“I’m sorry, sweetheart. So fucking sorry.”
I startled and turned.
Changed from earlier, Gabe sat on the couch pensively watching me. “You’ve been crying.”
Instinctively, I touched my tear-stained cheeks. “What are you doing in here? I want to be left alone.” My voice was scratchy.
“Salvaging what I wrecked.”
His fingers were pressed together under his chin as he watched me closely. He looked as wrecked as what I imagined I did.
After sleeping, I felt calmer. Instead of anger, sadness and loneliness filled its place.
“Can I come sit beside you?”
I shook my head and he closed his eyes.
“I deserve that. I lost my cool back there. And the worst part of all, I reminded you of Alex.”
Remaining silent, I sensed Gabe wanted me to take the lead in the conversation. Well, this was his show to right the wrong.
When he figured I was not going talk, he continued, “I am so sorry about what I did. Hell, being at my mother’s and finding Alex’s back room did a number on me. I felt like I’d been thrown back into my childhood, and I coped with things wrong. It wasn’t right.”
Drawing my knees up to my chest, I watched him.
Gabe ran his fingers through his hair. “Alex had been living with Mom for who knows how long. We found a hidden room… more like a closet behind a tattered rug on the wall.” He closed his eyes. “There were pictures of you and me leaving the doctor’s office. A schedule of when your next doctor visit is, guard rotations at the house.”
I drew in an audible breath.
“The security schedules weren’t accurate, but they were close enough. He planned to kidnap you. The warehouse I found from his encrypted papers was the location he planned to take you. I don’t know what his plan is. There wasn’t time to explain everything and I wanted to talk in private. Carson and Trent threatened to call if I didn’t tell you soon after takeoff.”
Fear grabbed me. Chasity’s warning about Alex getting me hadn’t been a junkie’s nonsensical thoughts. I needed to feel grounded in Gabe’s arms. When I reached him, there was no hesitation when he brought me into his arms.
He let out a sigh. “Thank you. I needed to feel you, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of my head. “When I saw all that, I had to get you away from your environment. Do something unpredictable. We have you covered, but I just poked the bear. No doubt he’s going to strike back and try to hurt what matters most.”
“Me and the babies.” The thought left a sickening feeling inside of me. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them.
“Yes. The men gathered it all and took it out the back door while we talked to my mother. Trent has a team looking into it. And hearing her confirm they targeted you from the beginning in order to continue their sick game. A game? A fucking game? You and I are not a game.” He took a calming breath.
I touched his cheek. “Gabe…”
“There are photos of Alex watching me for years when I was stateside. He saw the moment I fell in love with you. Willow, he has pictures of me wrapping my arms around you on the balcony the first night we made love.”
“Why now? Why did he wait all that time? Why try to ruin us?”
“Because I finally had something worth taking. I had someone I couldn’t live without. He knew it.”
The thought sobered me. The vulnerability I heard sent me on edge. All those years of watching Gabe and he never had anything worth losing… until me.
The depth of Alex’s deception went deeper than either of us imagined. Our lives were merely pieces to manipulate. But, we had each other. Through all the lies, we found our way back to the truth, the light. The darkness had no hold over us.
“I am trained to pick up on this stuff. I missed it. I fucking missed it. How the fuck was I so stupid?”
Earlier, Gabe’s state made more sense. Fear drove people to act and protect their loved ones at any cost. The anger stemmed from not being able to protect me. “Gabe.” I waited for him to look at me. “If I had to go through all this heartache to have you… I would. You are worth it.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes as they warmed, leaving the cool icy feel behind. I had him back. Completely.
“I never wanted this for you. You are my world… my life. Having all that threatened knocked me off kilter and I didn’t handle it well. You are my light, Willow. Please forgive me.”
I leaned up and kissed his mouth. “I do forgive you. We make the light together.”
“I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.” His hand moved to my stomach. “Or them.”
It seemed like we were passed the rapids and moving into tranquil water. “When did Carson find out about the trip?”
“When I found the pictures and schedules in the back room, I called Carson. He arranged for the plane. We’ve been in constant contact. He messengered your passport to the plane. Francesca packed you a bag. I know it seems like I betrayed my vow to you, but I needed to make sure you were safe first. Giving you only a piece of what was going would have been worse than withholding.”
I agreed. Every situation had extenuating circumstances. All of this was moving at an exponential rate. “Wow…”
Gabe added, “I’m not slipping into old behaviors and keeping things from you. I know it seems like it, but I’ve had to make some tough judgment calls.”
In the same situation, I would have made the same decision.
“I’m sorry, Willow. So fucking sorry.”
I heard the anguish in his voice. I squeezed him tighter to me. “I think you get a pass.”
“No, I don’t. When you have something as precious as the love I have from you, I don’t get a pass. I don’t ever get a pass. But, I had to get you safe first.”
We needed to be closer together. “Come, let’s lay down.”
Before I could put my feet on the floor, Gabe carried me to the bed. He toed off his shoes and slid us under the covers in one fluid movement. He pushed up my shirt and placed his hand on my stomach. “We’re going to get this behind us. I pray I haven’t made a mistake.”
“You know what you’re doing. I trust you. Why did you choose Italy?”
Maybe talking about his decision would ease some of the apprehension. “Trent has a team there already because of Carson’s hotel. I doubt Alex knows about the team. Trent assembled it under a different name for his global division while you and Carson were here last time.”
Dad would be proud knowing Trent had taken his company global. “Where are we going once we get there?”
“We have a couple of choices. We can go to your estate or Trent has located a cabin to use not far from your place.”
A lump formed in my throat. I hadn’t been back there since Dad died.
“It’s your choice, Willow. We need Alex to chase me without thinking. We need him to want to strike back at me. He’s a methodical bastard and will wait years to do anything. This has to end now. I can’t have him fucking with our children’s lives. I can’t.”
I understood the urgency. I felt it, too.
The longer it took Alex to find us, the longer the unease would drift around us. The chaos Gabe created might settle, giving Alex time to rethink things and eventually get to me or our children.
“I want to go to the estate. How long are we staying there?”
“Until we catch the asshole. There is no redemption for Alex. He won’t get another chance.” Gabe’s words implicated death as the final solution.
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“Can’t we turn him over to someone?”
“No.”
“Do you think he’ll know where we are?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I left him a note that said ‘Italy.’”
I sat up. “You what?” Why put a beacon right on top of us? Alex knew about my estate in Italy. In one of our arguments, he’d asked me to sell the place. Of course the answer had been no. “He’s going to come straight for you.”
“We had to take control of the situation. I know it seems rash, it isn’t. Trent and Carson both agreed to the plan. We create the fake chaos. Alex thinks I’m fleeing because I’m scared he’s too close. He’s going to think I’m reacting instead of planning. But, in reality we have the upper hand. And since we came to his turf, took his things… I’ve pissed him off. Trent is increasing the watch on the school for Alex Junior just in case.”
The memory of his mom sitting in the chair in filthy tattered clothes was still vivid. “And you told Chasity about his son.”
“Yes. I was so fucking pissed. I wanted to send Alex over the edge. I want him as irrational as I feel. I want him gone. Alex will come for me.”
Mentally, I added, And me.
This time the car ride felt more at ease with Gabe holding me close. We landed about thirty minutes ago, Carson’s plane was to be left at the airport indefinitely in case we needed to leave.
The men had outlined contingency upon contingency, estimating Alex would be in route within the next couple of days. At this point, he hadn’t surfaced. Men had been placed at his mother’s house to monitor when he came home and left. From there the plan was to track him. They wanted him to get to the airport and come here. It was all part of the plan. De Luca had also been informed.
All of this kept me nearly scared to death, but I kept a cool front. It was unfathomable how soldiers prepared for war. I made a mental note to contribute to a veteran’s facility. The respect I had for our armed forces was immeasurable with what they went through.
As the afternoon sun sank behind the trees in the distance, it cast a purple orange hue in the sky. Sunsets here were always magnificent. The stone fence approach signaled the beginning of our land.