by Sam Crescent
“The women don’t feel the same way. They don’t look at you and know that you’re destined to be together. They don’t know you. You’ve got to take the time, get them to fall in love with you. I look at Mia, and she is it for me. I love her more than anything else in the world, and I know there would no one else for me. She sees a guy who has helped her. Who took her away from the monster that hurt her. I’m her friend. One day, I do hope that she’ll feel love for me, but again, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Gabriel nodded. “A two-sided curse. We’re plagued to know love, and to fight for it. They only know they’ve got some freakishly obsessive man who’ll do anything for them.”
“Told you it wouldn’t be easy.”
“You did. Is there any other reason you wanted to talk to me?”
“I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I’m not always a total asshole, and how I’ve treated you, it was fucking wrong, and for that, I apologize.” He held his hand out.
“Thank you.”
“How are you finding it? The whole Denton thing?” he asked.
Gabriel looked toward the house. “It has been strange. Charlotte is a wonderful person, a bit of a bitch at times, but I don’t think Maddox is the best husband.”
“What was it like for your mother? For you?” Damian asked.
Gabriel smiled. “My mother was always trying to please my father. I think when she realized that Maddox wasn’t coming back for her, she had to make the most of a bad situation. That situation created me. I wonder if he knew? There were times when he looked at me I’m sure of it. He made her pay for any indiscretions anyway. She’d always tell me when I caught her with a new black eye, or there were times I’d see belt marks on her, peeking out from clothing. She’d always tell me not to worry, that she deserved what he gave her.”
Damian was horrified. “I knew your father was an asshole.”
“It’s kind of nice to know I didn’t come from him.”
“Yeah, but our actual father was the one that put him in that place. It couldn’t have been good.”
Gabriel merely shrugged. “We live with what we have to. I tried to protect my mother, but my father was intent on hurting her every chance he got. There are times I think that she’s at peace now, dead. I hope he’s rotting in hell. Anyway, enough about me. You haven’t called back. You don’t want to deal with Ivan?”
“I do want to deal with Ivan. He hurt my woman, and now I need to hurt him. First, we’ve got to make sure that we don’t show any weakness. The Denton name is only as strong as those who stand by it.” Damian stared at the other man, and it got him thinking. “Do you hate the Denton name? Would you do anything to destroy it?”
Gabriel threw his head back and laughed. “I should have seen that coming. I have no intention of taking the Denton family down. I’m part of it, and as much as I don’t like Maddox, I’ve found friendship with Jacob and with Abel. Even Uncle Stuart isn’t so bad.”
“I had to check,” Damian said. “I’ve heard rumors of a possible attack.”
“How did you hear that?”
“Because I know of the places to listen. The dives where people talk or people brag.” He had a knack of finding out information. It was something he’d always been able to do. “I’m going to check them out. They could be related to Ivan, but I don’t know.”
“The thing about being the shark in the city, there’s always a lot of babies who think they can take over. You could go up and down the streets and find hundreds of men who have some beef with the Dentons.”
“Something tells me you’ll know exactly where to find the men who think they can overthrow the Dentons just because we’re having a few disagreements.”
“I might,” Gabriel said.
“Then on Monday I want you to take me to them. I want to find out exactly what people are saying about the Dentons.” He loved his family. There were times he just wished he had a different name. He wouldn’t change who he was though, or his brothers and sisters. As if on cue, Tamsin came to the door, and waved at him. She was growing up so fast. There was a time she would have run out, and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. Now, he got a wave. Behind her was Owen, and it made him tense. Owen and Wyatt Colton were related to Gabriel, but were they on their side. “Do you keep control of your siblings?”
“Don’t even go there, Damian.”
“You’ve got to think about how they feel about us, Gabriel. They wanted us all dead.”
“Owen and Wyatt adore Charlotte and wouldn’t do anything to hurt Tamsin either. My brothers are not like that.”
Damian didn’t need to point out that he only mentioned women, none of the men.
****
“You’re handling him well,” Charlotte said.
“Thank you. He’s only a couple of months old. I really don’t know what to do most days, and I’m just trying to remember what I’ve seen in movies, and what everyone else has done,” Mia said.
“It’s all you can do,” Jacob’s wife, Lou, said. “I don’t think anyone is ever prepared for a baby. I know I wasn’t, and I’ve got another on the way.” She rubbed her swollen stomach.
“Men think we have some special switch that means we know what we’re doing,” Harper said. “At least I got Abel to change diapers, and to be part of Evan’s early years.”
“How was Maddox with your lot?” Ruby asked. She was Oliver’s wife, and also heavily pregnant.
The smile on Charlotte’s face faded. “He … wasn’t around all the time. Maddox and I, we didn’t have the best start, and it took some time for things to settle. Seven children later, and we’re still struggling.”
Mia saw the pain in her eyes, and she went to her, wrapping her arms around Charlotte, offering her comfort.
The older woman took it and then pulled away, wiping away tears. “That’s enough about me. Look at all of you. Bringing up my boys I’d hoped for daughters-in-law as nice as you, and that is all I ever wanted. I better go down and check on the chicken.”
When they were alone Mia looked toward the group. “I’m not a daughter-in-law. I think I’m a nanny and a housekeeper mostly. Damian has been really nice to me.”
“It’s not long before a Denton gets under your skin, and I should know,” Ruby said. “I tried to kill my husband when I first met him.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, I was a one-woman army, and I intended to kill every single Denton man. Of course, I was wrong about most things, and I ended up falling in love with Oliver rather than killing him.”
“Which I’m more than happy about,” Oliver said, coming into the large nursery. “I thought I’d find you here, getting hints and tips.”
“I have to. Our due date gets nearer every single passing day.” Ruby placed a hand one her stomach, and then took Oliver’s hand, placing it on her rounded bump. “Do you feel anything?”
“I feel our girl or guy moving.”
“You don’t know the sex yet?” Mia asked.
“We could have found out together, but we wanted it to be a surprise. It has been hell trying to stick with neutral colors for the nursery.” Ruby kissed Oliver’s cheek.
Mia watched the couple while trying not to gawk. The two were clearly in love, and she rubbed at her chest as a flash of pain rushed through her. Oliver rubbed Ruby’s stomach, and then his hands moved up to her shoulders giving her a little massage. Ruby leaned back, using Oliver for support.
Pregnancy hadn’t been easy for Mia. In fact, she had found it hard, painful, and at times humiliating. Toward the end when her stomach had been so big she could barely move, and she had to roll and crawl to places just to stand up. There hadn’t been anyone for her. Ivan obviously had offered, but she hadn’t wanted him to come near her.
There had been a time during the first few weeks, even the first couple of months, that she had thought about a termination, and then it was like Reese had known, and he’d kicked. She’d been crashed out reading a library book, and he’d
kicked out.
From that moment on it had felt like she was no longer alone. “I’ll go and see if Charlotte needs any help.”
She made her way down to the kitchen and paused outside as she saw Maddox and Charlotte inside.
“What do you want from me, Maddox? Do you want me to beg you for forgiveness? Do you want me to overlook everything that has happened?” Charlotte asked. “I don’t get it. You’re mad at me for being nice to your son, and you’re angry at me for being pissed at you. What do you want from me?”
“I want us to go back, Charlotte. I want you to look at me and smile, and not be pissed at me. I’m sorry I messed up. I can’t take that back.”
“I didn’t ask you to. I asked you if you knew? If you had any idea that Gabriel was yours, and that’s what hurts. You even had an idea that there was a chance, and yet you did nothing. You’re not the man I thought you were, Maddox. That was your boy, your son, and you left him like that. You think Colton didn’t have a clue? That he wasn’t suspicious?”
Mia gasped as someone stepped right up close. She turned her head to find Damian behind her. The two people in the kitchen were so consumed by their argument they didn’t hear her intake of breath.
Damian placed a finger against his lip, and they moved away, heading toward a library.
“I really shouldn’t have heard any of that.”
“It’s family drama, Mia. You’re not stupid. You know about Gabriel. I’ve told you about him before.”
She began to pace the library, and she looked at him. “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what the Dentons are, what you do.” She stopped, and turned to him. “You’re a crime family. It’s why Ivan backed off, right? You’re bigger than he is in the scheme of things.”
“The extent of what we do, you don’t need to worry about. You’re safe.”
“You kill people?” she asked. It was strange, but she wasn’t afraid. Staring at Damian, and looking at the large family with the huge security detail, it all made a lot of sense. Not to mention the security that she’d seen at the apartment. “Please, Damian, just be completely honest with me. I’m not made of glass. Haven’t I proven that?”
“I’ve known you a week, and the stuff you’re asking, people have died for less.” He stepped up to her, and she didn’t back away. Damian took hold of her hands, and she heard him sigh. “I want you to trust me. I know that is a lot to take in, but I will tell you everything when you’re ready. You’re not ready right now. When you’re with me, Ivan has no chance of getting his hands on you. I need you to help me with Martha, and I know that is a lot to ask—”
She held her hands up. “I’m not going anywhere. You don’t scare me, Damian. I just … I like to know the truth.” She pushed some hair out of her face, and glanced around the library. Just a short week she had known Damian, and had been taking care of Martha. It had been one of the easiest weeks of her life. There had been no fear of Ivan or his goons stopping by for a visit, or watching as he held Reese, terrified that he was going to take her son away from her.
A couple of times in the past month Ivan would turn up, and he’d pick Reese up, and start walking toward the door. She would panic and beg him not to take her son, to which he’d laugh, and remind her that she was at his mercy. He was waiting for the moment that she broke, that she came to him willingly, and her submission would be so much the sweeter for it.
“Mom and Dad have always argued like that. They have their moments where they are happy, and then something happens that tends to ruin it,” Damian said. “I’ve been witness to many arguments, and many makeups.”
She smiled. “Sounds kind of crazy.”
“They love each other. I always worried that they didn’t, but the reason they continue to stay together is because there really isn’t anyone else for either of them. They are both in love with the other.”
Mia thought about Ruby and Oliver. “It must be nice to love someone so much it wouldn’t matter what they did, you want to stick around to be with them. Is it weird that one day I hope to have that?” She smiled. “I don’t know why I’m sharing that with you. It’s crazy to think I could have anything like that.”
“One day, Mia, you will have that. I promise you.” He then kissed her head, and she had noticed that he did that a lot, and she really enjoyed it when he did.
Chapter Seven
Gabriel entered his family’s apartment, and was surprised to see how clean it was. Ever since he’d talked with Damian, he’d been wanting to talk to Wyatt and Owen. Both of his brothers had been distant of late, and it had come as a shock to them about his parentage. If the Dentons were under attack, something in his gut told him he did have to look close to home.
He had no intention of taking out the Dentons. They were his family, and that meant something to him. It would be easy to tell them all to fuck off, and to hurt them from the inside, but he wanted to be part of their family. All of his life he had felt like he didn’t belong, and his mother had told him that he was someone special and to never turn out like his father. Now he didn’t know what to think.
Closing the door, he waited for his brothers to arrive, and within seconds Owen and Wyatt were there, eating out of a bag of chips.
“What’s up?” Owen asked.
Neither of them looked guilty, and he’d seen them at their worst growing up.
“There’s rumors spreading that there is a divide within the Denton household,” Gabriel said, watching both of their reactions.
“I take it news of you has gotten to their enemies,” Owen said. “That’s not exactly hard to do. You’re the son that one of them didn’t want to claim.”
“Everything seemed fine to me today at dinner,” Wyatt said. “There’s tension between Charlotte and Maddox, but that’s to be expected. You’re a son that appeared out of nowhere.”
He was very much aware of his parentage.
“Damian thinks you two could be feeding information to their enemies.”
“What the fuck? Since when do you believe that cocksucker?” Wyatt asked.
“He doesn’t like us, and why the fuck would we take out Denton? Not only did the rid us of the scum that is our father, we’ve finally got a life. I don’t have to be seen in shame,” Owen said. “I have a life now. I can hold my head up high, and that is all I’ve ever wanted.”
Their father, the Colton name, had been associated with human trafficking, and that wasn’t just all. Exploitation of children, slavery, and every despicable thing he could think of, his father, the one he’d known as his father, had been responsible for.
“So you’re a Denton now, and you’re going to turn your back on us?” Wyatt asked. “Is that how this is going to go?”
He saw the disappointment in his brothers’ eyes, and he felt like an asshole. He released a breath and sighed. “I don’t know what to think.” Running a hand down his face, he began to remove his tie. He was getting tired and weary of everything.
“How about instead of accusing us of shit we didn’t do, you ask for our help? We’re still your brothers, Gabriel. What do you need?”
“I need to know who is feeding their enemies stories about there being a divide within the Denton family.” He moved toward the fridge, taking out a beer. “They have organizations, gangs and shit that hate their guts and will do anything to get rid of them, or to take away their businesses. They control the city, and everything has to go through them for a cut of the profits. To some that is a steep price.”
“What do you think it is?” Owen asked.
“I think the Dentons are fair. I’ve seen the way they work.” He glanced at the apartment. “Where’s Emma?”
“She’s at work. She’s working in administration for Maddox.”
“Oh, I had no idea.”
“You’ve not exactly been around a whole lot since you got your new family.”
Gabriel closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to get his temper under control. “You’re still my brothers, and I lo
ve you. We have a real chance here. Don’t you want to take that?”
“We do, which is why we’re heading out. The good thing about being seen as the scum of the world, people tend to talk, to show everyone else that they’re better than you,” Wyatt said. “We’ll be back with info for you. Make yourself at home.”
Within seconds he was alone in his brothers’ apartment, and he felt like the worst guy for accusing them. Wyatt and Owen had wanted to settle the score six months ago. To try to take something back for themselves, and he’d been part of it. Of course that had all changed when the truth of who his father really was came out. Now it was just one fight after another.
****
Three weeks later
Damian didn’t go looking for the rumors. Gabriel asked him to wait, and that his brothers were onto something. Instead, Damian focused on Ivan, and being around Mia. He didn’t want to leave her behind, and he found any excuse to make it back home every day, early. At night, he would spend hours watching her sleep. He’d always been a light sleeper, and he’d never needed more than a couple of hours to get him through. Since meeting Mia he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, and he’d been able to get his shit together. The guilt was still there over Betty, and he doubted it would ever go away. He didn’t love the woman, but he felt responsible for her. Uncle Stuart tried to help him, but like he told him, the woman he hurt was still alive. Betty had taken her life. Harper also visited often. He’d noticed that Lou, Harper, Ruby, and his mother came to the apartment spending time with Mia. They were helping him win her over. He loved being around Mia, just taking time to get to know her. Whenever she was in the kitchen she was always going through the cookbooks she had open, and she’d suck in the corner of her lip.
When they were sitting together watching television he found himself looking at her rather than the big screen. For the first time in his life, he knew what real happiness was. He didn’t need the sex, or anything else. Just being near her was enough.
At home was when he was at peace. Work, however, was nonstop. His father kept him busy with Denton business. A couple of their girls had gone missing from their brothels, and he’d been put in charge of finding them. The two girls didn’t have any family, and it made searching for them a difficult process. He had several of their guys looking into last known sightings in the police force, but so far, nada.