Gabriel (The Wounded Sons Book 1)

by Leah Sharelle

  “Get me in touch with Major Arthurs, private. Then find a way to patch me through to my old man,” I snarled.

  Shit was about to get real.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DEVON

  “Just what the hell were you thinking Shiloh?” Booth boomed from his place at the end of a very long wooden table. We were in a room they called the war room, it looked like a movie set, a cross between a biker and a war movie.

  An hour ago, Booth came into the main room where I had been sitting with the ladies of the Flock and ordered Shiloh, Stella and myself to follow him.

  Four days ago, she’d hustled me back into her car and drove both of us back to Ballarat at breakneck speed, overtaking vehicles and trucks all the while alternating between cursing my brothers and yelling at me for not telling Gabriel about my cancer.

  Okay, so she didn’t exactly yell, she cried first, then she raised her voice at me voicing her disappointment at my omission. I made her promise not to tell anyone else about the cancer until I had a chance to tell Gabriel in person, and at first, she agreed. I spent the first few days back pretending that I was back at the compound because I wanted to be closer to Gabriel’s family getting to know everyone better and to get a sense of what it would be like when he went off on more deployments. Stella and Booth bought my story at first and I thought that all would be okay, until my phone starting blowing up with texts and calls from home.

  When Shiloh intercepted one, when I went to the loo, all hell broke loose. Shiloh saw what was probably the worst of the snarly texts from Kyle and went off with a single purpose to protect me. The way she went about it was unknown to me until now. Getting in contact with Gabriel while he was away doing ninja black stuff may not have been the best way. Okay, it was the absolute worst thing for her to do because here I sat with the whole club staring us down, secret barely there chin lifts and lots of growling.

  Gabriel or no Gabriel, my arse was on the chopping block along with Shiloh.

  “I am the President you know Vinnie, that is my seat at the head of the table you are occupying,” Shiloh grumbled, sounding like a little kid being told she couldn’t have her Christmas presents because she was bad.

  I snickered when Booth and Deck growled at her at the same time, their intense expressions softened by the laughter in their eyes. However, my smile fell when the intensity was aimed at me all of a sudden.

  Wow! So that is where Gabriel gets it from.

  “You might be the president Shiloh, but right now, you are just my pain in the arse little Squirt acting impulsive and not at all like the leader I know you are in fact. I mean getting the club involved in something you haven’t even explained yet. How is a member meant to vote without knowing the facts?” Booth looked over at Deck and Steel, the silent communication between the three men fascinated me.

  “If Darth was still with you what would he be saying to you right now?” Steel asked Shiloh, confusing me by what he meant. As far as Gabriel told me, the man called Darth died a very long time ago. How on earth could she remember something like that from the age of four?

  “I will get to you in a minute Devon. I want to know why Shiloh brought you back here. Talk about lies of omission and shit,” Booth’s voice scared me, he sounded very angry and very pissed. Guilt shamed me for putting this on the club, I felt embarrassed that Shiloh brought me back in the manner in which she did.

  My brother’s bad treatment of me was purely neglect and nothing more, never violence or physical abuse. As a matter of fact, it was my father’s indifference concerning me since my mum died that hurt more than anything Mitchell, Andrew and Kyle ever threw at me. My mind went back to the scene at the house where I grew up. Not Michell’s temper filled rant, but rather the chilling way Kyle smiled at me, and flicked his lit cigarette in my direction. What he meant by doing that I couldn’t say. His hatred for me was clear, that much I did know.

  And now, Shiloh was getting a dressing down because she made a snap decision on my behalf. I couldn’t allow that, I didn’t quite understand the dynamics of the club hierarchy, but, I did know that Shiloh wasn’t sitting in the president’s chair, a right she’d earned.

  “Now Shiloh, tell me why you thought a message sent to Gabe was a good idea,” Booth asked calmly, “and… why your message was so fucking cryptic. You know my son, know how he ticks. Surely, you knew what his reaction would be. He got that message while in the air, not even half-way to the German base for the scheduled fuel stop. He has hours and hours ahead of him before he gets back, hours to stew and work himself up.”

  Deck and Mannix added their take on the situation but all I could do was watch Shiloh’s face as she sat across from me, her back ramrod straight as she sat and took the verbal blows from her family.

  This was the first time I was hearing about the message to Gabriel. Had I known she intended to tell him anything about what happened at Queenscliff I would have begged her not to do so. What kind of message did she send him? And how cryptic was it? Shiloh knew about my cancer, but surely, she would have not told him without consulting me first, because that would never have happened had I had a say in it.

  I took what Stella told me about the Team’s job. How they had to concentrate only at the task at hand, their lives depending on family and loved ones not adding any outside worry’s while they are away.

  I’d fully intended to tell Gabriel before he left, circumstances and Bastian foiled that plan, and now maybe he already knew, already mad and thinking I lied to him.

  Nerves chilled me as my eyes sought out the door to the war room, my only exit blocked by Zander, his huge body wired with tension, his jaw clenched and his black eyes firmly on his wife. It wasn’t annoyance he looked at her with, far from it. Zander looked wildly protective, ready to strike and come to Shiloh’s defence if needed.

  My god these men shamed the rest of the male population. The Wounded Souls need to think about writing a ‘how to support your woman’ manual. They would make a fortune!

  “Devon? Do you have anything to add?” Deck asked me, suddenly putting the spotlight and worse, all sets of eyes, on me.

  Crap.

  “Um, no?” I said, hopeful that would suffice and I could get out of there.

  “Try again,” Booth growled, his grey eyes narrowing at me.

  Crap.

  My head dropped to the wooden table with a dull thud, I really did not want to have this conversation, but to get Shiloh out of the shit, or less shit, I was going to have to spill my guts.

  The sound of a mobile ringing heralded a miracle reprieve, my head came up and I couldn’t help the gleeful smile that formed on my lips.

  Thank the lord.

  The former president lifted his phone and looked at the screen with a stoic glare before swiping the screen and answering, his eyes burning into mine as he spoke.

  “Son.” One innocent word. And just like that my smile dropped, making Booth’s face break out in a knowing grin.

  Crap.

  I listened intently to the one-sided conversation, desperately trying to ascertain what Gabriel was saying. It didn’t help that Booth had the best poker face in the world, goddamn it.

  “Yes, she is here. The war room. Yes, it is necessary to be in here.”

  Booth paused, his brows rose then furrowed.

  “I don’t know why, that’s why we are in the war room. Most of the club. Your mother is here.”

  Another frown followed by an eye roll.

  “That’s why we are here mate, to find out why Shiloh made that decision. No, Devon hasn’t said anything yet, but I know she is hiding something. Yes, I do know that Gabriel, so dial your shit back a few notches.”

  Booth’s growl set me back into a panic. Now he and his son were going at it because of me.

  “Oh god, please don’t argue,” I begged quietly under my breath.

  Stella, who was beside me, reached out and clasped my hands that were in my lap twisting nervously.

  “Devo
n honey, don’t worry. Fathers and sons go at it at times, this isn’t your fault.” She tried to reassure me, but I wasn’t having it. All my life I felt guilt in some form or another. Mum dying because of my seatbelt, my father’s exit from the family life. The continuous effect my cancer had on my family. And this, Booth mad at Shiloh, the club coming down on her. Even guilt that Zander was on edge seeing his wife raked over the coals.

  All of it bubbled over like a boiling saucepan of milk.

  “You land in Melbourne in two hours, an hour later you get back here and you can fucking ask her yourself. Don’t push me Gabriel Kurt Booth.”

  And that one command, sliced through me. On the other end of the phone I could visually see Gabriel trying to protect me from his father’s impending integration, my heart making the decision without asking input from my brain.

  “I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia,” I whispered, so quietly I hoped that no one actually heard me, but I was wrong.

  Booth cut his stare back at me, his body rigid his mouth thinned.

  The room suddenly went still, no one even seemed to be breathing as all eyes once again landed on me. Shiloh’s blue orbs the only ones not shocked, hers held sympathy and sadness.

  “Get home son. Now,” Booth said with an edge of desperation, then ended the call.

  I didn’t bother waiting for the order to speak, I simply hung my head and rambled out my confession.

  “I had cancer as a young girl, just five when it was discovered directly after the accident that killed my mum. At age twelve, it came back, I have been in remission since the age of sixteen. Gabriel has no idea, and I haven’t told him yet. I was going to, but then he got the call, and I didn’t think it was the time to tell him such a… thing,” I finished lamely.

  “Thing? Well, that is putting it mildly, Devon. I think you having cancer twice is more than just a thing. If you want him in your life, and a relationship that is built on trust, then you can’t hide things from him, sweetheart. Secrets no matter how personal like cancer, or something you think insignificant like the hassle with your brothers. They go from small issues to bigger, more dangerous ones. Secrets can destroy people, Devon. Trust me on that,” Booth warned me, his voice was deceptively soft and gentle but, I heard the message behind his words. I just wasn’t sure what that message meant and why he felt he needed to give me one.

  Beside me, I heard a sharp intake of breath from Stella.

  “Booth,” she whispered.

  “No, Honey, I won’t let Gabe carry guilt like I did, or the gut-wrenching pain Darth endured towards the end. This story has too many similarities to others here. Darth, Jason and ours,” Booth argued back. I knew there was something more than my omissions being discussed here.

  “I know, Handsome, I know,” Stella soothed her husband, she was now on her feet and standing in front of him. His arms wrapped around her waist, his face buried in her chest, her fingers were sifting through his long blond strands in a calming motion.

  “Breathe me Booth,” Stella said to her husband, those strange words seemed to have the right effect on Booth because he stood suddenly, silently taking Stella into his arms. Lifting her off the ground, her legs immediately around his waist. Their mouths fused together but not in a kiss, more like… they were breathing each other.

  I watched Gabe’s parents with a mixture of awe and jealousy. Seeing them in this obviously well-practiced ritual made me wish that my parents got to have more time together. Maybe if dad still had my mum, he wouldn’t hate the sight of me as much.

  Sometimes life just wasn’t fair, ya know.

  I tore my eyes away from the loving couple, feeling the intimate moment deserved some privacy and turned to see Deck watching me with narrowed blue eyes.

  Oh my god, they all have the intimidating stare down pat.

  “Maybe I should go home,” I mumbled, feeling completely uncomfortable and exposed now that my secret was out.

  “No sweet girl, now you sit and listen. Maybe once you hear what I have to say, you will understand Booth and Stell’s concerns,” Deck informed, giving me a gentle smile.

  I nodded and waited for Deck to go on, he looked lost, trapped in a memory that he didn’t like, his shockingly handsome face taut.

  “Has Gabe told you about Darth? Or about a man named Rogue?” Deck asked me quietly.

  “Um, he told me that Darth died protecting Shiloh. That there had been problems for the club from a crazy man wanting to hurt the women,” I supplied with a shrug.

  “Yeah that was Rogue, a former soldier and one of our mentors. He was also Booth’s stepfather, he was responsible for attacking all the women and Shiloh. Stella had nearly been killed by Rogue who at the time teamed up with her abusive brothers and father, my wife and daughter as well suffered from his twisted plots. Mia, Rainn and Memphis all experienced terror at his hands. But it was our friend and Darth’s woman that suffered the most.” Deck stopped, his eyes flicked towards Booth then back to me.

  “Vegas died in an explosion, she saved the lives of Rainn, her unborn twins and my baby girl, sacrificed herself to save the lives of others, not just because she loved my girl as if she were her own, but because she had cancer. She never told Darth, never gave him a choice to be with her, to fight the disease. To have the last precious moments of time with her. she kept it a secret from him believing it was for his own good. But the truth is it was for her own selfish reason, and that secret and the burden of guilt that he had not been able to set shit right ate at him. He died protecting Shiloh, but he also died with a broken heart, Devon.”

  My heart constricted at the story of the devasting pain and loss the club had gone through, my heart ached for Booth, for Deck and the other men that had to see their women hurt. But I didn’t see the comparison of me not telling Gabriel about my illness. I wasn’t dying, not from cancer anyway. I might be guilty of keeping the truth from him, but I didn’t see my brothers coming after the members of the club in some sick act of revenge.

  “Deck, I’m not dying, my brothers don’t—” I tried to explain how wrong he had my situation, but it was Stella who interrupted me.

  “My brothers and stepfather abused me, violently. I never told Booth, I kept that to myself thinking I was saving him from my hassles, my problems. I honestly thought I could handle them on my own, I thought telling him would drive him away, see me as too much work. I was wrong Devon, my secrets only made things worse. And so, did Vegas’.” Stella looked down at her man, Booth moved them back to his chair and she was sitting in his lap, his arms circling her in a tight embrace. The look on her face was one of pure love, her hazel eyes shone with it.

  “The Wounded Souls are an amazing bunch of guys. They love hard and protect fiercely, their love has no limits, their loyalty faultless. All they ask for is respect and trust, and in return they will give you their hearts. Their sons are no different sweetie, my son is a carbon copy of his dad. Trust me Devon, this will hurt him.” Stella smiled kindly at me, softening the shame I felt hearing her side of how she thought Gabriel would take my news.

  Of course, they were right, I should have been up front with Gabriel on our first date. Told him about the years of treatment, trusted him not to run, at the time I honestly believed it was the right decision. But Deck was right, I made that decision purely for me, listening to only my selfish and irrational reasons. Not giving Gabriel the choice, instead, I made it for him.

  “I… I thought I was doing the right thing, saving him from the horrible story saving myself from the off chance that he might get up and walk away.” Tears welled in my eyes, humiliation baring down on me. “So many people at home pity me, look at me so differently treat me like I am a burden. I can’t get a proper job because of the higher insurance a business would have to take out if they employed me. Even my dad stays away because he can’t deal with it,” I said, weeping softly now.

  “Are you cancer free now darlin’,” Mannix enquired, his patch made him seen scary as did the dark tat
toos that covered both arms and his neck. Even his hands were covered in black and grey ink.

  Nodding my head, I looked directly at him, then turned around the table and gave everyone what I hoped was a look full of sincerity.

  “I promise that I am. I have been in remission since I turned sixteen. I get a thorough check up once a year, a full blood work up. Nothing has shown, the ALL is gone and the doctors don’t expect it to come back,” I told them all vehemently.

  “And your brothers and father?”

  Sighing again, I pondered that question. To be honest I had no idea what got into the three of them the other day. Sure, I never told them where and what I was doing, their reaction confused me, and Kyle’s, well that just scared me.

  “I can’t understand the other day,” I answered honestly, taking a quick look at Shiloh who was now sitting on her husband’s lap. When Zander came to the table I couldn’t say, all the men moved like bloody ninjas.

  “It was over the top,” Shiloh agreed with me, “I know I don’t know any of them from Adam, but they went off their nut at her. One of them just stood off in the distance smoking and smirking the whole time. He looked like he wanted to laugh and strangle Devon, all at the same time.”

  I bobbed my head in agreement. “I know, Kyle is the only one that still lives at home with me. Dad pays him a monthly allowance for helping around the house and keeping an eye on me.”

  “Why, if you are all good now?” Deck asked concerned.

  “I guess out of habit,” I replied with a shrug. “With the double tragedy of the leukemia and the accident at such a young age I had trouble coping. Nightmares from the accident, seeing… mum.” I stopped to steady myself. “I would wake up screaming hysterically for years after the crash, waking the whole house. On top of that there was the constant vomiting from chemo and radiation. I really was a mess for a lot of years.”

  Deck gave me a sympathetic smile, even reached across the table and folded his big hand around mine.