Sweet Seduction Serenade (45 page)

"I'll be fine. What about you?" I asked back, struggling in the dark to locate the next drop of Levi's blood.

Our pace had slowed as the drops became harder to see in the diminished light. Neither of us had a torch, so we had to rely on the street lamps overhead to shine off a blood drop at just the right angle to catch our eye.

"Don't worry about the blood trail. You're right," Nick said, picking up the pace again. "He's going to the Reserve."

I grunted in acknowledgement and then pointedly looked at his arm again. He chuckled, as though we were having a casual evening walk discussing what we'd eat for dinner and not chasing down my gun-toting, evil, crazy cousin.

"I had Brook dig out the bullet," Nick admitted, making me suck in a breath of air at how much
that must have hurt. "My woman had just taken off after the arsehole who'd just shot me. I had to get after her and save her gorgeous, but heading for a spanking, ass."

I cringed at, yet again, being the reason why he'd suffered more pain.

"Is it better now?" I asked, in an effort to soothe my ragged nerves.

"Doesn't grate when I shift it anymore," he said with a shrug of his shoulders which he instantly regretted, by the look of the grimace on his face. Yeah, sure it didn't grate when he shifted it. Darn stubborn cowboy.

I was huffing and puffing by the time we made it to the street where the Reserve lay. Nick's men hadn't caught up with us, which was strange. And the street was unnaturally quiet, as though the neighbourhood knew what was coming. The end of years of torment at Levi Russell's hands.

"Location?" I heard Nick mutter quietly as we came to rest behind the stonewall that surrounded the Reserve. He was talking into that earpiece to Eric at ASI again. "Fuck," he muttered, pulling his gun from his belt - a replacement one, I'd lost the other one - and checking the safety and magazine.

"What's happening?" I asked, then added, "Got a gun for me?"

Nick swung Arctic blue eyes in my direction and scowled. "What happened to my Glock?" he demanded, in a low whisper.

"Aunty Jessie," I replied, holding out my hand for his spare one, the one he always has at his ankle holster.

He growled on hearing Jessie's involvement, then said on a sigh, "This is all I've got, angel."

I narrowed my eyes at him, then promptly reached forward and lifted the leg of his jeans. No holster, so I switched my attention to his other leg. Empty holster. Darn it all to hell.

Throughout my attack Nick just sat back and watched me with an amused glint to his eyes.

"You done doubting me?" he said, but it was laced with humour. I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Where's the team?" I asked, not making eye contact, but staring out across the wall at the empty Reserve. Maybe one of them will have a spare gun for me.

"Stuck back at the traffic jam caused by the police roadblocks," came his surly reply.

I did look at him then, sure he could see the fear and alarm I felt evident in my eyes. He reached forward and brushed his fingers across my cheeks, gently swiping a strand of hair behind my ear and then coming back to cup my face.

"We could wait for them. Levi probably won't go anywhere. There could be time," he suggested gently, but the use of
probably
and
could
ruined the softening effect. Levi was here for a reason and that reason would be met in soon enough time.

He was stupid, he probably hadn't expected to face off against us here, or at least thought he could get here and get out before we arrived. And had we all gone by car that might have been the case. But Nick and I were here. Already. No car, no roadblock. So, Levi wouldn't expect us. And I knew that he would move on if we waited for the others. I also think, Nick knew that too.

"We finish this now," I said with conviction Nick obviously didn't possess.

"I go in alone, then. You wait here for backup to arrive."

Na-ah. Not happening, cowboy. I shook my head at him and clenched my fists.

"You go in first with the gun and confront him, distract him. I come around from the side and disarm him." I showed Nick my fists.

He simply reached up and wrapped one of his much larger palms around one of my fists, engulfing them in that one move and making it obvious what he thought of the size of my mitts and their ability to do damage. I glowered at his impassive ice-blue gaze.

"Cowgirl," he said softly. "I know you're capable of doing damage." His words belied his palm engulfing touch. "But bullets against fists won't do." A valid point, but one I couldn't subscribe to.

We stared at each other for an extended moment, neither willing to back down. And then I did the most unconscionable thing. I lied.

"OK. You win. I'll wait here for the others, but once they come, I'm arming myself and coming
after you. Don't think I won't."

Nick held my gaze for several more soul-wrenching moments and then sighed.

"Fucking hell, Eva!" Obviously he saw through my lie. "Stay behind me and as much out of sight as your cowgirl sense of courage can handle. We'll just try to talk him down."

Yeah, good luck with that, but at least I had permission - albeit reluctant permission - to come to the dance.

We skirted the edge of the Reserve, staying in the shadows and far away from the well worn path in the grass that led to my spot in the trees by the stream. The spot I sung in and strummed my guitar at. And had been beaten to a pulp, teased and tormented, and had my homework thrown in the stream and my guitar strings broken. All because of Levi Russell and his need for my attention and revenge.

There was no sound. No rustle in the trees, no quiet scrabble of tiny creature's feet in the dead and drying leaves at their base. No groans of a bled-out Levi. No stomping of feet and war cry on his lips as he pounced. Not even a heartbeat. For a moment I thought I'd been wrong and Levi hadn't come here at all.

And then he walked out of the darkness, as though he had no care in the world and had been waiting for the exact moment we arrived. Nick raised his gun, eyes sighted down the barrel, muzzle pointed at Levi's chest. Levi simply chuckled in dark amusement, made a show of his own gun in his hand and stood with legs wide spread and stance relaxed. Where had he got this self-possession from? He hadn't even limped. But blood soaked the bottom of his trousers. He was injured, but not showing how bad. Maybe he wasn't as thick as I had thought.

Then he opened his mouth and removed all shadow of doubt.

"You couldn't fucking leave good enough alone, could you, Eva?"

"This has to stop, Levi," I said, ignoring the stiffening in Nick's shoulders as I stepped up to his side, well out of the stay hidden instruction he had given me.

"What does?" Levi asked, casually. Continuing with that not-a-care-in-the-world appearance of before. "You running from me? You denying I even exist? Seems I got your attention now, don't it, cuz?"

I held his furious gaze, seeing only black in his eyes, no colour. It could have been a trick of the night light, or it could have been all him. Levi's eyes had always seemed dark to me growing up. Dark and slightly evil, as though different blood ran in his veins from mine.

"It doesn't have to end in more bloodshed, Levi," I commented. "Put away the gun."

He laughed. It sounded bitter and harsh on the night air.

"I don't think so, bitch," he said conversationally.

"Then how do you plan to finish this?" I asked, genuinely intrigued to hear what he had to say on the matter.

"It seems you've set the tone, cuz, by bringing your faithful bulldog with you. Couldn't stand to be alone with me, eh?"

My turn to laugh. Bulldog indeed. Levi had no idea who he was up against.

Suddenly Levi's stance became rigid, pure hatred filled his eyes.

"You fuckin' laugh?" he shouted, incredulously. "You fuckin' bitch!"

"Calm down!" Nick instructed.

Levi lifted his gun to aim at Nick and my heart stopped.

"Don't you fuckin' tell me what to do, shithead!" He waved the gun at Nick, I think it was meant to be threatening, but it came off more unhinged than planned.

"Levi," I started, but he turned the gun on me instead and stole my words right out of my mouth.

"Always thought you were better than us, you did," he said, a crazed look replacing the hatred of before. "Strutting around the place with that fuckin' guitar slung over your shoulders. Fuckin' cowgirl princess and didn't Ray think the sun shone out of your arse?" I would have discounted those words a few weeks ago, not anymore. Obviously Dad showed how much he loved me to Jessie and her boys, even if he couldn't show me himself. "Never so much as smiled at us, but with that guitar in your hand you thought you were invincible. Well," he said, puffing up his chest with pride, "I showed you. Fucking broke that last one and now, after I deal with your bulldog shithead friend here, I'll break the one Daddy bought you too."

"Enough!" Nick said, breaking into Levi's ridiculous monologue. "Drop the gun, Levi."

"Fuck you!" Levi spat, literally throwing his head forward and spitting out a wad of saliva at Nick's feet.

Then he charged. Why the darn hell he didn't fire his gun, I don't know. But he simply threw the gun at Nick's head, instead of pulling the trigger, and followed that up with a punch to Nick's jaw. It all happened so quickly and unexpectedly, that even Nick, security expert extraodinaire, was caught off guard and didn't manage to fire a warning shot at all - clearly he was affected by that wound.

I heard the unmistakable sound of bone crunching as Nick whacked Levi across the cheek with his gun, then Levi, in a feat unprecedented before by someone as thick as tree trunk, wrapped a beefy hand around Nick's throat while he simultaneously punched his fist repeatedly into Nick's gut.

I screamed, tried to pry Levi off Nick's body and received an elbow in the ribs, the same ribs Jessie had already pulverized, and my scream turned into a cry of pain instead. I stumbled backwards and watched in horror as the tree trunk and my man went tumbling to the ground in a flail of limbs and fists and the odd moonlit glint off the metal of the gun.

A few grunts and groans later, a lot of swearing and spitting on Levi's part, and the gun went flying into nearby bushes. I crawled after it, determined to find it and shoot the son-of-a-bitch who was currently slamming Nick's head repeatedly into the dirt. Several frantic moments later and still no sign of the gun, but my fingernails were broken and cuts and grazes marred the palms of my hands as I scrabbled in the undergrowth of a prickly bush that threatened to slice me into ribbons at every opportunity.

I sat back in frustration, muttering a few choice curse words of my own, and then gathered my energy for round two with the thorns from hell. And then I heard Nick's cry of pain.

Not just the normal fist to the gut groan. Nor even the moan he'd made when Levi had rammed his skull into the dirt again and again. This was deeper, more heart-wrenching. Coming from somewhere Nick should not have had to go.

I spun on my butt, more stones and grit slicing my palms and legs, as I turned my attention back to the brawl. Levi, that cowardly, fucked-up, no good, piece of shit, had his finger dug deep into Nick's shoulder blade. Over the exact spot he had landed a bullet in earlier. Tears leaked out of Nick's eyes, even as he miraculously worked through that full body screaming pain and punched Levi in the head with his good side.

Levi simply grunted, his eyes bugging out as he drooled with fiendish delight at the sight of Nick's pain. The arsehole was getting off on it, was relishing the tears and flushed face lying beneath him. It was fuelling him, egging him on. Enticing him to dig deeper, to cause more pain, perhaps to permanently wound the man beneath him.

Fuck the gun. I was going to strangle the bastard instead.

I staggered up and threw my full weight on the back of Levi, only realising I was now adding to the weight on Nick and in particular on his bullet wound, after the fact. Nick groaned. It sounded awful. And Levi swore bloody murder, jerking his body in an attempt to throw the monkey off his back.

But I clung like a monkey. My legs wrapping around his sides, my thighs pulling inward as hard as I could. I may not ride a lot of horses, but I've ridden a hell of a lot of those practice bulls in the saloons back at Nashville. My thighs are pretty darn strong. Levi's grunts turned into groans and then I firmly placed my booted feet on either side of Nick's body beneath us and with my arms wrapped around Levi's neck, stood up and back with all my strength.

My ribs protested, my back ached, the air in my lungs burst from my chest causing spittle to coat the back of Levi's head. And then the son-of-a-bitch finally released Nick and went with me. To only land like a dead weight on top of me as my back and head hit the dirt.

Holy fucking cow! But that hurt. The sky started blinking in crazy sparks of white and no matter what I did, I could not suck in air. Even when Nick hauled Levi off me and started throwing punches at the idiot's head, I still couldn't breathe. I realised I was winded and stunned and near to passing out. But I was
not
going to give Levi Russell the satisfaction.