Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (29 page)

“
Sorry
about what’s happening in your cabin, Jill,” Gabrielle
said as she dropped one of the white pills into her mouth. She found
a stack of paper drinking cups in the cupboard underneath the sink
and washed the pills down.

Clayton
walked by the door to the sitting area of the living room. Had he
been checking on her? He didn’t have to worry about her trying
to escape. There wasn’t a window in the bathroom.

But
she didn’t plan on leaving the bathroom unless he made her.
There was no desire to be around the man. She sat down on the toilet
lid again and leaned her head back. Minutes passed in silence. The
medicine must’ve started to kick in because the wooziness
consumed her head. She rubbed her hand over her eyes and let her head
drop down.

A
large crash sounded near the front door. She jerked her head up but
even the startling loud sound didn’t snap her out of her
dizziness. Maybe she’d just pass out in the tub until Mikolas
rescued her. Because he loved her. He wouldn’t let her die at
the hand of Clayton.

She
moved to the side of the bathtub and the room spun around her.

Another
crash.

“
Gabi?”

That
sounded like Mikolas. He’d found her already or was it a
hallucination? She shook her head to clear the fog. It didn’t
work.

Another
crash followed by a moan.

Her
imagination or not, Gabrielle couldn’t just sit in the bathroom
and miss the opportunity of Mik saving her. With all of the banging
around out there, it could be him needing her help. She grabbed the
towel bar and pulled herself to her feet. She rubbed her eyes to try
to wipe away the dizziness once again without succeeding. Her eyes
were heavy and begged to be closed.

She
opened the bathroom door and used it to keep herself steady. Another
groan came from her right, in the direction of the front door. The
room spun as she stepped out into the living room.

“
Gabi,”
Mik called out to her. He was on the floor underneath Clayton,
wrestling over a gun.

“
Mik?”
The image of the two men swirled together.

Mik
smashed his forehead into Clayton’s nose. At least that’s
how it looked to her. Everything was blurry and it became harder to
keep her eyes open with each passing second. A gun flew out of
Clayton’s hands and slid across the wood floor. It stopped at
her feet.

“
Get
it,” Mik yelled.

She
picked it up and held it in position. Clayton was hurt but didn’t
slow down at all. He was trying to climb off Mik but Mik held on to
him. Her eyes watered as she tried to focus. She took a step forward
and it didn’t hurt as bad this time.

But
she was woozy and the dizziness increased. Clayton looked like he had
gotten on his feet, blood pouring from his nose. Mik shortly behind
him. She took a step back.

“
Don’t
come any closer,” she ordered. She cocked the gun, blinking her
eyes quickly to clear her vision. Focus, Gabrielle. She needed the
room to stop spinning and the image of the two men to stop blending
together.

“
It’s
over for you now, Clayton,” Mik announced.

Clayton
reached toward her as she pulled the trigger. The blast boomed
through the small cabin. She landed on her butt but kept her aim on
Clayton staggering toward her. His bloody hand close to her again.

“
Shoot
again, Gabi,” Mik said.

She
fired another time. Blood flew out of Clayton’s chest as he
tumbled forward. His face bounced off the wood floor like a
basketball.

“
Oh
my God, Oh my God,” Gabrielle rambled. “I killed him,
Mik. I killed him.” Even through her sleepy fog filled mind,
her actions were real. She had killed someone. Setting the gun on the
floor next to her, she let her face drop down in her hands. Mik
scooped her in his arms and held her against his chest.

“
I’m
sorry you had to kill him, honey.” His lips pressed against her
forehead. “But I’m worried about you. Did he drug you?”

“
I
did it.” She blocked the horror on the floor by closing her
eyes.

“
What?
Your voice is going in and out. What did you say?”

Her
voice sounded fine even though all she wanted to do was sleep in the
safety of Mik’s embrace.
Sleep
.
It never had sounded better. She leaned her face against his chest
and took a deep breath of his scent. Even through the sweat and dirt,
he was heavenly.

“
Love
you.” The world faded to black.

****

Mikolas’
muscles strained as he carried the sleeping Gabrielle across the yard
in the direction of Enrico’s cabin. He hoped Enrico was doing
all right. The impact of the day’s events had hit Enrico
halfway over to the cabin where Mikolas had found Gabi. Mikolas had
sent Enrico back to wait there. The old man had argued a bit but gave
in, claiming the need to pay respects to the dead men and make
arraignments.

He
didn’t know what the rest of the night held for him beyond
protecting her while she rested. Maybe Enrico would be willing to
talk man to man with him while she was asleep. He’d pack after
that and they’d be out of there.

His
arms ached more with each step he took. Once they emerged from the
woods, he let out a sigh of relief and found Enrico sitting on the
porch, sucking on a cigar. His head was leaning against the rail with
his eyes were closed.

As
Mikolas approached the porch, Enrico looked at them. “Is she
okay?” His twisted with concern.

“
She
took some pain killers and is asleep. It looks like he roughed her up
a bit.” Mikolas started up the steps with her, holding her
securely to his chest as if she was the most precious thing in the
world. What was he thinking? She was the most precious thing.

“
Put
her in the back of the van. I want to talk to you when you’re
done.”

Mikolas
only nodded as he headed for the white van. He didn’t have
anything left in him for a fight or even a disagreement with Enrico.
Mikolas had reached his threshold.

He
opened the back door, put her on the bench seat, and spread a blanket
over her. She snuggled into the warmth around her.

Mikolas
turned back to Enrico. “She’s going to be okay,” he
said. He kept his voice quiet as he made his way back to the porch.
He sat down on the top step next to Enrico.

“
Want
one?” Enrico held another cigar out to him.

He
shook his head. “No thanks.”

Enrico
kicked a small spot of snow off the porch. “We were discussing
your relationship with my daughter earlier.”

He
ran his fingers through his hair and waited for the next bomb to be
dropped on him. “Lay it on me, boss.”

Enrico
patted him on the shoulder. “You did well tonight. You saved
both Gabrielle and me.”

“
I
didn’t save you.” He eyed Enrico with confusion.

“
You
certainly did. I was too tired to go up against Clayton. You made me
turn back—” He turned to Mikolas. “What about
Clayton? You never said.”

Even
though Mikolas preferred to discuss his future plans with Gabi, he
recounted the events for Enrico, who sat in silence until the story
ended.

“
Gabrielle
shot him?”

Mikolas
nodded. “She sure did. She’s going to be shaken up once
she’s awake, I’m afraid.”

“
She
is. I have a big mess to clean up over there.” Enrico held the
van keys out to him. “I don’t want the two of you
involved.”

“
You
can’t deal with it yourself.” Mik took the keys from
Enrico and held them in his hand, not sure of what Enrico wanted.

“
Your
dad was in an accident but he’s okay and should be out of the
hospital. Take the van to town. When you get cell service have your
dad come up here.” Enrico held out a roll of hundred dollar
bills. “Take this and go far away. Bad things’ll be
coming to our family.”

Mikolas
shook his head. “Are you sure?”

“
Don’t
question me.” His voice softened, saying, “I can see now
you’re the man who’ll take care of my baby girl. I
should’ve kept her away from the life. Now you have to. Take
her far away from Vegas, Mikolas.”

Mikolas
stood up. “Okay.”

“
And
make sure she gets medical attention.” Enrico pulled Mikolas
into a hug. “Give her a good life, Mikolas, and check in now
and then.”

Mikolas
let go of Enrico and turned toward the van. Their time had come to
move on. The journey promised to be bumpy for a while, but each mile
was worth it with Gabrielle by his side. They would get through all
life threw at them together.

Epilogue

Gabrielle
watched the waves crash against the shore. The water held amazing
blue hues, shades she doubted she’d ever get tired of watching.
It had been three years since arriving on the island and she hadn’t
regretted it yet.

She
played with the wedding band on her finger before glancing over at
her parents. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked.

Her
mother nodded as she took a sip of her fruity drink. A bright pink
mini-umbrella sat against the rim of the glass. Gabrielle had never
seen her mother happier.

“
It
is. You guys chose a fantastic place to live. Even your boutique is
doing well here.” Her father turned to Leon. “Where’s
that son of yours? You’d think he’d be in a hurry to see
us.”

“
He’s
a working man now,” Leon said with a robust laugh. Gabrielle
and Mik had been forced to relocate to a country that didn’t
extradite even though none of Mik’s crimes had been linked to
him yet, but the move had been worth the sacrifice once they became
citizens, and the island they’d moved to provided enough
solitude for her to come to terms with killing Clayton.

The
sliding glass door opened. A second later, Mikolas was at Gabrielle’s
side, giving her a kiss. “I missed you.”

“
You
should be saying that to them.” She pointed to their parents.

“
Well,
look at you, Mikolas Russo!” her mother exclaimed. “A man
in a uniform. Just as it should’ve always been.”

Mikolas
sauntered in front of them, pretending to be a model for only a
second before their parents swarmed with pats on his back and a hug
from her mother. Mik tapped the police badge on the front of the
uniform. “Did you ever think this was possible?” He
spread his arm out wide. “Any of this possible?”

Gabrielle
wrapped her arms around her husband in a hug. She looked out at the
sweeping ocean and knew she had the life she had always wanted.
Peaceful, beautiful, and full of love.

Dear
Reader,

Thank
you for reading Dangerous Flames. I hope you enjoyed Gabi and Mik’s
story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did like their story,
please leave a positive review and email me at
[email protected]
to find out how you can receive free books and other fun things.

Thanks,

Wendy
Ely

Also
from Wendy Ely

Confessions

Desert
Secrets, book 1

PROLOGUE

Chelsea’s
chin rested on the palm of her hand. Her eyes slowly drifted shut.
Once her head began to lower toward the table, she yanked it back up.
No sleeping in the coffee shop. It might draw attention to herself,
but where else could she sleep?

She
read the next Help Wanted ad. Even something temporary, a job would
be a step in the right direction. She’d have something to show
in order to get a place to live, even though the employer would
probably fire her as soon as they found out her condition. Good thing
she wasn’t showing yet. Shaking her head, she couldn’t
imagine how she’d gotten in this situation. Pregnant, a
runaway, and broke. Nice combination.

Barely
seventeen and alone in somewhere-Idaho, the world looked pretty
bleak. With only a carry-on and a one way ticket to Seattle, she had
been able to get off the bus during a rest stop and not returned at
the designated time. And it probably had been a very bad idea. At
least she could’ve slept for a few more hours on the bus.