gun barrel isn’t my wish.” But being
in her heart was and he’d almost blurted it out to her. Damn,
he needed some rest and so did she. If they didn’t get to sleep
at some point, she’d either end up shooting him out of spite or
he’d be making love to her against the wall.

Her
face softened. “What do you wish for then?” The question
actually sounded sweet, the sweetest he had ever heard. And it
flustered him.

“
Nevermind.”

He
watched her out the corner of his eye as he went to the opened trunk
of the SUV to grab more suitcases. Three more to be exact. He grabbed
two of the suitcases and walked up the stairs.

Gabrielle
was just pulling the heavy suitcase through the door. He hung back to
admire her perfect shaped ass. He gripped the handles of the
suitcases tighter in order to fight the urge to reach out to her. He
would love to feel her once… okay, a lot more than just once.
This was pure torture.

“
You
brought a lot of stuff. How long do you plan on us being here?”
he asked to distract himself or maybe to get her to stand up
straight. She had put on a pair of jeans in the bathroom, but the
denim was a designer low-rider style that formed around her ass and
crept down low enough to show her red thong. As he grazed the flimsy
fabric peeking out at him, he was sure his hard-on would bust through
his pants.

Once
the suitcase cleared the door, she finally stood up but kept her back
to him as she walked farther into the living room. She opened each
door as if she had never been in the place before. Surely, she had.

“
Mik,
please stop asking questions. I’ll explain everything to you
when I’m not so tired. Deal?” She didn’t wait for
him to answer before disappearing in the bedroom. The light filtered
out into the living room.

“
I
don’t want to wait but really have no choice in that, huh?”
he asked snidely as he followed her and dropped the suitcases on the
floor in front of the closet.

“
I
guess you’re mad at me for not bringing you anything. I’d
be mad too.” Mikolas tried to ignore the apology and not notice
her running her fingers through her hair as she talked. “Listen,
I’m sorry I didn’t bring any clothes for you. My father
brings people up here to hunt sometimes, so I’m sure there are
clothes for you to wear. Getting you, not your clothes, had been my
concern.” She opened the closets until she located a set of
sheets and a quilt. He stepped back as she bent over to make the bed,
driving him crazy even more. How in the hell would he get through
this without touching her just once?

He
cleared his throat, tried to push down the desire rampaging through
him, and tried to find the strength to pull his gaze from her. He
couldn’t, so he asked, “Why did I have to leave Vegas?”

“
Fuck,
Mik! Don’t you listen to me? I said I would explain it all
tomorrow.” She stood up, ripping his gaze from her backside.