by Madison, Mia
“All these years …” He shakes his head and looks down the hall. “I gotta talk to her.”
“Give her a few minutes.”
“Yeah. Right.” Rob pokes at his food for a few minutes before his miserable glance lands on Daniel.
He looks away, then back again. “Since today seems to be ‘me apologizing for being an asshole’ day … I’m sorry I was such a shit to you when we were kids.”
Daniel looks at him a long moment, then stretches out his hand, and they shake across the table.
When Rachel comes back, Rob ’s up before anyone can stop him, taking her in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
She clings to him, her shoulders shaking. I keep an eye on them, to make sure she’s okay, but otherwise try to give them a little privacy as they stand with their heads together, talking in low voices. I hope this will start to heal the breach between them.
A few minutes later, they come back to the table. Rachel slides into her seat next to me and takes my hand, squeezing it tightly. It’s several long moments before she lets go.
When she does, it’s to ask Rob, “Did you say you were calling me?”
“Yeah. It just went to voicemail. I didn’t think anything of it until I went by your place and you weren’t there, but that teddy bear was.”
“The battery must be dead. Do you have a spare charger?” she asks me.
“In there.” I point to the charging station in the kitchen.
“I’ll be right back.”
She slips from her seat and heads for my bedroom. “So why were you calling her?” I ask Rob.
“Birthday party for my youngest. She made a special point of asking if Auntie Rachel was coming.”
Rob and his wife got married in Vegas, but despite the gossips’ predictions, they’re still together and have four kids. “Tilly’s what, three years old now?”
“Yeah, about to be four.” Rachel comes back, and he says, “Tilly asked if you were coming to her birthday party.”
“Oh, when is it?”
“This weekend.” He winces. “Sorry for the late notice.”
“I’ll be there.” She looks at me. “Do you want to come?”
“Do you really think you’re going anywhere without me? Besides, there’ll be cake.” Jokes aside, I hope we’ll have Kukor behind bars by then. But either way, it’ll be a nice distraction for her, plus a chance to spend more time with her brother.
“Good.” She smiles at Rob. “We’ll be there. What does she like these days?”
While her brother gives her the rundown on Tilly’s favorite colors, toys, and fictional characters, I huddle with my brothers and make sure all the bases are covered for protecting Rachel. We’re setting up surveillance on Kukor, and also installing cameras in her car and her home, in case he goes back there. I doubt he will, and the only way Rachel’s going inside is if I’m with her; but sooner or later he’s going to make a mistake, and we need to be ready.
Our mother comes over. “Your father and I can keep Rachel company if you have to go anywhere, Gabriel.”
“Thanks, Mom. I may need to do that later. I’ll let you know.”
She smiles, rubs a hand up and down my arm, and starts to clear the table. That’s the signal for everyone to pitch in, and soon the dining room and kitchen are clean and our visitors are filing out the door.
Rachel gives Rob a final embrace. “See you on Saturday.” He hugs her back, hard, before he lets her go and heads out.
I shut the door behind him. Rachel blows out a breath. “That’s the most … exciting start to a day I’ve ever had.”
“You mean the part before all the visitors showed up, right?”
She blushes and smiles. “That was a different kind of excitement.”
“Mmm.” I pull her close. “We don’t have anywhere to be.”
“We need to pick up my clothes before this weekend,” she reminds me. “And toiletries and all that.”
“I don’t know. I think you should always wear my clothes when you visit your brother.”
Laughing, she shoves playfully at my chest. “You’re terrible.”
“Preferably ones that look like I’ve just recently torn them off you, and might do so again any second.”
“Stop.” She’s blushing harder now, but still smiling.
“Okay.” I scoop her up, to her startled, shrieking laugh, drape her over my shoulder, and carry her to the bedroom.
Time to get down to our unfinished business.
9
The Plate Drops
Gabriel’s in a mood. He tumbles me onto the bed and covers me, holding me down with his weight, his hands linked with mine. Tracing the shell of my ear with his lips, he says, “I never did get around to tying you up.”
My hands flex instinctively. “You don’t need to tie me up.”
“One of these times, I’m going to.” He brushes his mouth over mine. “Keep you from rushing things.”
His reference to this being an ongoing arrangement doesn’t scare me like it did at first. If he can handle me getting pregnant, I can handle sticking around.
Besides, for the first time in almost twenty years, it feels like I have my brother back, the way we used to be. If that can happen, anything’s possible.
“I don’t rush things.” I nip at his chin. “You go too slow.”
“No, I don’t.” He nips at my earlobe, making me gasp as the tiny flash of pain sends a jolt of sensation to my clit. “You just want to be in control.”
“Can you blame me?” I try to flip him, but he’s got me pinned too securely.
“Can’t blame you for trying.” He licks a line down the side of my neck. “So long as you know that’s a fight you’ll never win.”
“I bet you’d trade me control for blowjobs.”
“Brat.” The kiss is wet and wild and deep, and when it’s finished, we’re both breathing harder. “I might trade you limited control, for a limited amount of time.”
“I’m willing to develop those negotiations.”
His wicked smile kindles an answering heat in my core. I arch my hips against him, and he shifts so his erection’s rubbing my clit. “I bet I can make you come with your clothes still on,” he says in my ear.
My pussy’s clenching, eager for him to fill me. “I’m sure you could, but why would you want to?”
“Because it’s fun.”
I buck against him. “I want you inside me.”
“Rachel.”
His serious tone catches me off guard. “What?”
Gabriel looks down at me, his gaze solemn but tender. “Will you show me your photographs?”
My heart falls open. “Yes,” I whisper.
“I want to see them.”
The words are right there on the tip of my tongue, those three words I thought I’d never say to anyone after my mother died. “I’ll show you.”
“Good.” He kisses me again. The hunger’s there, but it’s laced with that same tenderness, and it turns me molten.
I answer him with a fierceness that almost stuns me, but he’s ready for it. He takes my fire and gives it back to me, and I’m already on the verge by the time we’re naked and he fills me with a single hard stroke.
My head goes back. “Gabriel!”
He’s not holding back this time, and the raw power of his body as he rides me ignites all my most feral impulses. I rake my nails down his back, demanding more, meeting him thrust for thrust until he’s pounding me hard and fast.
The climax hits me like a lightning strike, turning me inside out, but Gabriel doesn’t stop. “Again,” he growls, drilling into me like a jackhammer, and my body obeys, convulsing around his cock, the pleasure so huge it’s almost too much.
He drives me up and over one more time before he finally lets go, burying himself deep inside and flooding me with the warmth of his seed, my womb clenching spasmodically, my muscles milking him for every last drop.
When my brain cells
reassemble themselves into something vaguely resembling consciousness, he’s still on top of me. I love his weight, his solidity, pressing me into the mattress. Except for needing to breathe, I could lie here forever.
With a groan, he reverses our positions and draws the covers up over us. I sprawl blissfully on top of him, too content for words, and drift into sleep.
* * *
“You don’t think it’s too big?” I ask.
“The bigger the better, I say.”
I stare at the enormous plush toy. “I just don’t want it to look like I’m trying to score points.”
Rob told me Tilly’s current favorite color is purple, and that she loves stuffed animals, especially elephants. So finding one in a beautiful shade of lavender seems like a sign. It just so happens that it’s also the largest animal the store has on offer.
“I think you’re overthinking this.” Gabriel gives my hip a gentle squeeze. “It’s a thoughtful gift, and Tilly will love it.”
“You’re right. I’m being silly. I need to stop worrying.”
He presses a kiss to my temple. “You’re not being silly; your brother’s important to you. But I think he’s going to be grateful that you came, and nothing else really matters.”
“Thank you.” I blink back an unexpected surge of emotion. “You’re rather wonderful, you know that?”
“Don’t go giving me a big head.”
I smirk, even as my face gets hot. “What happened to the bigger, the better?”
That gets me his wicked grin. “Come on, let’s get Tilly’s elephant and hit the road.”
Rob’s front walk is decorated with balloons and streamers. We go inside, and then into the back yard, to find a cacophony of children playing a game on the lawn while their harried but stalwart parents try to keep things on track.
Stacy, Rob’s wife, comes to greet us. “Oh, lord,” she says with a laugh when she sees the size of the gift bag in Gabriel’s hand.
“I’ve got the receipt if you want to return it,” I tell her apologetically. “It was the only one in the right color.”
“If it’s purple, she’ll be over the moon.” She draws me into an embrace. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” I’m getting emotional again. “Um … can I help with anything?”
“It’s all under control, believe it or not, despite the chaos.” Gabriel gets a hug too. “We’re putting gifts right over there, and that table there has snacks and drinks.”
I head straight for the snacks. I’ve been ravenous for days; in fact, all I’ve wanted to do all week is eat and sleep. And have sex, of course.
Loading some veggies and dip onto a plate, I twirl a baby carrot into some hummus and pop it in my mouth. “Mmm. So good.”
Gabriel, having left the elephant with the other gifts, joins me and snags a piece of celery off my plate. “Hey.” I poke him teasingly. “Get your own food.”
“I like stealing yours better.” He offers me another baby carrot, and it reminds me of our meal at Armando’s … and of the games we finally got around to playing with that chocolate syrup. I hold his eyes as he slips the carrot in my mouth, and see an answering heat in his gaze.
A little girl careens into us and away again, seemingly unbothered by the collision. We watch her run back to the group before Gabriel says, musingly, “Have I mentioned that twins run in my family?”
My womb convulses. “Is that so?”
“Mmhmm. Lots of Adamo twins.”
I’m trying to think of a suitable response when I remember. “Oh, Gabriel, we left the fruit punch in the car.” Rob texted us to ask if we could pick some up on the way, because the parent who was supposed to bring it canceled at the last minute due to their four-year-old’s sudden bout of flu.
“I’ll get it,” Gabriel says, and kisses my cheek. “Be right back.”
I circle the edge of the yard, staying out of the way of all the children running back and forth in some kind of relay race, until I reach a shady spot near the garage. This neighborhood has alleys that run down the center of each block behind the houses. The garage has a side door that opens onto the back yard, and there’s a separate gate in the fence, near where it joins the side of the garage, that leads out to the driveway and then the alley.
There’s a big tree in this corner of the yard, and it shades a portion of the lawn as well as the driveway. It’s warmer today than it’s been all year; summer’s not far off. I stand by the gate, watching the kids, wondering if I had that much energy when I was four.
Air moves against my skin; a draft, coming from behind me. I start to turn toward the gate when there’s a sharp pain in my arm.
The plate drops from my hand as darkness closes in.
10
All There Is To Say
I’ve just come into the house with the fruit punch when Stacy screams Rob’s name. I drop the plastic jug; it bursts open, spilling red liquid across the tile entry, as I sprint through the house and into the back yard.
There’s a gate standing open in the fence by the garage. I spot a paper plate, white against the green grass, and my heart stops for one sickening moment. Rob’s running that way; it feels like he’s moving in slow motion.
I don’t stop to ask questions. Racing through the gate, I reach the alley and look both ways. A white panel van is driving away and I go tearing after it.
Only a few seconds pass before the driver realizes I’m in pursuit and hits the gas. The van accelerates, screeching around the corner and onto the street. I keep running, fueled by fury and fear.
There’s no sign of the van when I reach the street. Pulling out my phone, I call Rafael. “The fucker’s got her,” I rasp out when he answers. “White panel van. Couldn’t get the plates.”
“I’ll start tracking. Get to your vehicle.”
Rob runs up to me, wheezing. He looks like he’s about to puke, but his eyes are hard. “Tell me what to do.”
I head back to their yard so I can cut through the house to the street where I’m parked. “Stay here. Stacy might need you.”
“She won’t need me. She’s the most competent woman I know.” Rob follows me out to my SUV and grabs my arm as I’m about to get in. “Gabriel. For fuck’s sake, let me help.”
No time to argue. “Don’t slow me down. Do whatever I tell you.”
He runs around and hurls himself into the passenger seat a second before I peel out. I call Rafael back on the Bluetooth system built into the car. “Update.”
“They’re headed north on Whitburn. Take Central Avenue to the freeway.”
Despite all our surveillance, Kukor disappeared this week. It’s like he had a sixth sense about it and knew we were watching. Since he was underground, we took preventive measures.
One of the things we did was add tracking devices to everything Rachel might have on her person. Her phone, her watch, her purse, even her clothing. She hated it, but she didn’t argue.
“You still know how to handle a gun?” I ask Rob as I gun it down the freeway.
“Yeah, I’ve kept up. I train once a week.”
“Backup piece in the glove compartment.” I’m already wearing my usual gun. I watch from the corner of my eye as he retrieves the weapon, ejects the clip, inspects the gun, and reloads it with crisp efficiency. “Keep the safety on.”
“No shit,” he says, and I almost smile.
“He’s turned east onto Greenport,” Rafael says. “Daniel and Nico are in pursuit from the south, and Stefano and Enzo are angling in from the west. Where are you now?”
“Coming up on Singer.”
“Take Reynolds and go west. Unless he turns again, you should be able to cut him off.”
I blow past Singer and cut across to take Reynolds. Freeway traffic’s not too bad at the moment, but surface streets are crowded. When I hit the intersection at the bottom of the off-ramp, I take the shoulder, flashing my headlights and honking the horn fire-truck style, and get across against the red light.
/> “Heading west on Reynolds,” I report.
“He’s five blocks away on Greenport. Take a left on Birch. Daniel and Nico are close behind him.”
I blast the horn and flash the lights again, and drivers let me through. I’m amazed we haven’t picked up a police pursuit yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Except it looks like we’ll get to him first.
“One block out from Greenport on Birch,” I tell Rafe.
“He’s right there, waiting at that light. Looks like he’s one car back from the front.”
Just as the light changes, I hit the intersection and spot the van. Before traffic can move, I block his lane and Rob and I are out of the SUV, guns extended. “Hands up, asshole!” I bellow.
Kukor — and it is Kukor, the little shit — jumps out and hightails it the other way. He gets five cars down before Daniel kicks open his driver’s side door and the stalker runs headlong into it.
It’s a satisfying moment, but that’s all I see because I’m inside the cab of the van, shutting it down and grabbing the keys. The front of the van is sealed off from the storage area, so I have to go around to the back to open it up, Rob at my side.
Rachel’s sitting up on the rubber-lined floor of the van, looking pale and ill. I jump in and haul her into my lap. “It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
“Gabriel.” She huddles into me, but stretches out a hand to her brother. “Robbie.”
Rob squeezes her hand, gives me a nod, and climbs back out, leaving us alone. In the distance comes sound of sirens approaching. I kiss the top of Rachel’s head and cuddle her even closer.
“Did you get him?”
“We got him. He’ll never bother you again.”
She kisses my neck. “I knew you’d come.”
“Always. I’ll always come for you.”
For now, that’s all there is to say.
Epilogue
Armando’s is even busier than usual, but there’s a large booth in one corner marked Reserved. “Is that ours?” Gabriel asks Nia.
