by Sam Crescent
“He doesn’t like other men playing with what belongs to him.” She pressed her lips together.
“Do you want to be with him or is he forcing you?”
“No, this isn’t forced and we’re not together.” She winced. “Wow, it makes me sound like a slut.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Why aren’t you angry? You hated it when your friends tried to get to you because they wanted to be with Gabriel.”
“Simple, you were my friend long before he showed any interest in you. As far as I’m concerned, you’ll be my friend after.”
“Yes, after.” She didn’t even want to think about what it was going to be like after they broke up. It wouldn’t really matter. It wasn’t like she had to deal with him all that much. In fact, she rarely saw him.
“Do you love him?” Rhianna’s question pulled her out of her thoughts.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Love, no. It’s not love and I really don’t feel comfortable saying exactly what this is.” She scrunched up her nose. “It’s sex. There, I’ve said it.”
Rhianna sat back, staring at her. “You do have feelings for him?”
“Me, have feelings for Gabriel?” She thought about the way he touched her. The heat and passion brimming between them, but that wasn’t love. It was lust.
“It’s okay if you do.”
Claire leaned forward and stared into her friend’s eyes. “Rhianna, me and Gabriel, it’s … it’s on a time limit. We’re not going to be together for that long. It really isn’t what you think it is.”
“And what if Gabriel keeps on pushing those days?”
“You’ve told me he has limited time for women. I’m nothing special.”
“He’s never treated a woman like he did you at the society event with that guy.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Some businessman’s son. He wasn’t important.”
“I don’t know, he was at that party. He looked pretty important,” she said. She really wanted a change of subject.
“We’re not talking about the party anymore. We’re talking about you and your feelings.”
“Yeah, I had figured.” She picked up her coffee cup. “I really don’t know what to say to you, Rhianna. I mean, Gabriel and I aren’t close. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that and we’re never going to be.” She shrugged.
“You can walk away?”
She pressed her lips together and jerked her head. She didn’t know if it was a head nod or not. This seemed like a really bad conversation to be having with her best friend.
“That’s not an answer. You forget, Claire, I’ve known you my whole life. That kind of action is not an answer and don’t keep trying to pacify me as if it is one since we both know it’s not.”
“When did you get so smart?” Claire asked.
“It would appear when you got so dumb.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Can we not talk about him anymore? Please. I’m … it’s all a little … I don’t know.”
“Intense?”
“Kind of weird because you’re his sister and we’re talking about sex and stuff, and that doesn’t seem right to me.”
This time, Rhianna laughed. “You always were such a prude.”
“And that’s why you love me.”
“I will let it drop so long as you go shopping with me.”
She groaned. “Shopping, really?”
“Yes. Really. You’ve got to come with me and I get to play doll with you.”
“I’ll be the doll?”
Rhianna nodded. “I’ll dress you up real nice.”
She rolled her eyes but she smiled. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For not … you know, ditching me. It means a lot.”
“We’ve been friends longer than we haven’t. I know you’re not with me to get to my brother. I love you like a sister and I care about you a great deal.” Rhianna reached across the table. “I think you’re amazing and I can only hope Gabriel realizes how special you are. I need to go to the bathroom.”
“You go. I’ll pay.” She watched her friend leave.
She nodded at the waitress for their receipt. Seconds later, she pulled out some money and put it on a small tray before getting to her feet. She was pulling on her jacket as Rhianna arrived.
The sound of motorbikes filled the air. Broken glass, gunshots, and screams erupted.
Claire acted on instinct. She ran to her friend, pushing her down to the ground, covering her as more bullets rang out. Her head was dizzy from the noise. Her heart raced and she kept Rhianna on the ground as it continued to erupt. What the hell was happening?
She didn’t know how long it lasted for, a lifetime, maybe longer, but all of a sudden, the noise stopped even as her ears ached. The silence was almost deafening.
Cries, shouts.
“What’s going on?” Rhianna asked.
“Stay down.” She whispered the words at the sounds of bikes roaring to life and taking off.
Lifting her head, she glanced around. Some people hadn’t made it. A couple of bodies weren’t moving, and she glanced over the room to see the waitress who’d been serving her and Rhianna was on the ground. Part of her head was missing. She felt like she was going to be sick.
Chapter Eight
Gabriel entered the hospital and felt like he was going to throw up. He hadn’t made it in time before the ambulances took everyone away from the crime scene. The news had already been rife with speculations.
Bikers were involved and the suspicion was some kind of turf war. He knew what this was. It was a warning.
Entering the emergency room, he heard the cries and screams. The news had let the entire world know where the victims were being taken. His sister and his woman had been in that very café.
He was pissed off that they hadn’t called him yet. He couldn’t see them.
“Claire! Rhianna!” He called out to them. He did this repeatedly even as a nurse asked him to step outside. One of his guards took the nurse aside and let her know there would be funding to the hospital if she allowed him to search for his loved ones.
He didn’t pause for a second at the mention of loved ones.
One of the curtains opened and there was his sister. He quickly went to her, pulling her in his arms. There were times he hated his sister because she was such a royal pain in the ass. He had the right to hate her and find her annoying, but he wouldn’t have anything happen to her. He loved her.
“We’re fine. We’re both fine,” Rhianna said.
“Me too.” Claire’s voice sounded so distant. She sat on the edge of the bed. Cuts marred her pretty face.
He moved Rhianna aside and cupped Claire’s face, tilting her back. She could have been shot or worse.
“She stepped in front of me,” Rhianna said. “Protected me. Bullets came all over the place and she put me first.”
Claire pulled out of his hold and turned to her friend. “I wanted to protect you. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
“You could have gotten killed,” Rhianna said. “Then who would I get to dress up like a doll?”
Claire laughed. “I’m fine.”
“Why are you both here if you’re fine?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Rhianna said, speaking up first. “Claire made sure I was out of the way. Her body covered mine. The doctors just want to make sure she’s fine. She hit her head pretty hard on the ground and some of the glass, as you can see, cut her.”
“You could have been killed,” he said.
“But I wasn’t. I’m fine. I’m all fine.”
“Let me go and get a doctor.”
Rhianna left, closing the curtain behind her. He couldn’t resist, slamming his lips down on her, cupping the back of her neck and holding her in place as he ravished her mouth. “Don’t ever do anything so fucking stupid again,” he said.
“Saving your sister is stupid?”<
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He cradled her face and stroked her cheek. “You get the hell out of the way. I don’t care. You save yourself.”
She covered his hands with her own. “I’m fine.”
“Look at you. You’re cut and bleeding. You’re not fine.”
She blew out a breath. “Rhianna knows.”
“She knows what?”
“About us.”
“And?”
“And, right now, I can’t think. It was a bunch of bikers, Gabriel. I saw them. There had to be at least twenty of them. What do they have against a café? It was completely harmless. No one in there was going to hurt them.” She sniffled.
He pulled her into his arms and that was how Rhianna and the doctor found them.
“Right, Claire, you are free to leave.”
“Yay,” she said.
“You do need to remove more of the glass that’s in your hair, so please be careful with that. We would do this for you, but we’re short-staffed right now, and you’ve made a point that you want to leave. Are you the husband?”
“No.”
“Yes,” he said, speaking over Claire.
“She needs to be monitored. If she goes to sleep, she’ll need waking up every couple of hours. Rest, Claire. You’re a hero today.”
“Rhianna’s been telling everyone that I saved her,” Claire said. “I’m not a hero.” She released a yawn. “I’m so tired.”
“Well, you’re not getting any sleep.”
“And I’m starving,” Rhianna said. “Come on, let’s get out of here. There are so many people and not all of them were lucky like us.”
Helping Claire off the bed, he made his way toward the exit where his men were waiting. He’d make the hospital a huge donation.
Rhianna climbed into the car and he helped Claire inside, following her in and pulling her in close to him.
She rested her head against him.
“You can’t sleep.”
“I won’t,” she said. “It’s everything that happened today. It was all so … intense. One minute we were paying for our food, the next minute, it was raining bullets. I hate them.”
“So do I,” Rhianna said. “They’re going to find them though. There’s no way they can get away with this.”
According to his sources, the café didn’t have any security cameras around. All they had were statements from witnesses who’d experienced high trauma. It was going to be a struggle to bring these men to justice, but he had his own brand he intended to work on.
When they got to his apartment building, he held Claire in his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and he was very much aware of his sister watching them.
Once inside his apartment, Rhianna went to the kitchen. He hoped while he dealt with his woman that she’d order takeout as his sister was a terrible cook.
He ran her a bath. “I want you to get into the water, but don’t put your hair under. I’ll deal with that.” He kissed her head. “I’ll be back with some tweezers to get some of the glass out.”
“Gabriel,” she said.
He stopped at the door.
“You’re going to hurt whoever did this, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Do you really want to know the answer to that?”
“Yes.”
“The person who did this better run because when I find them, they’re never going to be able to identify the body.”
“Because they put your sister in danger?”
He stared at her, not really sure how to answer that. He loved his sister and had taken care of her for as long as he could remember, but it was Claire he was going to avenge. His sister was just … there.
Leaving the bathroom, he entered the kitchen to find his sister pouring out some hot coffee.
“It might help to settle her nerves. I also ordered pizza. It’s her favorite.”
He nodded, going to the cupboard in the far wall where he kept his emergency first-aid kit.
After pulling it down, he grabbed the tweezers and a bowl.
“She could have died today,” Rhianna said.
“And you could have.”
“Claire saved me.”
“I know.”
“Are you angry at me?” Rhianna asked.
“Why would I be angry at you?”
“Claire put herself in danger to protect me. She didn’t think about herself.”
“That wouldn’t make me hate you.”
“But even if you lie to yourself, I know you have feelings for her.”
He went to his sister and pulled her close, kissing her head. “Stop it. I don’t need you to go all teary-eyed on me just yet. I need you to be strong for me. Do you think you can do that?”
“I know I can but you don’t have to hide this relationship from me,” Rhianna said. Her smile was soft as he pulled away. “She’s different from all the other women.”
“Rhianna, don’t get your hopes up.”
“You two have already been together longer than any of your previous relationships.”
“This is not a relationship. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Rhianna kept on staring into his eyes. He didn’t know exactly what she was looking for but it started to unnerve him the way she watched him.
“You can keep on saying that, but I know you, big brother. I know how you feel, and that’s something you cannot hide, but keep on trying.”
He rolled his eyes and left her to get the pizza when it arrived.
Claire leaned up against the edge of the bath, eyes closed, which opened as he put down the medical kit near the edge of the bath.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He removed his clothes and without an invite, climbed in behind her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to clean your hair, and then I’ll wash and take care of you.”
“You don’t need to do this,” she said.
“I want to.” It wasn’t a lie. He had this overwhelming need to look after her. To take care of her. With the tweezers in hand, getting the shards were easy, especially since the water hadn’t touched her hair.
“We were going to go shopping. Rhianna wanted to have a little fun and after she found out about us and our arrangement, I felt so bad that I agreed.”
“You both have been close for a long time,” he said. “I’m pleased she didn’t hold our time together against you.”
She chuckled. “I think she’s happy for us. I’ve told her it is on limited time. We’re going to go our separate ways soon.”
He didn’t agree with her.
Silence fell between them. “Are you angry at me for not lying to Rhianna?”
“No. She was going to find out eventually. Especially when you hate me when all of this is over.”
She chuckled. “Then why are you angry?” She looked over her shoulder. “You have no reason to be.”
“You put your life in danger.”
“To save your sister.”
“But what about saving yourself?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I don’t accept that. Next time, you hide, you got it?”
“You think there is going to be a next time?”
“Always be on your guard, Claire. You know that.” He kissed her lips. “Now, let me handle this.”
****
Gabriel’s touch was gentle as he removed the glass. The water got cold and he heated it right up for her. Claire expected him to leave but he stayed true to his word, washing her body then her hair. She closed her eyes, enjoying his ministrations and not looking too deeply as to why she enjoyed his touch.
Rhianna called out to them to say pizza had arrived.
He climbed out from behind her and she admired the length of his body. The curve of his ass. He grabbed a towel and she got up so he could wrap it around her.
Once out of the bath, he placed a towel in her hair. There were no signs of any more glass in her hair, nor did she detect any
rubbing against her scalp. As they left the bathroom, he held a robe open for her, and she stepped inside while he quickly pulled on a pair of sweat pants.
She didn’t linger too long and joined Rhianna, who sat on the sofa, sipping coffee and eating pizza.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling fine. I don’t know about your brother though. He’s … different.”
“He’s got his killer face on.”
“Killer face?”
“You do realize the café that was hit is in his city, right? This is his turf. The moment the bikers shot at us, they started a war.”
“Oh.”
Rhianna raised her brows. “Oh?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Her friend laughed. “Has anyone told you how adorable you are?”
“Not recently.” She looked up as Gabriel joined them. He didn’t stay, using the excuse that he had business to take care of in his office. He took pizza and coffee with him, disappearing from sight.
“He’s so pissed. I would hate to be part of that MC, or have anything to do with them. He’s going to tear them apart.”
“Does it bother you at times, that he is what he is?”
“It used to but I don’t know, I guess I got used to the fact that there are always monsters around. It depends on what kind of monster is in charge. My brother is … he’s … he keeps this place safe. Yes, I have to have a guard to take me places, and it’s not always easy, but I’ve gotten used to it.” She sighed. “His heart is in the right place. Most of the time.”
“And when it’s not?” she asked.
“Then it’s not. I can’t do anything about that. I can only fix what affects me, and I’ve got no problem with Gabriel going after those men. They deserve it. There were kids and families at that café.”
Claire frowned. “Do you think it was a direct hit? Someone knew you were there?”
“Could have been. Someone could have tipped off one of his enemies. I honestly don’t know, babe. You eat some food.”
Claire ate four slices of pizza and drank two large cups of coffee. Gabriel didn’t appear once.
The coffee always had the opposite effect on Rhianna and her best friend fell asleep on the sofa and started to snore. She covered her friend with a blanket. Unraveling her hair, she ran a brush through it. The length had now dried.