United and Dangerous by Cherie Benjamin (the speed reading book .TXT) 📕

Sean rose up and gently carried Elizabeth to her room, with Dr. Mallos following closely behind. 

He laid her down on the bed with care and willed himself to remove his arms from her.  He knew he needed to allow the doctor to do his job, but he didn’t want to lose the connection.  Finally, he let go and stepped back to allow the doctor to begin his examination. 

Kane walked up to Sean and placed his hand on his shoulder.  “She is going to be okay.  She just found out that they found Lisa’s body.” 

“Fuck.  I knew they were holding out hope, even if it was clear that she was dead.”  Sean groaned.  “Where is Sebastian?” 

“We have him under surveillance and they have already begun implementing the plan.”

“Kane, you need to make sure that fucker suffers ten times the pain he has caused.”

“I promise you that he will.  I need you to get a hold of Peter; we are flying out tonight for Seattle with Sebastian.”

Sean turned and looked Kane dead in the eye.  “I’m coming, too.”

Kane knew this was more about Sean being there for Elizabeth than it was about getting a shot at Sebastian.  “That’s fine, Sean; I already assumed you would want to be there.”

Ara walked into the room and wrapped her arms around Kane’s waist, needing the connection that they shared, to help ground her during the chaos and tragedy of the news.  “How is she?”

“The doctor hasn’t said yet.”  Kane said, kissing the top of her head.  He loved how she fit so perfectly against his body.  Well, fuck, she fit perfectly everywhere. 

“We’ve got a situation back in Seattle.”  Ara said.  “It seems that someone tried to hack into our personal bank account.”

“Fuck, did they get in?”  Kane groaned.

“No, Simon’s system was able to keep the person online long enough to back track their web address and turn on their camera of their computer.  He got the picture of the person, along with the address where the computer was housed.”

“Great.  Damn, Simon is worth his weight in gold with these programs.”

“Here is the thing though Kane, we know the person.”  Ara stated.  Kane was slightly surprised that someone that knew them would be so fucking stupid.

“Who was it?”  Kane asked.

“Donnie Newton and he was doing it from Judith Young’s apartment.” 

“That Goddamn motherfucker is dead!  Dead, I tell you!”  Kane yelled.  “I want his ass picked up immediately and taken to the warehouse along with that Judith bitch.”

“I already sent out the command and they got Donnie, but Judith was nowhere to be found.” 

“Fuck!”  Kane groaned.

“I have extra guys looking, but the stupid blonde was smart enough to leave everything in the apartment and her car is still in the garage.”  Ara grumbled. 

At this point, the doctor walked back over to the group.  “I have checked Elizabeth over and she is just in shock.  She has held in the grief so long that this bit of news pushed her over the edge.” 

“When will she wake up?”  Sean asked as he looked over to where she was lying and wanted nothing more than to lay beside her and wrap her up in his arms and make all the sadness to go away.

“I don’t know for sure.  This is the brain's defense mechanism; when she is ready, she will wake up.”

“Thanks, Doc.  We will be leaving in a few hours, so you need to pack and be ready to leave.”  Kane said.

“Certainly.  She is going to need a lot of support when she wakes.” 

“We are her family and we will be here for anything that she needs.”  Ara whispered.  She didn’t have a sister, but she could imagine what it would be like if something like this happened to Katrina.  She looked up at Sean; his face said it all.  He was in love with Elizabeth.  “Sean, why don’t you sit with her until she wakes up?  Kane and I have to attend to some business.”

“Thank you, Ara.  I promise to take care of her and protect her with my life.”

Kane and Ara walked out the door and Sean took his place beside Elizabeth.  He watched her chest rise with each breath she took.  He may be the head of the family, but he believed in God and silently prayed that she would awake soon and allow him to console her through this time of grief.  But, he didn’t know if she would.  Why was she this way?  Women.

As he sat patiently waiting, he made some phone calls.  First, he phoned Colin and filled him on what was happening.  He told him to contact Peter immediately, and to get with Mackenzie, the family Consigliere, to make the funeral arrangements for the family.  With them returning to Seattle with Sebastian, the arrangements were going to need to be made as soon as possible. They could hold the funeral when they returned.  Since he would be traveling with the Leones, and wouldn’t need additional security, he appointed Colin as acting Don until his return. He brought him up to speed on the different shipments that were scheduled, and told him to get with Mackenzie for any questions.  He could call Sean whenever necessary.

When he ended his conversation with Colin, he noticed Elizabeth’s breathing change and eyes began to flutter.  A small moan escaped her pouty lips and then her red rimmed eyes opened and stared into his.  “What happened?”

“You fainted, lass.  I caught you and brought you to your room.  The doctor has been in and you are physically fine.  He just left the room with Kane and Ara.”

“What are you doing here?”  Elizabeth asked.  Her heart was shattering into a million pieces; she didn’t have the energy to put up with a man who would in the end break it more. 

“I came to talk to you, lass.”  Sean said in a calm voice.  “I thought I would tell you what it is I feel and want.”

Raising up and getting off the bed, she still felt a little shaky, but she needed to put distance between herself and Sean.  “What you want?  Let me tell you right now, Sean O’Leary, what I want.  I want you to leave me alone.  I will not be one of your come Saturday night girls and I am sure you don’t want anything else, because I have heard all about your sexual exploits.  News flash, Mr. O’Leary, I am not a whore.”

“I don’t want that.”  Sean implored.

Laughing a nervous laugh, she continued, “Yeah, right.  Mr. O’Leary, leave me alone.”

“But, Elizabeth, I have these feelings for you.”

“Take a damn laxative, then, because you are so full of shit right now. 

I’m leaving; I have a job to do. See you around.”  Elizabeth said, and then marched out of the room.  She walked quickly down the hall and into the nearest empty room.  Shutting the door behind her and leaning up against it, she willed herself to calm down.  This man always had a way of getting to her.  She didn’t know how much longer she could keep him at arm's length.  Finally, she had calmed down enough and continued to the command center.  She didn’t need this added onto what she was already dealing with because of Sebastian. 

“Give me an update.”  Elizabeth barked.

“Daniella is en route as we speak.  The extraction team is already set up and the containment box has been readied and waiting for the target.  But we have a situation we need to inform you about.  Our tracers indicate that Sebastian placed a phone call and set up a meeting with someone.  He was followed to a club which we traced back as being owned by one Roberto Cortez.  Mr. Cortez is currently under contract with Hugo Boss as one of their models, however, he is also known as the head of a Colombian family who is notorious for their drug imports.”

“All right, I want a detailed workup on this Roberto Cortez.  Be ready to move to Seattle as soon as the target is in the box.” 

Elizabeth was in control again.  That is how she would survive for the coming weeks, focusing on the task at hand.  She had no time for Sean, nor would she direct her efforts on anything other than the pain and suffering that would soon be inflicted on Sebastian Morotti.  She would avenge her baby sister if it was the last thing she did.

Daniella Canalis dressed for her part as the enticing doctor making a house call in a black pencil skirt and a white silk blouse that wrapped snugly around her more than ample breasts, like a present waiting to be opened.  She had styled her long brunette hair in a chignon.  Her combination of both professional and sensual would entice any virile male to immediately want to play patient to her doctor.  According to the operations plan, Daniella’s appearance would cause Sebastian to be so distracted that it would prohibit him from suspecting that anything was amiss. 

She was simply a doctor responding to his call.  The extraction team was in place and prepared.  As soon as Daniella gave them the signal, they would immediately implement the extraction. Kane and Ara were making their own preparations, because they had a surprise for Sebastian.  Daddy Dearest was in for a very rude awakening. 

Daniella was carrying a black leather medical bag containing the standard items one would find in a doctor’s kit, as well as the items needed to carry out the plan.  A secret compartment within the bag contained her 9mm, zip ties, and a syringe filled with Propofol, just in case Sebastian became suspicious and decided to put up some resistance.  Kane and Ara had instructed that they wanted Sebastian to be as coherent as possible, so he would be aware of what was happening, as well as feeling the pain.  The extraction team had already prepared syringes of adrenaline in order to revive Sebastian if he passed out from pain. 

“I am ready to go in.” Daniella said, making one more check for her silent alarm that was part of her watch and that the camera contained in her necklace was sending a live feed to the waiting team.

“Affirmative.  Proceed to the target, commence the operation.  I want that fucker to start suffering.  Extraction team, standby for signal.”  Elizabeth smirked.

Affirmative responses were received from both Daniella and Diego, the extraction team leader.

Danielle exited the townhouse and got into her rented red Audi S5.  The extraction team was following her in a white panel van. The van was carrying a specially designed container for moving Sebastian, a medium size wooden crate that had been specially fitted with sharp metal stakes protruding into the crate every six inches from the top to the bottom on all sides. Diego designed the crate based on a medieval torture device, the Iron Maiden. 

Danielle arrived at the hotel and walked through the lobby and directly to the elevator up to Sebastian’s room.  Taking a cleansing breath outside of his room, she put her game face on, and knocked on the door.

Sebastian had been on pins and needles all night until the desk