by K. L. Myers
“Now get dressed, so we can grab a bite to eat together before I leave you alone for the day. Jefferson will take you shopping. He will buy whatever you need.”
“You won’t be taking me?”
“No, Princess, I’ll be here waiting for you and working with Angelo and the men to figure out who our enemy is.”
My heart skipped a beat when Gabriel called me Princess. It was his term of endearment for me when we were kids. “I have my own money. I can pay for my stuff.”
“Is it paper or plastic?”
“Does it matter?” I asked.
“Yes, plastic can be traced. Paper cannot. Besides, you’re here because of me. Buying necessities that you usually wouldn’t need to buy is my problem and not yours. Please let me.”
I crawled out of bed and stood facing Gabriel in my bra and underwear. “Fine, but only because I know it is futile to argue with you.”
True to his words, Gabriel took care of everything. Jefferson and a gentleman named David accompanied me to purchase clothing, shoes, and toiletries. Anything I could have possibly wanted for the time I’d be here was in the several bags I carried into the house. I joined Bethany and Giovanna, who were sitting at a table on the back patio, enjoying the silence and the tweeting birds' above. As I pulled up a chair beside them, Jefferson walked to Giovanna’s side, placing a kiss on her lips before whispering something in her ear that made her blush. As he turned to leave, she reached out and grabbed his hand.
“I almost forgot. Your father said to tell you to call Tommaso and ask him to watch over Victoria’s home.”
Jefferson raised their combined hands, placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. “Got it,” he said before walking away.
17
Victoria
The men spent the majority of the day behind closed doors. They finally emerged around six in the evening, their noses following the most enticing aromas.
“Something smells wonderful, Tesoro. Is it involiti?”
Bethany stood, wrapping her arms around her husband. “Yes, and I made it with beef, cheese, spinach, and egg this time. Just as your mother did.”
Watching the two of them together made it apparent that he worshiped everything about her, and I wondered what it would feel like to be so cherished by a man. Looking back, I’d dated many different men, but I never let any of them into my heart. I guess I’d been keeping the pieces locked in a box, knowing that the only person who could put them back together again was never going to be able to. Now, with him only feet away, I was beginning to think that it might be possible.
Platters of food sat on the table before us. All five men served themselves before Bethany or Giovanna took theirs. When Giovanna passed the beef to me, Gabriel quickly grabbed it and forked some onto my plate. When he was done, he stood and walked the empty platter to the kitchen. Unlike the silence I was used to at dinner, everyone joined in and talked about their day. It was fantastic to be a part of the conversation. They made me feel as if I was part of the family.
“Tomorrow, Tesoro, the men and I will head back to New York. Lincoln will make sure you have protection while I’m away. But I don’t want you running all over the place. If you need something, you have Lincoln get it for you. Do I make myself clear?”
I felt sick to my stomach. What if something went wrong? I felt safe because Gabriel was nearby, but with him gone, along with the others, how would we be safe?
Bethany reached over the table and took her husband's hands in hers. “I understand, Ang. Please be careful. If anything happened to you…”
“Don’t worry, Tesoro. I’m not easily killed.”
Angelo’s words might have comforted his wife, but I wasn’t so easily appeased. No one was indestructible. “But how can you be so confident we will be safe here, without all of you?”
A voice spoke from the head of the table. “Because I’d give my life for my wife’s safety, and my son would do the same for his girl. That leaves only Gabriel. I have no worries he would do the same for you, Victoria.”
“Damn straight,” Gabriel spoke up.
Later that evening, when we retired to my room, Gabriel stood at the foot of the bed. “If you want me to sleep on the lounge, just say the word, and I will. But if you were to grant me a choice, I would prefer to be beside you in that bed.”
He stood patiently awaiting my answer. Without hesitation, I stripped out of my clothes until I stood before him in nothing but my underwear. His eyes fixated on my chest, and I noticed the rapid successions of his chest's rise and fall. He desired me as much as I wanted him, and the thought of something happening to him and me not seeing him again after tomorrow had me thinking with my heart and not my head.
My voice cracked when I spoke. “I want you in bed with me.”
His steel-blue eyes burned with desire as he made his way to me. With each step, he removed a piece of his clothing. His long muscular legs carried him to me in three long strides. Before I could catch my breath, his hands found their way to my hips, and he lifted me against him. Feeling his hard body against my core made my insides quiver. It wouldn’t take much to make me come right now. Then it happened—I wasn’t expecting to be flying through the air until I landed, my back against the bed and Gabriel’s hands on my knees, pressing them apart and making way for his face to find my happy spot. With every brush from the tip of his tongue against my clitoris, my back bowed off the bed. Every inch of my body craved what I knew was to come, and Gabriel didn’t disappoint. His jeans lay just an arm’s reach away. It didn’t take him long to retrieve his wallet and pull a condom from it. As he thrust himself deep inside me, I raked my nails down his back as he drew himself out of my opening. As he thrust back in, his growl told me I was affecting him as much as he was me.
“You feel so good, princess. I can only imagine how much better it would feel if I was bare inside you.”
“Next time,” I panted. “Next time, you can be bare. I’m on the pill.”
Gabriel’s cock drove deeper and faster into me. I wrapped my legs around his back, forcing his pelvis to rub against the tingling bundle of nerves at the top of my opening. My insides convulsed, sending me into an orgasm unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. “Gabriel,” I screamed as I rode out the intensity of the sensations he caused within me.
“I’m almost there, baby,” he continued to whisper in my ear as he moved in and out of me a few more times before I felt the pulsating of his length inside me.
As we both came down from our ravenous rage, his mouth found mine, claiming my lips as if they were his to own. First, a nip, and then a tug at my bottom lip had me panting for more. “Gabriel, please,” I begged.
“No, princess, that is all you get. I’m leaving here tomorrow knowing you want me. I’ve given you just a taste to remind you of how good we can be.”
“You bastard,” I spat back, my body aching for his, and yet he was going to leave me hanging. I’d never been a greedy lover, but with him, like this, I needed, craved more. As he pulled away from me, leaving to dispose of his condom, I immediately felt a bitter chill where his missing body had been only moments ago. I pulled the sheets over my body and turned to my side, away from the bathroom door. A few moments later, the bed sunk as he crawled in beside me and pulled me against him. I felt the hardness of his length against my ass, and it comforted me to know I wouldn’t be the only one burning for more tonight even though he chose to deprive us both of it.
“I love you, Victoria. Don’t ever doubt that I mean it.” Gabriel kissed the top of my head. “Tonight, a small part of my heart pieced itself back together. Being with you, I think it could be whole again.”
I let the words play over and over again in my head as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
18
Gabriel
Two weeks later
“Just give me two more days, Victoria. I think we’ve narrowed it down. Just two more days,” I pleaded with her.
“I’v
e already given you four more than I said I would. I have to be back at work tomorrow, or I’ll lose my job.”
“Fuck your job. I can afford to take care of you.” I knew as soon as I said it, it was going to start an argument. If there was one thing Victoria was, it was proud. She never accepted help as a child, and I was positive the same still held true today.
“I don’t need you to take care of me, Gabriel. Since the day my mother died, I’ve taken care of myself, and I don’t need help from anyone now.”
And there it was, just as I anticipated. P.R.I.D.E. “Look, princess, I know you can take care of yourself. I didn’t doubt it. But your life is worth more to me than any money I have saved. We are so close to figuring this all out, and you coming back before we do puts you in danger.”
“I understand your concern. But I’m not going to bend on this. I’ve already made arrangements, and I’ll be heading back tonight. If you want to pick me up, I arrive at JFK at eight thirty.”
I wouldn’t say I liked it one bit, but Victoria was standing her ground, so it was best I get on board and figure out a way to keep her safe once she arrived. “Since you won’t be checking baggage, I’ll meet you at passenger pickup Terminal 8. Text me when you land.”
I marched back into the room where Nicco, Remi, and Angelo sat. All eyes looked up at me when I slammed the door behind me. “We need to figure this out now. Victoria is coming back to the city tonight. I don’t like not knowing who our enemy is or where they are hiding.” I ran my hands through my hair, unsure what to do next. What I did know was that I needed to release the frustration building. “I’ll be in your gym. If something comes up, come and get me, but for now, I’m going to beat the shit out of Jefferson’s heavy bag.”
Punch, punch. Punch, punch. The sweat dripped from my face. I’d been at this bag for over half an hour, and yet I still couldn’t release the negative energy that consumed me—punch, punch, punch, punch. The bag swung back and then came at me again. Punch, punch, punch. This time, the bag didn’t move. I was so focused on my fists hitting the leather; I hadn’t seen Angelo enter the building. My knuckles were bleeding from the last round of punches. I reached for a towel, dunked it in the bucket of ice water, and wrapped it around my right hand.
“Lincoln will be here in an hour. He just landed with Jefferson and a few of his security team and said he had something to go over with us. He wouldn’t divulge much, but he insisted we all be here.”
I took a deep breath and held it until I counted to ten. When I released it, I felt a tiny bit calmer. “He must have something for us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be bringing Jefferson and some of his men. This is it. It’s the break we’ve been waiting for.”
Angelo twisted the lid off a bottle of water and handed it to me. “Don’t get too excited yet, my friend. We don’t know what this is all about.”
I knew. I felt it in my bones—he had the answers we were looking for. I was positive of it. I walked to the bathroom, splashed some water on my face to cool down, and then looked at my reflection in the mirror. I’d wished on that shooting star for an answer to end all this. One that brought Victoria back to me safely. The reflection looking back at me told me to hold on; you just have to keep her safe a bit longer, and everything will work out.
Lincoln, Jefferson, and two men I’d never seen before walked through the front door of Angelo’s home. I tried to read their faces, but their faces betrayed no emotion. I followed them to the dining room, and everyone took a seat around the table. One of the men with Lincoln, an older guy, probably in his late sixties, early seventies, pulled a folder out of his carry-on bag and handed it to Angelo. I watched as he thumbed through the pages.
“Son of a bitch. Is this true?” Angelo questioned the older man, who nodded, confirming its legitimacy. He closed the folder and looked directly at me. “Francis’s wife Franchesca has a half-sister named Amber. She happens to be married to Rosario Curfari. However, her first husband was Louis Epolito.”
I raised a brow, as I somehow knew that name. “Why does that name ring a bell with me?” I questioned.
“Because my father tasked you with killing him nine years ago. I know this because it was a name given to me, and I refused to take it. Bethany and I were planning our wedding, and my father asked for a favor. It was the only time I rejected him. I told him to ask you, as you would never fail him. For some reason, that hit was personal to him, that I was sure of. When he agreed to release me from the family, he never asked anything of me until that day. I thought it peculiar for him to ask such a thing of me, which is why I suspect it was a secret hit.”
“That explains how Francis jumped in bed with Mancini and why they came after both of our kids. It’s a personal vendetta. I killed her husband, and you killed Francis. If Amber and Franchesca are in this together, they won’t stop until they’ve snuffed out the Vicci family and my family.” Every possible scenario was running through my head now, but only one had my blood running cold. “Victoria booked her flight on American Airlines. If they are as clever as I believe them to be, they already know she is on her way here from Virginia. Which means, by now, they have already figured out that is where your family is.”
Angelo reached into his pocket, retrieving his phone. However, Lincoln stopped him from placing a call. “Everyone there already knows this. Lillian went to share the information with her.”
“But all of us are here.” Angelo’s booming voice would have scared the average human, but it barely enticed any emotion from the men in the room.
“Relax,” Linc quipped. “Lillian took King Crawford with her. They are all safe and protected.”
I knew that name; he’d received a Medal of Honor last year by the President. “Why is a Medal of Honor recipient watching over my family?” Angelo asked.
Lincoln smiled. “Because we are partners. My grandfather and his are close friends. When King got out of the service, he wanted to open his private investigation and security firm. So, I backed him financially, and we are partners in EFISS Inc.”
“What does EFISS stand for?” I questioned.
Lincoln pulled out his wallet and handed me a card. “Elite Forces Investigations and Security Services,” he replied.
I held the card in my hand, inspecting it before I flipped it over. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but I just stood there, dumbfounded.
“Between King and his team, no one will make it anywhere near Bethany’s home,” Lincoln told Angelo.
I looked down at my watch. “Fuck,” I yelled. It was after eight, and I had promised Victoria I would be there waiting for her. “I’ve got to go, or I’ll be late meeting Victoria. I’ll bring her back here, and you can tell me what our next steps will be.” I didn’t wait for a response. I just reached into my pants for my keys and made for the front door.
It was eight forty-five when I arrived at JFK. Running towards the sliding door, I checked my phone to see if I’d received a text from Victoria, but there were none. I should have heard from her by now, I thought to myself. I stopped in front of the monitor and looked for information on the arrival of her flight.
Flight 4263 Norfolk VA – Arrived
Arrived? Why hadn’t she texted me? Looking at my phone once more and seeing nothing yet again, I called Bethany. The phone rang several times before she picked it up.
“Hi, Gabriel. What’s up?”
“Is Victoria with you?”
“No, we dropped her off at the airport a long time ago. She should be there by now. Try her house. She said she couldn’t wait to get home to her own bed.”
“Thank you.” I hung up the phone, and my chest constricted. I couldn’t catch my breath no matter how hard I tried. Every inch of my soul knew they had her, and I wanted to throw up. I immediately dialed Victoria’s phone, and it went directly to voicemail. Over and over again, I pressed Send as I drove to her home. I ran every red light in my path, almost hitting several cars as I crossed through intersections. I jumped out of my
car, the engine still running as I sprinted to her doorstep. I pushed the doorbell several times, but no one answered. Without hesitation, I jumped over her fence and busted a window. I didn’t care what damage I’d done to her home. I just needed to find her. Nothing was out of place. Somebody had cleaned up the broken vase as I’d instructed, and there was no indication that she’d arrived from the airport yet. My phone vibrated in my pocket. Glancing at the screen, I saw Victoria’s name.
19
Victoria
“Gabriel,” I whispered into my phone, “are you there?” I waited for him to respond.
“Victoria, where are you?” Gabriel frantically asked.
“I’m at the airport in the lost baggage office.”
When he spoke, I could hear he was out of breath, as if he was running. When I listened to the car door slam in the background, I knew he was on his way.
“Why are you in the lost baggage office? You didn’t check any baggage.”
“I know that. But when I got off the plane, two men were standing in line waiting to board. I didn’t think anything of it until I stopped in the bathroom and found them waiting outside the entrance when I exited. I got on the shuttle to take me to baggage claim, and when I got off, I saw them leave one of the other cars. I think they are following me.”
“Can you stall until I get there?”
“I’m not sure, and there are only three people ahead of me. When I get to the counter, the customer service representative will know I didn’t check any luggage. What do I do?”
I glanced over my shoulder through the glass and saw the two men standing by the exit, only this time, a woman stood with them. “Gabriel, there is an older woman with them now. I’m terrified.”