Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

10

THERON

I was yards from the porch of the lake house when the man turned.

I put a bullet in his head and took the stairs in one leap. Crouching down, I grabbed the dead man’s AR and ammo, then carefully opened the back door and edged inside. I cleared the living room and heard hushed voices from the kitchen. There were two men standing on the other side of the island.

I stepped out and pulled the trigger.

I dropped both men before I had to lunge for the cover of the island as the gunfire drew a man in from the family room who walked in spraying bullets. I stayed low and went around the island, watching his reflection in the oven. I leaned out and fired, hitting him in the leg. He went down, and I quickly stepped out to finish him. I headed for the doorway of the family room when a man rushed in.

I grabbed his gun before he could fire point blank and slammed my elbow into his face just as arms wrapped around me. I backed hard into the wall, turned my gun and fired into his stomach. His grip loosened, and I lunged forward tackling the other one into the family room. I lost my gun in the scuffle and dodged to the side as he came at me with a knife. I met his attack with a sharp hit to his neck and sent him crashing backwards into the coffee table. I moved for the gun at the same time as the other man and once I grabbed it; I twisted onto my back and shot him in the face as he fell forward onto me.

I shoved him off and heard movement upstairs as the floorboards creaked. Fear cut through my adrenaline as I made my way up the stairs, clearing the hallway and each room along it. I saw that the master bedroom door was cracked and headed towards it. Dread seeped through me.

I pushed open the door.

A bloody hand reached for me, and screams filled my ears.

I woke up abruptly, sweat coating my forehead and my chest heaving as I took in several deep breaths. I looked at my hands, already knowing they wouldn’t be covered in blood like they always were in my nightmares but still feeling like I needed to wash them clean again and again. I lay there looking up at the dark ceiling, catching my breath. The dreams were always similar and always ended the same—with blood and death—a horrifying reminder of my failure.

I got out of bed, careful not to wake Kaelin and Graham. I pulled on my boxer briefs and a t-shirt. It was a warm night as I made my way out to the back patio. I nodded to Konstantine who was on night duty and he disappeared respectfully around the side yard as I sat down heavily in a chair.

Even after all these years the nightmares still found me often. Usually they fueled my fire for vengeance—reminding me of every reason why I was doing this. But then there were nights like tonight where I just wished it was all over.

My elbows were braced on my thighs as I leaned over, head in my hands. I heard the sliding glass door hiss open, and I straightened to see Kaelin come out in one of my shirts. She hesitated once she neared me. I knew the way the shadows were falling on her face that she couldn’t see mine very well.

“Did I wake you up, darlin’?”

She shook her head. “Are you okay?”

I sighed. “I will be.”

I held out my hand to her and pulled her into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her with a sigh and leaned back in the chair, burying my face in her hair. We sat like that for a while. Her heartbeat helped to steady mine, and I focused on the smell of the damp earth and how her warm body felt against me. She sat up straighter and turned towards me as she ran her fingers across the scar on my face. She worshiped mine the same way I worshiped hers.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She asked quietly.

I took her hand in my own and brought it to my lips, kissing her knuckles and then shook my head. I could feel her disappointment but how could I possibly tell her everything? It was daunting. The past was this deep abyss of dark memories and trauma.

It was my burden—my curse—my punishment.

She still didn’t know why I’d really been in the Warren, or why I couldn’t immediately get her out of there. Instead, she knew things like how I took my coffee in the mornings and what my favorite cologne was. Intimate things but not the sum of things that made up a person’s soul. Once she knew the truth, there was no taking it back.

But I couldn’t let her go—she was in my blood now. She was my obsession.

“You’re still so much of a mystery,”

she whispered before she leaned forward and kissed me.

When she stood up, she went to walk back into the house but stopped and put a hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t love you any less not knowing, but I still wish you’d tell me what’s going on.”

She squeezed my shoulder and disappeared back into the house. I groaned and leaned back in the chair, looking up at the meager spread of stars above, dim due to the light pollution of the nearby city. That was the closest she’d ever come to saying ‘I love you.’

Love. I didn’t know much about love anymore—just obsession. Maybe I was getting the feel for it again. The memory of what it felt like so long ago was like a whisper of a word on the tip of my tongue. It was elusive and when I tried to reach for it; it disappeared. I knew I’d experienced it once but everything I loved was brutally taken from me again and again until I stopped associating the word with anything.

After a few minutes, I went back inside, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so I went into Kaelin’s office and did a few hours of work. My men were taking out Atrox’s architects in two days and I needed to ensure the execution was flawless. There was no room for error now that the end was in sight.

The three of us stood in Kaelin’s bathroom finishing getting ready for the day.

Graham was buttoning up his shirt, and I was brushing my teeth when Kaelin let her robe drop to the floor of her closet that we both had a perfect view of in the mirror.

“Unless you want to stay here all day, you better put some clothes on,”

Graham said, his fingers stalling on the last few buttons. With my mouth full of toothpaste, all I could do was groan an agreement. Her laugh made me smile and she quickly pulled on a black dress and walked out to stand between us. Graham finished his buttons and then slowly dragged her zipper up her back.

My teeth brushed, I turned and ran a hand up her thigh.

“Panties?”

She smirked at me and her breath caught as my fingers found my answer between her legs. Brushing her pussy I teased her clit with a light touch. Her lips parted and Graham planted a kiss on her neck. She groaned in frustration and closed her eyes.

“I wish I didn’t have a meeting this morning,”

she moaned.

“Cancel it,”

Graham said, his teeth finding her ear making her shiver.

“Can’t,”

she said breathlessly.

My finger slipped inside her, feeling her wet heat. I added another finger, hooking them just enough to make her breath catch. Graham nudged her legs apart and his hand traveled up the back of her thighs until I felt two of his fingers join me inside her.

“Oh fuck,”

Kaelin whimpered.

“Do you like both of our fingers inside you, gorgeous?”

He murmured.

Her hands landed on my chest, gripping my shirt tightly.

“Yes,”

she breathed.

Graham pressed forward, pushing her closer to me as I leaned back against the counter, sandwiching her between us. His other hand curled around her neck. Her dress rode up her thighs until it bunched around her hips and her breathing picked up as we continued our slow strokes.

I pulled my fingers from her and rubbed her clit with her arousal, slow circles making delicious sounds escape her lips. I pressed my fingers back inside her, my thumb resuming on her clit. Her hips shifted as we quickly worked her into a panting mess. I met Graham’s gaze over her shoulder, his pupils blown, probably similar to mine. A slow smile slid across his lips and together we increased the speed slightly eliciting a breathless curse from Kaelin. She opened her eyes and I looked down at her, running my thumb over her lips. Her eyes jumped to Graham’s in the mirror and he tightened his grip around her throat.

“Fuck—”

she gasped. I could feel her nearing the edge.

“You’re strangling my fingers, princess,”

he growled in her ear.

“You going to fall apart on our hands, darlin’?”

I rasped, watching her closely.

I loved how she bit her lip as the pleasure overtook her and the moans she made, throaty and breathless. She stood on shaking legs, gripping my shirt in a death grip as together, Graham and I sent her over the edge. We held her between us as she cried out, bucking and grinding down on our hands. Her pussy pulsed around our fingers and I reveled in how fucking gorgeous she looked falling apart.

Kaelin leaned back against Graham, looking at me through hooded eyes as she caught her breath. He released her throat, caressing her jaw before planting a kiss on her neck and removing his fingers. I followed suit and brought my fingers up to my lips, sucking off her come. She watched me and hummed her approval.

“Fuck, that’s hot,”

she murmured.

I pushed my fingers into her mouth and she closed her eyes as she sucked the rest off.

Graham licked his fingers and pulled her head around and kissed her. I watched his tongue dive into her mouth, letting her taste herself there. They pulled apart and Kaelin fixed her skirt before running her hands over my now wrinkled shirt. A sexy blush tinted her cheeks and I pulled her into me.

“Don’t worry about it, beautiful,” I said.

She gave me a sheepish smile before I kissed her deeply, holding her face in my hands, wishing I could stay home with her all day instead of going to work.

I headed out to the kitchen and poured coffee into to-go mugs, throwing a spoonful of brown sugar into Kaelin’s and handing it to her as she walked in a moment later with Graham behind her.

“Thank you—”

she kissed me again. “I know this last year has been crazy, are you two still okay with everything? All of this?”

She gestured to the three of us.

“We’re good,”

Graham said, taking his coffee mug from me with a wink. “We’ve talked—exchanged threats—”

Kaelin hit him lightly on the arm as he passed by to grab creamer from the fridge. He chuckled and looked back at her.

“It feels right to be together—I’m sure North will agree—”

Graham nodded at me. “No sense making you choose or pushing one of us out when quite frankly, none of our lives are normal. I don’t think I would do well with conventional—you?”

I looked over at Graham and raised my eyebrows like it wasn’t even a question.

“I think you both know the answer to that,”

I said dryly as I threw on my shoulder holsters, checking both guns. Kaelin smiled and nodded, kissing Graham before walking over to me and putting a soft hand on my jaw, pulling my attention to her.

“I can’t imagine my life without either of you right now, so don’t go doing anything stupid to take you out of it.”

Before I could reply she turned her head seeing movement in the backyard. Viktor was crossing the back patio on a rotation.

She sighed. “Not that I mind having all the eye candy around all the time—and the twins and I have grown close—but is this really because you’re—just being…cautious?”

She treaded lightly around the word I knew she wanted to use: paranoid. “Or is there something else going on? I know this can’t be just because of those death threats.”

“I own one of the largest security companies in the world,”

I said. “That’s just what happens when you date the boss, darlin’.”

I could tell she didn’t really believe me as she moved towards the door and grabbed her keys, jacket and purse.

“You know I could just hack into your stuff and find out myself,”

she said over her shoulder.

I could tell on her face when my eyes took on a dangerous look, and I slowly advanced on her until she was backed up against the wall. Her eyes flashed and her breathing picked up but she submitted with a sultry look on her face. I knew she enjoyed pushing me and I’d be lying if I didn’t enjoy it too.

“Is that a threat?”

I murmured.

My hand came up to her neck and I tightened my fingers ever so slightly.

She leaned into me. “It’s a promise,”

she whispered, those fierce green eyes alight with a smoldering fire.

“You’re lucky I like your fire, baby girl,”

I said against her lips.

“So you’ve said.”

Her hands trailed up my chest, and then her lips pressed against mine.

Kaelin finally made it out the door after throwing both of us a kiss over her shoulder. I waited until I heard the garage door shut behind her before I turned back to the kitchen and finished prepping my guns.

“Is that really why Viktor is still here?”

Graham asked. “I understand not wanting to involve Kaelin. But I’d like to know what’s coming so I can help protect her—and you,”

Graham added, smiling slightly.

While Graham and I weren’t romantically involved, I couldn’t ignore how hot things got in the bedroom between the three of us and with that intimacy, a mutual trust and friendship was growing along with a fierce need to protect what we had. I’d said I was going to invite Graham to join my personal NorTac team, but that would involve telling him everything and it was a very long and very dark story. We all had skeletons in our closet, but mine were very much still alive and dangerous.

Before I could answer, my phone lit up on the counter showing a call from Nyx. I hit accept and put it on speaker, looking over the island at Graham.

“Yeah.”

“Fish just received a suspicious package at the docks. It’s addressed to you,” Nyx said.

“Tell him to stay away from it—how far out are you?”

“Thirty at least,” Nyx said.

“Alright—meet me there.”

I disconnected the call and stared at Graham, debating for a moment. “You’re right—something is coming,” I said.

If I didn’t have time to tell him, maybe I could just show him. It was a stupid evasion of the inevitable but it was all I could do right now. I grabbed the keys to one of the Northern Tactical blacked out SUVs and tossed them to Graham.

“The only ones who know are the guys on my team.”

“Is this your way of inviting me to join the inner circle?”

He asked with an amused smile. “Cause it’s about damn time.”

We walked out to the vehicle and climbed in.

“Had to know you were serious about things—I know Cal has been hounding you to join him.”

“I hope you know where I stand now,”

Graham said.

“I do,”

I nodded. “My personal team is not involved in the everyday NorTac ops. They work for me in a different capacity.”

Before I could go on, my phone rang again. I watched Graham’s eyebrows raise at the name that appeared but he didn’t comment as I hit accept, pushing the call through the car speakers.

“Demetrius,”

I greeted.

“Theron—remember when we first met, and you told me there may come a time in our relationship where you’d need to call in your favor?”

“I’m listening,” I said.

“I think this might be it,”

Demetrius said cryptically.

“What happened, D?”

I demanded, not liking the man’s tone.

“Come see me at the club as soon as you can,”

he said. “We need to talk.”

The call disconnected, and Graham glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Russian mob?”

I gave him a quick grin. “We go way back.”

Fish was standing in the doorway of his mobile office as we pulled into the docks.

Fish was the dockmaster and privy to all Northern Tactical’s imports and exports that went through this city. To the public, NorTac was a legal private military company specializing in security and protection details. It was a global enterprise with teams all over the world. On the other side, I dealt in the illegal arms business selling military grade weapons to the black market, and some governments, all over the world. Fish played a big part in making sure customs didn’t discover anything they weren’t supposed to see and ensured the products were received and stored in the appropriate containers to await pickup and distribution by my staff.

Graham parked the SUV, and we climbed out to see Fish currently staring with apprehension at a package that sat out in the open in front of the office building. I stopped a comfortable distance from the package, tilting my aviators slightly to look at Fish.

“Fish.”

“North—Is it a bomb?”

He asked immediately.

“Unlikely,”

I said. “Go inside.”

While Graham walked around the perimeter, looking through the spaces between containers and up into any spot a sniper might sit, I surveyed the package. I was pretty positive it wasn’t a bomb, Vetticus wouldn’t escalate to that quickly, but it didn’t hurt to be safe. I pulled out my gun, aimed at the box and pulled the trigger.

Graham turned abruptly at the sound and headed back over once he realized it was me. I crouched down over the box and saw blood oozing out of the bullet hole. Across the top was ‘To Kraven’ written obnoxiously large in black sharpie. I took my knife and opened the box, revealing a bloody mess inside.

“What the fuck—”

Graham muttered.

Inside was a bloody heart with a knife through the center pinning a note to the organ. I stared at it for a long moment, jaw tight at the message. I gingerly pulled the bloody paper from the knife and pulled my lighter from my pocket, holding the flame to the corner. I dropped it at the last second before the fire took the rest of the note and the ash cascaded to settle in the gravel at my feet. I heard tires squeal behind me and as car doors opened; I rose and turned abruptly, motioning Graham to follow. We headed back towards the SUV as Nyx, Atlas and Lachlan jogged towards us.

“Get rid of it,”

I said as we passed Nyx. “Have West pull all security footage.”

“Where are you going?”

Nyx asked.

“Demetrius wants to see me,”

I said over my shoulder.

This time I climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the docks a little too aggressively, causing the tires to scream around the first corner, giving away my irritation. Graham was silent all the way to the freeway before he spoke.

“Who sent that?”

Silence.

“His name is Vetticus.”

“Why didn’t you show the note to Nyx?”

Silence again.

“Nyx will understand the message without the note.”

I tapped the steering wheel with a finger, trying to control the intense anger at the sight of that note. I didn’t want Nyx and Atlas to see it—the heart alone would be enough of a message for them. Besides, the note was for me. It was him claiming me all over again—ensuring I remembered who I belonged to.

You are mine.

No. Not anymore and I was going to make damn sure he never touched any of us again.

A short drive later we pulled up to Elysium. The club sat in the bustling downtown area on a trendy street filled with restaurants and a vibrant nightlife. It was the perfect mix of a high end speakeasy with a gentlemen's club undertone. We used it to launder the money from our illegal dealings and had several around the world. This one turned into Nyx and Atlas’ special project and I had to admit they’d done a fantastic job. So much so, Demetrius came to me once it was done and asked to have offices there. I wasn’t lying when I told Graham we went way back—Demetrius was one of my longest clients, turned business partner and now friend.

I led the way through one of the back hallways into the main space. Demetrius was leaning against the bar, looking every inch a mobster. He was wearing a tailored gray suit with his tattoos spilling out from under the cuffs and onto his hands. He turned as we approached, a smile breaking up the intensity of his features.

“Theron, my friend,”

he said. He was a handsome man around my age, with carefully styled black hair with a gray streak running along one side and a muscular, six foot four frame. There were three deliberate knife scars that ran through one eye, turning it white, while the other was a whiskey color that looked nearly gold.

“Demetrius,”

I said, smiling and clasping his hand before embracing him. Stepping back I gestured to Graham. “This is Graham Wolfe. Demetrius Volkov.”

“Ah, another wolf—”

He said, amusement in his eyes as he extended his hand to Graham. They shook hands as Demetrius gave him a once over.

“Theron told me all about your adventures and how you got Kaelin out of the Warren. Nasty business.”

“It was,”

Graham answered. “Volkov—are you related to Viktor and Konstantine then?”

Demetrius nodded. “Viktor and Kon are my brothers. Theron has a habit of collecting misplaced soldiers if you haven’t noticed.”

Graham looked over at me. “So Kaelin was being protected by the Bratva while we were on the Red Rabbit job?”

“Indeed, she was in good hands,”

Demetrius said in amusement.

“So, why’d you call me, my friend?” I asked.

Demetrius’ face fell, and he gestured towards the back. “Let’s go into my office.”

I followed Demetrius upstairs and down a narrow hallway before we entered a spacious office. Once seated in leather chairs in front of his desk, Demetrius handed me a manila envelope with ‘Kraven’ written in sharpie.

“This was dropped off here last night,” he said.

Anger immediately flared when I pulled out a stack of photographs. I handed a few to Graham.

“What is this?”

He growled when he saw what they were.

“You can see why I’m concerned,”

Demetrius said.

I pulled out my phone and dialed West, putting him on speaker.

“Yeah, boss,”

he answered.

“Pull up Kaelin’s work cameras,”

I demanded.

While I waited, I turned to Graham. “Call Nyx.”

Graham dialed his number and put that call on speaker as well.

“Yeah,”

Nyx answered.

“Nyx,”

I said. “I need you to go to Kaelin’s office.”

I took a picture of the photo I was holding in my hand and texted it to him.

“On my way. What happened?”

“He knows.”

After a moment I heard him curse as the images came through.

“What do you want to do?” He asked.

I handed Graham the pictures. The top one was of Kaelin sitting at her desk at work, while the one behind it was of her and I in the backyard of her own house. The others I held in my hand were of Nyx, Atlas and a few other team members.

“North?”

Nyx snapped. “He knows about her now.”

“Let me know when you’re at the office.”

I slammed my finger down on the end call button just as West came back on the phone.

“She’s in a meeting in her conference room,” he said.

Relief coursed through me.

“Do not let her out of your sight,”

I said to West.

“Will do, boss.”

I hung up and turned to see Demetrius studying me curiously, then he nodded and sat back.

“It’s him, isn’t it,”

Demetrius stated. “The one you’ve been preparing to go after all these years.”

I nodded.

“My brothers are in those pictures—I’m even in one,”

he said, tossing a few of the photos onto his desk. “He knows our association.”

I shoved the pictures back into the envelope and tossed it back onto Demetrius’ desk.

“He’s making a point he can get to anyone close to me,”

I growled.

Even knowing something like this was coming, it didn’t help calm the possessive fury of seeing an intimate moment between Kaelin and I captured by that asshole.

“We need to talk about how he was able to take a picture at Kaelin’s house and access her work cameras,”

Graham said. “We need to have her tighten that up.”

“We’ll head over there after this,” I said.

“So—are you going to ask me?”

Demetrius asked, his hands steepled in front of him on the armrests and a sly look on his face.

When I didn’t answer right away, Demetrius chuckled, looking amused.

“Come on, T,”

he said with a knowing smile. “I know the only reason you took over as my supplier all those years ago was for this moment. Hell, I’d even go as far as saying that’s why you saved my brothers in Syria if we want to go back that far.”

My brooding look lasted a moment longer before I smirked. “It worked didn’t it?”

“You’re lucky you’ve grown on me,”

Demetrius said fondly. “Well, go ahead—let me hear it.”

I barked out a laugh. “Demetrius, I’m calling in my favor.”

He chuckled. “I thought you’d never ask. I have to say, ten years is a long time to owe someone. I’m ready to even the score.”

“After this I’ll probably owe you,”

I admitted.

“I’m looking forward to it,”

he said. “So what’s the plan?”

An hour later, we were back in the SUV driving towards Kaelin’s office.

Graham was quiet for the first part of the drive, no doubt trying to process everything we’d just discussed in the office. When he finally did speak, it wasn’t what I expected.

“Syria, huh?”

I looked at him briefly.

“Yeah, one of the first NorTac ops we were hired on to guard a gas refinery in Syria. We were attacked by a group of Russian special ops. When the dust cleared, we’d taken a few hostages—”

“Viktor and Konstantine?”

I nodded. “I had heard of the Volkov brothers and their associations with the Russian mob. Back then, Demetrius was a new Pakhan, the big boss, so I saw an opportunity to get in their good graces—they run deep in illegal arms and I needed to get my foot in the door in a big way. I staged a breakout and let the brothers go. When I came back, I got rid of the Russians usual supplier and approached them. Demetrius wasn’t happy obviously—almost killed me—”

I chuckled at the memory. “His brothers showed up just in time and told him who I was—”

“Wasn’t saving your life repaying you saving theirs?”

I smirked. “I told them all of that was independent and that one day I would call in my favor to them. They could either shoot me right there, or become a client. I gave them a commission rate and also cut some of their costs—basically gave them a deal they’d have been stupid to refuse.”

“So now you’re calling in your favor.”

“Yup. Demetrius and I grew pretty close after that and our businesses cross over sometimes. He has a lot of contacts in Russia where we have a lot of accounts. He also helps run the clubs. Our teams help each other out and Viktor and Kon kind of latched on to me after we reunited after Syria so when they’re not needed with mob business, they’re with me.”

“Powerful friends,”

Graham mused.

“In order to go after Vetticus, I needed to have money and power. I wasn’t going to risk going in with just Nyx and Atlas. Too emotional, not enough support—too much margin for error and failure,”

I gripped the wheel. “It’s not an option to fail.”

“So I have to ask—are you using Kaelin for her Phox connections then? She’s pretty powerful in the military contracting world.”

I knew he’d ask me some variation of this question at some point because I knew what it must look like.

“No, my feelings are genuine. I didn’t know who she was in the Warren—I found out Phox was involved early on but of course, didn’t know Kaelin’s association—”

“Wait, Phox is involved?”

“Yeah, they supply Atrox, Vetticus’ company, with military drones.”

That was a detail few knew about. I’d discovered invoices going back years and when I looked into it, it turns out, Kaelin was behind the design of the military drones Vetticus now used in his games. She didn’t know of course—Atrox was just a client out of thousands—but now, Vetticus knew about our connection and I hated to admit it, but she was a weakness I wasn’t anticipating in all my years of planning.

“Fuck…does she know any of this?”

“No.”

“Have you told her anything?”

He sounded annoyed.

I pulled into the underground parking garage at the Phox offices downtown and pulled into a spot next to Kaelin’s Tesla. I turned off the car and turned to Graham.

“Look, I practically just met you and Kaelin. Sure, this has all been hot and heavy and I-I care deeply for both of you,”

I said, stumbling slightly over the declaration of feelings, not sure how to word what I felt. “But I will do whatever is necessary to accomplish what I set out to do. That means being careful with information and being careful with a life I wasn’t expecting to have to watch out for.”

“Do you love her?”

I stepped out of the car before answering. He met me around the side of the SUV.

“I’m not sure if I know what love means anymore,”

I said honestly. “Where does obsession end and love begin?”

He shrugged. “I can’t answer that. Maybe they’re one and the same.”

I nodded. “I would burn the world for her—but I also know there is a deep darkness inside me that is driven by retribution and fed by vengeance. I have obligations—”

He looked grim. “It’s complicated. I will do whatever I have to do to accomplish what I’ve spent the last decade putting into place.”

All I knew was I needed to end this. I was just hoping Kaelin and the other people I’d come to care for were still around when the dust settled.

“She knew what she was getting into,”

I continued. “She knows what kind of man I am.”

“The dangerous kind,”

Graham agreed.

“Who plays dangerous games.”