The Gambler

by Silver, Jordan

  She led him away from the woods and to a meadow hidden on the other side. There was a garden there, with stone benches and those little fountain statues. Butterflies of every color flew around and he could hear birds chirping in the branches of the trees. He could even smell the sweet scent of the flowers, and feel the sun on his face.

  “Alice…what?”

  “Shh.” She held her finger up to her lips as she pulled him down next to her on one of those benches. There was a stream there unlike any he’d ever seen before. He watched the water as it flowed calmly and waited for her to begin. A part of him knew what this was, knew that it was a little more than a dream, yet he couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He never was any good at the hoo doo shit.

  “I’ve missed you Stefano, all these years I’ve been wanting to come to you, but it wasn’t the time.” She smiled and squeezed his hand as he looked down at her. “She’s something isn’t she?” He knew who she was talking about, his Jenna, so he just nodded his head.

  “You mustn’t stay mad at her you know, your anger can hurt her more than any bullet ever could.”

  “What am I supposed to do? She doesn’t listen, and she’s gonna get herself killed. I thought she needed me, but she doesn’t does she? She can take care of herself well enough without me…”

  “Is that what you think? Nothing can be farther from the truth; she needs you more than ever. It’s hard to explain but I’ll try. You see; your Jenna has no real understanding of the things she’s capable of. It’s almost like being programmed, only no one programmed her, it’s just the way her brain works.”

  “She sucks up information like a sponge and she watches everything around her, then she implements it. But she has no real understanding of the way this world works. She compartmentalizes things, like this last thing here. She knew her dad was in trouble and that he was scared. In her way of doing things, she worked out the dynamics and did what she thought she needed to do. That’s how her mind works, like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together, very methodical.”

  “She senses things, and there have been times when I’ve given her a little nudge here and there, like when that pig had her hacking into places. But in essence, she really is just the innocent you thought her to be when you first met.”

  “How do you know that?” she took a while to answer, and when she did all she would say is ‘I know you both’.

  “Do you know how they say that there is someone made for everyone? Well in this case it’s true. She was made for you and you her. The day you were dying, she came to me, not I her. Your pain was so great that day that it reached out to her, she was too young to understand what was really going on I think, but she found you in that moment.” She smiled in fond memory.

  “A lot of what she does now is to protect you, I told her once in a dream that your heart was broken. I don’t know exactly what she made of that, but from then on she’s gotten it into her head that she has to protect you. She’s fiercely protective of those she loves.”

  “What you’re afraid of though is no longer necessary, everything has been taken care of, and unless she finds herself in that position again, you have no worry of her running off and getting into danger again. I’m sure you’ll protect her from such things in the future. Besides, the children will keep her too occupied for much else.” She laughed loud and long as if at some private joke.

  He felt his heart jump at the mention of children, and before he could form the words she answered him. “Yes, your flower is with child, it’s early days yet but your son will be here before you know it.” He wanted to stay and talk with her like this forever, but he wanted even more to get back to his Jenna. Then he felt guilty for the thought.

  “There’s no need to feel guilty Stefano, I’m your past she and your children are your future. I’m happy for you, happy that we had this.”

  “Will I see you again?”

  “Who knows, I’ll be around some, but who’s to tell if we’ll need to do this again? Go my brother, go and be happy. You no longer have to worry about me, and remember, you didn’t fail me; those men were at fault, never you. I never held you responsible, for any of it. You were and will always be, my perfect big brother.”

  His eyes flew open in the bed next to her. His heart was beating out of control as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Was it real, or just a figment of his imagination? He turned her gently onto her back and looked down at her flat stomach. A son!

  “Angel?” she awakened when his lips touched the soft skin of her tummy. With her hand behind his head, she held him in place as he peppered her with kisses. He was no longer angry, that feeling that had been dogging his heels for the last twenty-four hours was no longer there.

  When he climbed up her body and slipped into her, he felt whole again. He held her as close as it were possible to, as he moved inside her, his face buried in her neck; before he lifted his head to whisper words of love and admiration in her ear.

  Epilogue

  Their lives are somewhat settled these days, nothing at all like in the beginning. For one, there’re no gunmen hunting them down and they’re a little freer in their movements; though he still kept her heavily guarded twenty four seven. He could leave and go to the office once in a while as the need arose, and always on those days, his greatest joy was hearing her laughter when he walked through the door on his return.

  It still sent shockwaves through him. Like tinkering bells in an open field on a hot summer day. Alice had been right, with the absence of anything resembling danger or any of the other shit she’d been exposed to, she was just a sweet, innocent girl. She never talked about what had happened and as far as he could tell, she’d put it all out of her head.

  He’d learned what had happened that night from news reports, so there still remained a mystery as to how she’d pulled it off. Of the men who’d been there that night, none had survived; she’d leveled the place with C4. He didn’t even want to know where the fuck she’d got her hands on it.

  Her grandmother had done the expose` and her ex assistant was now spending life in prison for his part in the plot to kill her. The men behind the hit had been brought to justice and their dealings behind the scenes had been laid bare for all the world to see. Andros had gotten recognition because the damn senator couldn’t keep her damn mouth shut and would tell everyone who would listen about her new grandson in law’s work with the special children as they called them.

  He’d learned to live with all the hoopla until it started to get on his damn nerves and he’d threatened bodily harm to the next asshole that got in his face with a camera. Now their lives were nothing but peaceful and calm. Well not entirely, but close. Gramps had taken it upon himself to move onto the estate and Andros was always putting out the old man’s fires, when he wasn’t standing over the two of them to make sure they weren’t getting up to shit that would land them all in a holding cell.

  Jenna was just as Alice had said, her days were spent looking after him and the kids, and since he kept anything even resembling danger away from her, he hadn’t seen a return of his little criminal. He’d set up a game room downstairs, where she spent most weekend nights after the kids had been bedded down, skinning him and his men out of their money. The only thing he hadn’t been able to break her out of was the chocolate kick.

  As for that he’d let her parents live, but he still had a strained relationship with them almost four years later. He was never going to forgive them for being so fucking stupid, but Jenna loved the two idiots, so he tolerated them at his dinner table on Sundays.

  The kids are a handful but they kept them grounded. Little Alice is her mother’s spitting image but she’s got gramps’ attitude down pat. She’s gonna be trouble. Two years old and already she gives him orders. She also seems to have her mother’s penchant for getting into shit so Andros was constantly on his toes. All in all he was happier than he ever thought possible and his life was fuller than any one man could expect.

  Ri
ght now he stood in the doorway of the conservatory and watched as his wife tried to teach their daughter about butterflies. The ray of sunlight that shone down on them was a little brighter than the day outside, and he said a silent thanks to his sister as he walked into the room to join them.

  THE END

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