Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  “Don’t leave me here alone!”

  Chapter 4

  From his table at the back of the barroom, Niko kept one eye on Tonelli and one eye on the entrance to the back hall. Jenna had disappeared toward the restroom over ten minutes ago, but Tonelli was too busy flirting with a couple of young blondes in tight jeans to notice Jenna’s extended absence.

  Niko checked his watch again, unease gnawing at him. So far, no one had followed Jenna down the hall, but every man in the place had given her a long, assessing look as she passed. Hell, even Niko had been hit by a surge of lust at seeing her in that skintight dress. Odds were good that some asshole would make a move. And since Tonelli was too distracted to notice…

  An older couple entered the room, arm-in-arm. When they registered the lack of empty tables, their faces fell and they turned to go. Niko checked for Jenna again, but she hadn’t appeared. Waving his hand to catch the attention of the gentleman, Niko pointed to his table and stood up. The relief on the couple’s face made Niko want to squirm.

  The couple was within two feet of him when a rowdy occupant of the next table flung out his arm. He caught the woman on the shoulder and she fell against her companion.

  Niko jumped forward to help them, but not in time to stop the couple from falling onto another table, sending glasses crashing to the floor. It took ten minutes to straighten everyone out, get someone to clean up the spilled drinks, and settle the couple at the table.

  Niko accepted another round of thanks from the couple and stepped away. Drink in hand, he scanned the room. Still no sign of Jenna.

  To hell with it. He set his drink on the bar and headed toward the restrooms. If Jenna just needed a break and was hiding from Tonelli, no harm. He’d apologize and go on his way. But something definitely didn’t feel right, and Tonelli wasn’t paying attention to anything but the tits in front of him.

  Bastard.

  The lighting in the hallway was dim, so Niko almost missed Jenna’s purse lying against the wall. Fuck.

  Niko slid his weapon from its shoulder holster and scanned the end of the hallway, making sure no one was hiding in the shadows. Assured he was alone, he reached down and snagged the purse, then strode to the ladies’ room door and pushed it open.

  Empty. He quickly checked the stalls, then exited and continued down the hallway. As he drew even with the men’s room he heard quiet sobbing from inside.

  Weapon leading, Niko slowly pushed open the door. Jenna lay curled in a fetal position on the floor by the sink. The battered body of a large man was sprawled face down an arm’s length away from her.

  Niko checked to make sure the rest of the room was clear before he stepped inside and holstered his weapon. He knelt beside the man to verify he was unconscious, then pulled a zip-tie from his pocket and secured the man’s hands behind his back. Only then did he turn to Jenna. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed and she gave no sign she knew he’d entered the room.

  She was rocking back and forth. Keening softly and occasionally murmuring something too garbled by tears for him to understand. Her hat was missing and the hair from her wig hung in a sodden mess around her face. The skirt of her dress was up around her waist, revealing a thin strand of ragged red elastic that was all that was left of her panties. He quickly glanced away, grateful that because she was positioned with her head closest to him, he hadn’t seen anything more private than the curve of her ass. He didn’t see any blood, but that didn’t mean the bastard hadn’t hurt her.

  “Jenna,” he said gently, trying to break through her crying. “Jenna, shhh. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  At first his words didn’t seem to get through to her. Then her eyes flew open, revealing nothing but animal panic. Before he could stop her, Jenna scrambled away from him.

  Her back bumped against the wall and she pushed to her feet.

  Too fast. Her knees buckled.

  Niko leapt forward just in time to get his arm around her before she hit the floor. He hauled her against him.

  The bathroom door banged open. “What’s going on?” a slurred voice demanded in Russian.

  Niko glanced up. A skinny, balding man in coveralls was staring at the body on the floor with a mix of disgust and fascination.

  “Call the police,” Niko snapped in Russian. “Bastard tried to rape this woman.”

  The man raised rheumy eyes, taking in Jenna’s limp body, which Niko could feel beginning to come to life. He had to get their visitor out of here before Jenna woke up and freaked out.

  Niko scowled. “Go!”

  The man backed out of the room not a moment too soon. Jenna opened her eyes and immediately started struggling.

  “Easy, Jenna,” Niko soothed. He loosened his hold and let her move away from him. Her foot slipped on the tile and he automatically reached forward to steady her. She flinched and darted out of reach, coming to rest with her back against the side of the stalls.

  Her eyes were huge with pure, primal terror.

  He held his hands up to show he didn’t have a weapon and slowly took a step back.

  “Jenna, you’re safe, okay? I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Niko Andros with the SSU. Remember me? I was a guest trainer on the hostage rescue exercise. Ryker sent me as backup to you and Tonelli. You remember the safe word, yeah? Brontosaurus?”

  For a long breath Niko didn’t think his words were getting through to her. Then Jenna’s body sagged and her lids flickered down to shield her eyes while she took in the information.

  Niko watched a drop of water make its way from her sodden wig down to the point of her chin, then slip free. Jesus, she looked like hell. One cheek was red and puffy, her lip was split and there was a large square cut oozing blood in the center of her forehead that he couldn’t figure out.

  “How badly are you hurt, Jenna? Did he…” Shit. “Did the bastard rape you?”

  Not meeting his eyes, Jenna shook her head. “I’m okay,” she rasped so quietly he had to strain to hear her. “I stopped him before…” Her whole body shuddered and she wrapped her arms around her torso.

  She was okay? Yeah, right. The shivers and her wild eyes gave the lie to her words. Her dress was still bunched around her waist and it didn’t take much imagination to picture how close her attacker must have come to raping her before she’d fought him off. The asshole was lucky he was still breathing.

  Dammit. He wanted to put his arms around her and let her lean on him, but being close to a male at this point would probably scare her. So Niko shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

  Where the hell was Tonelli? Hadn’t he managed to take his attention off the bimbos at the bar long enough to notice Jenna was missing?

  Jenna eyed the body on the floor and chewed on her lower lip. “Is he dead?”

  “Nah, he’s alive. Too bad, really, the as—” Niko coughed. “The bastard doesn’t deserve to live. But we can’t afford to have you up on murder charges. It’s going to be bad enough to get through the questions from the cops.” Niko grabbed some paper towel from the dispenser and went to turn on the faucet. Her panties were jammed in the drain, holding back a small puddle of water.

  Jesus H. Christ. Blinding rage blocked out the room for an instant.

  Now he knew where the square mark on her forehead had come from. The faucet. The bastard had used the sink to stop her from fighting. Shit. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth until his temper was under control. He had to keep it together. Jenna needed him to stay rational and get her out of this mess. Another violent male would only add to her stress.

  When he thought he could talk without sounding homicidal, he said, “Our story is that I interrupted the attempted rape and I beat the guy up.” Niko fished the panties out of the drain, wrung them out, and put them in his coat pocket. Then he wet the paper towels and handed them to Jenna. “Wipe the blood off your hands. And don’t look the cops in the eyes while they’re here. They do better with subservient women.” Any cop worth the name would take one look at Jenn
a’s battered face and terrified eyes and see victim. Still, Niko wasn’t taking any chances.

  Jenna was leaving here with him. The sooner, the better.

  Jenna scrubbed at her hands with the paper towel until it was pink, then moved over to the sink. She paused, staring at the faucet. Her bottom lip trembled.

  “Here, let me wet you some more paper towels.” He stepped forward, but she raised her chin and shook her head. Then she moved up to the sink and turned on the water.

  Good girl. She still looked to be in shock, but she had the spine to keep going.

  Niko knelt next to her attacker. “Don’t watch,” he told Jenna. When Jenna turned her back, Niko shook the man until he started to come around. Then he leaned in close and told the man in gutter Russian exactly what would happen if he assaulted another woman.

  Certain he had the man’s attention, he landed a few punches aimed at hard, bony places on the would-be rapist’s body. He needed to make his hands appear to have been in a fight without leaving his blood on any of the bathroom’s surfaces, just in case they ended up with a hyper-vigilant cop. When the skin over Niko’s left index knuckle split, he let the man’s face drop.

  The man howled as his broken nose hit the floor, then blacked out.

  Niko stood up and brushed his pants off. “Let me see your hands, Jenna.”

  Her knuckles were worse than his, dammit. Any idiot would take one look at them and tell she’d been whaling on something…or someone.

  “Shit.”

  Jenna pulled her hands free. “Wait.” She spotted her purse on the floor where he’d dropped it when he entered the bathroom.

  “It was lying in the hallway,” Niko explained. “That’s how I knew something was wrong.”

  Jenna nodded absently. She opened the purse and dug around inside. A second later she pulled out a pair of elbow length gloves.

  “Perfect.”

  Jenna pulled on the gloves. Then to his surprise she pulled a gun out of her purse. “I don’t think the police will want to see me with this, will they?” she said, handing it to him. “Can you keep it for me?”

  Why was he surprised? Of course she’d be packing. She considered herself an operator. He shook his head and slid the gun under his waistband.

  The door banged open again. Niko turned, expecting to find the police. Instead, Mark Tonelli stood in the doorway. “About time you noticed something was wrong,” Niko snarled.

  “What’s going on?” Tonelli rapidly took in the scene. With a barely contained sneer, he focused on Jenna. “What have you done?”

  Niko bit back a growl and advanced on Tonelli. “She stopped this guy from raping her, that’s what she’s done. Some guardian you’re turning out to be.”

  Tonelli flicked an annoyed glance his way, then ignored him. “Rape? Really?” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “I don’t care how rough you like your sex, girl, we don’t need negative attention like this. Who’s going to want to talk to me about your brother if the police are sniffing around…umph!”

  The base of Niko’s hand connected with Tonelli’s breastbone, knocking the bastard’s wind out of him and sending him to the ground. Niko pulled his hand back, skin tingling slightly from the blow, and watched in satisfaction as Tonelli picked himself off the floor.

  Jenna’s face had gone even whiter at Tonelli’s insult, but now she watched him with eyes gone flat and devoid of emotion.

  “Who the hell are you?” Tonelli snapped when he regained his feet. Something flashed in his eyes and Niko realized that underneath the pricey suit lay the viciousness of a street fighter.

  “Niko Andros.”

  Recognition flickered in Tonelli’s eyes. And the hint of a challenge.

  Niko adjusted his stance, ready to fight. For once he didn’t mind his dangerous reputation. Hell yeah, he thought. Bring it on. I’ve got plenty left over for you, Tonelli.

  But the man just shook his head and backed up.

  Jenna shivered, reminding Niko of his top priority.

  “I’m your backup from Ryker, but screw that. I’m taking over,” Niko told Tonelli. “Jenna is coming with me.”

  That got Tonelli’s attention. “Definitely not. Paterson is my mission. Jenna is my bait.”

  “Listen, asshole, you haven’t found jack on Paterson. All you’ve done is put Jenna in danger.” Niko gestured to the unconscious man. “Setting her up to be attacked by any drunken, sex-crazed idiot who could get her alone? Ryker’s gonna nail your ass when he finds out. I’m just doing what he’s going to order, anyway. Jenna comes with me. I can protect her better.”

  “Jenna? What do you say about this? You have no idea who this man is.” Tonelli shot Jenna such a look of resentment and anger, Niko saw her mouth tighten. Her chin came up again.

  That’s right, sweetheart. Don’t take Tonelli’s attitude.

  Her eyes moved from Tonelli to Niko and back again.

  “I’m staying with Niko,” she said.

  Niko felt a surge of satisfaction. Tonelli opened his mouth to protest, but the door opened again.

  This time it was the police.

  #

  Jenna pressed her cheek against Niko’s back as his motorcycle screamed through another tight turn. She hadn’t wanted to get on the bike. Didn’t want to have hard male muscles under her hands while her body hurt from another man’s blows. But her training kicked in, forcing her to set aside her fear and focus on survival. So she’d mounted the bike and done her best to keep space between her body and Niko’s.

  Impossible. The man drove like the hounds of hell were after him, weaving in and out of the thick evening traffic, zipping down alleys and using sidewalks like personal shortcuts. She’d almost slid off the bike during the first turn, and since then had clung to Niko like a barnacle.

  The bike leapt the curb and her arms clenched around the solid bulk of Niko’s chest. Her muscles trembled with the effort to hold on and she knew that if they didn’t reach their destination soon, there was a good chance she’d slip off the bike.

  After what seemed like hours of interrogation by the police, then a brusque examination by a doctor, she was beyond exhausted. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head.

  Instead, she was stuck on the back of this bike. Her life in the hands of a stranger.

  A male stranger.

  No, not a stranger, she reminded herself, remembering the way Niko’s aura of lethal self-confidence had inspired awe and respect among not only the other SSU trainees, but the trainers as well. Still, despite Niko’s admirable reputation, her volatile mix of shame, fear, and anger would have driven her out into the Moscow streets alone if Mark hadn’t been so hard on her. She’d always been too impulsive.

  Now that she was away from the bar, she’d calmed down enough to admit she was in no shape to go off on her own. And no matter what her pride insisted, she was better off with Niko. He was a hunter. Fierce, like the birds of prey she loved. Protective. Intriguing.

  Unlike Mark, whose selfish viciousness made him untrustworthy.

  She sucked in a breath as the bike zoomed through a narrow space between two trucks with just enough clearance that she felt the heat from the engines brush against her knees. And if she wasn’t mistaken, that was the rumble of Niko’s laughter vibrating beneath her hands.

  Hunter and certifiable adrenaline junkie, she clarified.

  She pressed her cheek harder against his back, feeling muscles tense with suppressed violence. But she took comfort in knowing his anger wasn’t at her, but for her. Unlike Mark, whose verbal attack had shocked her. Yes, he was a chauvinist and never hid his dislike of her, but still…to imply that she’d wanted to be attacked?

  She shuddered.

  Niko hadn’t looked at her with disgust. Or lust. Just concern and a casual, violent protectiveness. He thought she hadn’t been looking when he roughed up her attacker, but she’d snuck a peek in the mirror. And she’d been…pleased. Even more satisfied with the quick way
he’d retaliated against Mark.

  Odd that she wasn’t bothered by Niko’s violence, but was still screaming inside over what she’d done to her attacker.

  Don’t go there. You stopped before you killed him. That’s what matters. Focus on what you have to do next.

  Find Kai.

  #

  Niko turned the bike down a narrow street in a quiet neighborhood. He pulled over next to a thick stone wall and parked the bike.

  “Jenna, are you okay?” He removed his sunglasses and turned his head.

  Oh. Right. This was the part where she was supposed to get off the bike. But her arms were locked into place and it took considerable willpower to get them to drop away from his waist. She put shaky feet on the ground and tried to stand, but her knees buckled.

  Niko put a steadying hand on her arm even as she reached out to catch herself against the bike. For a second she remembered the way her body had stirred with feminine interest back when she’d first met him. In some ways that made his appearance now even more difficult. She hated that he’d seen her weak and crying. She took a deep breath, made sure she had her balance, then shook off his hand. He stared at her a moment, as if waiting for her to pitch over in a dead faint.

  Okay, so she did feel a bit dizzy. Still, she needed to show him right off that she had no intention of becoming dependent on his strength. Because Niko was the type of guy who would stand between her and the rest of the world, shielding her and offering her support.

  Whether she wanted him to or not.

  “I’m fine,” she snapped, stepping away from the bike. With a little shrug, Niko walked by her side, directing her to a wood-and-iron gate that opened into a tiny courtyard. The gate swung shut behind them, cutting off the city noise as they stepped into a world where serenity ruled. Jenna took a deep breath of flower-scented air and felt the remnants of her fear trickle away.

  A stone walkway interspersed with wrought iron benches meandered between flower beds. In the opposite corner a fountain bubbled merrily.

  She trailed behind Niko up the path onto a wide, covered patio and through a beautifully carved wooden door. The narrow marble hallway was empty. Faint voices from a television program filtered down the corridor from the lobby.