Chapter 28—Gabe

She smiles a lot more now.

She was different after that night. Very different and more like her old self.

I didn’t want to take her over the edge, but in my warped way of thinking, I realized that was the only way I was going to get her to trust me.

Strange, but it worked.

It seemed to have worked, and we’ve been in this crazy bubble of bliss since. Two weeks pass with us inside it. It’s like we’re the modified version of the couple we used to be.

I’ve become the lovesick fool I was when I was hyped up on her years ago.

I go to work, and I can’t wait to see her when I get home. I go to sleep, and I can’t wait to wake up and see her because the dreamlike version doesn’t feel like her. I’ve had to live with the dream version for so long that while it may suffice for the dream world, it can’t hold a flame to the real Charlotte.

She’s different too… in a good way. A very good way. She seems healed in some ways.

It’s reason to be happy, but I can’t help but think of everything else that I’ve been pushing to the back of my mind.

And… yes, what I’ll do if she doesn’t choose me.

She’s happy with me, and we’re happy together, but I know it could still happen. The two weeks brings us that much closer to the end of the month.

I’ve been thinking about it all morning and decided I’d step out of the office for a break and a walk.

I ended up at the coffeehouse nearby. It’s a little walk away from the docks and at the edge of town. It’s a good thinking spot.

I’ve been here for the last hour, brainstorming over everything.

I look like a man who has tons of problems on his mind, but realistically if I were to take Tobias out of the equation, things would look like they’re going good for me.

Plans are going well with the hotel deal, contracts have been signed, and queries raised for St. Lucia.

It’s looking all good and looking like we’re about to dive into another billion-dollar business deal. I’m about to become a very rich man, and I don’t have to be the gangster I am and kill anybody for the money or steal it. I’m working legit with my brothers, who are excited too.

It’s all good, but I want her.

I want the girl, the goddess, the queen.

We’re good now, and she’ll always belong to me in every essence of the word. I just want to know what she’ll choose beyond the month.

To do that, there’s stuff I know I have to take care of.

Stuff I’ve been told to leave alone.

Tobias Antonella is still a threat. The most we know is that he’s been released from the hospital and is at his home somewhere here in Chicago. Barabbas Antonella hasn’t been seen again, but that doesn’t mean the motherfucker isn’t around.

It doesn’t mean shit to me.

Tobias is the last part of the threat. Selfishness made me want to find him and kill him. Shooting his dick off wasn’t enough because he’s still a fucking threat, and as long as he’s alive, my girl won’t truly be able to put the nightmares behind her.

But what do I do?

What can I do?

I down the rest of my coffee and get up. It’s time to go back to the office.

I have another one of those clients with another deal I have to look over the accounts for. Georgiou and Christian are usually the guys who deal with the clients who come in with millions but lately, we’ve had so many that the workload has been split between us.

Christian has been doing a lot of traveling too, so we rarely see him. Pa relies on him the most for the new business liaisons. He does a lot of the new contracts with my uncles.

Georgiou, that lucky son of a bitch has been vacationing for the last week with his wife and his best friend.

I still wonder how they explain themselves when people look at them. I get the whole aspect of sharing. I get it. I think it’s just different when it’s outside The Dark Odyssey. The first time it felt weird was when I saw him kissing Evie, his wife, while Henry, his friend, was sucking her tits. They were at my house.

I shake my head free of the memory. They’re where they are, safe, and it’s me and my brothers who are involved in the situation.

Like always.

We tend to jump into trouble, although we’re supposed to be the guys who do the books. Christian keeps himself to himself, but if we need him, he’s there. Georgiou does not fight at all.

I walk down the road, and I gaze across the docks to what I can see of the other side of town. Rutherford is there, right across the river. It’s where it all gets more suburban. Where I live is a little like that, too, but as Rutherford is all about the wealthy, it’s in the area that’s suited to it. Charlotte is so happy there I can practically see the happiness beaming from her when she talks about it. Every day she comes to me with a smile on her face. I want her to be happy completely.

The screech of tires catches my attention.

In my world, when you’re walking on a quiet street and tyres screech like that, you know to snap to attention.

Snap right the fuck to attention and definitely when you look to see a car speeding along.

Blacked-out windows on a black sedan have trouble written all over it.

It screams death, and as the car comes by me and the window rolls down, I already know there’s no point reaching for my gun. No point at all. What I need to do is take fucking cover, and that’s exactly what I do.

I don’t even need to see the gun.

I feel its presence, then I hear the bullets fly, and the rounds scream. The bullets hit the pavement I’m on, and I’m just waiting for one to hit me.

They don’t, and when I lift my head, who I see with his hand out the window, looking back at me makes my blood boil.

Fucking Tobias Antonella.

He’s driving by, looking at me and waving the gun. That shit wasn’t about killing me; it was to give me the heads-up that the games are about to begin.

And he’s watching me.

Prick…

The car speeds down the road, and people come to check on me. A cop who was across the street comes over to me. They’re asking me questions.

Asking if I’m okay.

Asking if I’m hurt.

But what I feel is rage.

Then fear.

Fear. I hate that feeling. It’s a fucked up emotion designed to screw with you.

What I feel is fear for my girl’s safety, and I run.

If he just came for me, he’ll come for her next.

Charlotte’s at home.

I message her thinking she was at the school, and she texts back to let me know she went home early with a headache.

It takes me less than half an hour to get there. I get home and see her in the kitchen making a cheese sandwich then wrinkling her pretty nose when she takes a bite into it.

“Gabe, what the hell kind of cheese is this?” She giggles when she sees me.

I can’t answer. I’m so fucking glad to see her that I just rush up to her and pull her into my arms. I hold her, and I don’t want to let her go.

“I missed you too.” She holds me and presses her head against my chest. She smells like roses today.

“Baby, did anything happen? Anybody come here before me, or anything happen at school?” I hold her out and check her over like I’m checking for injuries.

“No, I’m fine.”

“You sure? Nothing weird happen?”

She laughs. “Does the weirdness of you count?”

I release a breath and try to calm the fuck down. She’s alright, so he didn’t come for her. That doesn’t mean he won’t, though.

Or maybe it is just me.

Worry washes over her face when she sees my reaction.

“Gabe, did something happen? Tobias… did something happen with him?” Her eyes go wide with panic, and I know not to say anything else. Women out of business. It’s the first rule in our world.

Women out of business and definitely when the situation at hand involves her.

“It’s okay baby. I thought I saw something. How’s your head?”

She seems to calm. “I feel weird, and everything tastes weird. Cordelia had this stomach bug last week. I think I’m getting it.”

“I’ll take care of you. What do you want to eat?”

“Pizza,” she says without thinking.

“Goddess, you go put your feet up, and I’ll order you pizza and whatever else you want.”

“Ice cream, cookie dough with that extra chocolate sauce.”

I laugh despite my inner turmoil. It amazes me how she can eat that kind of food and look as perfect as she does.

I pull her in for a kiss and smile a smile I don’t feel.

“I’ll get it all for you,” I promise, and she gives me another kiss before heading into the sitting room.

As soon as she goes through the door, my smile falls because I have to call Vincent.

I have a target on my back.

My instructions from Vincent are to stay inside tonight with Charlotte while he goes to work on the streets to see what they’re saying.

I stay in, but I make the request that no one tells Nick what happened until tomorrow because I don’t want him losing his shit and going on the streets with the boys.

I then make another phone call to the brother I need most right now.

Salvatore comes within the hour. He’s aware of what’s going on, and the worry is all over his face.

“You alright?” Salvatore grabs my shoulder when he walks in and starts looking me over, similar to the way I checked Charlotte out when I first got in.

“I’m okay,” I assure him.

“She okay?”

“She’s sleeping. She doesn’t know.” She fell asleep a few minutes ago. Her head was paining a little more, so she went to lie down, and when I went to check on her, she was fast asleep.

“Fuck, don’t tell her anything until we need to,” he warns.

I smirk. “We?”

“Fucking prick, don’t play with me now. It’s we all the way. Nick messaged me. He heard there was a shootout near work, so he was checking in. I didn’t say the shootout was about you.” Salvatore knows Nick as well as me.

Salvatore and Nick share the same temper, and that’s saying something considering I can lose my shit at any time. I’m considered the level-headed one. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s because I’m not as crazed as these two, and I don’t have that presence Vincent has.

People find out they’ve crossed me when it’s too late, and they’re either too dead to make amends or lose a limb.

“Thanks, bro.” I rest my hand on his back and look him in the eye. The minute I do, he knows I’ve summoned him here for a reason.

I have, and it wasn’t for this friendly chat.

He tenses, but I smile. “Do you want to go smoke outside? My girl thinks it’s sexy as fuck to watch me smoke, but she hates the smell, and I want to keep the house vanilla fresh for her.”

I even sound different to myself. He nods, and we go out back into the garden and sit by the pool.

I bring out my best Cubans with a hint of oak wood. He likes those. What he doesn’t like is the suspense that looms in the space between us.

I sit opposite him and light up.

“Gabriel, talk. I need to know what’s on your mind. What’s happening? I know the gist. What I don’t have are the specs, the fine print, and details. What did that bastard do?” Salvatore straightens up.

“You know what he didn’t do? He didn’t kill me.” I smirk without humor. “The bastard didn’t kill me. He had a clear shot and never took it because he didn’t want to, although…” I hold up my finger for effect “...if the spray of bullets had gotten me, that would have been mission accomplished. Bastard would have gunned me down in the road, one more dead Giordano brother, one less Giordano to worry about. Message received loud and clear. I’m his target. The man wants me dead, but he wants to play with me first.”

Salvatore growls and bares his teeth.

“Fucking fuck that,” he hisses.

I shake my head. “Not this time. Fucking fuck my chances because I’m fucked and screwed in every which way possible because this guy is an Antonella.”

He keeps quiet at that. “Gabe, there’s… we have to do something. We can gather the boys, call Claudius again, do something.”

“I’m sure everybody will do their best in the end, Salvatore, but when you’re dealing with a madman, nothing is ever clear cut. Nothing goes the way we think it should because they’re unpredictable. Shit you never expect can happen. Everything gets fucked in a way you can’t imagine, and, Salvatore… I can’t allow her to suffer again.” Emotion takes me, and I have to set down my cigar. “I can’t. I can’t. He’ll kill me somehow, someway, and like today I won’t see it coming, and I won’t stand a chance.”

Silence takes up residence for a few seconds and makes the air heavy with tension as we look at each other.

“Ask me,” he says because he knows there’s only one reason I asked him specifically to come here. There’s only one reason why he’s the only one here. Vincent offered to come after he went on the streets, and I told him I was fine. I know Nick wouldn’t have come. He would lose his temper first, then come see if I was okay after. Salvatore, though… no.

“You have my back, bro. Now I’m going to ask you to take care of my girl if anything happens to me.”

He holds my gaze, and his face hardens. He stares at me with a deep intensity that keeps me there.

“Gabe –”

“No.” I cut in and shake my head. “Salvatore. Please. Just don’t let anything happen to her. The only other person I can trust with this is you. I ask you to look after her and… if you have any feelings at all for Mimi, please treat her right. She deserves a good man. You are that…so, if it’s more than friendship, don’t do what I did and fuck things up. That’s all I’m asking.”

He puts out his cigar, hangs his head down for a few seconds, and nods.

“Okay… yes. Yes, to both. Although I already planned to be the kind of guy Mimi deserves without you asking me if she’ll have me.”

I put out my hand to shake his, and he takes it, shaking my hand firmly. That’s it.

We’ve shaken on it.

We’ve agreed. Now we just have to see what happens next.

What will happen next?

What the fuck will Tobias do next?