Chapter 8 - Falling Into the Fire
They returned to the estate at 4:00 a.m.
The battle at Pier 42 was over. Rossi’s syndicate had crumbled the moment their leader vanished beneath the black waves; the remaining lieutenants had surrendered to Nico before the harbor police even arrived. The corrupt port director was in custody, and Kevin Vance had been put on a cargo freighter bound for a work camp in the North Atlantic, stripped of every cent he had ever stolen.
Inside Gabriel’s private quarters, the only sound was the crackle of the hearth fire and the rhythmic ticking of a grandfather clock.
Paige sat on the edge of the massive four-poster bed, holding a warm damp washcloth.
Gabriel sat on a low stool before her, his shirt removed, his broad back and chest a tapestry of muscle, old bullet scars, and fresh abrasions from the fight. A deep gash along his left ribs was still oozing blood where a ricochet had grazed his flesh.
Paige gently pressed the warm cloth against the wound.
Gabriel flinched slightly, his jaw tightening, but he didn't pull away.
"I’m sorry," she whispered. "Does it hurt?"
"I've had worse," Gabriel grunted. His gray eyes were locked onto her face, watching the careful, tender concentration in her eyes. "You don't have to do this, Paige. The family doctor is downstairs."
"I want to do it," she said firmly. She dipped the cloth in antiseptic, cleaning the torn edges of the skin with meticulous care. "You took a bullet for me tonight. You took two yesterday."
"I took them because failing to protect you would be the end of me," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into that raw, intimate register that made her hands pause.
Paige looked down at him. "You don't have to say things like that, Gabriel. The debt is paid. Rossi is gone. Kevin is gone. You don't have to keep pretending I’m yours to protect your reputation."
Gabriel reached up and caught her wrist. His fingers were warm, his grip gentle but unbreakable.
"You think this is about my reputation?" he asked, rising slowly from the stool until he towered over her, his eyes burning with an intense, undisguised heat. "You think I brought you into my home, tore Rossi’s empire to pieces, and stood on that pier in the freezing rain because of what the other families might whisper?"
Paige swallowed hard, her heart fluttering. "Then why?"
"Because from the moment you looked me in the eye and called me 'honey' in that miserable bullpen, I haven't been able to think about another thing," Gabriel growled.
He stepped between her knees, placing his hands on the mattress on either side of her hips, trapping her against the pillows.
"You didn't flinch when I threatened Rossi," he whispered, his lips inches from her throat. "You didn't run when the library window shattered. You saved my life on the docks tonight with a flare gun and a manifest you had no business understanding. You are the strongest, most maddening, most magnificent woman I have ever known."
"Gabriel..." she breathed, her hands coming up to rest on his bare, scarred shoulders. His skin was burning hot beneath her palms.
"I told you before," Gabriel murmured, leaning down until his lips brushed the sensitive skin beneath her ear, making a shudder run down her spine. "Apologies are for the weak. And you... you belong to me, Paige. Not because of a debt. Not because of a contract. Because I will spend every breath I have making sure no one ever hurts you again."
Paige tilted her head back, offering him the slender line of her neck. "I don't want to run anymore, Gabriel."
Gabriel grooved his hands into her hair, pulling the remaining pins free so the honey-blonde waves spilled across her bare shoulders. He looked down into her eyes, finding no fear, no hesitation—only the fierce, consuming fire of a woman who had chosen her lion.
"Then stay," he commanded softly.
"Always," she replied.
May you like
When his mouth found hers this time, there was no rain, no smoke, and no battle. There was only the intoxicating, absolute surrender of two souls who had fought through hell to find their sovereign peace. He gathered her into his arms, lifting her onto the bed, worshiping every inch of her skin with a reverence that belied the monster the world believed him to be.
***
