Mine to Take

by Jackie Ashenden

  The man had gone pale. “You can’t do shit,” he said, still obviously trying for bluster.

  “You do know who I am, don’t you?”

  “You’ll be no one soon. I can get security to—”

  “You’re assuming I’m alone. I’m not. Neither am I bluffing. Also, I don’t think your superiors will be happy if a well-known construction magnate ends up dead in an underground fucking casino notorious for drugs and prostitution.”

  The man paled even further. “I’ve got nothing to tell you.”

  “But you don’t know what I want yet.” He leaned forward. “Tell me everything you know about Guy Tremain.”

  There was incomprehension on the man’s face. “Who?”

  Gabriel pushed himself away from the desk and stalked around the outside of it. “What about Daniel St. James?”

  The man began backing away. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  The guy was obviously even less than a flunky if he ran at the first sign of trouble. What the fuck were the bosses thinking of to employ an idiot like this?

  Gabriel reached forward and grabbed the man’s collar, hauling him close. “Why is Guy Tremain laundering money for this casino? Who’s paying him? Who’s paying you?”

  The man finally found his balls from somewhere, taking a swing at him, while struggling out of Gabriel’s hold. The blow was wild and Gabriel ducked it easily enough, but the man managed to slip from his grip, escaping around the desk and out through the door.

  Fuck. He only had moments before security would be on him. Not that he cared since they couldn’t touch him. Not with the Angels waiting. The club’s current president was more than happy to come and help out a fellow club member. Especially him.

  Gabriel pulled out a couple of drawers of the desk, riffling through the papers and files, not that he expected to find anything. Most of the really incriminating stuff wouldn’t be held here. And sure enough, it wasn’t.

  Double fuck.

  The door burst open, the casino security pouring through it, weapons at the ready.

  Gabriel straightened and folded his arms. They were no threat. He was too big a deal for them to rough up, especially in this neighborhood. No doubt they wanted to do more than rough him up, but they wouldn’t get that either.

  The flunky had come back, stepping into the office. “You need to leave.”

  Fuck that. He hadn’t gotten what he was looking for yet.

  “Don’t do anything you’d regret…”

  From out of nowhere Honor’s voice suddenly resounded in his head. Irritated, he tried to ignore it. Because he wouldn’t regret dealing out a bit of violence to this shithead, that was for sure. He was part of the machine that had done something to Alex, that had been the cause of more grief in this neighborhood than even the drugs had.

  He’d tried to get rid of the casino when he’d been the Angels’ president. But he had realized it was impossible. The casino’s money was embedded too deeply into the lives of the people here and its withdrawal would have destroyed the neighborhood’s economy.

  So he’d left it alone. Yeah, leaving it was already a decision he was regretting. It would be better all around if he called down the Angels and destroyed the place.

  A warm hand on his chest, smoothing. “I care about you.”

  He shouldn’t listen to that voice. He shouldn’t feel that warmth seeping through him. He shouldn’t want it …

  Her arms around him. Not saying anything this time, just holding him. No one had ever held him like that …

  Gabriel shoved himself away from the desk, moving before he’d even fully processed it. The guns followed him but he ignored them as he paused by the door, staring at the flunky. “Tell your bosses I want this place shut down. By next week.” Hopefully that would leave them exposed and with any luck he could take them down, too.

  “But you can’t—”

  He met the man’s gaze, let him see the darkness. “You have no idea what I can and can’t do. Are you really willing to find out?”

  The man said nothing, his gaze dropping. But Gabriel knew his message had been received, loud and clear.

  He went out into the corridor to find a side door being held open by one of the security staff. Clearly they wanted him gone as quickly as possible.

  The door led to an alleyway outside and he stepped into the dimly lit street. Neon reflected off the wet pavement, the thump of music in the distance. Behind him the door slammed shut.

  A low, black car waited by the curb.

  Gabriel paused, all his senses going on high alert.

  The car door opened and a man got out. “Fitz?” the man said, his accent upper-class and familiar. “Is that you?”

  Tremain.

  Gabriel stilled as Tremain came around the car, coming closer to where he stood. The streetlight behind him would hide his features, at least that far away. But who the fuck was Fitz?

  “Why won’t you answer my messages?” Guy was saying as he came closer. “I’ve been trying to get in touch—” He stopped dead. “Woolf.”

  A rush of adrenaline flooded through Gabriel’s veins like a drug. Here he was, at last.

  His rapist father.

  He hadn’t meant to confront him now. Not yet. But what the hell? Fate moved in mysterious ways sometimes.

  “Tremain. Fancy seeing you here.” He walked slowly forward to where the other man stood, staring into the guy’s blue eyes, searching his face. He’d done that over the past few weeks, searching for some likeness in the press pictures he’d seen. He had Tremain’s blond hair, that was a start. Though he was taller. But then again, children were always taller than their parents, weren’t they?

  The other man blinked. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to play a bit of roulette. What about you? Poker? Blackjack maybe?”

  Tremain’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bullshit you don’t.” Gabriel met the other man’s gaze. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. The casino in this building right next to me. The one you’ve been laundering money for. The one your friend St. James owned, running up debts so big he took his own life. That you then paid off to hide from the authorities. And married his widow to make sure it stayed secret.”

  Tremain said nothing, standing quite still. There was no expression at all on his bland, handsome face. But there was fear in his eyes. Oh yes, there was fear.

  “Tell me,” Gabriel continued on, conversationally. “Did you decide to destroy your own company or was it on orders from someone else? And don’t try to deny it this time.” He paused, to give the guy a chance to sweat. “I have proof.”

  “You can’t have proof,” Tremain said, his voice hoarse. “There’s no record—”

  “Oh, there are plenty of records if you know where to find them. And luckily enough I do. Though not so lucky for you. Not so very fucking lucky at all.”

  A silence fell, heavy and thick with tension.

  “I always knew you were scum,” Tremain said, low and harsh. “I warned Honor. I told her she shouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “Bit late for that now. Since she’s been sleeping with me.”

  Something flashed over the other man’s face and savage satisfaction turned over inside Gabriel’s gut. Fuck, yes. Let him find that painful. Let him hurt.

  “You bastard. If you do anything to her, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Seems a bit rich to call me names when you’re the one making it big in white-collar crime.”

  The other man shoved his hands into the pockets of the outrageously expensive designer overcoat he wore. “What do you want?”

  Excellent. No protests, no denials. At least the man knew when he was beaten.

  “Ah, but that’s the problem,” Gabriel said casually. “I don’t want anything. Or no, that’s not exactly true. What I want is to see you go down. Preferably blazing, but shit, I’ll take anything.”


  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is that I have enough proof to see you in jail for years to come.”

  Tremain’s blue eyes didn’t flinch from his. “I have friends, Woolf. Powerful friends. There’s no jury on earth that would convict me.”

  “Maybe not. But I think your friends aren’t quite as powerful as the media can be. A couple of leaked files is all it’ll take. And not just here in the States. I can have them on servers all over the fucking world.”

  A muscle ticked in the other man’s jaw. “I have money. You don’t have to—”

  “I don’t want your money.” Slowly, Gabriel came forward, getting closer. Until he could look into Tremain’s eyes. His father’s eyes. “Like I said. All I want is to see you go down, you raping prick.” He smiled. “Or should I say, Dad?”

  * * *

  It was the car she recognized first. Guy’s BMW. And then the two figures standing in the alleyway. Both blond. Both tall.

  Zac’s car, a featureless, black, four-wheel drive was parked opposite, and gave Honor a clear view of the alley itself. And whatever was about to go down in it.

  “God,” she whispered, reaching for the door handle.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Eva called.

  But Honor ignored her, slipping from the car and dashing across the street. She couldn’t allow whatever was going to happen, not when the lives of two men she cared about were at stake.

  As she approached, she saw Gabriel take a sudden step back into the glow of the streetlight, the light striking gold from his hair. But the expression on his face was one of fury.

  “No,” she heard him say. “That’s a fucking lie!”

  Guy was standing with his back to her. “I’m not lying,” he said forcefully. “You can take a paternity test if you want. Here,” he stuck out his hand. “Take some blood. Some skin. Some hair. Whatever you like. Get it tested. The rest of what I did, yes, it’s true, but I’m not your father. I never hurt your mother.”

  She could see the shock on Gabriel’s face. See the pain and the incandescent rage.

  “Gabriel, stop!” she yelled as he took his hands out of his pockets, his fingers curled into fists.

  Instantly, both men froze. Then Guy whirled around, meeting Honor’s gaze, his eyes widening in shock. “Honor. What the hell are you doing here?”

  Her heart was racing, the words he’d just said echoing in her ears.

  “I’m not your father…”

  She took a breath. “I’m here with him.”

  Guy flashed Gabriel look. “You brought her here? To the casino?” There was rage in his voice. “How could you—”

  “I asked to come.” Honor cut him off. “I know, Guy. I know everything. You paying Daniel’s debts. You purposefully destroying Tremain Hotels. You laundering money…”

  “Get back in the car, Honor,” Gabriel said in the coldest voice she’d ever heard him use.

  “No.”

  “I said, get back in the fucking car!”

  She met his dark gaze, saw the fury in his eyes. Rage pushing past his usual icy detachment. And she didn’t know what was more frightening, the man of ice or this one, the volcanic rage she’d seen once in his parking garage surging to life.

  But he’d never hurt her before. He wouldn’t now.

  “I said no. I said I wasn’t leaving you. I promised.”

  “Honor,” Guy said, taking a few steps toward her. “You need to listen to him. You have to go.”

  Behind him Gabriel moved, so fast Honor had no time to shout out a warning. His hand gripped Guy’s shoulder and he spun the other man around, his fist gripping a handful of cotton and pulling tight.

  “Who the fuck is it?” Gabriel demanded. “Who the fuck hurt my mother, prick? And why the hell did you write her that check?”

  “It was supposed to be for an abortion,” Guy said, panting. He didn’t struggle, hanging in Gabriel’s grip. “And to shut her up. I had to take the fall if anyone asked. And I had to write the check. No one could know.”

  “Gabriel,” Honor said softly, coming closer. “Let him go, please.”

  He ignored her. “Yeah, well, she was Catholic, you bastard. She didn’t get an abortion. She had me instead.”

  “God,” Guy whispered. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”

  Gabriel tightened his grip, the cotton pulling taut around Guy’s throat. “Tell me, motherfucker,” he hissed. “Tell me who he is.”

  He was going to hurt Guy. Honor knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Gabriel was going to do him damage and she was the only person who could stop him.

  Guy deserved a good many things, but being harmed by this man wasn’t one of them. And neither did Gabriel deserve another mark on his soul. Because he’d regret it later. He’d take the responsibility for it as he did with everything else and the more he took, the more he was crushed by the weight. Until the good man she suspected was underneath all that ice, all that blackness, would be crushed utterly.

  She could not let that happen.

  “Gabriel,” she murmured, coming around the two men, standing at his elbow. “Stop.” She put a hand on his back, felt the tension like a live wire electrocuting him. His whole body was tight. Every muscle taut. “Please.”

  His face was twisted with rage and contempt. He was breathing fast, hard.

  His whole life had just been shattered by Guy’s revelation and God, she knew what that felt like.

  She spread her fingers out on his back, pressing hard, letting him know she was there for him.

  For a second no one moved or said anything.

  Then abruptly Gabriel let go, shoving Guy away from him, and Honor let out a breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding.

  Guy stumbled back a few steps, his hand going to his throat, breathing hoarse. “I could have you up on assault charges!”

  “No, you won’t,” Gabriel spat. “You’re going to tell me who my father is, otherwise everything you’ve done will be all over the media by tomorrow, I don’t care who you are.”

  The older man heaved in a breath, looking at Honor. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant to involve you in any of this.”

  “That didn’t stop you from taking her fucking money.” Gabriel’s voice vibrated with barely leashed violence.

  Honor slid her hand beneath his leather jacket onto the warm cotton of his shirt, keeping the contact steady. His muscles were bunched and tight, a tremor running through him.

  She ached for him. For the anguish she could feel radiating from him.

  Guy was still looking at her. “I had to get out of this somehow,” he went on, “I didn’t want to keep laundering that cash. Bankrupting the company was the only way out. Without Tremain Hotels they’ll have to find someone else.”

  Her throat closed. “Why couldn’t you have just said no?”

  An expression she didn’t understand crossed his face. “Oh, dear girl. You don’t understand. You can’t say no. No one says no. I thought I could do it. Bankrupt the company, leave the country. Get a new life where they wouldn’t find me.”

  “And Mom?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking, even though the truth was going to hurt. “Did they … pay you to marry her?”

  He didn’t look away. “I suppose you know about Daniel?”

  “That he used to run this place, yes.”

  Guy sighed. “You have to understand something. He didn’t choose it. He was told.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t explain, not here. But you need to know Daniel wasn’t happy with it. And then the casino began losing money. They were … furious. Especially when he died and they had all these debts to cover up. They used me. I was given money to pay the debts, then marry his widow when the authorities began looking too closely. But … I did love her, Honor. I loved you, too. You have to believe me. I want to take her with me when I go.”

  A complex knot of emotions gripped her, so tangled she coul
dn’t work out which was which. The hand on Gabriel’s back closed into a fist, clutching the cotton of his shirt. “What about my company? My money?”

  “It’s for us when we find a new life.” Her stepfather’s shoulders drooped. “I thought … I thought you wouldn’t mind if it meant your mom was safe.”

  Anger surged. “She wouldn’t be in danger if you hadn’t married her in the first place!”

  The look on his face was weary. “No, she might have taken her own life instead.”

  A shudder swept through her, because of course, he was right. If he hadn’t come along and picked her up out of the hole of depression she’d fallen into, that might have happened. Then what would have become of her? An eight-year-old by herself. Into the foster system she would have gone …

  “That doesn’t answer the most important question,” Gabriel said roughly.

  Guy lifted his chin. “I’ll tell you. But like I said, not here.”

  “Yes, you fucker. Right now, right—”

  “If anyone finds out, you’ll be in danger.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about that.”

  “No, I know you don’t. But do you want to risk her, too?”

  Honor stilled. “What do you mean?”

  “You were both seen at the casino tonight. Questions will be asked, especially about you, Honor. Considering what happened to your father.” He paused, looked at Gabriel. “And as for yours … He’s connected to this and if you make a move against him, he’ll know. And it won’t be you he’ll come after—not when you’re too powerful to hurt. It’ll be her.”

  “The hell he will,” Gabriel growled softly. “Over my dead fucking body.”

  “You might be able to protect her, or you might not. Either way, you pursuing revenge or justice or whatever the hell it is, will mean she will never be safe. Not while he thinks she means something to you.”

  Her shoes were wet, ruined by the snow, and the adrenaline rush that had brought her out of the car was starting to fade, leaving her shaken and chilled to the bone. Whoever Gabriel’s father was, he would use her to get to him …

  She didn’t want to look at him. Didn’t want to see what kind of expression was on his face. Her hand was still on his back, fingers clutching his shirt, and now the tension was vibrating through her, too.