I imagined him pushing me up against the door and kissing me hungrily, with his hands in my hair and on my body. I wondered if they would feel as good as I’d always imagined they would. I looked up at him, but he only reached behind me to take his coat, brushing my arm as he did. I let out the breath I’d been holding in. God, he was such a bloody gentleman!
Gabriel looked at me and smiled. ‘Ready?’ he asked, his voice a low growl that I felt in my bones. I nodded in response, afraid to speak in case my voice betrayed my downright filthy thoughts.
A few seconds later, I was relieved to be outside with the cool air on the flushed skin of my cheeks. Gabriel locked the office and I followed him to his car. A beep and a flash brought it to life as he approached it — a sleek, black Jaguar with tinted windows. I smiled to myself. It was exactly the kind of car I’d imagined he’d drive. Sliding into the comfortable leather seat, I kicked off my shoes and rubbed the chafed skin on my heels before settling back into the seat.
As we drove through the streets of London, Gabriel was silent, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. I watched him for a while, wondering why he was so distant with me. Perhaps, he’d hardly thought about me at all in the last fourteen years? Maybe I was inconsequential to him now? I had once been something to him, if only his best mate’s daughter, but that had been a very long time ago. After a few moments, I looked out of the window instead, watching the scenery go by, until I could stand the silence no longer. ‘So, do you have a hot date too then, Gabe?’ I asked.
He raised an eyebrow at me. ‘Would you care if I did?’
Was he flirting with me? ‘No, of course not,’ I replied nonchalantly.
He didn’t answer my question any further and we continued the rest of the drive in silence until he pulled up outside my apartment block.
‘Thanks, Gabe. Enjoy your evening,’ I said.
‘You too, Samantha,’ he replied with a smile.
Slipping on my heels, I opened the car door. Before I stepped out of the car, Gabriel touched my arm and I felt the heat from his warm hand, both on my arm and in the throbbing sensation that was starting to build between my thighs. ‘For the record, I don’t have a hot date. I’m going to a meeting. But, I’d much rather be taking you to dinner,’ he said softly.
I smiled but didn’t reply, not sure of how I could respond without giving myself away, and I didn’t want him to have any more power over me than he already did. Silently, I climbed out of the car. I continued smiling as I walked to my apartment building, making sure I gave Gabriel a good view of my behind as I walked away. It pleased me far more than it should that he wasn’t going out on a date.
As I closed my apartment door, I leaned my forehead against the cool wood and let out a long slow breath. God, what the hell was wrong with me? Hadn’t I sworn off men? Well, at least anything remotely serious anyway. A twelve year marriage to a sadistic psychopath will do that to a girl. Besides, this was Gabe I was thinking about. He would only ever see me as Sebastian’s daughter — or worse, as Jackson Carver’s wife.
Chapter 6
Gabriel
I’d driven to Tommy Parkinson’s nightclub as soon as I’d dropped Samantha off. This meeting had already been rearranged once and I was close to closing the deal. Otherwise I would have blown off my plans and insisted that Samantha allow me to take her out for dinner instead of her father.
I’d only been in the place for ten minutes and already I was fed up of negotiating with Tommy. This was our third meeting now where we had gone over the same old ground. I wasn’t prepared to give him another inch. Sebastian and I were doing him a favour bailing him and his failing nightclub out. We were offering him a decent price and if he didn’t accept today, then I was prepared to walk away from the deal.
‘I don’t have all fucking night,’ I snapped at Tommy as I stood up to leave. ‘You’ve got until tomorrow morning to decide if you want to accept our terms. If I don’t hear from you by then, I’ll assume the deal’s off.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Gabriel. You’re killing me here. You know my business is worth twice what you’re offering me.’ Tommy spat, his face red, spittle flying from the sides of his mouth as he spoke.
I glared at him. Tommy was a decent bloke and I’d known him for years. On any other night, I probably wouldn’t be such a cunt to him. But I was still smarting from my meeting with Jimmy Fenton the day before. I should have known better than to even consider a business proposition from a Fenton. Jimmy, and the rest of his firm were a shower of cunts, but unfortunately they were well connected ones.
If that hadn’t wound me up enough, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I could be having dinner with Samantha instead of sitting in Tommy’s shit-box of an office negotiating with him.
I fastened the buttons of my jacket. ‘By twelve tomorrow, Tommy. Or the deal’s off.’
‘You can be a right fucking cunt,’ Tommy said. But all the anger in his voice had disappeared. His words may have been strong but he slumped back into his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. He knew he was beaten. ‘Okay. It’s a deal,’ he said as he held out his hand.
I shook his outstretched hand and nodded. ‘I’ll have the papers drawn up tomorrow.’
As I drove home I couldn’t stop thinking about Samantha, wondering if she’d eaten yet. I thought about phoning her and asking if she still wanted to go for dinner. Although she’d turned up at our office looking for her father, I was sure I could have persuaded her to settle for me as a stand-in. Maybe I could offer to bring her a take-away instead?
I fingered the call button on my steering wheel. God, she’d looked so fucking good earlier. She always looked good. I felt my cock stirring to attention as I thought about those tight little pencil skirts she wore.
Fuck! What was I thinking? There was no way I could phone her. It was complete madness. If only I could stop thinking about her for longer than five minutes. The way my hand brushed the skin of her thigh when I’d changed gear. How she always seemed to recoil from my touch. How her breathing changed whenever I got too close to her. Did she feel this tension between us too? Or was she afraid of me?
But how could she be? She’d known me almost all her life. Maybe I came on too strong? Maybe it was all too apparent that whenever I saw her all I could think about was fucking her?
Chapter 7
Samantha
The music thumped in my ears as I squeezed my way through the crowd at O’Malley’s bar with four bottles of Budweiser in my hands. It was the closest pub to Donovan Cook and so Nick and I often went there for drinks after work. We’d invited our legal secretary, Sadie, and our receptionist, Beth, out with us too. It was Friday night, and the couple of drinks we’d had planned soon turned into several and the place was now jam packed. I finally made it back to our table, holding the four bottles up triumphantly.
‘Where are the shots? You promised us tequila.’ Nick said.
‘Shit! I forgot,’ I said, realising my mistake. ‘Anyway how many hands do you think I have, Nicholas?’
He grinned at me. ‘Two! Exactly the same number you had in uni when you could carry six bottles and six shots easily in one trip. Are you losing your edge, Samantha?’
I stuck my tongue out at him. It was true that in my first year of uni I had perfected the art of carrying our group’s whole round in one trip. But that had been before I’d met Jackson – sometimes it felt like everything good in my life had been before I met him. I closed my eyes to clear the thoughts of him. ‘Four shots of tequila coming up,’ I replied.
I was worming my way back through the crowd towards the bar when I saw him walking towards me. Gabriel bloody Sullivan. That was all I needed. As if I didn’t think about that man enough, now there he was looking so good I would have done shots out of his navel. I pushed a stray strand of hair from my face and willed my treacherous body to behave itself.
‘Hi, Samantha,’ he said as he reached me.
‘Hello, Gabe,’ I fla
shed him a winning smile. ‘What are you doing in here?’
The pub was noisy and he bent his head down to my ear. ‘Working,’ he said, his lips grazing my ear as he spoke, sending a shockwave through my entire body and making goose-bumps prickle along my forearms. I was suddenly very aware that our bodies were only centimetres apart and I felt the heat searing between my legs.
‘In here?’ I asked as I looked around. O’Malley’s wasn’t the type of place Archangel Securities usually did security for, although I’d noticed they did have bouncers on the door now.
He nodded and was about to speak when someone stumbled backwards into me, pushing me up against Gabriel’s hard body. He put an arm out to catch me. ‘Watch it,’ he snapped to the large man behind me who had knocked me.
‘Sorry, mate,’ he shouted over the noise.
Gabriel kept his hand around my waist, keeping our bodies pressed together. I looked up at him and his eyes burned into mine. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Fine,’ I breathed. Other than the fact that my internal organs felt like they had turned to hot lava.
He still held me there and I could feel my blood thundering around my body. My breathing became faster. He leaned his head towards me again. Was he going to say something? Kiss me? Dear God, Gabriel Sullivan was about to kiss me in the middle of the crowded pub and I might just come on the spot.
Suddenly, a well-manicured hand appeared on his shoulder. ‘Gabriel,’ the blonde woman behind him shouted. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’
His head snapped up and annoyance flickered across his face as he half turned away from me. ‘Gemma? You’re late!’
He turned to me again, still with an arm around my waist, and smiled. ‘Looks like I have to go.’
‘I thought you were working?’ I challenged him, annoyed at the unwelcome intrusion.
‘I am. She’s here for business, not pleasure,’ he said with a wicked grin.
‘Whatever you say,’ I replied with a shrug, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible while my heart pounded in my chest.
Gabriel stared at me for a few seconds, his jaw working, and I wondered what he was thinking. Then he leaned in close to my ear again. ‘Make sure you behave yourself, Sam. My bouncers will be watching you,’ he said in that low growl of his that made my knees weak.
He called me Sam!
Then he walked away, following Gemma through the bar and out into the street.
I stared after him feeling almost breathless with wanton lust, and left with an intense throbbing between my thighs.
Chapter 8
Samantha
I had lounged around my apartment for most of the following day nursing the hangover from hell. I’d ended up staying out until midnight and drinking my own body weight in alcohol after Gabriel had left. I’d outstayed Nick and the rest of my colleagues and ended up grabbing a lift with one of the solicitors from another firm. He’d suggested coming upstairs for a coffee — which we all know is code for a quick fumble, but I refused. The only person I was interested in fumbling with was Gabriel. I could hardly stop thinking about him, and the blonde woman he’d met up with. He’d said it was work, but what kind of business would he have with her? She didn’t look like one of Archangel Securities’ usual customers.
Why couldn’t I get him out of my head?
By mid-afternoon, my boredom had got the better of me and I headed to the gym before asking my dad if he fancied having dinner together later, which he had happily agreed to. How sad was I that my Saturday night date was my dad? I was sure Gabriel had more exciting plans than I did — no doubt with some young, hot Gemma lookalike.
I stood on my father’s doorstep waiting for him to answer his front door. A few seconds later he opened it with a huge smile on his face. ‘Sam,’ he said as he pulled me inside and enveloped me in a bear hug. ‘Come on through.’
I followed him into the kitchen, inhaling the aroma of the curry he was preparing. My dad was a great cook, and his curries were to die for. He usually made my favourite beef madras whenever I came over for dinner.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Gabriel standing there, leaning against the kitchen worktop with a mug of something hot in his hand. He blew lightly on the liquid before taking a sip, eyeing me over the rim of the cup. I didn’t know whether to be delighted or annoyed that he was there. He seemed to be everywhere I was lately, which would be fine if all my encounters with him didn’t leave me feeling like a trembling mess by the time I got home. My poor vibrator had never seen so much action.
‘Hi Gabe,’ I said as I took a seat at the table.
‘Hello, Samantha,’ he replied with a curt nod.
Moody sod!
‘You don’t mind if Gabriel joins us, do you Sam?’ my father asked as he walked over to the stove and stirred the curry sauce.
‘Not at all, Dad,’ I replied, forcing a smile onto my face. Gabriel put his mug on the counter and walked across the room to sit opposite me. His shirt was open at the collar revealing a tiny fraction of one of the tattoos he had inked on his chest. I dragged my eyes away from his body and looked out of the huge patio doors instead. How the hell was I supposed to spend the whole evening sitting across from him and pretend like he had no effect on me? While my mind might behave itself, my body had other ideas and I could feel my insides churning. I put a hand on my neck to try and cool my flushed skin. As if the heat from the curry wasn’t going to be enough to make me sweat, I also had to sit under the heat of Gabriel’s intense gaze.
‘I’ll clear the dishes, Dad,’ I told him as he stood up. ‘Why don’t you two take your beers into the sitting room and leave this to me? It’s the least I can do after that beautiful meal.’
‘Okay? If you’re sure?’
‘I’m only going to load the dishwasher,’ I said with a smile. ‘It’s not a big deal. I’ll join you in a few minutes.’ Despite my earlier reservations, the three of us had enjoyed a lovely meal with pleasant conversation.
It seemed my father was the perfect buffer. It had almost been just like old times. I had spent most of my meals as a teenager stealing surreptitious glances at Gabriel too. Only now, I was sure I caught him stealing some right back.
‘That sounds like a plan to me,’ my father said with a smile. He kissed the top of my head. ‘Come on, mate,’ he said to Gabriel and then the two of them walked out of the room leaving me alone.
I was loading the dishwasher a few moments later when Gabriel strolled back into the kitchen. ‘I came to see if you needed any help?’ he said with a smile.
I stood up straight, blowing a stray strand of hair from my face. ‘No thanks. I’m almost done now.’
He walked to the fridge and took out another bottle of Bud. ‘Want one?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, go on,’ I replied.
He twisted off the cap and handed it to me before taking another for himself. For a few moments, we stood in silence, sipping our beers and watching each other across the room.
‘So, I heard you got lucky last night. Who was the fortunate recipient of your affections?’ he eventually said.
‘What?’ I said, momentarily stunned by his question. What the hell was he on about?
‘I came back to O’Malleys last night to see if you wanted a lift, but one of my bouncers told me you’d left with someone.’
I blinked at him. Was that why he was there last night? Checking up on me? ‘Is it really any business of yours who I did or didn’t leave with? I can’t believe you were checking up on me.’
He frowned at me. ‘I wasn’t checking up on you at all. I was dropping Gemma off so I thought I’d offer you a lift home. My bouncer said you’d left with some bloke, that’s all there is to it!’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Yes, really!’ he growled.
‘So you weren’t spying on me for dear old dad, just like you used to?’
He stalked across the room towards me. ‘I have never spied on you, Samantha. Not for anyone! But you sh
ould be careful going home with complete strangers that you hook up with in bars!’
I shook my head at the sheer cheek of him and his double standards. ‘You’re unbelievable. You and my father can go home with a different woman every night of the week, but I happen to get into a taxi with a man, who was a colleague by the way, and it’s newsworthy!’
I slammed my bottle onto the counter and started to walk out of the room. He grabbed hold of my arm as I passed and I felt the heat from his skin burning mine. Despite my anger, his touch made my breath catch in my throat.
‘I don’t do that,’ he said. ‘And I wasn’t checking up on you, Sam,’ he said softly.
He called me Sam!
He had done last night too. Prior to that, he’d only ever called me Sam once before. It had been the night before I’d left for university. I had wrapped my arms around his neck and called him my Angel Gabriel. Then I had told him I would stay in Dagenham if he wanted me to. But of course, he hadn’t wanted that at all. It had been our last encounter for fourteen years and I hadn’t thought about it in a very long time.
‘Please don’t call me Sam,’ I whispered. It hurt too much.
I saw something flash in Gabriel’s eyes before he released my arm and I walked out of the kitchen.
Chapter 9
Gabriel
I left Sebastian’s house earlier than I’d planned. I should never have stayed for dinner. But I’d stupidly thought that maybe I could be around Samantha and pretend I didn’t want to bury myself inside her. It had worked for a while. We’d had a nice dinner, and I’d tried to remember that she was my best mate’s daughter and completely off limits. I tried to be nice — but that just seemed to piss her off and push her away from me.
Dark Angel: A Dark Romance: London Ruthless Series Book 1 (The London Ruthless Series) Page 3