Chapter 28 Gavin
GAVIN
“So, what are you doing?” Gavin asked, walking into the living room in sweats and a T-shirt. He walked around the coffee table and picked up one of the books he had been reading.
It was an MM romance about a chateau in France where wealthy men came to be entertained by high-end escorts. The characters were all flawed and lovable, with an edge-of-your-seat storyline and, of course, a happily-ever-after for each couple.
Marcus looked up from the tablet he was holding and raised an eyebrow at him.
“You’re walking funny.”
Gavin stopped and glared at Marcus.
“Hmm, I wonder why that is?”
Marcus gave him a smirk.
“Want me to get you an ice pack for your prostate?”
“You’re such a gentleman,” Gavin answered, sliding into the crook of Marcus’s arm and laying his head against Marcus’s bare chest.
The man was a tank, with a chest that felt like two firm pillows that wouldn't bend or yield. They might not be the coziest to cuddle, but who in their right mind would turn down the chance to snuggle into the world's sexiest biker?
“So? What are we watching?”
Marcus turned the tablet toward him. Images of Gavin smiling and holding up various products assaulted his eyes.
He was looking at Gavin’s social media feed.
Gavin swallowed hard.
He hadn’t been on his social media since the night he received those chilling messages from the Valentine Killer.
“I was just checking out your pictures,” Marcus said, turning back to scroll through the images.
“Did you check if he reactivated his profile?” Gavin asked, referring to the Valentine Killer. The killer had deactivated his profile the night he’d messaged Gavin.
Marcus shook his head.
“No, it doesn’t look like it.”
“Good. Hopefully, that means he was hit by a bus and died.” Gavin knew he wasn’t that lucky.
“So, who are these people?” Marcus asked, pointing to a photo of Gavin drinking at a club with a group of people.
“Just some people I used to work with during the holiday season. We decided to go out for some drinks one night.”
They kept scrolling through the images, with Gavin sharing stories and laughing at some of the stupid poses he had struck. How had he ever thought those poses were cool?
Young and dumb. That had to be it.
Then Marcus flipped to a photo taken about four months ago at a pub for a friend’s birthday.
Gavin’s heart stopped in his chest.
Sitting a few seats away from the group, his eyes locked on Gavin, was the Valentine Killer.
“What? What is it?” Marcus asked, sensing that something was terribly wrong.
“H-him. It’s him,” Gavin finally managed, pointing to the man at the bar who was clearly watching Gavin and his friends having a good time.
“Who? The creepy guy checking you out?”
“Yeah. That’s him! The Valentine Killer!”
Fear and panic surged through his body.
How long had the Valentine Killer been watching him? Was that the first night?
Gavin grabbed the tablet out of Marcus’s hand, then began scrolling through the photos, desperately searching for anyone who even remotely looked like the man who had tried to murder him.
Then he found it.
Another photo. A different day. A different bar.
This time, the killer was standing next to a wall, beer in hand, while he watched Gavin and his friends taking shots at their table.
“Oh my god! He’s there as well! How fucking long has he been stalking me?” Gavin jumped up from the sofa and gripped the tablet even harder.
He began pacing around the room, like a scared lion cub suddenly surrounded by a pack of hyenas.
Marcus stood and pulled out his phone.
“So that’s the guy? The Valentine Killer?” Marcus asked, snapping a photo of the man on the screen.
Gavin nodded.
Marcus texted the photo to Ace, asking him to scrub the net to see if he could locate anything about the man they were hunting.
Thirty minutes later, Marcus’s phone lit up with Ace suddenly calling.
“Did you find him?” Marcus asked, ignoring the sentiment and pleasantries.
“Marcus? Hey, bro. We got a problem,” Ace huffed into the phone. It sounded like he’d been running and was struggling to catch his breath.
“What? What is it?” Marcus quickly asked, his stomach suddenly dropping.
“You got about twelve ghosts coming in from the south. They all look armed and are coming in fast. Blade and I are about ten minutes out. The rest of the guys will be there shortly.”
The lights to the cottage suddenly cut out.
Gavin screeched, lunging toward Marcus.
“Is it him?”
“No. It’s twelve hostiles coming in hot,” Marcus growled, grabbing Gavin by the hand and pulling him up the stairs. “Puppy, come!” he shouted. Not that he had to.
As if sensing the danger around them, Puppy was already hot on their heels, chasing after them up the stairs and down the hallway.
Throwing open the bedroom door, Marcus ran to the closet and pulled open the loose board in the back of it. He lifted out a metal box and tossed open the lid.
He pulled out a handgun and shoved a magazine into place with a sharp snap. The sound was ten times louder in the quiet room. Marcus chambered a round, then shoved the gun at Gavin.
“Here, take this,” Marcus barked.
Gavin took the gun and stared down at it. The metal was cold in his hands. It was sleek and heavy and reeked of all kinds of danger.
Was this weapon still a virgin? Or had it been used in some sort of crime or murder? Perhaps it was used for protection—scaring off would-be robbers before they even had a chance to enter the home.
Oh, who was he kidding? Any weapon found on Shadow Viper property had a 99.9 percent chance of having been used in some sort of crime.
Next, Marcus lifted a second loose board right next to the first and pulled out an assault rifle.
Gavin’s eyes went wide when he spotted the deadly weapon.
“Marcus, what’s going on?” His voice cracked as he tried to hide just how terrified he really was.
“I need you to stay in here. Barricade the door and wait for me to return. If anyone gets through that door,” Marcus said with a stern, no-bullshit look in his eyes, “shoot whoever it is in the head and then the chest. Then the head again.”
“Marcus, I—” Gavin began before being cut off. He’d never held a gun before, let alone shot one.
“I’m going downstairs to protect you and stop whoever is coming after us. The rest of our guys should be here in about ten minutes, so I just need to hold them off until then.”
Marus turned his once-soft chestnut eyes toward Gavin. As if sensing Gavin’s fear, Marcus reached out and cupped his face.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You trust me, right?”
Gavin nodded. He trusted Marcus with his life, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified of Marcus getting hurt.
“Watch Puppy for us and keep him safe, okay?” Marcus gave him a half smile. He leaned forward and gently kissed his lips. “I’ll be back soon. I promise, babe.”
Somehow, hearing those words comforted him. Gavin reached down and scooped up Puppy from the floor. The poor guy was whining, not knowing what the heck was going on.
“Be careful,” Gavin whimpered as Marcus opened the bedroom door.
Marcus shot him a cocky smirk.
“Please, I’m the head of the Shadow Vipers. These pussies don’t stand a chance against these guns.” Marcus flexed one of his arms, bringing a smile to Gavin’s face.
God, he fucking loved this man.
With one last wink, Marcus closed the door behind him. Gavin listened as his footsteps pounded down the hallway, ready to defend him and their Puppy.
How had he gotten so lucky? To have a big, strong man run into danger—battling death, gunfire, and god knows what—all in the name of protecting his scrawny ass.
Taking a breath, Gavin quickly ran to lock the door and began barricading it with whatever furniture he could push in front of it.
They just had to survive the next ten minutes.