Free Marianne's Abduction by Ravenna Tate

Marianne Kowalski. It’s her aunt and
uncle we’re going to spring from Atkins Prison.”
    “ What ?” She turned to face him, and he
beamed. Marianne heard good-natured chuckles and quiet conversation behind her,
but she was too focused on River’s bright eyes to listen the words the others
spoke. “You found them?”
    “We
found a database that lists them as being there. Finding out
if they are actually there, and then getting them out, are two very different
matters.”
    Her
eyes filled with tears, and the look of tenderness in his gaze made her breath
catch in her throat. “Thank you,” she whispered. For what felt like an
eternity, she stared into his eyes, and every delicious moment from last night
came tumbling back into her consciousness. Her pulse raced.
    She
was falling for these two. There was no doubt about it. But that was madness
and probably dangerous for all of them.
    But
she couldn’t help notice the way a smile played at the corners of his mouth,
and the softness in his face as he continued to hold her gaze, as if he were
totally at peace. The same way she felt now that last night had happened.
Everything fit now. It finally made sense.
    “My
pleasure,” he said softly, breaking the spell. “Turn around now and meet our
friends.” She turned to face the room once more.
    “Sitting
on my left are Thane and Rune,” said River. “They’re brothers, and they ran a
freight company here on Addo . They were one of our
biggest clients, and also one of the few businesses who stuck by us when the
false charges were handed down.”
    “Nice to meet you both.” The men were blond with
startling blue eyes, and she guessed them to be roughly the same ages as Vaughn
and River. They, too, were very handsome men. In fact, as she glanced quickly
at the others, she didn’t see a man in the room who wasn’t tall, muscled, with
visible tats, and possessing a chiseled face. Were there any unattractive
people on this planet? “Do you both still own your business here?”
    “No.
We work for Jakara now,” said Thane.
    “And
we’re happy to have them here,” said River. “Next to them are Kayden and
Korben. As you can see, they’re twins. These two are strictly warriors, all the
way. They used to be Tyranns, like Jakara, but have joined us now.”
    “Hello
there.” She took a deep breath and tried not to stare at the two dark-haired,
dark-eyed men. Each had a hint of stubble on his face, and like the rest of
them, had visible tats. They smiled and nodded in greeting.
    “And
the men next to them are Rygal, Vito, Daven, and Tallis.”
    There
were two people left he hadn’t yet introduced, a man and the woman. He took a
deep breath, and she glanced up at him to see him grinning from ear to ear.
    “Oh
for the sake of all the stars,” said Vaughn. “Just tell her who they are.”
    Several
people in the room chuckled, and River gave Vaughn a droll look. “Fine. Marianne, I’d like you to meet Jakara and Callie.”
    “Oh … oh my goodness. It’s so good to meet you both.”
    “I’m
thrilled to meet another woman from Earth,” said Callie. She was stunning. Dark hair and big blue eyes, plus a smile that lit up the room. She glanced toward Jakara. “Is it all right if Marianne and I sit outside and
talk?”
    The
look of indulgence he gave her was nothing short of pure adoration. “Sure. I
think Marianne would appreciate having someone of her own kind to talk to.” He
glanced toward Vaughn. “As long as you two don’t mind.”
    “Not at all. But first, why don’t you outline
what we know about her aunt and uncle.”
    “Vaughn
and River found a database that we’ve been searching for. It lists the
prisoners taken for the same reasons your aunt and uncle were. They’ve been
pretending to help the Tyranns find men for the Zoo by getting charges dropped
in exchange for those men serving that sentence instead of going to a Regum
prison.”
    “So
there were others who did what my aunt and uncle