The Runaway Cat (Book 2 Cloverleah Pack Series) (23 page)

“Shawn, have we got any idea where they have taken Diablo yet?”  Griff asked, the plan forming in his head taking shape. 

Shawn flicked open his hands and he quickly zeroed in on Diablo’s essence.  The picture Shawn bought up did nothing to ease Griff’s fears that his mate could be raped or worse before they got to him.  The sight of his mate’s naked body strapped to some type of frame in a small room was both heartbreaking and a tiny bit erotic.  From the slump of Diablo’s head it was clear the man was still drugged and asleep.  Griff just hoped that he stayed that way just a little bit longer.

Forcing his gaze from his mate’s naked body Griff asked Shawn to widen the view so he could get a handle on where the man was being held.  A gaudy neon sign in the corner of the room confirmed Griff’s suspicions.  Diablo was being held in a back room in Georgio’s club and from the signs of food being laid out and a bar being prepared this was obviously going to be some kind of private viewing - probably for Diablo’s potential buyers.  With one last longing look at his mate, Griff ordered Shawn to break the connection.

“Okay, we know where he is being held - at Georgio’s club.  Now we have just got to get in there.”

“How are we going to do that Griff?”  Kane’s voice held traces of his own anger and as Griff looked at the others it was clear they were no happier about what was being done to Diablo than he was.

“Well knowing Georgio’s arrogance I suggest we go in as Angel and his entourage.  The man probably expects me to turn up and try and get Diablo back.  The FBI
has peppered the area with enough hints on how infatuated Angel is with Diablo, so let’s go crash this party.”  Griff’s cold grin turned feral.  “And when we are inside be prepared to shift.  No one is getting out of that room alive.”  With the chorus of agreement ringing in his ears the men prepared for Shawn to transport them all to Baton Rouge.

Chapter Twenty Three

“Wow this is how the other half lives aye Griff,” Scott said cheekily as the men looked around the massive hotel suite rented in the name of Angel Bandures.  There was luxury and money spent in every detail of the room from the furnishings, to the wall coverings and the expensive furniture that graced the set of three rooms.  Griff just shrugged it off as he pulled a phone out from the set of drawers by one of the beds.  Hitting one of the numbers on the keypad he waited for a response.

“Yes, Bruno, I want the car bought around the front for me in ten minutes.”

Waiting long enough for an affirmative before hanging up the phone Griff looked over his friends.  Griff of course was in his customary Armani suit and he had gotten Shawn to dress the others in similar attire.  Walking over to a large closet he pulled out a big flat suitcase and set it on the bed.
The others crowded around him as he opened it.

Quickly moving through the upper level of clothes and other incidentals, Griff pulled at a hidden lever in the side of the case and a panel opened up revealing a variety of guns all packed away neatly.

“Guns, Griff.  Do we really need them?”  Kane asked curiously as he pulled on the shoulder holster that came with his weapon.

“Nope,” said Griff as he put his in the back waistband of his
pants.  He slipped another smaller gun into his boot.  “But Georgio’s men are going to expect us to be armed and we need something for them to confiscate.”

“Ah,” said Troy, “So we are giving them a sort of psychological advantage thinking they have rendered us helpless without the guns.”

“You got it.”  Griff grinned as he pulled out two large black leather arm bands complete with shiny silver studs decorated throughout.  He indicated for Dean to come over and started putting them on Dean’s forearms.

“What are these for Griff?”  The younger man asked quietly.

Griff looked at the Omega carefully.  He knew that the smaller man often felt weak and useless when he wasn’t able to fight like the others.  Shawn had been working with Dean to get him to understand that he didn’t need to fight with the others to have value and a place in the pack.  All in all Dean was a good, quiet young man and no-one in the pack wanted to see him hurt.

“I need for you to get Diablo free while the rest of us take care of the others in the room.”  Griff flicked a few of the metal studs on the cuffs to show Dean the lock picking tools in one of the cuffs and a pair of sharp metal blades in the other.

“But I can…”  Dean’s voice rose aggressively.

“I know you can.  But this is more important.  I don’t want my mate strapped up for a second longer than necessary.  Regardless of what else is going on in the room I want you to head for that bloody rack and get Diablo untied and out of it.  If necessary try and get him to shift so that the drugs will clear from his system.
  I trust you with this Dean, okay?”

Heaving a sigh, Dean nodded and Kane smiled his approval.  As the Alpha Kane knew the man would far rather shift and fight with the others but until they knew exactly how many men were going to be in the room and what weapons they were coming up against it made sense for Dean to have one specific, and important purpose.  The rest of them could wing it.

“Right guys.  From the moment we step out of this room I am Angel Bandures, your boss and feared crime lord from Florida.  It goes without saying that right at this moment I have ever right to be feared.  They have got my mate now let’s go get him back.”

/~/~/~/

Griff certainly had Georgio pegged correctly.  When the men had arrived at the club
and Angel demanded that he be taken to Georgio and Diablo, the men let them in without a problem although all of the weapons they had taken so much time to put on were, as Griff had predicted, confiscated.  On their arrival the group had been greeted civilly enough and ushered into a small waiting room where two of Georgio’s goons quietly frisked all of the men and removed their weapons.  Only Dean’s cuffs were allowed to remain as the guards had mistakenly assumed they were part of a BDSM ownership mark.  Griff did not disabuse them of that thought even though Dean blushed a bright red when it was mentioned.

“Happy now,” Griff asked the guards arrogantly.  He flicked his long hair back from his face and flexed his muscles under his suit.  “
Do you really think I needed that weaponry you stupid man.”  He slammed one fist into his other hand and the resounding smack made the goon in front of him gasp.

“Er, no Mr. Bandures. 
Mr. Sheraton’s orders sir.  No one is allowed into his party with any weapons.”  One of the goons stammered out.

“Fine.  We are weapon free.  Take us to Georgio…NOW.”

The two goons led the pack through the main room of the club, which at this time of night was still fairly quiet.  Griff didn’t look around him to see if the others followed.  Not only was he playing into his persona of Angel, all round arrogant ass hole, but he was also desperate to get into the room with his mate.  When one of the goons finally opened the door and ushered the men through it took all of Griff’s training to mask his anger and dismay.

Inside the room
Georgio and five other men all dressed in suits and holding drinks were standing in the center of the room where Diablo had been put up on display. He was naked, his tanned skin gleaming under the lights.  Only his head was slumped forward, his long blond hair framing and covering the face itself.  The man was still under the effects of whatever drugs his abductors had used. The buyers, for the want of a better word, were openly admiring Diablo’s physique, many of them running their hands up and down the sleek lines and well defined muscles.  Griff fought his desire to shift then and there. Around the walls of the room were about a dozen other men, and from the way they were standing it was clear they were the bodyguards of the five international crime lords. 

“Him, the short
stocky one in the front, he’s mine.” Griff murmured quietly to Kane who was standing directly behind him and to the left.  Shawn was in the same position on his right with Troy and Sean flanking them.  Dean stayed in the back ready to lock the door on Griff’s command.  All men stood still as Georgio, because who else could it be, moved closer to them.

“Mr. Bandures, Angel
, what brings you back.  I wasn’t expecting to see you until Friday.”

“Cut the crap Georgio.  You knew I would be here as soon as you took my boy from me.  What are you up to, you stupid fuck?  Did you think I would do business with you when you act in such a deceitful manner?”

“Ah, but he’s not your boy, is he Angel,” Georgio came closer obviously totally unaware in his own arrogance of just how much danger he was in.  “He’s mine!”

“He was mine until Friday according to our agreement
.  An agreement you broke.  And what, you share your pleasures, with these scum?” Griff indicated the other men in the room who were now watching the exchange with interest.  Griff could feel the men beside him stand tense and ready to fight and/or shift as the need arose. 

“You defiled him, Angel.”  A fanatical look took over Georgio’s face as he moved even closer.  “You took what was mine for the taking and you defiled him.  His
ass was mine and you just took it!”

Shaking his head, Griff growled.  “It was never yours you dumb fuck.  And I can’t take what was freely given.  Get it through your head that Diablo is mine and I will take him with me, today.”

“Even though he’s an undercover FBI agent? Hmm, you still want him Angel?  Lying deceitful little shit that he is?”  Georgio was almost laughing, sure that his little bombshell would sway Griff’s opinion of the man.  Maybe if he had been truly Angel Bandures it might have made a difference but then the stupid human in front of him had no idea about mates and how truly special they were.

“A FEEB, ha?  How long have you know about this little tit bit Georgio?”  Griff was prepared to play him along a little bit longer but over Georgio’s shoulder Griff could see that Diablo was starting to come to and he needed to get this situation sorted and get his mate out of here quickly.

“Six months.”  Georgio positively purred he was so pleased with himself.  “Hm, interesting situation. His handler came to see me personally.  Said Diablo was close to finishing his job.  He asked me if I wanted to be the one who would take this agent down.  Well, how could I refuse an offer like that when there is a man like Diablo on the table?”

“So you let a known FBI agent stick around for a full six months?  Still gathering intel and still doing his job.  Putting your associates and the people you did business with in danger?”  Griff couldn’t believe this man’s stupidity.  If he had genuinely been a crime lord he would have been horrified.  As it was Griff was horrified but not for the reason Georgio thought.

“Yes, but of course the man has to be around for the case to stick.  Hence the need for some creative thinking on my part.  Pretty clever don’t you think?”  Georgio leant close to Griff, “I plan to sell him overseas.  These gentlemen,” Georgio’s hand waved idly at the men standing behind him, “all know the score and have all agreed that if they become Diablo’s new owner, for the want of a better word, then they will be responsible for ensuring the little slut never sees the light of day.  After they have had their own brand of pleasure with him, of course.”

Closing his eyes, Griff took a deep breath, finally allowing the full depth of his anger and hatred for the man in front of him
to show through. His wolf, pulsing just under the surface reflected through his eyes as he opened them and glared, grabbing Georgio by the neck and bringing the hapless man up to eye level.

“Lock the door,” Griff growled sensing Dean rushing to do his bidding.  At this pre arranged signal, Kane, Shawn, Troy and Scott all moved forward to take care of the others in the room.  But Georgio, well Georgio’s death was Griff’s and his alone.

“Do you know what you have done, Georgio? Do you truly know who you have messed with?”

One look at Georgio’s face would tell anyone that the man was terrified.  He kicked and squealed and tried to get out of Griff’s grasp but the man wasn’t going anywhere.  Griff’s hand on the man’s neck tightened.

“But he’s a law agent.  Why would you still want him if he is going to ruin your business and put you in jail?”  Georgio gasped, still trying to salvage something out of the situation.

“He’s my everything!”  Griff roared, pulling his arm back and punching Georgio squarely in the face. The man’s head lolled back obscenely as Griff dropped him and fell on him raining punches on the man over and over as his anger at all that had been done to Diablo, his lover, poured out.  Georgio screamed and yelled until Griff planted a solid thump to his groin area.  That shut him up. 

Over and over Griff pummeled the man.  Yes Griff could have just snapped Georgio’s neck but his hatred of what had been done to his mate was just part of his rage.  The fact that this man had even touched Diablo was reason enough for death as far as he was concerned and he didn’t care that it was in the name of the job Diablo had been doing.  Maybe if Georgio had left him and Diablo alone then the man might be able to live.  But to abduct Diablo, drug him, leave him naked and bound for others to paw over.  That was just too much for Griff and his wolf to handle.  Griff just kept on pounding on the man until he felt Georgio’s life essence leave him.  Only then did he stop and look to see what else was going on.

There were bodies everywhere - no one who had been in the room when the pack entered was standing.  Troy, Scott and Dean were in wolf form finishing off their kills.  Kane and Shawn were with Diablo who was now off the rack
, dressed in a suit similar to Griff’s and sitting on a small chair.  Griff couldn’t take his eyes of his mate as he stood in one fluid motion and crossed the room in huge steps.  Grabbing the man who had been watching him, with, was that love in his eyes, Griff swept Diablo into his arms and held him close to his heart, dipping his head into Diablo’s neck so that he could smell the apricots and spice that told him his mate was all right.  Yes there were other scents on him as well but the core scent that soothed Griff’s senses was all Diablo. Only then could Griff start to breathe properly again. 

As he felt Diablo’s arms come up around him and
hold him tight, Griff did what any man would do in his situation.  He kissed his lover with all of the passion and angst and love and heartache, pain and anger that he could.  And Diablo, the perfect mate that he was, just took it all, held on just as tightly and kissed him right back in exactly the same way.

“Er…Griff…we should probably think about getting out of here.”  Kane’s voice held a tinge of amusement but he was clearly concerned.  “There are people coming.  Do you think Tony has sent in back up after all?”

Griff lifted his head and sniffed.  “Yep, Tony and a whole bunch of agents.  Hmm strange Tony came on this one himself; he hasn’t been out of his office in years.”  Deciding not to ponder on that one too much he indicated that Troy, Scott and Dean should all shift back and get dressed as the pounding on the still locked door started.

“FBI, Open Up!”
  Tony’s strident voice came through the door.

“Honestly, does anyone actually do
what they are told when the FBI start yelling like that?”  Griff could hear Scott’s amused question as he strode to the door with Diablo firmly in his arms, tucked under his jacket and Kane and Shawn flanking his sides.