Freeing Him: A Hart Brothers Novel, Book 2 (16 page)

“Okay.”

“Sam, do you think she’s in danger?”

“Can’t say for sure. They’re watching her every move. I think your father thinks she knows where to find you. And she pissed him off like crazy the other day. He might use her to try to get you to show yourself.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly. Mr. H., you trust that Case dude?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I think he knows. About you.”

“What do you mean?”

“That you’re here. Around.”

“You think Gabriella told him?”

“I … yeah.”

Why does this information not surprise me? Of course she would tell Case. He’s the first person she would tell. She knows I’m in danger and she trusts him. She knows he’ll help and he’ll keep her secret too. He’s smart and will know how Langston is connected to the Mob so he’ll want to help me.

“Okay, he may be the one we can use to connect with each other instead of taking a chance of meeting.”

“How?” Sam asks.

“Go to Case tomorrow and tell him what’s going on. Ask him not to involve anyone else. Ask him if we can send messages through him. He’ll know a way.”

“Okay. I’ll send you another message using a courier after I speak with Case. I’d best be on my way.”

“Thanks, Sam, and always watch your back. Oh, and can you get me an HTS uniform? That will make it easier for me to come and go in this building without raising questions.”

Sam nods. “I’ll give it to Dr. M. If she asks, I’ll just tell her to leave it in her apartment as a spare for me.”

“That’ll work. And thanks for everything, Sam.”

I wait on Gabby because if she had a confrontation with Langston, I need to know what it was about, and there may be things she needs to be aware of.

There are no guarantees she’ll even come here tonight, but I’m prepared to wait it out if I must. Around ten thirty, a key turns the lock and the door opens. She’s surprised to see me sitting at her counter. My fingers are on my lips, signaling her to be silent, until she’s closed the door behind her. The door slams shut, the deadbolts are turned, and all I see is her hair as it flows behind her as she plows into me and we’re nothing but a mass of tangled limbs.

Her fingertips press the skin on my cheeks, under my eyes, and roam over my lips as she breathes me in.

“Oh God, I’ve been so fucking
worried
about you.” Words spill from her in a rush, unfiltered and hurried, like she has a million things to say in the briefest amount of time.

“Shh, shh, slowly.”

“No! We don’t have slow, Kolson. And we’ll never have slow.” She chokes back a sob. “Langston came to see me again.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here.”

“How?”

“Sam.”

“Sam knows about you?”

“Yes. But not much. Only the barest amount.”

“Does anyone else?”

“Only you—and can I guess that Case does?”

She fidgets.With guilt, maybe?

“It’s okay, kea. If you trust him, then so do I.”

“Listen to me, Kolson. The penthouse. Kestrel left a bug when he came over the other day. In the foyer. Case checked the place over and didn’t find anything else.”

“This place?”

“Nothing.”

My body sags with relief. I never thought they’d stoop that far. “Jesus. Kestrel.”

“I know.”

“Don’t let him in again.”

“I changed the code.”

“Good.”

I hold her face in my palm, like I’m holding the dearest treasure. And, oh God, she’s so raw, so fragile right now, I’m almost afraid to ask her what I have to.

“Gabriella, what did Langston want?”

“You. He told me I fucked up with him.”

“Explain to me.”

And when she did, the world comes to a dead stop. It wasn’t just me anymore. She had made an enemy. A deadly one. The only thing in her favor right now is the fact that I’m missing and Langston needs her until I’m found. If my body turns up, then they can kill her too.

“Well, I gotta give it to you, kea. You certainly handed him his balls. I can’t say it was the smartest thing to do.”

“I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did.”

“Kolson, what’s this thing about a debt?”

“Come here.” I move to where we can sit and face each other. She needs to hear some things and the time is long gone for me to sugarcoat them. “I’m going to tell you some things and you may hate me for them. You may kick me out of your life forever and if you do, I’ll understand. But know this—I did all of this for your safety. Now, looking back, I’m not so sure it was the wisest thing, but if presented with those choices, I can’t say I wouldn’t do it all again.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

Deep breath, Kolson. You can do this.

“Right. Danny. When he disappeared. I hired someone to find him. And then I called my dad to take care of things.”

My hands hold hers tightly, our eyes locked. Her pupils dilate, black bleeding into caramel-brown irises as she listens. But one thing gives me hope. Her fingers don’t loosen. On the contrary, they clamp mine even harder, fingernails gouging into the skin on the backs of my hands.

“So what you’re saying is Danny didn’t commit suicide, that your dad’s mobster connections had him killed. Am I right?”

Hysteria edges her voice but I hold her steady and nod.

“And please remind me exactly why again.”

“There never would be an end. Even if he served twenty years, I knew he’d be released and come after you then. By that time we’d have children and he’d go after them to get to you. The idea of you and our daughter being raped by that man and then kidnapped or murdered, it was more than I could bear. So I made the call to the devil himself. I agreed to that debt. But that’s when I created Operation Dragon Slayer. I changed everything in my will and in the legal holdings of HTS and put you in as CEO.

“And Langston will never get a piece of the company. I don’t know if you even are aware of this, but if something happens to both of us, everything diverts to Case. I know you trust him and even though his company is small, he’s fair and honest. He would do right by HTS.”

“Jesus.” She rubs her forehead with our gripped hands. “Jesus. Jesus.” I can’t tell if she’s repeating it as a litany or because there are no other adequate descriptors. “I know I should feel terrible and be pissed about this. We’re talking about murder. But I wanted to kill him that day. I should have, Kolson. I should’ve been the one to do it.”

“No, no, kea. It’s best this way.”

“But it’s not. Because now your father is going to win after all.”

“No. He won’t. I’m trying to come up with a plan and I won’t let him take either of us down.”

She stands suddenly and walks away from me. I can feel the frayed edges of my nerves that have knitted together start to unravel again.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want you to risk anything. I want us to leave. To go away,” she says.

My hands reach for her shoulders and I pull her back into my chest.

“I won’t risk anything. No chance of it.”

“But if we leave, he can’t hurt us.” She’s insistent.

“I thought of that, but his reach is far, and if you leave they would look for you. They would know you were with me. Think about it. It’s nothing for him to order an execution. It would be a simple matter for him to find us both if you were to up and disappear. I had a month to prepare for mine. And then would you want to live the rest of your life in hiding? My plan is better. Flush him out and have the authorities take him in.”

She exhales and I feel her deflate. I turn her to face me.

“Trust me, Gabriella. I’ve dealt with him for a long time. I know his weaknesses and strengths and I know what will work. I need more time here. Please.”

She sighs and presses her cheek against my chest. I feel her head move up and down in agreement.

“Gabriella, I want you to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Get a bodyguard. One you can trust. Sam maybe. Or Ovaltine. Someone who can protect you from him. Someone who isn’t afraid of him.”

“It’s that bad then, is it?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you be my bodyguard?”

“What do you mean?”

Lifting her head, she stares at me. “Exactly what I said. You can come here, in an HTS uniform, at night. Get a gray wig or something. Disguise yourself even further. Like with one of those fat suits. You can work several nights a week and I can get someone else on the other nights. On the nights you’re not with me, I’ll stay in the penthouse, but on the others, I’ll stay here. With you. And Case can destroy the bug he found. Or I can set something on it to muffle it.”

This may be the most brilliant idea ever. I smile and then so does she. Then we laugh. And for the first time in ages, we kiss without urgency, as our lips curve around each other’s. Clothes puddle on the floor and we land in a pile of heat on her bed.

But soon, she’s rushing things, hands whipping across my torso like a fire is chasing them. I turn so she lies beneath me and bracket her hips with my thighs. My hands clasp hers and I kiss each finger. “Easy, Gabriella. No hurry right now.”

My head drops to her collarbone where I gently suck and leave a trail with my tongue down to her nipple.

“Teeth. Use your teeth,” she rasps.

I slide down and graze her nipple with my mouth first and follow with my teeth as I bite into her. Her fingers dig into my hips as she growls.

“More.”

I slide lower down her hips and continue to lick and nibble but then I lean over her and say, “I have the greatest desire to mark you. To smudge your creamy skin with my mouth and leave evidence of me behind. But I can’t because I don’t want anyone to suspect you’ve been with someone and it’s killing me and fueling me all at once.”

“Do it, Kolson, where no one will ever see. Do it so I can be reminded of you when I look at it tomorrow.”

My throat constricts as I look at her. And then my mouth drops down right next to her hip bone and I suck and bite her, bruising her and drawing her blood to the surface as she writhes beneath me. My hand stills her as it finds her pussy. She’s slick with need and want.

“Oh, Kolson. More. I need more.”

“Tell me.”

“You. I need you.”

“How? Do you want to drive?”

“No. I want you to.”

Taking the head of my cock, I swirl it around her clit and she makes those sweet, sexy sounds I love so much. I want this to be the best moment of her life. The best of everything we’ve ever done.

“Kolson.”

Frustration makes her jumpy. Running my hand along her neck to her shoulder, I say, “Easy, kea. We have time. Look at me. Look into my eyes, my love.”

A flush blooms up her neck and the way she looks at me squeezes the air right out of my lungs.

“Fuuuuck, I’ve missed you. Missed this,” I tell her.

That tenderness in her eyes turns my bones from solid to liquid. I want this moment to last for hours and hours.

My hips push forward, on their own accord, and I seat myself fully in her.

“You’re like hot silk swaddling my cock, kea. Holy fuuuuck. So damn good. So fucking good.”

Glazed eyes stare back at me and all I can hear are the tiny huffs of air she takes in. Her hips meet mine as she matches my rhythm and I reach beneath to cup her ass. Swiveling against her, she moans, loudly, telling me what I need to hear. She lifts her legs higher, opening up wider, giving me more room to move, and then she becomes more vocal. I begin to alternate my speed, fast at times, then slowing down to prolong this moment, watching her face, feeling her every move under me. Sweat beads my forehead and a fine sheen covers her. Hands plow through my hair and pull, my muscles jolt at the slightest touch, and I kiss her then, taking my time to tease all of her mouth.

I steal an orgasm from her and continue to move, not stopping even a tiny bit as she comes. My hands become restless, moving everywhere, greedy for every part of her as I keep up my momentum. The sounds she makes increase, become raspier, and I’m ravenous for more. I speed up until she moans loudly and then I slow down and pull all the way out and stop, only to push back in and begin all over again. My body is a live wire, ready to spark at any second. And then she groans what I want to hear.

“I’m going to come again, Kolson.”

“I am too, kea. Come with me.” I buck into her, my movements wild. Mouths together, I swallow her cries as I feel the spasms of her climax spurring me into my own. Thighs tensing, it races into my spine until I release myself into her as she arches upward.

When everything ceases, I collapse, rolling to my side, taking her with me. “I don’t want to separate. I want to stay connected with you forever.”

And with those words, just like that, she’s on top of me, kissing me, and we start again. At first, it’s only slow, short bursts of movements, until I grow hard again. It takes a while, but she bites my lips, teases my nipples, tugs at my piercing. And then, I’m sliding, sliding, sliding with her, against her, and we go at it fast and hard, rough this time. She’s the one marking me now. Her teeth sink into my chest as she sucks and pulls. It’s a savage ride for both of us. Her nails scrape as she sits on me and I can’t think of any pain or pleasure I’d rather experience. I don’t know how it’s possible to feel this way … twisted with so much emotion that I want to scream with joy yet cry in sorrow all at once.