Freeing Her (A Hart Brothers Novel Book 1)

by A. M. Hargrove

  “It’s him.” Gabby’s hand reached for her throat.

  Cara grabbed her hand. “Who? Your cousin? Where’s your bodyguard? Where’s Max? Why isn’t he here?”

  Head bobbing in search of him, she squeaked, “Shit! I don’t see him. I’m calling him.” Gabby punched his number. “He’s not answering.” Her gut churned and she swallowed, forcing the bile back down her throat. Her heart hammered and her blood roared through her veins. It was so loud she was sure the others could hear it.

  “Keep your head down. He won’t do anything in a crowd.” Cara spoke. Then she glanced around, looking for him.

  “You don’t know that. He’s fucking crazy! Something’s happened to Ovaltine and Max. They wouldn’t leave me. I’m calling Kolson. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Her knee thumped wildly beneath the table. “Fuck, I gotta get out of here. He’s gonna kill me.”

  She called Kolson.

  “Kea.”

  “He’s here Kolson. Danny. And Max or Ovaltine aren’t answering their phones. I need to get out of here.”

  Kolson started cursing. “DO NOT MOVE FROM THERE GABRIELLA. I’M ON THE WAY.”

  “Don’t hang up, Kolson. I’m really scared,” Gabby whimpered into the phone.

  Sky said, “He’s searching this room. Like he’s looking for someone. Keep your head down. He’s headed this way. What should I do? Call 911?”

  “He won’t act in here. There are too many people,” Cara reiterated.

  “Kolson, he’s here …” Gabby cried.

  “Well, hello, precious. Put the phone down. NOW. I’ve been trying to spend some quality time with you but you keep avoiding me. Now why would that be?”

  “What do you want?” Gabby couldn’t control the shaking covering her from head to toe.

  “You’re my cousin. Like I said, I want to spend some quality time with you. Now, why don’t you get up and you and I will walk on out of here, peacefully, and leave your little friends to their dinner.”

  “I don’t think so, Danny.”

  “Listen, you cunt …” He hissed and opened his jacket just enough for Gabby to see his gun.

  “You’re gonna do exactly as I say, or your little friend here,” he pointed the gun at Sky, “is going to get a brain full of lead. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Now get up and walk toward the door.” Then he turned to Cara and Sky and said, “And when we leave, if either of you make any kind of noise, I’ll shoot someone in this restaurant. And if you call the police, her bodyguards are dead. Clear?”

  “Yes,” they both said.

  “Good. Let’s go, Gabs.”

  She got up and headed toward the door. Her mind churned with how she could delay him, to wait for Kolson. But Danny was armed—Kolson wouldn’t be. She didn’t want to risk Kolson getting injured. When they got outside, she tried to stall.

  “Where’s my bodyguard? And my driver?”

  Danny laughed. “One shot and they dropped like flies.”

  “Oh my God! You killed them?”

  “You don’t need to worry about them. Come on.”

  He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and clamped down, pushing her along. When he turned down an alley and slammed her against the side of a building, Gabby’s legs weakened; she stumbled. He squeezed her neck even harder, pulling her up. She was so dizzy with fear, Danny’s face moved in and out of focus.

  He laughed and her skin prickled. “I can’t wait to get inside you again. To hear you tell me how much you missed my dick.”

  She spit in his face. The action took him off guard and he stepped back. One chance … that’s all she had, so she forced her fear aside and took it. She raised her knee and rammed it squarely into his crotch. Then she ran. Back to the restaurant and right into Ovaltine as he was rounding the corner, bleeding from a gunshot wound in his side. She screamed with all her might, which got the attention of bystanders.

  Kolson pulled up and jumped out of his car. “Gabriella!”

  “He has a gun!” she hollered over and over again.

  Kolson spun around and ran inside, practically carrying Gabby.

  “Call the police. Now!” he yelled at the first person he saw.

  He tried to hand Gabby to Cara, but she wouldn’t let him go. She didn’t say a thing, only trembled, and latched on to him. Cara and Sky ran to Ovaltine as he staggered into the restaurant.

  “Kea, you’re safe here. Let me go find him.”

  “Noooo! He has a gun. He’ll kill you.”

  “No, he won’t. I won’t let him.”

  “Noooo, don’t go.”

  Her fear stopped him. He couldn’t walk away from her when she needed him.

  “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Her fingers dug into the flesh of his back, but he didn’t say a word. He kissed and petted her hair, murmuring softly to calm her.

  In minutes, the place was swarming with cops. Cara and Sky had called Case and he showed up as well. Gabby still wouldn’t release her hold on Kolson. The police questioned the three women and Kolson. Max was found in an alley next to the building and both he and Ovaltine were transported to the hospital.

  Case took one of the detectives aside and had a long chat with him. They wanted Gabby to come down to the station, but between Kolson and Case, they were able to persuade them to defer it until the morning. Kolson gathered up Gabby and drove her home. She was a mess.

  Once there, he poured her a glass of whiskey. He tucked her into bed afterward, and in the morning, they went to the police station. It was then, with Case and the attorney present, that Gabriella gave her formal statement. Charges would be filed against Danny for, felony assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and attempted kidnapping. Because of the witnesses at the restaurant, and the attempted murder of Ovaltine and Max, it looked like Danny would be facing a lengthy prison sentence.

  Kolson and Gabby then went to the hospital to check on their friends. Both Ovaltine and Max were in stable condition. Max had been shot in the shoulder and Ovaltine in the side. Sam was with Ovaltine, along with the rest of their family. Gabby couldn’t shake the guilt—this was all her fault. If these men hadn’t been guarding her, none of this would’ve happened.

  “You have to stop thinking that way. They were doing their jobs. Our men do this for clients all the time,” Kolson explained. His eyes were warm as honey.

  This was different. Danny could’ve killed them and if that had happened, she would’ve felt responsible.

  Kolson noticed how she clung to him. It was odd, for she craved her independence. That had always been the one thing she’d emphasized to him. It was why she wouldn’t stay with him as much as he wanted her to. She needed that feeling of freedom. But he guessed now she needed security, so he vowed she would have it.

  Throwing his arm around her shoulders, he said, “Let’s go home, shall we?”

  Eddie dropped them off. When they got up to the penthouse, Kolson said, “I think it might be best if you took a few days off.”

  “But my patients …”

  “Won’t benefit a bit from you when you’re this upset.”

  She hugged herself.

  He pried her hand loose. “Come.” The last time he saw her this upset, a bath in the large tub relaxed her immensely.

  When they reached the bathroom, he said, “Take off your clothes while I fill the tub, kea.” He poured in bath oil from a fancy bottle and she disrobed. He held her hand as she stepped into the warm, soothing water.

  “Join me?”

  He did as she asked, moving behind her. “Lean back on me. Let me and the water take the edge off your worries.”

  She draped her thighs over his and felt a rush of bubbles between her legs. “Mmm.” She squirmed against him and his erection blossomed between them.

  “I didn’t mean for this to be about sex, but if you’re going to squirm like that, then I won’t be held accountable for my actions.”

  “Kolson, sex with you makes me forget
my name. Why in the world would I not want to have it now?”

  “Lean back, then.” He lifted his knees, causing her legs to spread further. The rush of the bubbly water was hitting her in all the right spots and arousing her even more. He took some body wash and put it on a soft cloth, bringing it to a foamy lather. Running the cloth around her breasts, she arched her back as the nubby cloth rubbed her nipples to a peak. With his other hand, he extended them into shiny pearls, tugging and pinching them until she was writhing against his hand.

  “Have you ever had an orgasm from just this, Gabriella?”

  “No,” she moaned.

  “I think I may have to give you one some day. You are so responsive when I do this.”

  Sliding his hand down to her hips, he moved the cloth in a circular pattern, trailing it over her hipbones and pelvis as she tilted toward him.

  “You’re going to have to stop moving, Gabriella. Or I may do something you’re not quite ready for. That sweet ass of yours is torturing my dick.”

  She gasped as his words sunk in.

  He didn’t mean that, did he?

  As if he read her mind, he said, “Yes, I’ll fuck your sweet ass. Now don’t move like that.”

  He resumed his motion with the cloth, taking it between her legs. When he reached her core, she let loose a long, loud moan. The nubs on the cloth hit her clitoris with the perfect amount of pressure as he massaged her to an intense climax. Right as she started to come, his hips lifted her up and he slid into her.

  Gabby came alive, as Kolson lifted his hips up and down, up and down, while his hands moved her to match his rhythm. The pleasure was unbearable. She leaned forward, holding onto his thighs as he slowly fucked her.

  “I wish you could see yourself right now. You’re beautiful, my Gabriella. Your skin is flushed and rosy as it glimmers from the hot water. I could look at your naked body all day long. So damn perfect.”

  Gabby looked down to where they were joined and cupped her hand around the weight of his sac. His answering groan pleased her. Then she felt his finger run down her crack until it found that opening, and he pushed against it until the pressure eased.

  “Ahhh,” she cried.

  He stilled until he felt her impending orgasm subside and then his motion picked up again, but very slowly. He inched in and out of her with a torturous pace. She tried to speed things up but he held her down with one hand on her shoulder. “If you try to move, Gabriella, I’ll stop.”

  “Please. Let me come.”

  “Patience.”

  His movements began again, and Gabby found exquisite pleasure. Her nerve endings tingled as fire burned in her veins.

  “Kolson. Please.”

  “You’ll come when I think you’re ready.”

  “But …”

  “Hush.” He leaned forward and took the velvety lobe of her ear and drew it into his mouth, tugging it with his teeth.

  “Huuuh,” she gasped at the rush of pleasure.

  Instantly he shifted and began thrusting harder, faster. Gabby felt stretched to an impossible width and depth. He touched upon places inside her, kissed her so deeply that there was a moment if she wondered if one could die of ecstasy.

  Her climax ripped through her, wrenching a scream from her lips, and then his name. If he hadn’t grabbed her around the waist, she would’ve slipped under the bubbly water.

  Kolson’s orgasm burst out of him and Gabby’s inner muscles squeezed every last drop, until he was weak from the effort of it all. But he wasn’t too weak to lift her off and turn her in his arms.

  “You are amazing. But I missed this.” His lips brushed hers, his tongue tracing their outline, before taking the lower one between his teeth. “I love taking you that way, but I miss seeing your beautiful face. I’m going to have mirrors installed on the walls surrounding this tub, just so I can watch you at every angle.”

  “Why haven’t you paddled me lately?”

  The question caught him off guard. The truth was he’d wanted to. Bad.

  “I thought perhaps it’d been too much for you.”

  “Did I give you that indication?”

  “No, but then you didn’t beg for it again, either. I decided you are too important to me and I don’t want to scare you off with my needs. And with what you’re going through with Danny, I thought it might be too much. So I’ve held back.”

  She sat up and straddled him. Framing his face, she said, “I trust you not to hurt me. Don’t hold back.”

  He leaned in to touch his lips to hers. “Here’s the thing. Those needs of mine aren’t important to me anymore. Do I want to see you tied up with your ass all pink? Yeah, I do. But I also want to see your head in the right place too. I don’t want you to do something just because you think it’s what I want. I want you to do it because you want it too.”

  “But I really liked it, Kolson. It was wicked fun. And I want to do it again.”

  He ran his tongue across his lower lip then flashed her a sexy smile. “You always surprise me, kea.”

  “I do?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, you do.”

  “I love you, Kolson. I want you to be happy.”

  “Having you here makes me happy.”

  “But I want you to have your other things too.”

  He clasped her hands and gave her a solemn look. “When you and I didn’t speak for five days, it was the worst time in my life. So if we only have this kind of sensational sex that we’ve been having, I’ll die a happy man. You’re more important to me than anything, any need or compulsion I may have, and I’d sell my soul to the devil for you.” He squeezed his eyes shut and began to speak. “I never intended for you to fall in love with me. You’re too good for me, kea.”

  Giving her an imploring look, he held up his hand when she tried to break in on him. “Let me say this while I have the courage, Gabriella.” So many emotions flashed in his eyes, and Gabby recognized them all: anger, pain, shame, disgust, but the most prominent was fear. “The fact is, you have such a pure heart and soul, and mine are irreparably damaged … I’m a lot more fucked up than you can imagine and I know you’ve seen it all in your profession. You ask why I don’t talk to you about my past. That’s one of the reasons. Don’t get me wrong. I know you’ll never judge me. But I also know that it might scare the shit out of you too. It’s pure selfishness on my part, and that’s not being fair to you. I should’ve ended it with you before it got to this point, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stay away from you. You brought me hope for the first time. You were like a light to me, leading me out of my darkness.

  “But that day—” he swallowed and stared at her for a moment—“that day I went to pick you up, and you were at the women’s shelter. I saw the way you held that little girl in your arms and there was something so beautiful about everything you did, I knew then I could never let you go. From that moment, every time I looked at you I saw perfection and kindness and charity, and I’d never seen anything like it before. And that’s when I knew I wanted that. From you. I wanted you to hold me like that. And shower me with that kind of love. I’m sorry for not being honest with you about myself. My intentions. You’re being cheated in all of this. I’m too fucked up to even qualify as damaged goods.”

  “Can I speak now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think I need to decide how fucked up you are, but I can’t because you won’t discuss your past with me. So, I’ll go with what I see in front of me here. Issues? Yeah, you have them. So do I. As does everyone else in the world. No one is created perfect. Oh, you say I am but that’s bullshit and you know it. I’ll piss you off and that perfection thing will fly out the window and you’ll scratch your head and ask why the fuck you ever said it in the first place. Go ahead and laugh, but it’s true. Now, I’m super happy with what you said about me. And the way you felt when you saw me with that little girl, well, it makes my heart sing.

  “But babe, that’s my love for what I do. If there had been someone to do that for
me, it would’ve meant the world. And maybe made me stronger and better able to deal with Danny. Who knows? Maybe I would never have tried to kill myself. But that part about me being cheated and how you should’ve ended things, I call bullshit. Let’s say you had. Then I would be without you, and Danny would’ve won. I would’ve missed out on meeting the one. You know, that guy who makes my heart stutter and my blood sing.

  “So shut up and kiss me because I love your mouth.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Sky, Ryder, and Cara came by to see Gabby on Sunday, flowers in hand. Gabby introduced Kolson to Ryder and the two of them left the women to chat. When Case arrived, he was eager to join the men so he could discuss the situation. Gabby was thrilled to spend time with her girls. She was in need of a distraction.

  “You’re not working tomorrow, are you?” Sky asked.

  “Kolson doesn’t want me to.”

  “I agree. I think you need to stay here with him for a while too,” Cara added.

  “I am. I really don’t want to be alone now, either.”

  “Fuck. When I think about what happened …” Cara shuddered.

  “Case has a team searching for him now,” Sky said.

  “What do you mean?” Gabby felt the blood drain from her head.

  “He’s at large. The police can’t find him.”

  “What?”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “No!” Gabby ran out of the room to find Kolson. He was in the living room. He knew right away by desperation etched on her face what was happening. Her nostrils flared and her voice shrilled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Gabriella, we didn’t want you to worry. We’re keeping you safe, right here. Case has men looking for him, as are the police.”

  “He’ll find me, I know he will.” She rubbed her wrist, shivering.

  “You’re safe. I have men in the lobby and the parking garage. He can’t get up here, kea.”

  Gabby blew out a series of short breaths, trying to gain control. Kolson moved to embrace her, but she winced at his touch. He didn’t let that stop him.

  “Let me deal with this. Please. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” Her arms returned his embrace. “Keep breathing, sweetheart.” He ran his hand from her head down her back to her waist, and repeated the motion.