Heart Ache (Bound by a Touch Novels #1) (26 page)

Someone had destroyed Gabby’s office and broken every long-stemmed token of his love. There wasn’t even enough to make potpourri. He reached down and let the mulch slip through his fingers. Fury scorched through his veins like acid.

Vincent slipped through a narrow opening in the door, closing it when he was completely inside.

“
Who did this?” Nikolai was barely able to contain the fury building in his bloodstream.

“
Nobody entered from the hallway, I do know that much. But since you and Gabby…” Vincent cleared his throat. “The security cameras in these two offices have been deactivated.”

The displacement of air signaled the entry of another vampire. “I was just about to win the caber toss,” said a Scottish accent. The three of them turned to see Stephon. The guy was dressed in a kilt and linen shirt. Nikolai didn’t have time for this crap, and didn’t even want to know what was under the plaid—or not, as the case surely was.

Stephon looked from male to male to male then dropped his gaze to take in the chaos around them.

“
What the hell happened in here?” The accent disappeared.

“
I needed to drop something off for Nik’s signature,” Vincent explained. “The door wouldn’t open, so I popped inside and found … this.”

“
It had to be a vamp then.” Stephon knelt down to scoop up some of the debris. “My guess—” He stood and looked hard at Nikolai. “—you find who did this and you find who framed you for the murder.”

“
No shit, Sherlock!”

Stephon ignored the poke and moved around the office with slow precision. He examined the picture frame embedded in the drywall, shaking his head. He stopped in front of her desk. The thing had been haphazardly wiped clean. The computer lay in a broken heap on top of scattered papers and files on the floor.

“
What’s the status of your office?” Stephon asked. The men all looked at each other. Stephon shrugged. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

He stepped toward the door and as his hand wrapped around the knob the door fell into the room, leaving the knob dangling from his fingers.

Nikolai’s heart sank as he took in the disaster area; the desk had been reduced to twigs, his favorite leather chair still had the letter opener sticking out amongst the stuffing, and the books had been pulled from the shelves, the pages looking like they’d gone through the shredder. Niko strode through the mess and held his breath as he picked up the Voinea Family Bible. Some of its pages were bent, the cover scuffed, but the precious book was intact. He carefully set it on his desk.

He joined the other men, all of them ambling slowly through the room, examining the disarray. Nobody said anything, and the silence was harder to take than if they’d been shouting at each other. Nikolai walked over and stood in front of the window. His arms shook where they were braced against the window frame. Fury vibrated in every cell. He stared out into the late afternoon, molars grinding. The Oquirrh Mountains and their patchwork of reds and oranges offered no answers.

What the hell? Someone was hell bent on destroying his happiness. What he didn’t understand, though, was why?

An unknown enemy was a dangerous enemy.

Like a lightning bolt realization struck him.

He’d been played!

A shot of adrenaline spiked and without a word Nikolai popped into his bedroom.

“
Gabby!” he shouted. “Gabrielle!?”
Please baby, answer me.

But she didn’t.

With panic fueling him, he moved quickly from room to room, praying she would be in the shower, or in the kitchen, or in the room he’d given to her down the hall, or … anywhere in the damned house. Her scent lingered strongest in his bedroom—their bedroom—and he returned there to find the others milling around.

“
She’s not here.” He attempted control, but heard the dread in his own voice.

Stephon took the position of lead detective in this horror flick of reality. He moved around the room. His nostrils flared with a breath and he shook his head. “I’m not getting anything. How about you guys?”

Gustav and Vincent shook their heads. So did Nikolai.

Stephon nodded and went about his search. His fingertips hovered above various things: the drawer still gaping open, the rug mussed by the doorway to the bathroom, the house phone lying on the floor, Gabby’s cell phone plugged in on the nightstand, her purse sitting where she’d left it last night. He opened the bag and began to set the contents on the dresser; wallet, lip gloss, a tampon, keys.

“
Wherever she is, I don’t think she went by herself.” Stephon bent down and smoothed the rug. He picked up one shoe. “And she didn’t go willingly.” He popped out of the room and before Nikolai could think to follow, Stephon was back. He ran his fingers through his cropped blond hair and shook his head. “The doors are all still locked, which means—”

“
Her kidnapper didn’t come in the traditional
way.” Gustav’s strong, supportive hand came to rest on Nikolai’s shoulder.

“
It’s all got to be connected,” Vincent said. He’d been so quiet Nikolai had almost forgotten he was even there.

“
I agree. The murder, the office, Gabby; they’re all connected. But how?”

Total darkness.

Gabby awoke slowly. She tried to blink, but something prevented it. A blindfold? She shivered, a layer of goose bumps blossoming on her skin. Something was in her mouth too. She moved her tongue against the coarse cotton and tasted a bitter of hint soap. Hard as she blinked or thrust her tongue against the fabric, neither would budge.

Every part of her hurt, especially her head and her ring finger of her left hand. Somewhere deep in her brain she knew that was significant. She tried to lift her hand but found resistance. Her legs were plagued with the same problem. She tugged at the restraints on her wrists and ankles.

Oh, Niko!

She felt very alone in this moment. Completely petrified. Her heart hammered against her ribcage. Her breath sounded like Gale force winds wheezing through her nose. She listened, straining to hear any sign of where she was, and heard … nothing. Her fingers stretched out to find cold metal.

Sucking in a breath, her olfactory system greeted dirt and fertilizer. The scent drifted over her taste buds and she gagged. Panic bubbled just below the surface, threatening to overwhelm her. Cold sweat broke out on her chilly skin. She’d never survive this if she gave into her fear. She attempted to calm herself enough to think by piecing together what she knew. The last thing she remembered was being choked by Natasha.

Where the hell was she anyway?

As if the bitch had heard Gabby’s thoughts, a door creaked open. Footsteps echoed like a yell in a cavernous canyon. Then a palm met Gabby’s cheek. The slap resonated through the room—and Gabby’s head as it snapped to one side.

“
Wake up, princess.” She slapped Gabby again. “I have big plans for you.”

A vicious yank ripped the gag from her mouth. Her head jerked off the table and landed again with a solid thump. Gabby bit her tongue to keep from screaming. This whole situation was bad. Very bad. One of those kinds she may not live through, and her only hope was keeping her wits about her.

“
I know you’re in there.”

Something—a fist?—slammed into Gabby’s gut and air escaped in a rush. Her stomach burned, nausea bubbled. She coughed and wheezed.

“
You can stop hitting me, you psycho bitch! I’m awake!”

“
Hitting you?” Natasha laughed. “There will come a time when you will
beg
for me to only hit you.”

OhshitOhshitOhshit!

“
You know, I think you are in serious need of a makeover.”

“
It’s kind of you to offer, but no thank you.” Gabby’s mind raced, trying desperately to come up with a way to get out of this impossible predicament. She tugged at the bindings and they didn’t move.

“
Didn’t your mother teach you it’s rude to refuse a gift?”

Gabby rolled her eyes, grateful for the blindfold, and kept her mouth closed.

Small wheels squeaked and then stopped. Only to be replaced by the sounds of metal scraping against metal and hard objects thudding as they were placed on … a table?

“
It’s really a shame, my dear—” The saccharine laced tone didn’t fool Gabby. Her captor had no plans for a spa day. “—I’m sure I could give you a look to trigger Nikolai’s claim on you.”

“
I already have him.” Gabby wasn’t sure where the words came from and she wanted to suck them back in, especially when something slammed into her nose and warm, sticky blood spurted to coat her mouth and chin.

Her hand jerked at the binding, needing to cradle her broken nose. Tears flowed from beneath the blindfold. She tasted blood in the back of her throat and gagged. Swallowed. Tried to breath.

“
You broke. My. Nose!”

“
Yes, and before I’m done, you’ll have much more
broken
.”

Dread crept up and grabbed hold of Gabby, drenching her in a cold sweat.

“
Nikolai!” Another slap and stars shot through the blackness. “He will never let you get away with this!”

Natasha laughed and the blindfold was whipped from her eyes. She blinked at the bright lights and winced when Natasha’s face appeared right in front of hers. Golden eyes sparked with hatred. “This is as much to punish him as you”

“
He will—”

“
Go insane watching what I have planned for you.” Natasha laughed again, and Gabby could only think of one thing: pure, unadulterated evil. Natasha smiled, her face smug with accomplished animosity.

Carefully, slowly, Gabby allowed her gaze to search the room. Concrete slabs with no windows made up the four walls. No wonder it was cold. What looked like miniature wooden bleachers were pushed against the concrete walls. Lights hung in strips from the ceiling as did naked light bulbs shining dimly on their wires. Remembering the smell from earlier, Gabby wondered if this was a greenhouse of some kind.

Then she noticed the cameras. Seven of them, placed around the room, all aimed at her.

Surely Natasha wouldn’t kill her. But when she pulled out the straight razor, Gabby knew death might just be the easier road.

The talking around Nikolai sounded more like the annoying buzzing of a beehive than the voices of his nearest and dearest. The only thing he could do was pace and think.

There he was able to gain vindication. He reveled in the need to wrap his hands around the throat of the person who had taken his beloved Gabrielle, and tightening his fingers until the last breath left their lips.

Gustav’s hand landed on his shoulder. “I’m going to check the house one more time. Just in case we missed something.”

They hadn’t missed anything. Nikolai knew it. So did Gustav. But his brother needed to feel useful. Nikolai nodded. “Thanks.”

Stephon muttered to himself as he walked around the room in search for some kind of clue. His kilt flapped at the ends, his boots clomped on the hardwood floor. Vincent barked demands into his cell phone, ordering a cleaning crew to the office.

Dammit! Where the hell is she?

He jumped when his cell phone buzzed. He jerked it out of his pocket, nearly tearing the seam, and held it to his ear.

“
Gabby! Gabby, love, where are you?”

There wasn’t an answer though and he held the phone away to look at the screen. A podcast was being sent to his phone. His brows pulled together. Worry, dread, and fear all slithered up his spine. His thumb moved over the buttons to retrieve the live feed and his stomach lurched. He roared, causing the other two males to jump.

“
What the hell!” Stephon shouted.

Nikolai wanted to throw the phone against the wall. Wanted to shatter the image on the screen. But couldn’t bring himself to look away. Gabby was strapped down to a table by the arms and legs.

The camera angle changed and he could see a close up of her face. Her beautiful face was broken. A trail of blood ran from her misshapen nose, down her face, and into her hair. Her eyes were full of fear, and the moment they looked directly into the camera Nikolai’s heart seized.

He grabbed at his chest. Gabby hadn’t been away long enough for it to stop beating, but the steady beat only made the ache more prevalent.

Oh, Goddess.

The camera angle changed again and showed a straight-razor moving over Gabby’s head, removing clumps of hair. Nikolai sucked in a breath when the blade caught her flesh, making red ooze from the wound. Her mouth opened wide in a scream. Although there was no audio on the feed, he heard it in his soul. His fist tightened on the phone and the case squeaked under the strain.

“
Let me take it,” Stephon said gently. His hand was warm and steady as it eased the phone away from Nikolai. Stephon focused on the phone. “The bastard stays just out of the frame.”

Niko looked up into the face of the male who was supposed to have fixed this mess, barely able to think past the anger. He lowered his shoulder and barreled into Stephon. The two of them flew back until they met something hard. With knees braced against the floor, Niko straddled Stephon, driving his fists into muscular abdomen.