Assassin's Angst: The Santorno Series Read online




  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Other Works

  SNEAK PEEK AT THE BLOOD BOND CHRONICLES

  The Santorno Stories- Book 13

  By Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Copyright © 2017. All rights reserved.

  Cover art by SelfPubBookCovers.com/Viergacht

  Edited by Kody Boye

  Formatted by Kody Boye

  Brenda Wright – Formatting Done Wright

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronically, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the proper written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

  My LRO readers. I love all of you.

  My Facebook family

  Jenjo

  Kris Jacen

  Brenda Wright

  Kody Boye

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Sneak Peek – Blood Chronicles by J.P. Morrow

  Operation “It’s About Damn Time,” which involved kidnapping security experts Dominic Catalano and Mason Landry, flying them to Alaska, and surprising them with their wedding had been a rousing success. The two guards were always away on missions and unable to schedule enough time for a wedding. Their boss, Lorenzo Costa, finally took things into his own hands. Since he and his men were scheduled to take the younger generation of the extended Santorno-Youngblood family to Alaska for a final phase of security training, he added the wedding, as well.

  Several days later, festivities over, the team’s trip to Sitka didn’t take long. Frank was waiting for them when they landed. He eyed all the kids.

  “What are you guys, twenty now?”

  “Ha, ha, Uncle Frank,” Hunter Trevino said. “We’re the babies; we’re late teens.”

  “In what universe?”

  “Hey, Frank!” Hunter’s father, Roman, hugged his mentor hard.

  “Your boy looks just like you.” Frank shook his head.

  “I look like my dad,” Evan Voronova piped up.

  “I hear you behave like him too.” Frank pulled Evan into a hug. “Look at all of you.”

  “I know. We’re adorable, right?” Damon Youngblood Jr. smiled, showing off his perfect dimples.

  Frank chuckled. “Come on in.”

  Hunter looked around the house. This was where his fathers had fallen in love. Roman had been protecting Brett O’Connel from drug traffickers who wanted him dead; those same traffickers had threatened to kill Dimitri Voronova’s sister if he did not find and kill Roman and Brett. Frank had mentored Roman and Dimitri. Hunter shook his head clear. Life was weird.

  He took his bag to the back room and Evan followed.

  “You could fit five people in here!” Evan laughed.

  “Ah, the hot tub.” Brett pointed and laughed.

  “I gotta see this.” Chris Voronova followed the boys.

  The equivalent of the voice of doom interrupted their revelry.

  “You will all get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day,” Lorenzo instructed.

  “You will be dropped off at different points in the mountains in teams,” Roman told them. “You’ll find food and make shelter for the night. You’ll have a radio in case things get to be too much. I don’t want you to think you can’t call in, guys. We’ve been at this for years, and even Dimitri got frostbite once.”

  “So don’t think for one second you can’t call us. We will come and get you,” Tyler repeated.

  His husband, Damon, elbowed him, and got a sharp jab back, along with a scowl.

  “We’ll be okay.” Nikolai Markov smiled at his father. His dad was a badass in his own right, but it was his other father, Vince Markov, who instilled fear into the vilest criminals — and innocent civilians who happened to recognize him.

  “You will call. You promise?” Andrei Panchenko-Markov gripped Nikolai by the shoulders.

  “Promise.”

  Morning came early, and the boys were on the helicopter on the way to their drop zones. Tanner was watching out the window, and then turned to Nico.

  “I love this part!”

  “Tanner, Nico, this is you, guys!” Vince shouted over the noise.

  “Love you, Dad!” Damon’s twin, Tanner, smiled and jumped out.

  “You watch him! If anything —” Tyler started telling Nico Youngblood, Caleb and Heath’s adopted son.

  “I’m on it.”

  Trouble came quickly, as a gust of wind caught Tanner’s parachute and carried him miles from his drop zone. He grabbed his parachute, rolled it up, and checked the sky.

  Nico landed in the drop zone and immediately took his radio out. He called the chopper and told them about Tanner.

  “Go west, Nico. You should run into him,” Tyler’s voice came over the radio.

  “I’m going now.” Nico rolled up his chute and started walking.

  Tanner had decided to stay put. His tracking bracelet was on if they needed to pinpoint his location, and it was best to stay in one place. Besides, part of training, right? He dug a hole in the snow deep enough for two and started the campfire. The temperature was going to drop fast, and Tanner pulled his gloves on.

>   Colin Greystone and Nikolai had already found their spot, dug their shelter, and had a fire going. Nikolai left to find food while Colin got more firewood. He hadn’t walked fifty feet when he came face-to-face with a black bear.

  “Oh, shit.” Colin stood still and hoped it would go away. It didn’t.

  Nikolai turned as soon as he heard it. It was a bear growl, and he was the one with the rifle. Colin had the handgun. Nikolai ran and saw the bear on its hind legs, towering over Colin, who had dropped to the ground in a fetal position.

  The first shot hit the bear in the chest and the second hit it in the head. Nikolai ran to Colin and picked him up.

  “Are you all right?” Nikolai checked him over.

  “Yeah.” Colin passed out.

  Jensen Maddox whirled and looked at Hunter. “That was a rifle shot.”

  Hunter got on the radio. “Who’s shooting?”

  “Me,” Nikolai replied. “We’re gonna have black bear for dinner if you’re hungry.”

  “Jesus. No shit? Are you guys okay?” Hunter asked.

  “Colin passed out. Shock.”

  “Take care of him, Nik. If you need anything, just holler.”

  “Roger that. You guys be careful.” Nikolai put Colin down in the shelter, and wrapped him up tightly in a blanket. “You’re okay.”

  Colin happened to be recording the terrain when he saw the bear, and Mark and Paul Greystone were watching his camera feed when he spotted it. They held their breath when Colin walked up on it.

  “Don’t run, baby,” Mark whispered.

  “He cannot shoot it with that gun without angering it.” Lorenzo stood tensely behind them.

  “Jesus.” Vince looked at the scene. “Where is Nikolai?”

  They heard the shots and the bear went down. Mark closed his eyes and Paul held him.

  “He’s okay, babe.” Paul held him close.

  “That’s my boy,” Vince whispered.

  Nikolai stoked the fire and added more wood. He found a long, thin, flat rock and placed it over the fire, then went about cutting what he needed from the bear. He knew they only had an hour or so before the smell of fresh blood would bring wild animals to their camp, and he made quick work of taking only what they needed, along with some scraps. Within a half an hour, an alpha male gray wolf joined them. He threw a scrap and waited.

  The wolf picked it up and looked at Nikolai. They made eye contact, and Nikolai smiled. He threw another piece and put the slabs of meat he had cut on the rock in the fire, then checked on Colin. He crawled under the blanket with him, holding him close.

  “Nik.”

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” Nikolai smoothed his hair back.

  “Like I just missed being a bear snack. Thank you.”

  “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” Nikolai kissed his forehead. “I love you, remember?”

  “I love you too.”

  “We have company now, but I’m sure they will be friendly.” Nikolai winked.

  “Oh, hell.” Colin sighed.

  When they moved out to the fire, the wolves scattered, only to come back a few minutes later in greater number. Colin ate his bear steak, watching the adult wolves eat while the rest waited their turn.

  “They’re so beautiful,” Colin whispered.

  “Yes, they are.” Nikolai threw another piece at the leader. “Hopefully, they will be around for most of the night. I’m going to keep the fire high, but I think you need sleep, and the temperature is dropping fast.”

  “Nik,” Vince’s voice came through the radio.

  “Yeah, Dad?”

  “Everything okay? Is Colin all right?”

  Nikolai handed Colin the radio. “I’m fine. Just saw my short life flash before my eyes. The only bear I ever want to see again is a gummy bear.”

  “Be careful, honey. I love you,” Mark told him.

  “Love you too, Dad.”

  Tanner was still waiting for Nico to show up and getting worried. He had already killed dinner; the deer had basically stood there while he hit it with his arrow. He got his radio out and called his dad. “Do you guys see Nico on the GPS?”

  “It’s not a strong signal. The weather is messing with it — and, by the way, the shit is about to hit the fan.”

  “Oh, great.” Tanner ran a hand through his hair. “I’m good here. Have the shelter and dinner. Just missing my partner. I’m going to look for him and then ring you back.”

  “The reading is about a mile east of you.” Tyler paused. “Please be careful. You can’t afford to be out in the open when this hits.”

  “I’m on it, Dad.” Tanner put his radio in his vest.

  The snow came in fast, and blizzard-like conditions made reliable sight impossible. Nico checked his compass and made sure he was going in the right direction; his hands were freezing, even with the thick gloves on, and his feet were hurting like hell. Suddenly, he was sure he heard Tanner’s voice.

  “Nico!”

  “I’m here!” His voice was coming out as a whisper, and he tried again. “Tanner!”

  Tanner trudged through the whipping winds and finally found a trembling Nico. “We need to get you inside!”

  They made it back to the camp slowly. Tanner arranged high rocks around the fire, then pushed Nico into the shelter, following him closely. “Your clothes are wet.” Tanner took Nico’s jacket and shirt off.

  “What are you doing?” God, he was so cold! His teeth were chattering.

  “Body heat.” Tanner stripped Nico down, then himself, before gathering the sleeping bag over both of them, and then holding Nico in his arms.

  “You’re so warm.” Nico sighed.

  “I wasn’t out in a blizzard as long as you were. I thought you knew what to do out here.”

  Nico chuckled. “I do. If it was just me I would have been fine, but I was worried about you.”

  “Are you hungry? As soon as you warm up, I’m going to bring you some food.”

  “Aw, honey. You cooked?” Nico teased.

  Tanner placed Nico’s hands on his chest, wrapped his feet around Nico’s, and closed his eyes.

  Nico was so cold. He buried his face in Tanner’s neck. There was a faint hint of cologne, and he breathed it in.

  “You smell good.”

  “You smell awful.” Tanner chuckled. He grabbed the radio and let them know he had found Nico. Neurosurgeon Jordan Youngblood, married to Stefan Santorno Youngblood, replied.

  “Are his fingers black?”

  “No. Neither are his toes.”

  “Good. Keep him warm. Get naked.”

  “Way ahead of you, Grandpa.”

  “My son is naked with Nico?” Tyler shook his head.

  Jordan and Stefan’s son Heath laughed. “Jesus, Tyler!”

  “What? I know Tanner’s in love with him.”

  “Nico is certainly in love with Tanner,” Caleb mused before smiling at his husband. “What do you think, Heath? Do we want our son to marry Damon and Tyler’s son?”

  He evaded Damon’s swipe and laughed.

  Dimitri picked up the radio and called his own son and Ryan Cannon, Alex and Dylan’s son. “Evan?”

  “Yes, Father?” Evan responded formally.

  “Are you and Ryan all right?”

  “Yep. Having moose,” Ryan answered.

  “Moose? Who took the moose down?” Alex asked.

  “It was a team effort.”

  “Okay. This system is moving out in about an hour, so get some shelter?”

  “Roger that.”

  Tyler radioed his other son and talked to Damon, teamed with Conner Greystone. They, as well as cousins Landon and Josh Reynolds, were fine, and hunkered down until the storm passed.

  “Wow. We’re going to have some good meat for a while,” Roman declared.

  “We have another hour before this snow stops, and then they’re on their own until morning,” Stefan reminded them.

  Heath smiled at his doppelgänger son, Stefan. “Aren’t you
glad you did this part already?”

  “And in Russia, no less,” Vince pointed out.

  “Well, I had a good wingman,” Stefan said. “Nico did the hunting.”

  “Well, we know why he wanted to go again. He wanted to keep Tanner safe,” Lorenzo commented.

  “Right now, it’s my boy keeping Nico safe,” Damon corrected.

  Tanner could see the end of the storm in sight, and Nico was sleeping peacefully against him. So far, he had managed to keep his erection in check, since he was more worried about keeping Nico warm. Unfortunately, the longer he snuggled against him, the more he wanted to kiss him. Holding him, and having Nico naked next to him, was not helping his control.

  His dark olive skin tone was beautiful, reflecting his Mediterranean heritage, and his chest was devoid of any hair. Nico’s arms came around him, pulling him closer, and he closed his eyes. He wanted to tell Nico he was in love with him. He had been in love with him since the day he understood what his feelings meant.

  “Nico,” Tanner whispered.

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you warm?”

  “You’re like a heater.” Nico chuckled into Tanner’s neck.

  Tanner took one of Nico’s hands and looked at his fingers. The skin was back to its normal color, and Nico threaded their fingers together. Tanner wanted to kiss him, wanted to know what it was like to kiss Nico. He was about to go for broke when the radio went off.

  “You guys okay?”

  Tanner grabbed the radio and Nico rolled to his back and sighed. “Yeah, Dad. We’re good.”

  “All right. I love you. Get some sleep.”

  Tanner put down the radio and asked, “Hungry?”

  God, he was hungry, but not for food. “Yes,” Nico tried to say without his disappointment showing.

  Tanner pulled his boxers and pants on, then sat up, and put his shirt on. He turned to see Nico had been watching him the whole time. “I’ll let you get dressed.”

  Nico grabbed Tanner’s hand before he left the shelter. “Thank you, Tanner.”

  “You would have done the same for me.” Tanner leaned in and kissed Nico’s cheek.

  Nico dropped back and looked at the roof of the snow cave and sighed. “Shit.”

  After the storm passed, Nikolai made the fire bigger. It had almost gone out before he threw more wood on top. Colin came out and looked at the sky. “Wow! Look at that!”