Freeing Her (A Hart Brothers Novel Book 1)

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Will this exploration include my silence?”

  Her question threw him. “Gabriella, don’t you like what I do to you?”

  “Well, yeah, but I also like to express my pleasure and when you tell me I can’t, it takes some of it away.”

  His contrite expression tugged at her heart. “Why haven’t you said anything? When I ask you afterward, I want your complete honesty.”

  “Because I don’t want to spoil your pleasure and you obviously like it.”

  “Jesus,” he muttered as he scrubbed his face. He looked at her, puffed out a breath, and said, “My pleasure is only as deep as yours. If you want to scream your bloody head off, then do it. I want you to come as many times as I can get you to, and love every orgasm. And if you want to belt out in Mandarin that you need me to fuck you harder, if that’s what gets you off, then do it, for Christ’s sake.”

  “Well, okay, but I’m gonna have to learn to speak Mandarin.”

  His head snapped up and he caught the way her eyes danced with mirth. Then, a stream of giggles bubbled out of her, and he found himself joining in.

  “I can hear it now.” She did her best imitation of what she thought Mandarin sounded like, howling at her own joke.

  He laughed too, but then said, “Fuck me harder, Kolson,” in perfect Mandarin.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  “I just said, ‘Fuck me harder, Kolson,’ in Mandarin.”

  “You speak Mandarin?” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. And though she was surprised, she shouldn’t have been. He was so accomplished in everything else, why the hell wouldn’t he speak Mandarin?

  “What else do you speak?”

  “English.” He laughed.

  “Is that all?”

  “No. Spanish, German, and French. But you already knew that from when we ate at Le Chatelaine,” he said uncomfortably.

  “And I thought I was the brainiac,” she muttered under her breath. “College?”

  “No. Tutor. My father insisted we all be multilingual.”

  “Why Mandarin?”

  “The Chinese are huge industrialists. He was convinced they would control the world economy. My father is a shrewd businessman. Mandarin is the national language of China.”

  “So all your brothers are multilingual too.”

  “Yep.”

  “By the way, did you ever find Kade?”

  Kolson dropped his head. “Yeah. It didn’t go well. I gave him money and told him he needed to go to rehab. I mentioned Case. He became his usual angry self.”

  “Any chance I could ever go with you? Or maybe Case?”

  Kolson squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t know how to tell her this without it sounding harsh. “God, you’re such a beautiful soul. You see, you know how I have issues? Well Kade had it the worst. And, it’s not so easy. The drugs are bad enough but his head is all fucked up too, kea. I ... the dark is part of it and, fuck it’s a goddamn mess.” He walked out of the room and she watched him knowing it was the end of the conversation. She wished so much she could hold him and he would tell her everything because she knew she could help. She just knew it. But she would have to wait until he was ready, because there would be no pushing him.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Three days later, as promised, Kolson received a phone call. It was late in the evening and they had just gotten into bed. He looked at the caller ID and apologized to Gabby but told her he had to take the call.

  “Hart,” he answered as he walked toward his office.

  Gabby didn’t think much about it. Calls came in at all hours of the day and night.

  “Mr. Hart. Drex Wolfe here. We’ve got your man.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “We wouldn’t be talking if I wasn’t.”

  “Jesus.” Kolson plopped backward on his chair and took several deep breaths. “Jesus.” He glanced at his shaking hands.

  “You okay there?”

  For a long moment, he could only breathe.

  “Mr. Hart? Kolson?”

  “Yeah. Uh … give me a second.”

  “Take all the time you need.”

  Kolson’s mind was a fucked-up mess. Gabby, his father, and Danny clouded it with colliding images, and he didn’t know what to do, how to respond. He was clearly unprepared for this.

  “Shit. I, uh …”

  “Mr. Hart, the way we normally operate is we call the police and let them come in or …”

  “No. That’s not how this is going to work. Let me collect my thoughts here.”

  In a deadly calm voice, Wolfe said, “You didn’t let me finish. Or we hold the suspect until the next stage of the operation. Now I can do that for you. Just let me know what you’re feeling right now.”

  “Can you give me five minutes? And I’ll call you back?”

  “You can’t call me back, Mr. Hart. I’ll call you back.” The call ended.

  Kolson sat at his desk, numb. He knew this would happen so why this response? He also knew the answer to that. He was about to step back into hell. And he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen when he did.

  He weighed his options. There was always the one where he picked up the phone and called Case, and then the cops. Danny would be arrested and no doubt would serve a prison sentence. But for how long? And then what? He’d come after Gabriella with guns blazing. By then, Kolson pictured the two of them married, with children and perhaps even grandchildren. The possibilities of him hurting their family were too vast to even consider. No, he was left with no other option.

  His phone rang.

  “Have you made any decisions, Mr. Hart?”

  “Yes. Where are you and how long can you hold him there?”

  “Indefinitely, and I won’t disclose our location until I have instructions from you. It’s for both of our protection.”

  “I see. In that case, I’ll need him somewhere private, where an exchange can be made. Somewhere where you can leave him. So you won’t be identified or traced and so you won’t see who picks him up.”

  “I understand. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

  When Drexel Wolfe called back, he said, “Brooklyn, East River warehouse district. There’s an abandoned warehouse at the end of Heron Street. Upstairs. Midnight tomorrow. I’ll have him there. Tied up like a nice little present for you.”

  “Got it.”

  “Once you have confirmation of him being there, you can transfer the rest of the money to me. Good luck, Mr. Hart. And for what it’s worth, don’t feel guilty. I don’t know what he did, but I wanted to kill the sleazy fucker myself.”

  The call ended and that was it. Part one was finished. Now for the nasty piece of the business. Kolson made the next call.

  “You must have the information for the favor you need,” Langston said.

  “I do.” He passed along the location and time frame.

  “Midnight tomorrow. It will be over shortly afterward. And we’ll see you at the house next Saturday.”

  “Yes. We’ll be there.”

  Kolson sat at his desk, staring at his computer’s screen saver—a picture of Gabriella, on the evening he took her out in the helicopter. She was laughing and joy flowed out of her. Kolson wanted to reach into the computer and grab hold of that joy, bathe in it because he felt sick, felt like he’d just traded his soul to the devil. He wanted Gabriella’s joy to cleanse him of his sins, because he knew if she ever found out what he’d just arranged, the transaction he’d just made, he would lose her forever. And he may as well belong to the devil if that ever happened.

  Pushing himself away from his desk, he walked back to the bedroom and found Gabriella asleep. He tried not to disturb her as he got into bed, but she was too keyed into his presence.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Hmm. It is now,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

  She curled against him and he wrapped her hair around his hand, feeling the thick, silky texture against his rough palms. Resting his
nose against her head, he let her scent soothe him.

  The next two days would be tough, and worse yet, he’d have to mask his feelings of apprehension from her. Closing his eyes, he knew sleep would evade him, but lying there with Gabriella in his arms was enough for him. It was more than enough, more than he’d ever hoped for, so much more than that tortured young boy ever dreamed of having. And that’s why he was confident he’d made the right choice.

  The next day was uneventful for Gabby, but torment for Kolson. He felt like time moved incrementally slow. Work was a disaster and it was impossible to get anything done. He snapped at everyone until Jack, his assistant, finally suggested he take the afternoon off. The gym seemed to be the solution and sparring with his trainer took his mind off things for a while. By the time he made it home, he was bone-tired.

  “Kolson, you look terrible. Let me get you something.”

  “It’s fine. I went to the gym, and my trainer killed me.”

  “Why don’t you shower and I’ll fix you some dinner? Lydia made us shrimp creole.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” He lied. He wasn’t sure if he could swallow a bite. The shower eased some of his pains and relaxed him a bit, but he was still achy and tired when he joined Gabby at the counter.

  When she noticed he wasn’t eating his normal massive amount, she commented. He made some bland reply and she said, “Maybe you’re coming down with something. Go to bed and get some rest. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  He took her advice and dragged himself into the bedroom and went to sleep. He never heard her come to bed.

  They both woke up to ringing cell phones.

  “What the heck!” Gabby groaned.

  They answered their respective calls, and both sat up in bed.

  Case was on Kolson’s phone and the police were talking with Gabby. Danny’s body had been found. He’d jumped off the top floor of one of the hotels in Brooklyn. He’d left a suicide note stating that he knew he’d get caught eventually and he just did not want to go to prison. So he decided to take the easy way out.

  Gabby hung up the phone and switched on the television. Flipping through the channels, she found the local news and soon a reporter came on live where they’d discovered Danny’s body.

  “Daniel Martinelli, who’d been wanted by police for over a month, was found dead early this morning after allegedly jumping from the roof of a Brooklyn hotel. Mr. Martinelli, originally from the Stamford, Connecticut, area, had been charged with rape, attempted rape, child molestation, stalking, attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, and assault of an aggravated nature with a deadly weapon.”

  Gabby was stunned at first, but then she fell back against her pillows. “It’s over. He’s dead.”

  “Yes. He is. Now you don’t have to live your life in fear anymore.”

  “It doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t seem possible. He controlled everything I did for so long.”

  “Not anymore, kea. Only you can control what you do now.”

  She brushed her hair off her face. “It’s hard to believe. In fact, I don’t feel like it’s real.”

  “It is.”

  “I guess it will take a while for it to sink in.”

  Kolson noticed the blank expression on her face.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m not sure. Suicide. It’s so strange. I mean, when I saw him he was unbalanced, with definite psychosis emerging and possible personality disorder. But while we always have to consider suicide as a possibility, he just didn’t look like the typical patient that presents with suicidal ideation. Something had to have triggered it. Did he leave a note? Something that might explain what happened?”

  “I’ll see if Case can find out.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I think we need to do something tonight to get your mind off of this. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know. What are you thinking?”

  “We haven’t been anywhere in a while. Let me think about it.”

  “Ok.”

  Kolson noticed how glum she acted. He put his arms around her. “It’s going to be okay, kea. I’ll see if we can find out what happened. But the nice thing is you don’t have to fear for your life anymore.” He smoothed her hair with his hand.

  “I know. It’s so weird. How did he get so fucked up? Was is because he resented the fact he was my dad’s son?”

  “Who knows? Sometimes people are just born bad.”

  “That’s so creepy.” Gabby shuddered.

  “Do you want me to stay home today?”

  “No, and I’m going to work today too.”

  Kolson pulled away from her so he could get a good look at her. “You sure about this? You up to it?”

  “Yes. It’ll do me good.”

  Later that day, Kolson called and told Gabby he had a surprise for her and she needed to be ready to go out by five thirty.

  “Look beautiful, like you always do, kea.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I’m not telling.”

  # # #

  Gabby came home from work early to get ready for her surprise. She was ready to go at five thirty, like Kolson requested.

  “Gorgeous, as usual.” he said when she walked out.

  “So?”

  “You’ll see.

  They went to dinner and then on to see Phantom of the Opera. Dinner was outstanding and the play was unlike anything Gabby had ever experienced. She had tears in her eyes for most of it because the music was so poignant, she wouldn’t let go of Kolson’s hand. He promised to download the score for her as soon as they got home.

  “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Gabby said as they walked out of the theater. The music was so awesome. Thank you, Kolson.”

  They climbed into the car and started back for home.

  “So you really enjoyed it, huh?”

  “Yeah, I ...” and all of a sudden, Gabby burst into tears. She cried her eyes out, for so many things, but mostly because she was sad that Danny’s life had been so tragic in so many ways. Even though he had terrified her, there had to have been a reason somewhere for it and the kindness in her heart tried to find the why behind it.

  “It’s okay, you can cry all you want.”

  “I’m sorry. I really did love the show.” She sniffed.

  Kolson rubbed circles on her back. “I know you did, kea. I could tell by the way you squeezed my hand the entire time.” Then he kissed the top of her head.

  “Thank you for taking such good care of me. And for loving me.”

  “I hope you don’t cry like this when I take you to the opera.”

  “Is it as good as the theater?”

  “It’s unbelievable. We’ll do that next. Seriously can’t wait to see your reaction. Oh, and by the way, don’t forget about spending next weekend at my parents’ house.”

  “Are you sure about going?” She sat up and faced him. They were in the back seat of one of his limos. The shadows of the night danced across the planes of his face and it was too dark to read his expression.

  “Uh-hmm. I want to be better about seeing my Mom and she loves her little get-togethers. It will be relaxed. Not like last time.”

  His casual attitude didn’t fool her one bit.

  “Kolson, what aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing, kea. It’s just one night. I’m doing it for Mom.”

  “I’m not buying it. You hate that place and after what happened between us the last time we went, I’m not too sure I want to go back.”

  “Oh, Gabriella, I was overreacting. I’ll be fine.”

  “Kolson Hart, you can say a lot of things to me, but don’t you ever lie.”

  “I’m not. This will be fine. I’ve been feeling guilty lately about not ever seeing my mother. Dad called and invited us so I said yes. I didn’t think it would be a huge deal.”

  Gabby was silent, digesting what he’d said. She didn’t believe him. Something else was happening, but he wasn’t go
ing to tell her. She’d have to resort to other tactics to find out.

  They pulled up in front of their building. As they walked in, hand in hand, her brain spun. When the elevator doors closed behind them, she attacked. Turning on him, she shoved him back against the wall and grabbed the lapels of his jacket.

  “Tell me the truth. What the hell is going on?”

  “You’re turning me on, that’s what.”

  “Stop. You know what I mean.”

  “Gabriella, it’s a matter of spending one goddamn night at my parents’ house. Can you drop it? You’re making something out of nothing.”

  Her eyes dug into his, assessing, evaluating.

  “And if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m going to fuck you right here. I mean it.”

  The doors opened and he carried her out, not stopping until he reached the dining room table. She felt the edge of it dig into the backs of her thighs as he laid her down. He took his arm and cleared everything out of the way—silver candleholders and crystal vases cradling floral arrangements crashed to the floor.

  He leaned over her and said against her mouth, “I’d like to shred this silk right off you, but I know it would piss you off since it’s the first time you’ve worn it.” Standing back up, he jerked it up to her waist. “I’m going to fuck you in here, and then I’ll get rid of the damn thing.” He slid his fingers beneath the elastic of her thong and asked, “Yes, or no?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” She panted. She was ready for him and didn’t give a damn about her stupid panties.

  He snapped the thing into two tiny bits of lace. His hands spread her legs and he murmured against her thighs, “Throughout dinner, while you were mmming over the food, all I wanted to eat was your pussy.” His tongue made one long, drawn-out lick, and then tunneled into her depths. “God, you taste good. Never tasted anything this sweet.” He went back down on her, licking everywhere but her clit. She arched up against his mouth, seeking that place, trying to get him to touch her there. But he wouldn’t. He laughed as he lifted his head. “I know what you’re trying to get me to do. You want more, don’t you?”