Kidnapped by the Billionaire (16 page)

Gabriel's thumb and forefinger gripped her chin a little harder. “Hey, we don't know what's happened and wild guesses won't help. She's a valuable hostage. Which means if she's been taken, someone's gonna want to keep her alive.”

He wasn't wrong. She just had to keep hold of that hope. “Okay, you're right.” Honor let out a shaky breath. “It's just going to come as a huge shock to her. God, she'll be so scared.”

One corner of Gabriel's mouth turned up a little. “I don't know her like you do, but if she's related to me in any way, she's not gonna be scared. She's gonna be pissed.”

Honor thought about it for a moment. Violet was laid-back, a perpetual student, always giving the impression that she was flitting through life and never settling. But there had been moments when Honor had wondered if that was the real Violet. Whether there was something more behind the dreads and the silvery jewelry and hippie clothes. At college Violet had hung out with the arty, alternative crowd, and Honor had heard the stories of their wild parties and even wilder sexual exploits. Her friend gave off the impression of a free spirit who did what she wanted and didn't care what anyone thought of her. Yet she'd been very caring about other people. Certainly she'd always been very supportive of Honor.

Sometimes though, Honor got the feeling that all of it was an act, a mask Violet hid behind. That her concern for other people was merely a way of distracting from her own issues, a method to keep everyone at a distance. Honor had never pushed it with her friend, since at the time she'd been running from things herself. But now she wondered about it.

Maybe Gabriel was right. Maybe Violet was stronger than Honor thought.

At that moment, there was a buzz from Gabriel's security system, heralding Eva's arrival no doubt.

Sure enough, a minute or two later, a small woman in black jeans, an Iron Maiden T-shirt, black leather jacket, and steel-toed Doc Marten boots stalked in. Her silver hair was in a long ponytail down her back and she carried a small laptop with her.

There was something different about her today that had Honor frowning. Then she realized. Eva didn't have Zac with her.

“Hey.” Eva greeted Honor shortly as she headed toward Gabriel's heavy wooden dining table. “You're going to want to see this.”

Typical Eva. She wasn't very demonstrative and didn't mess around with small talk, but once she gave her loyalty, it was to the death.

“Eva,” Honor began as she followed the other woman over to the table, “I can't thank you enough for—”

“It's okay,” Eva interrupted, putting the laptop down on the table. “Violet needs to be found, that's all there is to it.”

Gabriel, who'd gone to open the door, now emerged from the hallway, his phone in his hand. “How did you get over here, Eva? Zac just called to ask whether you got here safely.”

Eva gave a snort as she pulled out a chair and sat down, reaching out to push a button on the computer. “Asshole. I already texted him to tell him I was here.” Despite her obvious annoyance, there was a thread of something that Honor thought was probably affection in her voice.

The past couple of weeks had changed things for all of them, and while some of those things hadn't been good, some of them were. Like Zac and Eva finally getting together.

Honor had been surprised to learn they hadn't been an item before, considering the way Zac stood guard over her like Cerberus before the gates of Hell. But given Eva's traumatic background, it wasn't any wonder.

“He said you came by yourself. On the subway.” Gabriel's disbelief was palpable. Before a couple of days ago, Eva never went anywhere by herself.

Now, the small silver-haired woman only lifted a shoulder “What can I say? I'm a badass motherfucker.”

“You can say that again.” Gabriel came to stand behind her chair. “What made you want to go and attempt something like that?”

“Zac likes the subway. I wanted to see it from his point of view.”

“Cute. But Zac wasn't happy about it.”

“Zac can stick it up his butt.” Eva sounded completely unconcerned. “Do you want to see this lead or not?”

“Yes, we most certainly do,” Honor said crisply, giving Gabriel a quelling look. “What have you got?”

Gabriel gave her a wolfish grin, but stepped back, giving her some room to see the screen from behind Eva's chair.

The other woman's fingers moved quickly over the keyboard. “Okay, so I ran that facial recognition software I've been playing with through a couple of databases. And it came up with a hit.” She pressed a button and a picture abruptly came up on the screen.

It looked like it was a still from a security camera, given the angle. A shot of a subway car full of people.

Eva's fingers moved on the track pad, and the picture zoomed in on a woman sitting with her hands folded in her lap. The magnification made everything a little blurry, but there was no mistaking the long dreadlocks hanging down the woman's back. Or the little stud in her nose. The finely drawn lines of her pretty face.

Violet.

Honor let out a shaky breath. There was a time stamp on the image. Yesterday afternoon, at least an hour or so after everything had gone down with Fitzgerald. “That's her. So she was on the subway.”

“Yeah, but wait. There's more.” Eva pressed another button and another series of shots came up. Pictures of Violet sitting there, then standing up as everybody in the car started to do the same, moving toward the doors. Must have been slowing for an approach into a station.

“Look,” Eva said softly. And the last picture came up. Of Violet waiting to get out, standing among the crowd of people.

At first Honor couldn't see what the big deal was, and then Eva slowly magnified the image. Behind Violet, standing very, very close, was a tall, massively built man in a long, black overcoat. Again, his features were blurry, but nevertheless she recognized him. The scarred face, the dark, cold, empty eyes. Elijah.

“Fuck,” said Gabriel.

His arm had come around Honor's waist and for a moment she could only lean against his big, warm body and stare at the image on the screen.

“Yeah,” Eva muttered. “And that's not all.”

Another series of images popped up on the screen, all taken from what looked like more security cameras. Of Violet walking out of the subway station with Elijah. He was standing very close and had one hand on her arm, the other lowered and hidden in the folds of his coat.

“He's got a gun on her,” Gabriel murmured.

“That's what I thought too.” Eva touched the track pad again, bringing up another image. This time it was the outside of the subway station and it was possible to see Violet and Elijah standing on the sidewalk with a cab drawn up beside them.

Honor didn't know what to feel. Relieved that Violet wasn't dead—or at least she hadn't been yesterday—or even more worried considering who'd taken her. “God, so what does that mean? That she's been kidnapped by this Elijah guy? But … I mean why?”

“Elijah's an asshole, no doubt about it,” Eva said quietly. “But Zac and I had dealings with him. Up in Fitzgerald's office, he was supposed to have a gun on me the whole time and yet at the crucial point, he let me go. I don't know why. I do know he wanted to kill Fitzgerald himself and he was really pissed when I pulled the trigger.”

“Not forgetting what happened in Monte Carlo with Alex,” Gabriel added. “He tipped Alex and Katya off about Fitzgerald's interest.”

Honor shook her head, glancing back to the image on the screen. Violet's face was curiously blank, but Honor recognized that look. Shock. Fear. Whatever Elijah wanted her for, it wasn't good.

“He was going to kill Zac though, wasn't he?” she asked Eva.

Eva nodded. “Yeah, but like I said, he was pretty fucking pissed. He wanted Fitzgerald's head.”

“So he's gone after his daughter instead,” Gabriel murmured. “He wants her for something. Revenge maybe.”

“It doesn't matter why.” Honor looked at him. “What matters is that we find her.”

Gabriel didn't reply, but then he didn't have to. She could see nothing but fierce agreement in his eyes.

“Funny you should mention that,” Eva said. “Because I got the name of the cab company from the taxi in that security camera shot. Managed to hack into their databases too. You can see all the fares and where they went, it's very handy.”

Honor glanced at Eva. “Please tell me you—”

“Way ahead of you.” Eva gave her a smug grin. “They were dropped off at a West Village address. I checked the street and it's a park, nothing much there unfortunately. But they would have had to walk to wherever they're going, which means we can narrow down their destination pretty significantly.”

Honor frowned. “But they could have gotten another taxi, couldn't they?”

Gabriel released her to lean over Eva's shoulder and study the laptop screen closely. “No,” he said. “I don't think Elijah would have wanted to risk too many people seeing him. Didn't Zac get a shot off at him?”

“Yeah, he did. But the bastard ran before Zac could take him down.” Eva did something with the track pad and another program came up, a map with lines going everywhere. “I'm trying to predict directions they might have taken at the moment and am running that facial recognition stuff through security-camera footage from the area. There aren't many cameras unfortunately, but with any luck, something will turn up.”

Honor tried to pull herself together. God, she'd been through worse. She just had to hope Gabriel was right and Elijah wanted Violet for something specific. Something he wanted to keep her alive for.

“Well,” she said firmly. “If he's got a gunshot wound, he can't have gotten far.”

“He better not have.” Gabriel's smile had turned razor sharp. “No one fucks with my family and gets away with it.”

“Shit.” Eva sat forward all of a sudden, staring at her laptop. “Looks like we've got him nailed down.” She typed something and another picture popped up. A street view this time, of a couple waiting for a crossing signal. And if Honor hadn't already known Elijah, she would have had to look twice at the woman standing next to him in order to recognize Violet.

Because all her hair was cut off.

“Oh my God,” Honor murmured, shocked. “What happened to her?” Violet had had dreadlocks for years, and Honor had gotten used to the long golden tails of her friend's hair. Now Violet looked almost … naked without them. Small and vulnerable.

“This is today,” Eva said. “A couple of hours ago from the looks of things.”

“We got an address?” Gabriel was all business.

“Yeah, totally.” She called up another program and typed something into it. “Just sent it to your phone.”

“Good.” Gabriel stepped away. “Time to go see a man about my fucking sister.”

Oh really. So he was going without her? No damn way.

Honor reached out and caught his arm. “I'm coming.”

But he had that look on his face she recognized, the one there was no arguing with. “Not this time, baby.”

“She's my friend, Gabe.”

“And like I said, she's my fucking sister.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “Jesus, so much testosterone. I can't handle it.”

Gabriel ignored her, his dark eyes squarely on Honor. “Let me do this, baby. Let me help Violet. I didn't get the chance to take on Fitzgerald, and fuck, I've got to do something.”

It was as close to pleading as he ever got, and she knew the need he had to take care of what was his. He hadn't told her anything of what had happened when he'd gone up to Fitzgerald's apartment to take one last look at the body of the man who'd fathered him, and she hadn't asked. He'd tell her when he was ready, and perhaps this was part of it.

She sighed. “Okay. But promise me you'll be careful.”

“I promise.” He reached out and drew her in for a swift, hard kiss. “And I'll bring her back, Honor. I'll promise you that too.”

*   *   *

Elijah turned his head into the thick, short silk of Violet's hair, panting like a dog, the blood roaring in his ears from the aftereffects of the first orgasm he'd had with another person in seven years.

He couldn't seem to get a proper breath. His senses swam, full of the scents of sandalwood and musk, the sound of the music pouring from a window above them ringing in his head. And the softness of the woman between him and the wall.

What the actual fuck had he done?

He was still buried balls deep inside her, the tight heat of her pussy clenching hard around his cock, the sound of her scream echoing around him. And he knew he'd screwed up, that somehow he'd made a mistake. Because why else would the years of iron control have deserted him, leaving him fucking Violet Fitzgerald of all people, his goddamn prisoner, in a dank alleyway?

He didn't even know how it had happened. All he'd wanted was to scare her, make her see what a bad idea it was to push him. Show her the reality of what she wanted, the reality of him.

But she hadn't protested. She hadn't been scared. She'd reached for him and touched him instead.

Marie would be appalled.

And she would. He'd never done anything like this with her.

Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.

Shoving himself from the wall, he jerked his jeans back up then tucked himself away, trying not to see how his hands shook. Violet was still leaning against the brick, her head turned to one side, her eyes closed, her leather pants pulled down to her knees.

His chest felt tight. She looked like a fragile piece of porcelain that had cracked and then been badly glued back together. A tear gleamed on her cheek, and there was something desperately vulnerable about her bare skin, pale in the cold light of the alleyway. Her neck, left bare by the haircut he'd given her. The even paler curves of her ass and the swell of her thighs …