Vlad Petrov had come to collect his revenge.

The Petrov brothers had maintained control over one of the largest money laundering and gunman-for-hire operations in the world. Boris had gotten himself involved in a side business with a South American cartel, which was the reason he’d crossed Gabriel’s path.

Landing on top of Vlad didn’t mean Gabriel stayed on top long. Vlad must’ve smelled blood on Gabriel because he gouged his fingers into Gabriel’s wound.

Gabriel grunted out a string of swear words.

“What do I do?” Kinsley’s voice came from too close.

“Get away.” A man like Vlad would have no problem using her against Gabriel. He could pretend that he didn’t care about her but Vlad’s chortle said the man picked up on Gabriel’s emotion.

Damn.

Gabriel’s right arm came down instinctively to protect his injury, a little too late. With one arm to use to fight he was at a severe disadvantage. So, he shoved the toe of his boot into Vlad’s ribs. Vlad grunted in pain before landing a fist on Gabriel’s jaw.

Vlad pummeled Gabriel with right hook after left jab until Gabriel’s head felt like it might explode. In pain, Gabriel slumped over onto his side in order to catch his breath. Kinsley appeared with a rock and slammed it against the back of Vlad’s skull.

The Russian spun around in a fury. Before his brain could fully realize what had just happened, he grabbed Kinsley by the ankles. She gasped and tried to shake her leg free from his grip.

Gabriel dug deep in order to move. Kinsley grabbed onto a tree trunk to keep from being pulled down.

With a primal grunt Gabriel forced movement. He grabbed the rock that Kinsley had used in his knuckle and punched Vlad in the temple. Gabriel hadn’t used enough force to kill the man but it was enough to knock him over, unconscious.

Kinsley jerked her leg free from The Russian.

“What can I do?” Kinsley ran to Gabriel’s side and dropped to her knees. It was a bad sign that he couldn’t get up or move. He stayed on his back and his breathing seemed shallow. Her heart squeezed as she got a good look at his face. No. Gabriel. Don’t do this.

“I can’t lose you again, Gabriel.” Tears welled in her eyes. The last time she’d really cried had been her parents’ funeral. The finality of it had struck her. There would be no more time to repair their relationship. There’d be no time to fix what had always been wrong between them. And there’d be no time to find a way to relate to each other.

“My cell. In my pocket. We need to signal. For a pickup.” Gabriel’s eyes fluttered.

“Stay with me, Gabriel.” He was so pale.

Hot tears streaked her cheeks as she fished his cell out of his front pocket.

She pressed his thumb to the phone. He was breathing but his eyes were closed.

“Gabriel.” She searched his contacts and stopped on Jaden’s name.

He picked up on the first ring.

“Help him,” she said through bursts of air. “Please. He’s losing a lot of blood. We have The Russian.”

“Tell me in general where you are,” Jaden said, and his calm voice was a beacon.

She relayed the information best she could.

“There’s an emergency flare in Jaden’s rucksack.” Jaden gave her instructions on where to find it and how to use it.

Kinsley located the flare, cracked it open and tossed it in the air. “Okay.”

“Tell me when you hear the chopper,” Jaden said.

Kinsley listened. There was nothing. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart.

Minutes passed. She checked Gabriel.

And then, blissfully, thankfully, the whop-whop-whop finally came.

“I hear it,” she said.

“The pilot says that he sees the light. He’s sending a man down,” Jaden said.

Those words would normally be music to her ears and they were in part. But seeing Gabriel lie there, motionless, she couldn’t allow herself to feel relief.

“I see someone,” she said to Jaden.

“Stay with him. He needs you the most right now,” Jaden said to her. Those words provided a small measure of comfort. “It’s going to be all right.”

Chapter 14

Gabriel and Jaden sat side by side at the small conference table at Orchard Agency. A few days had passed, and his injuries were healing nicely. The Russian had been turned over to one of those alphabet agencies that Jaden and Gabriel refused to work for again. They would always fight on the side of justice.

Daniel was due to return from his honeymoon today.

“I must’ve had a dozen people reach out to me once they found out what was going on with you,” Jaden said. “I realize this job we’ve done makes us think we can handle anything on our own, and I’m not saying we can’t, I’m just saying that we don’t have to.”

“I’m trying to get better about that.” Gabriel appreciated each and every person who’d come forward to claim responsibility for killing Boris. It sent a strong message to anyone who tried to retaliate on behalf of the brothers and especially the person who would rise from the ranks to take over the business once the dust settled. Someone would. Someone always did. Vlad and Boris had built a profitable business. Someone would claim it.

“Justified has taken a blow. Vlad was in the process of tying together a couple of terror cells to create a bigger organization,” Jaden informed.

“It’s good that we stopped that growth.” They both knew full well it wouldn’t last forever.

“Sounds like a problem for the U.S. government to me.” Jaden quirked a smile and shrugged.

“They have the information. It’s up to them to stay on top of it,” Gabriel admitted.

A knock at the door sounded.

“Come in,” Jaden said without looking up.

Gabriel broke into a wide smile, ready for the teasing that would come when Daniel realized he had a new co-worker.

Kinsley walked into the room instead. And damned if she didn’t look good.

Jaden’s gaze bounced from her to Gabriel. Jaden stood.

He introduced himself to Kinsley and offered her a seat.

“We spoke over the

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