by Lori King
“You said that you loved me.”
“Yeah, well I also said that I loved the opera and tiramisu, but that was a lie, too.” He nudged her in the back with the butt of his gun, and she shivered at the contact.
“Was there anything you said that was true?”
“Shut up. You don’t have to talk to walk, so just shut up.”
She went silent, afraid that to push him would cause him to kill her faster, but she slowed the pace of her steps as they grew closer to the edge of the dense forest. At the end of the forest were the cliffs. There was no escaping the cliffs, and he wouldn’t even have to shoot her. Just a quick push over the edge and…her body went ice cold as images of falling to her death filled her brain.
She stopped in her tracks, and Tristan ran into her. “What the hell?”
“Tristan, enough of this. You’re acting like a lunatic.”
An evil grin spread over his face, and the coldness in his eyes went straight through her. “Maybe I’m letting my true nature show, Gabriella darling. Now, keep walking. Our end destination is just ahead. Lucky for me, I heard some kids talking about visiting the cliffs yesterday when I was watching your shop from the park. I took a quick hike and found that they were perfect for my needs.”
“You planned to kill me all along?”
“Of course. I told you. You aren’t of any worth to me anymore.”
Gaby stared at him in shock, waving his gun around like a madman and acting so nonchalant about taking her life. “Tristan, you have a bright career ahead of you, and that money isn’t going to last you very long. What are you going to do when it runs out.”
“I guess I’ll just have to bag another little rich girl, won’t I? Obviously I won’t be able to live in the United States anymore, but that leaves me a whole world of options. Now, move your ass before I shoot you in it. Ha! That might be the only way to shave some of the weight off of it!” He looked extraordinarily pleased with his joke, and it pissed her off. Somehow she was going to find a way out of this, if for no other reason than to kick him in the balls.
She began to move again, albeit slower than before, praying to God that her men would find her. The path followed the same beautifully curving route through the forest that it always had, but she was not enjoying it this time. She was calculating how to get Tristan to release her hands so that she could use her self-defense moves when it struck her.
“Tristan, you said I could move back to New York with you. What if we call off this whole thing and we just do that? I have a boat down here, and between selling that and the shop, we would have plenty of money to live comfortably. It will keep you out of jail, honey.”
His face seemed oddly thoughtful as he considered her proposal, “It’s possible it would work, but I can’t imagine your little shop being of enough value for the lifestyle we will need. However, if you agreed to marry me, then your dad would have to make me his heir, and I could get my hands on the rest of the money.”
Gaby nodded furiously. “Of course, whatever you want, Tristan. Just cut my hands free and we’ll walk back to the car. I can call Daddy and tell him it was all a prank to see how much he really loved me.”
Tristan reached for her wrists with a psychotic smile on his face, and just when she thought she had him, the sound of someone moving through the woods behind them spooked him. He spun her around so that her back was to his chest, and he wrapped one arm around her throat while he held the other arm at her temple. It was only moments before she spotted Michael’s beautiful face coming around the bend in the path, and freezing as he took in the tableau in front of him.
“Gaby.” His voice was a tight whisper, and she mouthed the words, “I’m sorry” to him.
Austin, Michael, and Kendrick stood with Bannock, Jackson, and two other officers, Beau Rivers and Diego Mendez, listening to Gaby and Tristan argue. They could hear the pair start moving again after Tristan told her that she was worthless to him, and Austin wanted to rip the man’s throat out.
“Curtis, keep cool. We have to figure out how to get ahead of him, so that when he gets to the cliffs we can ambush him. There are no other footpaths that lead there, so it isn’t gonna be easy—” Jackson grimaced, and Kendrick cut him off.
“I’ll go. Bannock, can you come with me? The rest of you follow the path and be ready for anything. I won’t let him kill her,” Kendrick said, already rolling the sleeves of his denim shirt down to cover his arms from the thick vegetation.
“I’ll always back you up, Samurai,” Bannock said with a forced grin.
Jackson nodded and then turned to the rest of them. “Austin, you and Rivers go into the woods on the other side. One or the other of you has to make it to the cliffs before they do, but they can’t know you’re there.”
“Done,” Beau responded.
Austin turned to Kendrick and frowned. “Are you sure you got this, Kendrick?”
“This is what I do, Austin. Trust me. I’ve never let you down before, and I sure as hell won’t let my future wife down now.”
With that, Kendrick and Bannock disappeared into the trees on the left of the path. Austin stared after his brother for a moment before his eyes went to meet Michael’s. They shared a silent communication, and then Austin and Beau headed into the jungle on the right. Austin prayed with every step that they would make it.
Michael had never felt fear as strongly as the moment he turned the corner and came face to face with a madman holding Gaby. He had been in skirmishes and battles, watched men die in front of him, and even killed men with his own weapon, but none of that compared to seeing the glint of a gun against her temple.
Gaby’s brown eyes were wide with fright, and her cheeks were tear stained, but Michael could just make out her unspoken words. What did she have to be sorry for? It wasn’t her fault Tristan was holding her hostage. Boxing the questions up in his brain for the time being, he surveyed the situation, looking for all possible scenarios.
The forest surrounded them on either side like prison walls. Behind Tristan lay the cliffs and certain death for Gaby, and in front of them, Michael was certain, death for Tristan. It was a terrifying game of chicken, as Tristan processed all of his options in a blink and made the decision to walk backward.
“Rogers! Don’t do it, you can’t get away with it,” Michael said tightly, trying to control his need to break every bone in the man’s body.
“You wanna play hero man? Feel free! Step on out around those trees and I’ll put a bullet in her brain. Either way you lose her,” Tristan yelled as he reached the edge of the tree line. There was about a four foot clearing behind him before he reached the path down to the make-out ledge, or on the other side of him, the edge of the cliffs. They were running out of time.
Gaby’s lip curled up in sort of half smile when the sun hit her face, and Michael watched in stunned horror as her body suddenly went completely limp. The beauty of the motion was that it threw Tristan off balance, and he fumbled with the gun and her body weight. He dropped his eyes down to his captive long enough for Kendrick to step behind him and bodily throw him to the ground.
Michael didn’t stop to see the result of the fight, or even where the gun landed. He just lunged for Gaby. His body rigid with fear, he scooped her into his arms and brushed her hair away from her face.
“Gaby, sweetheart! Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay!” Michael gasped when Gaby’s eyes popped open, completely coherent and darting around as though looking for Tristan to jump out at her again.
“Is he dead yet?” she asked.
The question broke the tension in Michael’s chest, and he felt tears well up in his eyes. She was okay. Tristan hadn’t managed to kill her. It seemed impossible, and yet…
“Good work, sweetheart,” Michael whispered against her ear before burying his face in her hair and hugging her tightly.
Kendrick saw his opportunity the moment Gaby’s body slipped out of Tristan’s grip and hit the dirt. He couldn’t let his fears of wh
at was wrong with her keep him from taking down the man who hurt her. Unleashing the full weight of his anger and terror on Tristan felt fantastic.
The moment Tristan was away from Gaby, Kendrick had him on his back in the clearing, kneeling on his chest pounding his fist into his face. He got in several good licks before Bannock pulled him off of the now unconscious man.
“Easy, Samurai. He’s out now. Let Beau and Diego take him from here,” Bannock said in his ear.
Kendrick looked up to find Austin crouched next to Michael and Gaby. Gaby was spread across Michael’s lap and wrapped in his arms. With his head down next to hers, it looked like he was crying, and Kendrick’s heart stopped beating.
Walking toward them on shaky legs, he dropped to his knees in front of them. “Is she?”
Gaby’s head turned to meet his, and the brilliant smile she gave him was barely dampened by the bruise marring her cheek. “I’m fine! Did you see me drop? I think I executed that move perfectly, Sensei, what do you think?”
“You were amazing, Gaby-baby.” Kendrick’s voice cracked suspiciously when he spoke, but he managed to refrain from crying in relief. His woman had managed to use the move he taught her to save herself and give him the opening he needed to stop Tristan. Shock and awe were mild descriptors of the emotions rolling through him right now.
“Did you kill him?” she asked with a little frown. When Kendrick shook his head, she smiled again. “Good, I really want a chance to kick him in the balls before he goes to jail.”
The three men released all of the built-up emotions with a well-needed laugh, as Jackson and Bannock came up beside the quartet. Diego and Beau had managed to get restraints on Tristan and were radioing for back up to get an ambulance to the parking lot to meet them.
“Are you okay, Gaby?” Jackson asked.
Gaby sat up in Michael’s lap and twisted, feeling her body to check for injuries. “Yeah, I mean I feel like I sparred with an eight-hundred-pound gorilla, but nothing is broken.”
“What happened?” Bannock asked incredulously.
“He surprised me at my apartment. I think he disabled the battery of my car, and when I was distracted because it wouldn’t start, he jumped me and drugged me.”
“He drugged you? You are definitely going to the hospital to get checked out,” Austin said stubbornly.
Gaby just sighed and rolled her eyes. “He said he gave me a mild sedative. It wore off really fast, but by then he had me upstairs in my apartment. To begin with, he wanted me to wire transfer money to his account, but when I said I couldn’t, he settled for kidnapping me and holding me for ransom. After I talked to Dad, he took me back down to the car and put me in the trunk. I thought he was just going to leave me there, and I was glad I had managed to hang on to my cell phone, but when he started the car up a few minutes later…I knew. I mean, he told me he was going to kill me, but once we were driving it sunk in. That’s when I called the guys.”
Austin’s face looked broken, and Kendrick felt his heart racing at the memory of that phone call. The fear in her voice would haunt him for the rest of his life. “You were smart taking that phone with you. We were headed to the airport to search for you until you said he went east.”
Her face lit up again with a smile. “I’m just glad you guys made it in time. Thank you. To all of you.”
Jackson and Bannock went back to help Diego and Beau carrying Tristan’s unconscious form out of the woods, leaving Austin, Michael, and Kendrick to help Gaby. It only took a few minutes to get out of the trees because Michael wasn’t willing to let Gaby walk, and they were headed for the hospital fairly quickly against her wishes.
Kendrick knew she was pumped on adrenaline, but he wasn’t willing to take a chance with her health either. The three brothers stood firm when they announced she was going to the hospital to get checked out. Once she was settled in a hospital room, they stayed very close to her.
Austin’s phone rang while they were waiting for the doctor to come in. “Hello? Yes, she’s fine. Would you like to talk to her?”
He handed the phone to Gaby.
“Ella? Oh my God, I thought I had lost you! When your men called me to tell me that Tristan wasn’t at your apartment with you—”
Her father’s voice cracked with emotion, and Gaby started to cry again. “It’s okay, Daddy, I’m okay now. They found me in time.”
“I was so scared, Ella. I love you so much. You’re the only person left who loves me back. If I had lost you I would have lost my mind. I was willing to pay any price to keep you safe. I promise you that I didn’t know Tristan was mentally unstable when I encouraged you to date him.”
“Thank you, Daddy, that means the world to me. You know I love them, right?”
William went silent for a moment on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, I know, but they love you back, so I guess it will work out somehow. I’m coming down tomorrow to see for myself that you’re all right. You let those three take care of you, princess.”
“I will, Daddy. Umm…did you call Mom yet?”
The negative grumble from the other end of the phone made her smile a little. “I’ll call her now. She loves you, too, Ella.”
“Daddy, I’m going to get checked out by the doctors and then go home to get some rest. You let Mom know what’s going on please, and I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you, too, princess.”
She clicked the phone off and looked up at her men with a smile on her face. “Well that went better than I had expected.”
“He’s okay with all of this?” Austin asked her with his ever-present raised eyebrow.
“If you mean me being held for ransom and nearly killed, then no, but if you mean me spending years proving to you three how much I love you, then he doesn’t get a vote.”
Michael hugged her close and kissed the crown of her head. “We just want you to be happy, sweetheart. We don’t want to come between you and your father.”
“It’s not about you three coming between him and I. It’s about him coming between the four of us. I’m a big girl, and it’s time he accepts that. Now, can we please go home? I really want a shower.” She sagged against Michael, who hugged her close.
“I know I could use a grape soda,” Kendrick murmured, glancing down at his bloody knuckles.
“A well-deserved grape soda for all of us when they release me,” Gaby said with a laugh.
Chapter 15
Arriving back at the condo, Gaby found that she was more wired than tired. Adrenaline seemed to pump through her veins now that the excitement was over. She showered, and Michael fixed her a sandwich while they talked through the events of the evening again.
The guys filled her in on her father’s phone call to them instead of the SPPD, and she felt another wave of love and gratitude wash over her for her father. He wasn’t always the best at showing it, but he definitely loved her in his own way.
“I don’t get it. Tristan’s family was one of the wealthiest in the United States. How could they go completely broke like that?” Kendrick asked as he bit into his own sandwich.
Gaby shrugged at him. “When the housing bubble burst and the recession hit, a lot of people went from millionaires to poverty overnight. Investing in the wrong stocks, tying their money up in property that lost value when property values plummeted—honestly, I don’t know anyone who wasn’t affected in some way. Sure, most people have their money diversified, but Tristan’s father isn’t known for being the brightest businessman. It was his grandfather, Tristan’s great-grandfather, who actually built their wealth to the level that it was. When bills kept piling up, I think Tristan got desperate. It seemed easy enough to him to marry me and take over my wealth.”
“Your Dad’s wealth you mean?” Michael said, and Gaby sighed heavily.
“No, I mean my wealth. When I turned eighteen Dad turned over a trust fund to me, and then when I turned twenty-one, a second one, and again when I turned twenty-four, and last year a fourth o
ne was turned over to me. He has been slowly transferring the bulk of his wealth to me because he says that he wants to retire.”
The three men sat silently staring at her as though she had just grown a second head. Kendrick was the first to recover. “Why did you let us believe it was all your Dad’s money?”
“Because in my mind it is. I haven’t touched a dime of it since I was eighteen, and I won’t unless it’s a serious emergency. I want to build my own wealth and earn my own way. Another part of me trying to get my father’s approval, I guess.”
Gaby dropped her eyes to her half-eaten food feeling ashamed of the information she had kept from them. These three men had instantly dropped everything and put their lives on the line to save hers, and she hadn’t even trusted them enough to tell them all of the details.
“I’m sorry. I never thought this would happen. Tristan wasn’t the best boyfriend, but I had no idea he was crazy.”
“We know that, Gaby. Right now we’re just trying to get a handle on what happens next,” Austin said, reaching over to take her hand in his. “Gaby, why are you with us? We don’t have money or blue blood, and we sure as hell don’t have jobs whose income will ever compare to the money you have—”
Her heart lurched in her throat. “Is that what you think? That I need money to be happy?”
Austin’s mouth snapped shut, and he flushed with embarrassment. “I’m just a dumbass from Texas with no savings and nothing to give you.”
“I have never needed a man with money. All I have ever wanted is someone who can love me for me. Someone who doesn’t look at me and see dollar signs or a stepping stone into the spotlight. I never took you to be a shallow man, Austin Curtis, but if you honestly have doubts about us…well…” She swallowed hard, pausing to regroup. The guys were completely silent, and Austin’s stormy-gray eyes were troubled. With a deep breath she asked the only question she needed the answer to. “Do you love me?”