Young Love Murder (7 page)

“
Well
, what did you tell him?” Gabriel prompts impatiently.

“I didn’t tell him anything, but if you must know,
no
, he isn’t my boyfriend. I don’t believe in relationships.” Not a lie.

“Well, who is he?” Gabriel asks again in a more impatient tone. Clearly, Gabriel is used to getting what he wants and not having to wait for it.

Letting a long moment pass, I pretend to study the red nail polish on my fingernails. “Why, do you want me to hook you up with him?” I tease, still not giving him a straight answer.   

“No, but Max may be interested,” he retorts, before moving on to the next question, “So, do you like Max?”

“Is this the part where I check the box ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”

“Why is it so hard to get you to answer a question seriously?” he asks in exasperation, his eyes flaring wide. 

“Why do you care?” I counter, realizing that I’m messing with him for my own amusement, not to further the assignment. Staring at the incoming waves, it’s beautiful, but I’ve enjoyed watching the sunset from my balcony even more the past few nights.

“See! That’s what I’m talking about!” He grabs my forearm to pull me to a stop and I contemplate throwing him onto his back, watching him slam into the sand. We’re facing each other and I’m staring up into his piercing green eyes. Damn those eyes, something about looking into them makes me uncomfortable. Gives me the feeling that he’s going to see more than what I present on the surface. Discover my secrets. The way he’s looking at me, like he’s trying to figure me out, not just get into my pants, again makes me want to slam him to the ground.
Looking deeper will get you nowhere, Gabriel Sanchez.

“It’s going to get dark soon,” I tell him, glancing away before he can see any of my true feelings. “We should head back.”

“Not for a couple more hours. Besides, I like the dark,” he murmurs. “It gives us privacy for this.” Weaving his fingers through my hair, near my scalp, he brings my head forward to meet his lips with mine. I allow it. The instant our lips touch, it feels as though I’ve been shocked with a stun gun set on a low voltage, but in a good way. Pulling back from his lips, I see the same confusion on his face that I’m feeling. Something about this kiss was different than others I’ve experienced. Disturbed, I start to pull away as he whispers, “Shh,” then brings his lips back down onto mine. 

The spark is still there and, as the kiss deepens, it feels like the whole world is disappearing around us. Fastening my arms around his waist, I forget this is a job. I forget that his father is the target. I kiss him back as passionately as he’s kissing me. A part of me is alarmed because it feels better than it should, better than it has before. He lowers me onto the sand in a practiced move and begins to kiss a slow path down my neck, making me moan softly. One of his hands is still tangled in my hair while the other has forged a flaming path along one side of my body ending on my thigh, gripping it, branding it with his touch. Lying on the cool sand, his heat feels more intense as my own hands grip his back through his thin shirt, pressing him closer to me. I want more, need more of him. 

He pulls his head back slightly, not putting much space between us, but enough that I’m again looking into his mesmerizing eyes, eyes that gleam with possession. “You’re mine, Anna.” He’s not smiling smugly as I would have thought, and the sincerity of his words is evident.

His bold statement snaps me out of my stupor. Shaken, I quickly scramble up and start backing away. “I’ll never belong to anyone,” I say like a spaz and whirl around to jog away like a coward. God, I hope Jackson wasn’t watching that pathetic spectacle from the balcony. Passing the spot where I left my shoes, I grab them. Clumsily, I put them back on, not bothering to brush off the sand on my soles, and rush into the hotel.

Not once do I stop to look back at Gabriel, half-afraid of what I might see and strangely half-afraid of what I might
not
see. These feelings make no god damn sense to me! Once I’m alone in the privacy of the elevator, I lean against the wall and take a deep, calming breath.
See, that anomaly was nothing to worry about, Annabelle, just a surge of teenage hormones trying to get the better of you.
Looking at myself in the mirrored elevator wall, I smooth down my mussed hair. Don’t want to give Jackson anything to make fun of.

A contrary part of my brain makes me question if what just happened out there was just teenage hormones. That was the most unsettling moment ever in my career thus far. I’ve kissed lots of guys and I’ve never experienced anything like that. The word ‘love’ flashes through my mind and I give my head a shake. Love is for fools. Gabriel isn’t any more interested in love than I am. Lust would be a more appropriate description of what happened down on that beach.
Careful, Annabelle, or you’re going to sabotage your own assignment.
Getting emotionally involved leads to problems, both Marie and Simon taught me that.

Getting access to Xavier Sanchez’s home would have been easier through Gabriel, but I obviously can’t trust myself around him. As I get off the elevator, I decide that I’ll just have to use Max to get to Xavier. Gabriel isn’t an option anymore. The less time I spend with him the better. After all, I
will
be killing his father. 

Gabriel

She felt it too.
I’ve never felt anything near as powerful as that with any other girl.
Wonder what the sex will be like.
The words ‘on fire’ come to mind. Usually, when I’m kissing a girl I’m thinking about moving on to the sex. With Anna, I could have just kept kissing her forever. Jesus Christ! I sound like Max, all hung up on some girl. Next I’ll be reading poetry and watching chick flicks. Not that Max does either,
but still
.

Whatever! All I know is that Anna can run away all she wants, but she can’t deny that there’s something between us, something hot and worth exploring. Deciding to give her a short reprieve, because the girl was all worked up, I get into my car and drive home. When I get there Max is waiting for me in the formal living room. Big surprise, he’s at my house more than his own. Plus, he plans on shooting me in my sleep.
Uh-huh, sure
.

In jeans and a t-shirt Max looks out of place in the posh, airy space. With ivory leather sofas, plush sand-colored rugs and crystal tumblers with candles or fresh cut orchids floating, this room always makes me feel like I’m going to break or stain something. The cashmere curtains are swinging with the breeze from the open French patio doors, which makes the room a little less stifling. My mom could be an interior designer if she wanted to, though I refuse to let her redecorate my bedroom. The thought of sailboat wallpaper makes me shudder.

“Leave her alone,” Max says heatedly before I can even get out a hello.

Okay, so that’s how this is going to play out. Pretending to think it over, I slowly say, “No, I don’t think I will.” 

“You can have any girl you want. Let me have this one,” he says.
Please
, like he ever suffers in the girl department.

“Well, this is the only one I want. I think I’ll even keep her for a month or two,” I say airily, meaning it and more. 

Not giving up, he takes another tactic. “I really like her.”

“You like all of them,” I scoff, unwilling to take him seriously.

“She’s different.” His eyes are showing that maybe she is different for him.

“I’ve heard that before.” I’m actually starting to feel a little bad about it, but I’d feel bad for me too, if I gave her up. Which Max will be the one to do.

My mom walks into the room, obviously just coming in from the pool in her sarong, with her blonde hair wet. Unaware of the hostility in the atmosphere, she asks, “Max, are you staying for dinner?”

“No,” Max replies and leaves the room abruptly. The squeak of his shoes on the marble entryway precedes his slamming of the front door behind him. Max and I haven’t thrown down in a while, but with my mom showing up it wasn’t an option. It upsets her to see us fight.

“What was that about?” my mom asks in bewilderment. 

I make a sympathetic face, with a matching tone. “He just got dumped, poor guy.”

She looks worried. “Maybe I should call your aunt. Who was the girl?”

Waving my hand in a dismissive gesture, I tell her, “Some teen harlot. The school’s rife with them.” Then deciding to change the subject to her favorite one, I ask, “Is dad home?”

“No, he’ll be gone for a few more days,” my mom says sadly.

I never know when my dad will be home or not and to tell the truth, I don’t think my mom ever knows either. To distract her, I pull her into a quick bear hug, which I’ve always thought was funny since I grew bigger than her at the age of twelve. With her being just a few inches over five feet, I tower above her at six feet now. 

“Let me take you out to dinner, mom.”

She eyes me suspiciously, with green eyes so like my own. “I’m not upping your allowance again, Gabriel.”

Giving her an insulted glare, I hold back my smile. “Can’t a son just show his mom that he appreciates her?” And I do. After all, I was a nine pound baby. Squeezing me and my big head out had to of hurt. The woman deserves some appreciation with my dad always gone while I was growing up. She sometimes had to be both the mom and the dad. 

“Alright, but I’m
still
not raising your allowance.” She attempts a stern look, but it crumbles into an affectionate smile. 

Giving her a look of mock hurt, I respond, “Gee, love you too, mom.” Just to be a brat, I add, “But you won’t ever hear those same words from me when you’re in a nursing home.”

Narrowly, I miss her swatting hand.

Lying in bed later that night, I’m wishing I’d had the common sense to at least get Anna’s phone number. I could be working my vocal magic on her right now. Guess the magic will just have to wait until school tomorrow. Probably for the best, I tend to be a lot for a girl to handle.

Getting to school early, so I don’t miss her arrival, I wait in the parking lot, sitting on the back of my car with my feet propped up on the bumper. Max pulls into the parking lot ten minutes later. I hope he isn’t still mad at me, thinking murderous thoughts involving a gun and my head. When he steps out of his car, I wave him over. Instead, he ignores me and circles around the back of his car to open the passenger door. Out steps Anna. What the
fuck
is going on?

They proceed to walk over to me hand in hand. Anna doesn’t even look me in the eyes or say ‘hi’, but Max is looking friendlier than the last time I saw him. “How’s it going, Gabe?” At my dirty look, he starts looking guilty, as he should.

“Just
dandy
,” I barely get out through my clenched teeth. Glaring down to where their hands are joined, I have the urge to rip them apart and yank her away from him. “I need to get to class.”

As I walk to class, Carmen bugs me again and I think about having some angry sex out in the parking lot. However, I don’t want to encourage her and I’m so tired of her stalker bullshit. Before she can say anything more in that whiney tone, taking my anger out on her I yell, “Get the hell away from me you psychotic bitch!” Her friends standing a few feet away look at me like I’m scum, so I flip them off.

Making it to my first class, I slam my backpack down on the desk, making a girl jump in the seat in front of mine. I grumble an apology, taking my seat. What the hell happened between the time Anna ran away from me at the beach yesterday afternoon and this morning? I thought she didn’t have his number! Did he get hers during one of their classes? How could she be with him after the
multiple
kisses we shared? I know I didn’t imagine how breathlessly she kissed me back. 

I sit through my first four classes, thinking over everything she said to me yesterday, everything I said to her, trying to figure out what went wrong. She seemed
way
more interested in me than Max. It was
me
that she was playing games with, not my douche of a cousin. Avoiding sitting with them at lunch, I instead watch them from where I’m sitting a few tables away. Seeing them kiss, I want to beat the shit out of my own cousin in a way that ends with him unconscious. No matter how much I tell myself that she’s just another chick and that there’s always more where she came from, I can’t stop seething.