“The point here is you were a goddamn gift to both Vasily and Kathryn. And, despite what you just told me, you’ll never convince me that your existence didn’t save your mother’s life. I have no doubt in my mind that you gave her more joy and comfort, especially with the strength of your love for her, than any man ever could have. Even your father.”
Eva intertwined her fingers with Gabriel’s and gave him her first real smile since finding out he’d lied to her about being her boss. She knew him well enough to know he didn’t make impassioned speeches unless he meant them. And the kind words he’d just said . . . She felt her defenses crumbling. “Thank you, Gabriel. I guess talking about this was a good idea,” she admitted.
“Of course it was,” he agreed arrogantly.
“I’ll have to keep working on rewiring my brain to think of my father as a good man instead of the immature jackass I’ve made him out to be all these years.”
“You do that. Because he is one of the best men I know. He’s protective and loyal to a fault when it comes to the people he loves. And is man enough to show it. Embarrasses all of us with his easy affection.”
She sat back in her chair. “How?”
“Smacking kisses to our red faces every time he sees us.” He flashed a crooked smile, as though picturing what he was saying, and poured himself more coffee. He held the carafe over her cup and she nodded. “Uses it being a Russian custom as an excuse. Vincente has the hardest time with it—his family was the opposite of Alek’s with showing emotion, kind of like mine—which is why your father makes V’s greeting louder and longer-lasting than any of ours. He has a dry sense of humor, is generous, but not ostentatious about it. His support, in certain things, is always anonymous. Last year he financed some sort of rebuild in his hometown of Noginsk, on the outskirts of Moscow. Refused to put his name anywhere. Made Maksim wire gobs of money through an untraceable account to make sure no accolades came his way.”
Affection and respect rang clear in Gabriel’s voice, and, even though it was ridiculous, a feeling of resentment had her wrinkling her nose. “I’m sorry, but speaking of selfish, I’m jealous that you know him so well,” she said as she took a drink from her warmed-up coffee.
“Oh, sweetheart . . .” He reached up and gently tugged a lock of her hair. “You’ll have your chance. I don’t think there’s anything he’d want more than to have you in his life. And don’t think he had any choice in getting to know me. All it took was a time or two that Alek invited me and Vincente to come hang out—after that we just showed up of our own volition. Anything was better than our places.”
“Why?”
He shrugged and got up to go out into the main room, coming back with his phone and placing it next to his plate, facedown. Always facedown. “Vincente’s old man was nothing but a flashy big-mouth who left V to pretty much raise his little sister on his own,” he said derisively as he sat again. “V was only twelve, for chrissakes. And in my case, Stefano never hid the fact that he never liked me, for reasons I’m still not aware of. Even when we were kids, he always looked at me like . . .” He thought for a second and then shrugged. His knee connected with hers under the table. She didn’t move, and neither did he. “Like he hated my guts. I get why he does now, but back then, it never made sense to me. You’re his fourth target in this eye-for-an-eye thing he’s playing with, by the way. He already took the lives of three women I was involved with.”
Eva put her cup down and tried like hell not to show that her hackles had sprung up at the thought of Gabriel with those other women. Having sex with them. Three of them! The way he had with her. Her teeth scraped together. He certainly hadn’t been lonely.
Stop it, Eva. Despite everything, despite the danger and the lies, you’re getting attached to him. Possessive. And you can’t afford to.
“Anyway,” he said, oblivious to her internal conflict. “The point I was trying to make was my brother made being home miserable and I took advantage of any opportunity to be anywhere else. And not only him, but my father. ‘My responsibility’ was all I ever heard about.” His lip curled. “Couldn’t sneeze without him asking if that’s the way a Don would do it. He was a pro at reminding me that leading the organization was all I’d been born and trained to do.”
Sympathy and compassion for the young boy he’d been wiped away Eva’s resolve to stay mad.
Compassion for the young boy . . . compassion for the man.
He’d done terrible things. She still didn’t know if she could trust him. And she sure as hell didn’t know that she could be a part of his life—after all, look at what was happening to her now. What had happened to her parents.
But despite that, she truly believed that Gabriel hadn’t done anything to her out of spite. That in his own way, he’d always had her best interests at heart.
They were both products of their families.
She gently reached her hand forward and rested it on his cheek, feeling the stubble against her palm. Before she could overthink it, she leaned across the corner of the table and kissed him on the lips.
Yes.
This was it. This was what he’d been waiting for. What he’d needed.
The feel of Eva’s lips, so soft, as she reached out so damned sweetly, had his body instantly reacting. He tamped down his desire, taking this for what it was. Comfort. Connecting with her again.
She was getting under his skin. And it was much more than just physical attraction. More than desire. Hell, more the protectiveness she roused in him.
It had to stop. There was no place in his life for love. He’d made grand declarations of keeping her with him after this fiasco with Stefano was over, continuing their affair, but he knew she didn’t belong in his world.
Assuming Vasily even left him alive after he learned Gabriel had bedded his only daughter.
He knew he should back away now. Eva was starting to forgive him for his deception. For holding her hostage for her own safety. But instead of pushing away, his lips parted, deepening the kiss slightly.
A hard knock sounded on the suite’s outer door, and she pulled back. “Shoot,” she whispered, smiling.
“I will. Whoever’s out there,” he promised.
She laughed.
He’d been serious.
Another knock.
“Are you expecting someone?” Sudden apprehension made her voice a pitch higher than usual.
He sighed. She didn’t need this shit. “It’ll be Alek. Maybe Quan.”
Not noticing how her lips tightened, he led her over to the couch and gave her a push to sit—sue him if his hand lingered on the curve of her hip a little longer than was necessary—before going over to let the cock-blocker in.
Alek stood with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, his navy shirt untucked. Quan had been the knocker, so he was in the middle of the corridor also dressed in jeans, but a gray hoodie covered his frame. Micha, dressed in clothes more appropriate for the office, was behind them. The sardonic looks on all their faces had Gabriel gritting his teeth, his fists itching to connect with a couple of ears.
“’Bout time.” Alek’s pale-blue eyes checked him out from head to toe. “What, no palm prints?”
“Not even a scratch,” Quan observed.
“What do you two want?”
“She okay?” Alek asked.
Gabriel stepped back with a sigh. “Come see for yourselves.”
They entered the suite and he closed the door on a smirking Micha, following to join his boys in their ogle of his beauty. But the minute he caught sight of her expression, Gabriel knew something wasn’t right. Her head was tipped a little to the side, her sapphire eyes hard as she sat with her arms splayed over the back of the sofa, legs crossed, long bare foot bobbing.
“Hey, guys,” she said with a false brightness. “Time to gawk at the hostage? Sorry you wasted a trip. There won’t be any show today. It seems I got it all out of my system last night. Oh, wait. That’
s right. You were here. Watching,” she said flatly, the smile going south as she leveled them with a look that made even him uncomfortable. She stood. “Would you like me to leave the room so you can discuss the prisoner in private?”
Where is she going with this? “You’re not a prisoner, sweetheart. And they already feel like shit about what happened, so let’s leave it.”
“They should. Do either of you have girlfriends?” she put to them.
The men shook their heads.
“Surprise,” she murmured. Then she corrected herself. “Actually, that is surprising, considering what you two look like. Anyway, I’m assuming you have mothers.”
More negatives.
She puffed out a sigh. “Oh. Well, I’m sorry for your loss. But, listen, you’ve each had a woman in your life along the way. Or a man?”
Gabriel grinned and shook his head when she looked inquiringly back at him.
“Okay. Women, then. Sister, maybe?”
Quan raised his hand as if he were in school.
“There’s one. You,” she said to Alek, “have had a woman. You’ve loved one along the way. Right?”
Alek’s skin turned gray as he no doubt thought of Sacha. Quan would be thinking of Jia, his younger sister who lived in Vancouver.
“Now picture someone holding her against her will. Imagine her screaming and crying, begging the others in the room to help her because she’s scared and confused about what’s going on. Then imagine those capable of aiding her turning their backs on her.”
Sickened by Eva’s view of last night, Gabriel wanted to go to her but wasn’t sure he would be welcomed. “They couldn’t have helped you even if they’d wanted to,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because they won’t undermine me.”
Her brows arched. “Why not? Aren’t you friends? Friends are allowed to disagree with each other.”
“Aside from being my friends, Quan and Jak are also in my employ.”
She nodded but still didn’t look placated by his justification. “That’s right. I’d forgotten that. And Alek?”
“I do feel like hell about what happened last night,” Alek offered. He looked over to Gabriel. “She know?”
Gabriel shook his head. “Tell her.”
His friend focused again on Eva and stepped forward, looking uncharacteristically unsure. “I’m your cousin.”
CHAPTER 16
“Wait. Cousin?”
Eva brought her fingers up to cover her mouth, and her eyes widened in delighted surprise. Of course. Alek’s last name was Tarasov, like her father’s. How could she not have put that together? To be fair, she’d been so shocked by the numerous bombs Gabriel had dropped on her last night she hadn’t thought about who she was related to. But this was . . .
Her throat tightened with unexpected emotion.
Family. Something she never thought she’d have again until she married and had children. But, within the last twelve hours, she’d found her father and now a cousin.
Alek took another step forward, his expression wary. She did the same but didn’t stop until she was directly in front of him. She searched his features for some sort of resemblance and thought she saw something in the shape of his eyes that reminded her of her own reflection.
“Wow. Family,” she whispered, amazement in her voice. She didn’t care. She was amazed. And, even though she was unsure of her reception, she wrapped her arms around this beautiful man’s stiff torso and gave him a warm, affectionate hug. She felt his arms slowly circle her in a strong hug back.
After a moment, she loosened her hold and backed out of his personal space with a watery smile. “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable. It’s just that I’ve always wished for a relative . . . anything, really. An old, crotchety aunt would have done. But I got you and that’s really . . . really great.”
She was touched to see his throat work as if he was also having some trouble with it. He cast a sidelong glance at Gabriel. “You take care of her or I’ll kill you,” he said in a low voice that caused the hair on her arms to rise.
“Amen,” Quan muttered as he turned away from observing the meeting, pulling his cell out as he walked to the far side of the room.
She landed a mock punch on Alek’s shoulder. “Remember that next time I’m screaming for help,” she said with a dry smile, unable to resist the dig. “I don’t care who your boss is. Or business partner. Or best friend. Family is supposed to stick together.”
He had the decency to look sheepish. She winked to let him know she was, mostly, kidding.
Eva inhaled deeply, taking it all in. She now had a father—not just a sperm donor but a father—and a cousin. Family who, she hoped, she might have a chance to get to know once Stefano Moretti was stopped.
She glanced over at Gabriel, an unwelcome yearning blooming in her chest.
Would her father and cousin really be enough?
Gabriel had graciously “allowed” her to accompany them to her house on Mercer Island to supervise his “people” getting her important things. Never mind that she needed to be there to tell them exactly what was important and should be put into storage for safekeeping and what could stay at the house.
She initially balked when Gabriel said he wanted to pack up her house, but then he’d pointed out that he wanted his entire surveillance team on her, not her empty house. And if Stefano decided to burn her home to the ground, just to send Gabriel a message, anything sentimental or important to her would to be destroyed.
He had a point. There was a lot of history with her mother in that house. She’d be damned if she was going to lose her precious memorabilia because Gabriel and his brother couldn’t play nice.
She still couldn’t wrap her brain around someone destroying her home for the hell of it. To send a message. The only vendetta she’d ever been caught in was the one she and Caleb had against Nika’s husband. And even that was nonexistent compared with the games Gabriel and his organized crime friends played.
Who would want to live that way?
Gabriel. Your father. Your cousin.
Would her mother have, had she been given the choice? she wondered.
As the Escalade entered her neighborhood, her thoughts zeroed in on her father. What was he like in person? Was he scary? Intimidating?
She suspected yes. Even Gabriel, king of I’m in charge, was respectful when he referred to him.
She looked ahead as they turned onto her street and spotted an unfamiliar car parked in front of her house. She nodded toward it. “One of your guys? Gabriel?”
“No.”
She gripped the armrest as her seat belt locked up, holding her in place as Gabriel swiftly pulled over. The sound of Quan and Alek unbuckling from the backseat was loud in the suddenly tense atmosphere.
“With Nick gone, so are our eyes.”
“You know my neighbor?” she asked in surprise.
Gabriel’s focus stayed but something flashed across his gaze. “He worked for my family for almost twenty years before Vasily offered him this placement a while back. Nick accepted. Said keeping an eye on a pretty blonde and mowing a lawn beat making collections any day.”
The “pretty blonde” had been her mother.
“Where did he go? Could the car belong to the guys coming to pack?” she tagged on, hopeful.
Gabriel’s lips twisted. “They’re still a quarter of an hour out. They’re coming from Meadowbrook with a truck.” He’d ignored her question about Nick. She tried not to analyze what that meant. Had he fired the older man for some reason?
“Let’s not assume anything, kids,” Alek chipped in from the back.
“Not taking any chances.” Gabriel leaned over to open the glove box and withdrew a small handgun from underneath some papers.
Having seen an assortment of Caleb’s guns throughout the years, the sight of this one shouldn’t have bothered her. But it did. Because it wasn’t going to be used for
target practice at the shooting range, but in an effort to protect her.
Gabriel checked the magazine and then the chamber. Then he slapped the small black weapon onto the dash and withdrew a larger one from the small of his back. He gave it the same treatment, check and snap. He tucked it back in, pulling his T-shirt over it so that it was once again hidden. Eva continued ogling him as he bent and lifted the left cuff of his pants to reveal a knife holstered on the inside of his ankle. He unsnapped the holder in preparation.
“Is the cannon strapped to your thigh coming out next? Or are we saving that for when we’re alone?” She lifted her eyebrows as Alek and Quan roared with laughter. Realizing the double entendre, she grimaced with embarrassment and felt her face start to burn.
She hadn’t meant to voice her brain’s silent commentary at all Gabriel’s weapons, but holy shit, this whole situation was becoming just too real. It was happening. To her. To them. Apparently, judging by the non–Boy Scout preparations she was witnessing, Gabriel’s brother and his men were as dangerous as he’d warned her last night.
“Cannon, huh?”
Her gaze skipped from the gun to Gabriel’s amused face. “Like that’s news to you,” she muttered, her mind still churning.
This kind of danger was exactly what had motivated her father to leave her and her mother. His attempt at allowing them a peaceful, safe life, even if without him, hoping all the while they’d never feel the fear and helplessness she was feeling right now.
Suddenly, Eva’s heart flooded with forgiveness and appreciation for the man who’d given up a large portion of his own happiness, putting aside his right to live contentedly with his loved ones, in order to protect them.
She was quickly learning the whole got-to-watch-your-back thing was for the birds. Growing up like this would have been hell.
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