Chapter One
Okay, this night had not turned out the way she’d planned.
Gia Norcross raced along the balcony, her Aquazzura heels clicking, her Alberta Ferretti dress flowing out behind her.
Not to mention the Ruger in her hand, and the bad guy chasing her.
Yes, her night had not gone according to plan.
She reached a set of stone stairs and flew down them. They led her into a tiny, shadowed courtyard at the back of San Francisco’s Hutton Museum. The courtyard was ringed by trees starting to lose their leaves. A fountain burbled quietly in the center of the space.
Ordinarily, it was a peaceful spot. Gia had eaten lunch here a few times with her best friend, Haven McKinney. Haven was the curator of the Hutton, and Gia’s oldest brother, Easton, owned the museum.
Gia darted under the trees, and sank into the shadows. She kept a tight grip on the Ruger. The handgun was small and light, making it easy to conceal and use.
She was a Norcross. She knew how to shoot. All three of her brothers were former military. Two of them had been in some classified, beyond-black-ops, special forces team. They’d not given her much choice about being able to shoot and defend herself.
Gia took a deep, calming breath to counter the adrenaline pumping through her system. Tonight was supposed to have been a relaxing and enjoyable evening at the museum’s charity gala.
It had all started out fine. She’d been so happy watching Haven and Gia’s youngest brother, Rhys. The pair were so in love they practically had little cartoon hearts floating around their heads. Haven had been in danger recently, when a multi-million-dollar painting had been stolen from the museum. Add in a very bad ex-boyfriend and the Russian mafia, and things had been messed up.
Needless to say, Haven had been in danger, and Rhys had stepped up to keep her safe. Haven could no longer ignore the sizzling attraction between her and Rhys.
A scrape of sound and Gia froze.
A large shadow moved in her peripheral vision. Shit. He was down here already. She hadn’t even heard him.
The man moved stealthily through the courtyard.
Hunting her.
Gia’s pulse spiked, followed by a punch of fear. She shoved it down. She had no time to be afraid.
This asshole had threatened Gia’s old friend. Willow had messed up, for sure, but Gia wasn’t going to let her get hurt.
Willow had come to Gia looking for a place to stay. Gia sighed. She couldn’t seem to say no to her old high school bestie. Of course, Willow had neglected to mention she’d stolen something from a not very nice guy. And he’d sent a really not nice guy to retrieve it.
He’d found her and threatened her, but Gia had intervened with her Ruger and sent him packing.
But the man’s eyes had promised retribution.
And that brought them to now.
Unfortunately, the bad guy had found her at the gala. She’d spotted him in the crowd, and Gia had known she needed to get him out of there before he hurt someone.
Before her brothers got involved.
Her stomach jittered. She hadn’t expected the idiot pull a gun on her on the balcony, in full view of a wall of glass windows and every guest at the party.
Her brothers would be here in minutes. She needed to take care of this.
That’s what Gia did. She tidied up messes, helped people, made things right. Her PR firm was the best in San Francisco, and there were more than enough people and messes to keep her busy.
The man turned.
Gia darted out and kicked him. She felt her heel dig into his leg. He staggered and grunted.
She landed another kick to his leg, and he went down on his knees.
She pressed her gun to his temple and he froze.
“Don’t move,” she warned.
“You won’t shoot me.” He had a normal voice, nothing distinctive about it. He looked the same, as well. Ordinary. It probably made it easy to do your boss’ dirty work when you blended into the crowd.
“You don’t know me,” she said. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” She sank confidence and authority into her voice. It was her “work” voice. “Leave me and Willow alone.”
“My boss wants his gems back.”
“Gems?”
“Yeah. Your friend helped herself to a bag of precious stones. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies.”
Stupid, stupid Willow. All she’d told Gia was that she’d been seeing this guy, and then things had gone bad. Now she’d stolen gemstones from him. God, Willow.
“I’ll talk to her.”
“That’s not good enough. Mr. Dennett needs more than that.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Gia emphasized the words. “He’ll get his gems back.”
“I think it’s better if you come with me. Your life might convince your friend.”
The man exploded upward. He knocked the gun out of Gia’s hand and it clattered to the stone paving.
Crap.
He rushed her. Gia dodged, well aware that he was bigger and stronger than her.
But Gia was smarter.
He reached for her, pushing against her shoulder. She let herself stagger and let out a gasp.
He grabbed a handful of her dress. Better not ruin it, asshole. “Please… Please don’t hurt me.” She made herself cower.
“Come without any trouble and—”
Gia rammed the side of her stiff palm into his throat. He let her go and gagged.
She jammed her thumbs into his eyes and he growled, doubling over. Next, she grabbed his head and rammed her knee up, smashing into his nose.
She heard a crunch, and he cursed viciously.
She had to admit to feeling a bit of satisfaction. She’d always hated bullies who intimidated with their size.
She looked for her gun. Where the hell was it? Spotting the glint of something in the low light, she raced for it.
There was a bellow behind her, and the man charged. He tackled her, and they hit the ground hard.
The air whooshed out of Gia and pain exploded in a dozen places. Ow.
“Bitch, you’ll pay for that.”
She struggled, kicking at him. He was half on her body, pinning her down. Her dress hampered her movement. “You came after me, and you’re pissed I fought back? Grow up.”
He rose, and picked her up like a football, pinning her to his side. He let out an annoyed grunt.
He strode across the courtyard, skirting some construction work where a low stone wall was being rebuilt.
“You don’t want to do this,” she said. “You really don’t want to meet my brothers.” Speaking of her brothers, where the hell were they?
The bad guy grunted.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said breezily.
“Shut up,” he bit out.
She tried to elbow him.
He reached over and slapped her face. Ouch. She pressed a hand to her cheek. Asshole.
The attack came out of nowhere.
There was the tiniest flash of movement and suddenly Gia was free. She hit the ground, landing on her hands and knees.
Her assailant staggered back, and a tall, dark, lean shadow attacked him.
Gia’s heart leaped into her throat. She watched the vicious kicks and methodical punches. Her rescuer was almost elegant in the way he moved as he destroyed his opponent.
Except there was too much brutal power in his blows to be elegant.