Gabe

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “I wasn’t-”

  “No. You don’t speak. These are my kids and I will decide how to raise them. You’re not their father, Gabe. You don’t make decisions in this house.”

  As much as that hurt, she was right. I had fucked up, even though I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. There was nothing left for me to say, no way for me to defend my actions. I nodded to her and walked out the door, sulking the whole way to my truck. I prayed to God that she would forgive me. She would get over this. She had to. We were going to end up together. There was just no way around it.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I walked into the office this morning, worn out and grouchy as hell. I hadn’t slept at all last night. I just kept going over what happened, trying to figure out what the hell I could have done to talk Isa down yesterday. I came up with nothing and eventually just got up to come into work early.

  “Gabe, what the fuck, man? You look like shit,” Burg said as he walked up to me in the lobby. “What the hell is wrong? You look like you’re ready to go ten rounds with Knight.”

  “I don’t want to fucking talk about it,” I growled. He didn’t walk away though. He crossed his arms over his chest, digging in his fucking heels and staring me down. I wasn’t going to win this one.

  “Do we need to kill someone?”

  I sighed loudly. “I fucked up with Isa.”

  “Isa? Cazzo’s Isa? The same Isa that he told you to stay the fuck away from?”

  “Hey, I’m a grown man. If I want to see Isa, I’ll fucking see her. Cazzo doesn’t scare me. What’s he going to do? Beat the shit out of me again?”

  “Well, considering he did that the last time, I’d say that if he found out you were still fucking his sister, he’d put a bullet in your head.”

  “Then tell him to get his ass out here and do it. I’ve already fucking lost her. It doesn’t matter at this point,” I snapped.

  “Shut your fucking mouth.” He glanced around the lobby, looking for any sign that someone would hear, then he leaned in close. “Look, if you want to stay on Cazzo’s good side, then you need to straight out tell him what’s going on. If he finds out on his own, there’s no one that can save your ass.”

  “You know, I wasn’t even planning on sleeping with her again, but she fucking pulled me in with her sexy innocence and those damn curves. And don’t even get me started on her kids. They’re fucking cute as hell.”

  He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into Cap’s office, shoving me down into a chair. I glared at him, but he just glared right back, daring me to move.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Cap questioned.

  “This asshole apparently has a death wish. He’s out there spouting off about being in love with Cazzo’s sister and he doesn’t even fucking care that Cazzo would kill him.”

  I snorted in derision. “He could try.”

  Cap sighed, picking up the phone and dialing someone. “Sinner, get your ass up here. We have a problem.” He hung up and got in boss mode. “So, you want to tell me why you’re trying to screw up my day?”

  “If I was trying to screw up your day, I’d just call Maggie and tell her about your so called meetings that you have twice a week that you can’t miss. I’m sure she’d love to know that you’re hanging out at the bar with your friends so you don’t have to go home and take care of the kids.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line and I got the distinct feeling that if I actually did that, he would hand me over to Cazzo himself.

  “Yo, Cap, what’s…” Sinner trailed off when he saw me and Burg when he walked in the door.

  “Sit down.” Cap pressed a button on his desk that locked the door and pulled the blinds closed.

  “Shit, what’s going on?”

  Cap jerked his head in my direction. “Ask that dipshit.”

  “I’d like to know why the two of you know about this but I don’t,” Burg said. “You know, keeping this from Cazzo is the stupidest thing you guys could have done. He’s gonna kick your asses when he finds out.”

  “He’s not going to find out,” Cap snapped. “Isabella’s a grown woman. If she wants to get involved with Gabe, that’s not Cazzo’s decision. Besides, he’s in love with her.”

  “Look, I don’t know why we have to have this little pow wow. I just need to go beat the shit out of someone and I’ll be good.”

  “We have to have this little pow wow because with the mood you’re in, you’re going to start a fight that I don’t want to deal with.”

  Cap always had to have control over every fucking situation. I should have known that coming in today was a bad idea.

  “It started with her kid walking in on me taking a piss and ended with her kicking me out of the house.”

  “I’m gonna need more to go on,” Sinner said.

  “The kid walked in on me and then he started calling my dick a wee wee. I told him it was a penis and pretty soon, he was pissing all over the wall and saying penis, which apparently is a very bad word.”

  The guys all grimaced. At least they agreed with me.

  “What self-respecting man tells his son he has a wee wee?” Burg asked.

  “That’s pretty much what I said and then she informed me that I wasn’t his father. And I may have said something about how she was raising a pussy.”

  “You said that?” Sinner smacked me on the back of the head. “Fucking idiot.”

  “It wasn’t exactly those words,” I said in my own defense.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Cap argued. “If you want to keep this woman, you need to learn what not to say. You can’t go around running your mouth like that. Shit, what you did is gonna get back to one of our wives,” he pointed at me. “And then every single one of us is gonna pay for what you said. You just screwed all of us.”

  “How? I’m the one that fucked up.”

  He stormed over to me, gripping my shoulders and shaking me. “Don’t you see? Women talk about everything. They share how good we are in bed down to how painful their last period was. And once women start talking, they start comparing and thinking about the state of their own marriage. Pretty soon, all of them are bitching about us and I’m being blamed for something Sinner did last week!”

  “But why? I don’t understand why would they all want to be pissed at their husbands for something someone else did?”

  “Because women are insane,” Sinner practically yelled. “It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not. In their twisted minds, we’re all alike. I guarantee you, by tomorrow, I’m going to be hearing about how all men are the same and we all do the same shit. You gotta face it, man. We’re all in the same boat. Only it’s the fucking Titanic and we don’t have enough lifeboats.”

  “What the hell do I do? My head is so fucked up right now. I know she’s mine. I could feel it within a few days of meeting her, but she’s not convinced. She’s still fighting it and I don’t know how to fix it.” I turned to Burg. He would understand. He fell instantly for Emma. “What would you do, Burg?”

  He shrugged. “When Emma left me, I followed her.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t just follow Isa. There are no houses nearby that I can move into. Plus, she has kids. It’s not just her I have to think about.”

  “Can’t you just apologize to her?” Burg asked. “I mean, call me crazy, but I only went through those drastic measures because Emma was going through a crisis. This is different. You just said stupid shit. So, get off your ass and go apologize to her. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

  “I already tried calling her last night. Multiple times. She wouldn’t answer. I called again this morning and I even texted her. I got nothing. She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

  “Give her time to cool down,” Sinner said thoughtfully. “When I went out to California, it really gave Cara time to think shit over. In the end, she came crawling back to me.”

  Cap rolled his eyes at Sinner’s holier than thou attitude. “You’re such a jackass.”

  Burg shook h
is head. “You know why that worked? Because Cara had her own issues to work through. When she was ready, she went back to you. In Gabe’s case, he is the issue. If he doesn’t keep going after her, she might think he doesn’t really want her as much as he says.”

  Cap and Sinner nodded, not saying anything. “That’s it? You just agree with him and have nothing else to say?”

  “I’m thinking,” Sinner snapped. After a minute, he looked up like he had a genius idea. “Just sit outside on her porch. She has to let you in eventually. She’s not going to want the neighbors to see a man sitting on her porch all night and she won’t want to explain to the kids why you’re there, but she’s not speaking to you.”

  “That’s sounds like a great idea,” Cap agreed. “Right up until the point that she decides to call the police because a man is sitting on her front porch and won’t leave. Our pull with Sean only reaches so far. I’m pretty sure stalking a woman wouldn’t go over real well with the police department.”

  “That’s it!” I turned to look at Burg who was smiling like he had an evil plan. “He’s right.”

  “He is?” I was so fucking confused.

  “Of course. We need Knight. He knows all about this shit.”

  Cap picked up the phone, “Get your ass up to my office, and come alone.”

  He pressed the button on his desk, unlocking the doors and windows. When Knight entered, he re-engaged the locks.

  “Damn, this must be bad if you’re locking the doors.”

  “We need something taken care of and it has to stay between us,” Cap told him. Knight nodded, but stayed where he was. He didn’t really like being around all of us that much. “You know Cazzo’s sister, Isa?”

  Knight narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Yeah.”

  “Gabe has been seeing her and-”

  “No, I’m stopping you right there. I’m not getting involved in this shit again. I told you, I don’t do social gatherings if I don’t have to and I’m not a fucking dating counselor.” He turned for the door, but it was locked.

  “Yeah, the only way you’re leaving is if I hit this button,” Cap smirked.

  “I could just pull out my gun and shoot you,” Knight growled. “It’s been a little too long since I felt the rush from spilling someone else’s blood.”

  “And it’s been a little too long since I’ve had to threaten you with how easily I could get you sent to prison. It would be a shame to get taken away from Kate, especially now that you have a daughter with her.”

  “I know you wouldn’t really do it, but I’ll play along.” He walked over to me and yanked me up by the collar. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  “I-”

  “I didn’t want an answer. You look like shit. You have woman problems, you fix it. You don’t mope around like some pussy who doesn’t know his dick from his ass.”

  I took a little offense to that. I wasn’t acting like a pussy and I definitely knew my dick from my ass. But Knight had a knack for this sort of shit, so I chose to ignore his assessment of me.

  “Alright. How do I get her back?”

  “How bad are we talking?” he asked Cap.

  “I’d say a five.”

  “You called me in here for a five?”

  “It’s not so much how bad he fucked up but the extenuating circumstances. We need this handled swiftly and without any remorse. And under no circumstances is Cazzo to find out about this.”

  Knight nodded and released my collar with a jerk. “Alright, you’re going to need a deserted cabin, supplies for the weekend, possibly some rope, a job for Cazzo out of town, and someone to watch the kids.”

  “Whoa, you want to tell me what the plan is first?”

  “You’re gonna kidnap her.”

  “What? Are you fucking kidding me?” I looked to Cap, but he just shrugged. “So, stalking her on her front porch isn’t okay, but kidnapping her is?”

  “It’s not like you’re going to go into her house in the middle of the night with a blindfold and gag,” Cap said.

  “That’s how I would do it,” Knight muttered. “Get some Rohypnol and she won’t remember anything about you taking her.”

  “You’re fucking twisted.” Knight just shrugged, not caring if I thought he was crazy or not.

  “You wanted to know how to get her back, I’m giving you the key.”

  “Okay, so suppose that I’m able to kidnap her and get her to the cabin without making her hate me even more than she does at the moment, what then?”

  “Then you fuck her until she sees things your way.”

  “That’s it? Fucking her is your brilliant plan?”

  “If she’s not going to listen to you or talk to you, you have to put her in a situation where she’s forced to.”

  “If I may be the voice of reason,” Burg stepped in.

  “Thank God.”

  “I would suggest that instead of just fucking her, you should actually talk to her and try to work past your issues. Obviously, she’s got some aggression in terms of you having a say with her kids. Work out some kind of arrangement so that you don’t piss her off.”

  “You’re on his side? Is there anyone in this fucking room besides me that thinks this plan is totally fucked up?”

  Cap was quiet and Knight was just silently staring at me.

  Sinner cleared his throat, drawing my attention. “I think his plan might actually work.” I glared at him, but he continued. “That being said, as the only sane one in the room at the moment, I would like to point out that ever since Knight came into our lives, the methods of keeping our women have become so fucking erratic.”

  “Yet, you still have your women,” he smirked.

  “Fine, let’s say I go along with this plan, I’m gonna need someone to drive us out there and leave us. I can’t risk her trying to drive off and leave my ass behind.”

  “Right,” Cap nodded. “Let’s get a plan in place.”

  “Can I leave now?” Knight asked. “I’m gonna have to go beat the shit out of something now that I’ve had to deal with this crap.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Isabella

  “YOU WANT ME to do what?” I stared at my brother in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what he was telling me.

  “Look, Isa, this is a really good opportunity for the kids. Cap had the idea that if we all had our kids, besides babies, stay for the weekend at the kids training center, they wouldn’t feel so scared if something actually happened.”

  “I don’t understand. If what happened? You still haven’t told me exactly what this training center is for. Why would you train kids so young?”

  “It’s mostly a precaution,” he sighed. “We’ve had some trouble in the past and we’re all a bit paranoid now. The training center has former military that teach the kids what to do in certain situations.”

  “Situations like what?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Let’s say that one of the kids were to be…taken.” My eyes grew huge. Taken? The look on his face told me he didn’t really want to continue his line of thought. He could tell I was about to flip my shit. “Basically, these men teach the kids how to deal with it and possibly send us information if the chance comes up. But that’s not all,” he hurried on. “It’s also a panic room, or building. The men and women watching the kids can easily take the kids to the lower level and close off the panic level so that no one can enter. There are provisions down there and enough beds for everyone.”

  “Let me get this straight. You want me to send my two small children for the weekend to a building with people I know nothing about to learn how to deal with being kidnapped?”

  “Basically.”

  “You’re out of your mind. There’s no way in hell I’m doing that.”

  “Isa, think about it. I have a job that could potentially put you and your kids in danger. If you were to let them go to the school we’ve set up-”

  “School? You have a school? Do you know how insane that is? This is not norma
l, Sam. Normal people go to a public school. They don’t have safety procedures for kidnappings, and they definitely don’t have panic rooms.”

  “That’s because they don’t know how fucked up the world actually is. I’m telling you, if anything would ever happen, you’d be happy that you not only had access to this facility, but that your kids had the tools to remain calm and level headed if the unthinkable happened.”

  I dropped my eyes, staring at the floor. What the hell was I supposed to do. This was insane. I had an insane brother and his insane group of friends was going to get me and my children killed someday. Well, probably just me because apparently, my two and five year old would be trained to deal with these situations. They would probably know how to shoot a gun and kill people with their bare hands. I would have little ninjas running around the house and I would probably lose sleep at night for fear that they might kill me in my sleep if I told them they had to eat their broccoli. This was insane. I was insane. Because as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I liked the idea of them not being scared if something happened.

  “I must be crazy because I’m picturing Enzo karate chopping a man in the balls and Vittoria wrapping a wire around a man’s neck and killing him, all while I stand there completely useless.”

  “We don’t teach garroting that young. They wouldn’t have the strength to pull it off. They’d have to be at least-” He stopped the I glared at him and cleared his throat nervously. “Does that mean you’ll let them do this?” Sam asked hopefully.

  “Fine, but you promise me that they aren’t going to turn into killers that go around the country killing people for you because they’re small and would blend in.”

  He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me. “Not yet, but I might bring that idea up with Cap.”

  “What time will you be getting them?”

  “I’ll pick them up Friday after school. Don’t worry, this will be fun. Oh, and you don’t need to pack anything for them. We have everything they need.”