Arielle Immortal Fury (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 6) (30 page)

Every night he went to bed wishing that he could dream,
wishing
that she could occupy every moment of his sleep, but as an
immortal,
that wish would never come true. He was irrevocably and overpoweringly in love with her. He was dumbfounded to discover
that no matter how
many times they made love, it was never enough. He couldn’t
imagine his life without her, he couldn’t think of a day without her smile. She
seemed to be his only passion, his single desire in his long,
complicated life. His sole need was to have her by his side.

He had spent most of the night awake,
worrying
.
It was difficult to
separate the conflict of his emotions. Was it because Arielle and
Gabrielle were simply chatting with two strange men? Or was it a disturbing, gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Suddenly, he felt the urgency to hear her voice. He was
obviously losing his mind, because this was turning into an obsession. His eyes
found the picture once again, and the sight of her eyes nearly stole
his breath away. He chuckled, bemused with himself, recalling that he found it impossible to put two rational thoughts together when she was in his arms.

He had believed that maybe his passionate response to her would ease as time went by, but that hadn’t occurred over the last
year. If
anything, the passion had become more potent and more
intoxicating. He stared at his arms in shock; he could actually feel the emptiness her absence was creating. He ran his hand through his hair, and an oath escaped his lips. He needed to work through this inexplicable fixation that had encompassed him, and he needed to do it quickly. Troy and Nathan would arrive shortly. Anyway it was way too early to call, he thought, and most likely she would be asleep.

His gaze rested briefly on her picture. Running his tongue over his dry lips, he decided to get up and get into the shower. He pushed the covers away and sat up at the edge of the bed, running his hand through his hair one more time. Being away from Arielle made him
unhappy, but this was something that needed to be done. It wasn’t just the company’s future that was in jeopardy but the lives of
Arielle,
Gabrielle, and Paul. He wasn’t worried about the rest of the group since they were immune to destruction, but the thought of losing Arielle or any of her friends made his lungs lock. He shook his head
and tried unsuccessfully to snap out of the heartbreaking thoughts. He rose to his feet and walked into the bathroom, palms clammy from anxiety.

Another curse escaped his lips. He needed to let the hot water run on his agitated body. Maybe the shower would calm his nerves and soothe his muscles. He closed one hand around the handle and
gave a quick turn to begin heating the water. When he stepped under the spray a few minutes later, water enveloped his body,
sending a comforting feeling across every muscle. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of it.

His mobile rang, but he didn’t move to answer it. Taking a towel
off the glass towel shelf, he wrapped himself in it and stood in front of the mirror, staring beyond his reflection to somewhere in the distance.

His mind wandered as a sense of loneliness washed over him.
Almost, he could feel Arielle’s soft lips brushing against his while her silky, soft body settled tenderly in his warm embrace as she did
every night. He could hear her soft, even breaths that caressed his
face, and he smiled wide. Oh, God…he wanted her badly. He
needed her close to feel complete.

His body tensed when his phone rang again, snapping him out of his haze. Walking into the bedroom, he picked up his mobile, and answered,

“Hello!” Troy’s voice came strong from the other side. “Did I wake you old man?” he joked.

“No, for God’s sake, I’ve been up for a while,” Sebastian replied absentmindedly. “I was about to shave. What’s up?”

“I’ve been up since five o’clock this morning,” Troy said
grouchily.

Sebastian snorted. “Join the club. If you were up for the same reason that I was, we should have gone home last night.”

“I think you’re right,” Troy said. “I have a bad feeling about
those two guys, and I can’t shake it.”

Sebastian humphed while Troy continued. “It wasn’t so much the fact that the girls were talking to them as the motives that
propelled them to want to know so much about our fiancées whereabouts.”

“I had the very same thought,” Sebastian said. “Have you heard from Nathan yet?”

“Yes, he called a couple of minutes ago. He said he had tried to ring you, but there was no answer.”

“I heard the phone, but I was in the shower. So what did he say?”

“He’ll be here shortly.”

“All right,” Sebastian replied. “Come over then when you’re ready.”

“I’ll see you in a few. I want to call Gabrielle first.” Troy ended
the
call, and Sebastian went back to shaving. Walking out of the
bathroom,
he glanced at his watch briefly. He got dressed to kill time until
Nathan showed up. He then picked up his mobile and speed dialed Arielle. Her sleepy voice answered on the third ring. “Hello.”

“Hello yourself,” Sebastian said. “Did you dream of me?”

“Hi, baby. I missed you terribly. Please come home. I hate
sleeping alone.”

“I’ll be home tonight. I just needed to hear your voice before I start my day.”

Arielle sighed, “I love you.”

Before he had a chance to reply, a knock at the door made him look up. “Just a moment,” he called out. “I have to go, baby, Troy is
here. Remember that I love you, and please
miss me
,” he said affectionately and ended the conversation.

Walking to the door, he swung it wide open. Nathan and Troy stood at the threshold. Sebastian waved them in and pointed to the sofa.

“How is Jasmine?” Sebastian asked Nathan.

“She’s a bit better. She was happy to see me last night.” He
looked at Sebastian with a thankful smile.

“I’m happy to hear that,” Sebastian said.

“What did you all do? Did you go out?” Nathan asked glancing between them.

“No, we just went to bed,” Troy said gloomily.

“Did something happen?” Nathan asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”

“Well…” Troy’s voice trailed. He appeared lost in thought.
Nathan looked at Sebastian for some kind of an answer.

“We spoke with Arielle and Gabrielle last night,” Sebastian said. “They informed us that they went to a pub with Loren and Paul, and while there, two guys with Italian accents approached them and tried to pick them up. Troy and I have the sickening suspicion that something is not right about the whole thing. They were asking a lot of questions about their school schedules, activities, and hobbies,” he added thoughtfully.

Nathan was listening without interrupting. “But you had asked
Christian and Isabella to watch after them, and Loren was with
them. Did anything happen that has you all worked up?”

 Sebastian heaved a sigh as he dropped into the seat across from them. He cringed. “No, nothing happened last night, but I think they are trying to set their plan in motion.”

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. “Hmm, it does sound a bit
suspicious to me as well. But we will sort it all out shortly. ”

Sebastian’s nervous laugh didn’t escape Nathan. “Now let's see those names,” he said, and his eyes flashed to Sebastian.

Taking a steady breath, Sebastian dug into his pocket and fished out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Nathan who gave it a quick glance and passed it on to Troy. “Have you seen this list?” Nathan asked.

Troy stared at the paper. The street address was the same for all four men, but the apartment numbers were different. “It’s either an apartment complex or a hotel,” Troy remarked, pointing at numbers on the list. Sebastian nodded in agreement, and taking the paper, he slipped it back into his jean pocket.

“Where do you propose that we begin this morning?” Nathan asked.

“We’re going to focus exclusively on this list,” Sebastian said, tapping his hand against his pocket. “We know that two of the men are in Brighton, so we will concentrate on the other two.”

“What if they’re not there?”

Sebastian’s lips stretched into a thin line. “I have a gut feeling that they are. If they are not there, we’ll check their rooms and
retrieve all the information by going through their stuff. After that, we’ll follow our instincts.” There was nothing in Sebastian’s tone to suggest that he worried about the outcome.

Nathan’s frown deepened. “I suggest that we follow them, listen
to their conversations, find their contacts, and then send them to their eternal death.”

Troy nodded. “These men will act according to the top thug’s
requests. Who knows what we may discover?”

Jorrit’s men were scum that didn’t blink an eye at making
another
person’s life a complete disaster. They were executioners without
souls
and without scruples, Sebastian took comfort knowing that soon
they would never be able to hurt another soul or carry out any more filthy assignments for the mafia.

Nathan and Troy turned to look at Sebastian. Their eyes widened in
question at the anger that flashed in his eyes. Sebastian made a
dismissive move with his hand and stood up. It was seven-thirty, and they were ready to go. They had laid out a detailed plan and coordinated their activities. Determination lined their faces.

“I do hope that they are still in their rooms, because finding two men amongst many won’t be easy,” Nathan said.

 “Assassins don’t hold regular jobs. Early hours aren’t their
forte,” Sebastian said, smiling with amusement.

Nathan and Troy fell in behind him as he walked out of the hotel entrance. They strode slowly down to the valet and handed him the small ticket. Waiting for the rental car to be brought around, the
three men kept their thoughts to themselves until they climbed inside.

As they drove away, Nathan ran a hand through his hair and asked inquiringly, “What are we really going to do with the men at the end of the day?”

Sebastian looked as if he were trying to grasp a thought that
remained just within reach and scoffed. “We’ll dispose of them.
We’ll send a message to their boss that things are not going to be as easy as he thought they would be.”

Troy tilted his head and laughed. “It will not take long for
paranoia to set in, and you know what that will do to their team.”

It felt like the ground beneath Sebastian's feet had fallen away.

It was a cloudy morning with a light mist in the air, but the
traffic
was quite thick. There were several pedestrians walking hurriedly down the sidewalks while others strolled leisurely, protected by
their
umbrellas. Driving was turning out to be problematic because
pedestrians dashed across the main road without paying attention to the light signals. After a thirty minute drive, they arrived at their destination. It was a nice neighborhood with apartment buildings. They located the building they were looking for and pulled into the parking lot.
Wedging their small car between two large vans, they had a full
view of the front of the building but were concealed from the sight of anyone coming out of those apartments.

Sebastian pulled the piece of paper out of his jean pocket one more time and checked out the room numbers. A gasp escaped his lips. Nathan and Troy turned sharply and gazed at Sebastian’s shocked face.

“What is it?” Troy asked guardedly.

“Look at these two names,” Sebastian said, pointing to the
bottom of the paper. Troy glanced, and his breath caught short.

“What is it?” Nathan said, reaching for the paper. “We’ve looked at this paper twice now. What’s new on there that’s making you so anxious?”

Sebastian’s voice hitched. “Nathan, look at the two names on the bottom, Vitorio Capaldi and Mauritsio Visonde!”

“And…” Nathan seemed lost.

“Arielle said that the two guys they met at the pub had an Italian
accent,” he said, pointing at their names fiercely. “Do you think
that’s just a coincidence?” Nathan looked a little shocked, but he had to admit that was suspicious.

“Let's just see check out the rooms first, before we jump to any crazy conclusions,” Troy said. Sebastian could hear in his thoughts
that Troy did not believe a word he just said.

The rooms of two suspects were located on the third floor, one on the second floor, and the last one on the fourth. They memorized the room numbers, and Sebastian left the paper on the car seat. They slipped past three rows of cars, moving at a speed that a human eye couldn’t follow.

They were on the second floor within a millisecond, outside the
door of room 235. They could hear the television, and someone
having
a phone conversation using vulgar language. According to the
information on the paper, this room belonged to Frans De Jong. It sounded like he was arguing about money he lost wagering on the wrong horse. Satisfied that the man was still in his room, they quickly climbed the stairs to the third floor.

Rooms 362 and 361 belonged to Vitorio Capaldi and Mauritsio Visonde. Their abilities would allow them to hear even the soft
breathing of a human behind closed doors, but the silence in those rooms was deafening.

Sebastian motioned to Troy and Nathan, and with a swift move they were inside the apartments. Troy checked room 362 while Nathan and Sebastian walked into 361. The bed was not made, and
the trash piled on the dirty sheets made it obvious that nobody had slept in the bed the night before. The room reeked of cigarettes. Shoes and
dirty clothes were discarded on the floor while food leftovers were molding
on the end table and the top of the dresser. A couple of expensive suits
and a pair of jeans hung in a filthy closet.