Chapter 106 Smoke and steel
Gavin’s POV
Police vehicles lined the dock…marked and unmarked, local and federal. Officers swarmed the warehouses like ants on a carcass.
I stood at the edge of the chaos, far enough back to stay out of the way but close enough to watch it all unfold.
Men in handcuffs were being dragged out of the buildings. Some went quietly, with their heads down, defeated. Others fought and screamed, hurling threats and curses that meant nothing now.
I pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The smoke tasted harsh in the cold air.Kane appeared beside me, his own cigarette already lit. We stood there in silence for a moment, just watching.
“So what’s your plan?” Kane asked, exhaling smoke into the night.
I took a long drag. Let the heat settle in my lungs before answering him.
“Well, right now?” I flicked ash onto the concrete. “I just want to go home and eat popcorn.”
Kane’s head turned sharply toward me. Then he burst out laughing till his shoulders started shaking.
“You’re serious.”
“Completely serious.”
He laughed harder. “You really are different now.” He shook his head, still grinning. “But I love that for you, my friend. After everything… you’re finally finding your happiness.”
I didn’t respond immediately. Just smoked and watched another handcuffed man get shoved into the back of a police cruiser.
Happiness. Such a simple word for something I’d never thought I’d have.
“Have you found what you’re looking for?” Kane asked quietly.
The question hung in the air between us.I knew what he meant. The promise I’d made fifteen years ago. I took another drag. Breathe in deeply. Held it, then I shook my head.
Kane nodded. He understood. He always did. We finished our cigarettes in silence.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”
We walked toward the car. Volkov’s empire was burning to the ground. Christian would be next soon.
The Five Families would feel this. I was wise enough to know that they won’t go out without a fight. But right now, I didn’t care about any of that.
I just wanted to go home to Melissa.
———
The drive back took forty minutes. Kane dropped me off at the penthouse and drove away without a word. He had his own woman to get back to.
I took the elevator up, already pulling off my tie.
The penthouse was warm when I walked in. The living room lights were on. And I could hear movement in the kitchen.I walked toward the sound and stopped in the doorway.
Melissa stood at the counter, arranging bowls of popcorn.
She was wearing one of my t-shirts and sleep shorts, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. She hummed softly to herself as she worked, completely unaware I was watching her.
After a short while she turned and saw me. Her whole face lit up.
“Gavin!” She ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck.
I caught her easily, pulling her close. Breathing in her rose scent.
“You made popcorn,” I said into her hair.
“You said you wanted popcorn.” She pulled back to look at me. “So I made three kinds. Sweet, salty, and caramel.”
“Three kinds.”
“I didn’t know which you’d prefer.” She smiled. “So I made all of them.”
God, I loved this girl.
“Come with me,” I said, setting her down but keeping hold of her hand.
“Where?”
“I want to show you something.”
“Show me what?”
“You’ll see. Come on.”
I led her toward the private elevator that went to the garage level. She followed without question, her hands were warm in mine.
“Are we going somewhere?” she asked as the elevator descended.
“Not exactly.”
The doors opened onto the garage. Melissa had been down here before…she’d seen my collection of cars, and my favourite motorcycles.But I didn’t lead her toward those.
Instead, I walked to a section of the garage she’d never seen. A private area behind a locked door that required both a key card and fingerprint scan.
I scanned my card. Pressed my thumb to the reader. The lock clicked.I pushed open the door and flipped on the lights.
Melissa gasped.
The room was smaller than the main garage but still well maintained. And in the center, under carefully positioned lights, sat two cars.
The first was a black Bugatti Chiron. Every line of it screamed speed and danger. And somehow it fit my Melissa perfectly. Once I saw it I realized why she loved it so much.
The second was my personal favorite, it was a prototype. A model so new it hadn’t been released to the public yet. The manufacturer had only made five in the world.
It was silver with black accents, low to the ground, with curves that looked like they’d been sculpted by an artist rather than an engineer.Melissa walked forward slowly, her eyes wide. She stopped in front of the Bugatti and just stared at them. I was getting worried about her eyes at this point.
“Gavin…” Her voice came out barely above a whisper. “These are…”
“Yours.”
Her head snapped toward me. “What?”
“They’re yours.” I walked up behind her, resting my hands on her shoulders. “Both of them. I didn’t forget my promise.”
“I… I can’t… Gavin, these must cost…”
“I don’t care what they cost.” I turned her to face me.
“I didn’t think you will really gwt me a car, but you got two, Gavin twoooo!” She patted her check trying to calm herself. “ I’m so ashamed, I don’t even know how to drive to be honest.”
“I’ll teach you.” I pulled her closer. She looked back at the cars. Then at me. Then back at the cars.
“This is insane,” she breathed.
“Is it?”
“Yes!” But she was smiling now. That beautiful smile that made everything else disappear. “Gavin, this is completely, totally insane.”
“Good insane or bad insane?”
She threw her arms around my neck again. “Good insane. Definitely good insane.”
I held her, breathing in her scent, feeling her heart beat against my chest.
“The Bugatti is for when you want to feel powerful,” I said into her hair. “Dangerous like you can outrun anything.”
“And the other one?”
“The other one is for when you want to feel beautiful, and elegant. Like art in motion.”
She pulled back to look at me. Her eyes were suspiciously bright.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said softly.
“I’m in love with you.”
“I love you too.” She stood on her toes and kissed me. When she pulled back, she looked at the cars again. “Can I sit in them?”
“They’re yours. You can do whatever you want with them.”
She practically ran to the silver prototype. Opened the door…it lifted up rather than out, like a wing…and slid into the driver’s seat.
I watched her run her hands over the steering wheel, the dashboard, taking it all in with that photographer’s eye that saw beauty in everything.
“Gavin,” she called out. “Come here.”
I walked over. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down to her level.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You are worth everything, piccola.” I cupped her face. “Everything I have, everything I am. It’s all yours.”
“Even the popcorn?”
I laughed. “Especially the popcorn.”
She climbed out of the car and took my hand again. “Come on. Let’s go eat our popcorn and you can tell me about your day. Oh and which one shouod I learn to drive first.”
“The Bugatti,” I said immediately. “Definitely the Bugatti.”