Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
"Luca is handling things."
"Oh." Her brows furrow. "Why?"
"Because I'm busy."
"Doing what exactly?" She groans loudly when I smirk. "Can you be serious for two minutes?"
"Absolutely not. You're naked and dripping my cum."
"Gabriel!"
"Genesis!"
"You're so freaking lucky I lov…" She trails off suddenly, her eyes going wide. But it's too late for her to take it back. It's too late for her to pretend she wasn't on the verge of saying it.
I flip her onto her back, straddling her hips. "Finish it," I growl.
She shakes her head, frantic.
"Finish it, tesoro. Now."
"I can't." Tears well in her eyes, genuine panic setting in. "Please. I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because." She whimpers, cracking like a fragile little egg. "Because if I say it, then it's real. And you become something else he can take from me." She shakes her head again, tears spilling over. "I can't lose anything else to him, Gabriel. I can't lose you."
Merda.
I slide off her, scooping her up into my arms to cradle her close. My poor little flame. Is this what she's been carrying? Why she's fought me so fucking hard? She's afraid to need me? Afraid he'll take me from her? As if I'd let that happen.
"You aren't going to lose me, tesoro," I whisper, running my hand through her hair. "He won't ever take me from you. Not even hell itself could keep you from me."
"He's t-taken everything, Gabriel," she whispers. "He killed my dad." Her voice breaks on a sob. "He s-shot him right in front of me. He took my own agency from me, my freedom, my whole life. Everything is just gone."
"And he's going to pay for it," I vow. "For the rest of his life, he'll know exactly what it is to suffer the way you have. He'll breathe only when I remove my boot from his neck to let him breathe. He'll speak only the words we've given him permission to speak. He'll make only the decision we've made for him. He'll never be free from La Cosa Nostra. He'll never be free from me, piccola fiamma."
Every single thing he took from her will haunt him. I can't undo the last year or bring her dad back, but I can ensure that much. Alexander Santorum will rue the day he touched what wasn't freely given. He'll curse the day he ever learned her name.
I won't stop until he's wracked by guilt and plagued by ghosts.
She cries quietly in my arms, mourning everything he took from her. She's been so fucking strong for far too long. She's been afraid for far longer. She'll never know that fear or pain again. That's my purpose in life now. To ensure hers is easy. To ensure she's happy.
My heart beats for her, pounding like a war drum.
"Tell me, tesoro," I murmur, raining kisses across her perfect face. "Say the words and set us both free."
I'm not even sure if she hears me until her quiet whisper reaches my ears.
"I love you, Gabriel."
And then I find peace. I find salvation.
Chapter Eleven
Gabriel
Rafe pulls together a meeting with Santorum later that afternoon. As much as I want to leave Genesis behind, after this morning, I know that I can't. She needs to face him. She's earned the right to sit at the table and watch his fucking world crumble.
Hopefully, it'll help remind her that he didn't fucking win and that he doesn't get to fucking win. Diego is already working on the suit to have the conservatorship ended. The judge can either sign off on it of his own free will, or he can explain to the whole world why he colluded with Santorum to force a completely competent woman into the care of a man she fears.
By the end of the day, he'll be in our back pocket too. Rafe will have every branch of government in Chicago under his thumb. Untangling that should keep the FBI busy for a while. Long enough for whatever case they're trying to build to vanish in a puff of smoke anyway.
It's hard to prosecute a man who is untouchable. We're making Rafe untouchable. Santorum and his little fucked up scheme paved the way. I bet he didn't see that coming.
Rafe opts to meet Santorum at the same place we meet the heads of the other families, those who bend knee to Rafe in exchange for keeping their little piece of the piece. It's a deli midway between our territory and Genovese territory. The place has seen more than its fair share of bloodshed recently. Mostly Genovese blood.
If Santorum suspects, he doesn't balk at meeting there. As soon as Rafe dangles Genesis in front of his face, he's willing to meet us anywhere. The fucking psycho.
"Are you ready, tesoro?" I ask Genesis as Angelus pulls up out front with Rafe's Bentayga behind us.
"Yes," she whispers. She's been quiet since this morning, even more so since she found out she was coming with us to meet Santorum. I'm not sure where her head is at or what she's feeling. I fucking hate not knowing. But I'm not entirely sure she knows either.