I answered the call. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Well, she’s moved in,’ he said as he blew out a long breath.
‘Something wrong?’ I asked.
‘She’s a bit demanding, isn’t she?’ he started to laugh.
‘That’s an understatement, mate,’ I agreed.
‘And I know you told the lads that she was an old friend …’
‘Yeah, so?’ I asked. I’d had a team of my employees helping Jennifer move, but only Scott knew me well enough to know that she was actually my ex-wife.
‘Well, she’s told all of the lads that she’s having your baby, and basically referring to herself as your wife.’
‘What? For fuck’s sake,’ I seethed. I had specifically asked her to keep that shit to herself. Not to mention, that she hadn’t been my wife for a long time.
‘I told the lads she was your ex-wife, and that you were just helping her out. But I just thought you’d want to know what she’s saying.’
‘Thanks, Scott,’ I said with a sigh. ‘She’s sorted now though? Is the electric and water and everything sorted?’
‘Yep. She shouldn’t need to bother you for anything like that, Boss.’
‘Hmm. She shouldn’t, but no doubt she will.’
Scott laughed. ‘I’d better get back to it and make sure she doesn’t need anything else before we leave.’
I hung up the phone and leaned my head back against the headrest. I closed my eyes and felt the weight of the past twenty-four hours sitting heavily on my chest. I was so fucking tired. My jaw ached and my head throbbed. But I couldn’t go home to an empty house where all I would see was Samantha. The only other option was to go to work.
I hadn’t worked as a bouncer for years, but the thought of doing that tonight suddenly seemed like a welcome one. It never hurt to have an extra body on the doors of some of our more troublesome establishments. Hopefully, someone would piss me off soon enough and I’d be able to take all of my anger and frustration out on them.
I knew that I needed to have a word with Jennifer and tell her to stop calling herself my fucking wife, but I couldn’t face speaking to her. I couldn’t even stand to think about her. I wanted nothing to do with her, but if she really was having my baby, I knew that was impossible.
Chapter 6
Samantha
It had been two days since Jennifer had turned up at Gabriel’s house and blown my world apart.
I hadn’t spoken to him since. I couldn’t. I was too angry and too emotional. I was too heartbroken to even look at him. He had called and texted me over and over, leaving voicemails begging me to speak to him. His betrayal had cut me deeper than anything else I had ever known. But I knew that I couldn’t put him off much longer.
We needed to talk. I needed some answers. And also I needed him to know that it was over. That was why I’d invited him round to my dad’s house.
My heart leapt into my throat when I heard the sound of the doorbell. I knew it would be him. Right on time.
A few moments later, we were sitting at the large wooden table in my father’s kitchen, staring across at each other awkwardly. I didn’t even know where to start.
‘I’m sorry,’ he started for us.
‘How could you, Gabe? Jennifer?’
He put his head in his hands. ‘I know,’ he said as his shoulders slumped.
‘When did this even happen? How?’
He looked up at me. ‘It was a few weeks after we’d split up. I was in the club. I’d drank half a bottle of whisky. I was completely wasted. She was there,’ he said with a shrug and then he looked down at his hands.
‘And?’
‘She asked me if there was anything I needed. We had sex in the disabled toilet.’
‘Classy!’ I sniped.
‘It meant nothing to me, Sam.’
‘Tell that to the baby you put inside her.’
He swallowed. ‘Please come home. We can work through this.’
‘How, Gabe? You screwed your ex-wife and she’s having your baby. Tell me exactly how we’re going to work through that?’
‘We’ll figure it out, Sam. You and me –’
‘There is no you and me,’ I interrupted him and I saw the hurt on his face but it was nothing compared to the hurt that I was feeling.
‘Don’t say that,’ he growled at me.
‘You fucked your ex-wife!’ I shouted.
‘When you and me were broken up, Sam. You told me you didn’t love and me you didn’t want to be with me. I thought we were over. I was all over the fucking place.’
‘But her, Gabe? You could have screwed any woman you wanted.’
‘Well, the one I wanted wouldn’t give me the time of day!’
I took a deep breath. I deserved that. And as much as I felt betrayed, he was right about us being broken up. But that didn’t change the fact that Jennifer was pregnant, and she was having his baby.
I veered between angry and devastated, and as the anger subsided, I knew in my heart that Gabriel would be hurting as much as I was.
‘I can’t share you with her,’ I said as I felt a hot tear running down my cheek.
‘You don’t have to share me, Sam,’ he frowned.
‘Really? You don’t think that she’ll need you? You don’t think that she’ll phone you every time she’s worried that the baby hasn’t moved, or when she thinks every twinge means there’s something wrong? When she needs peanut M&M’s in the middle of the night?’ I stifled a sob.
He shook his head. ‘You will always be my priority.’
‘You can’t say that, Gabe. Not when you have another child on the way. I know you. You will be the best dad you can be to both of your children, and I love that about you.’
He stared at me.
‘But that’s why I can’t do this. I can’t bear to be sitting at home while you’re with her. I don’t want to be the one who is always making you choose. Because I know you would choose me if I forced you, and I can’t be that person. I love you too much to make you do that.’
He glared at me. ‘You can’t be serious. Please, Sam! Just let me figure this out. I can make this work but I need you by my side.’
I shook my head as the tears started to fall faster. ‘You don’t. You need to do this alone. You’re about to be a father to two amazing children, and you need to focus your attention on that. Not me.’
‘No, Sam! Don’t tell me what I need. I need you,’ he banged his fist on the table.
‘Even if you think that, I can’t do this, Gabe. I don’t want to be the other woman.’
He scowled at me. ‘You’re not the other woman,’ he snapped. ‘It was one time, Sam. It was a mistake. Don’t throw away everything we have because I made a mistake.’
I shook my head. ‘I’ve made my decision. I want you to be in our child’s life, but you and me are done. It’s for the best, and one day you’ll realise that too.’
He scowled at me. ‘You don’t get to just decide that we’re done, Sam. And I will never agree that us being apart is for the best.’
I didn’t argue back. He was angry and hurt. But then so was I. ‘I think you should leave. There’s nothing left to say.’ I said as I wiped the tears from my cheeks.
He glared at me for a few moments and I wondered if he was going to refuse to leave and what I would do if he did. Then he stood quickly, pushing his chair back so hard it almost toppled over. ‘We’re not done. Not by a long shot,’ he said, but then he turned around and walked out of the kitchen and out of the house.
I rested my forehead on the cool wooden table as the sobs convulsed through my body. I had lost the only man I’d ever loved and it hurt like hell.
Chapter 7
Gabriel
I climbed into my car and punched the steering wheel. I felt a rage inside me so fierce that I could taste it in the back of my throat. I was angry at Samantha, and the fact that she seemed to have all the power to decide whether we were over or not.
I was ang
ry with Jennifer for turning up and tossing a hand grenade into what had been my almost perfect life.
But mostly, I was angry with myself. How could I have been so fucking stupid to have gone anywhere near my ex-wife? How could I have jeopardised what I had with Samantha? And for nothing more than a quick, unenjoyable, and completely meaningless, fuck!
As much as I told myself that Samantha and I had been broken up at the time, I had known on some level how much screwing Jennifer would hurt her.
Perhaps I should have told her? But I had honestly thought there’d be nothing to tell. If she’d had a meaningless encounter while we were apart, I’d have rather not known about it. I had made sure I was careful. I’d used protection. So, why was Jennifer pregnant and claiming her kid was mine?
I didn’t believe her. But I knew that my disbelief may have been borne out of my desperate need for her to be lying. Whether Jennifer was lying or not, Samantha believed her, and even if it wasn’t my child, I’d still fucked her. Until I could find out the truth for sure and have a DNA test done when the baby was born, I supposed I had to give Jennifer the benefit of the doubt.
I started the engine of my car and pulled away from the kerb. My pulse throbbed in my fingertips as I gripped the steering wheel. I needed to do something about all this tension and anger that was coursing through me. I looked at the clock and realised that it was about time for the night shift to start for our bouncers. It had been a long time since I’d worked on the doors of nightclubs, but I’d done it last night, and it had been a welcome distraction.
I wasn’t sure my employees all saw it that way, given that I’d tried to pick a fight with any fucker who’d even looked at me the wrong way. But what else was I supposed to do? Go home to my empty house and think about Samantha not being there with me? I couldn’t do that. It was fucking torturous.
I drove to the nightclub that Sebastian and I owned. I’d work for a few more hours until I was too exhausted to do anything more than sleep. And I’d do my best to keep my temper in check, whilst secretly hoping that some idiot might try and push my buttons anyway.
Four hours later, I was standing outside the nightclub with three other bouncers.
It had been quiet – too quiet for my liking. People just didn’t kick off these days like they used to. My bouncers assured me it was because they did such a good job, and because our firm was too well respected for anyone to take the piss, which under any other circumstances, would have made me happy. But tonight, I just wanted to punch someone’s face in.
I watched the couple walking out of the club a few moments later. The woman looked at least ten years younger than the man she was with. She was unsteady on her feet and stumbled towards him. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and leaned in towards her ear as they approached the entrance. Something about the way he touched her, and the look on her face when she heard whatever he said, made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
But, I had promised to be on my best behaviour.
They walked past us. He nodded as he passed. ‘Night, lads,’ he said with a wink, as though we were his comrades. He still held onto her arm, his fingers pressing into her soft flesh, and she looked down at her feet, not making eye contact with any of us.
I stepped out of the doorway when they left, watching them walk up the street. They had walked a few hundred yards, and when they’d reached a distance away, one which he incorrectly assumed they were no longer being watched from, he did it. He turned his body and threw her against the wall, one of his large hands on her throat. She pulled at his arm but he only pressed his face closer to hers.
I ran down the street towards them, thinking about Samantha and all of the times she must have had to fight off her cunt of an ex-husband. I reached him quickly and he turned to me with a look of shock on his face. I heard footsteps behind me and knew that one of my bouncers would have followed me for back-up. Not that I needed it.
‘Let go of her, or I will break every one of those fingers,’ I snarled at him.
She looked at me, her eyes wide in fear and he glared at me. He was a big fella, and no doubt he thought he could handle himself. ‘This is none of your business, mate. This is between me and her,’ he snarled back.
I stepped closer to him. I considered giving him another warning given what was about to happen to him. After all, how was he to know who he was dealing with? A few days earlier, I might have.
But not tonight.
I grabbed hold of his wrist, the one he had her by the throat with, and squeezed hard. He looked at me, blinking as though he was shocked by the amount of pain you could feel from someone simply squeezing your wrist. As he released his grip on her, I twisted his arm backwards until I heard a satisfying pop and he screamed in agony.
The woman rubbed at her throat and stepped away from him, towards my bouncer, Scott, who was standing by us now. Scott put a protective arm around her as I brought her attacker to his knees. I had his wrist twisted and his fingers splayed in the air when I noticed his wedding ring.
‘Is this your husband?’ I asked her.
‘No,’ she sniffed. ‘He’s a photographer.’
‘A photographer?’ I snarled as I brought my boot up and used it to kick him in the jaw. He slumped to the floor and lay sprawled on the pavement, groaning in pain.
I turned to the woman again. ‘What happened?’
Her lower lip trembled. ‘He said he’d get me some modelling work if I went out for a drink with him. I didn’t want to, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. He took some topless pictures …’ she shook her head and started to cry and Scott pulled her closer to him.
I turned back to the man on the floor. Given the mood I was in, this guy would have got a kicking whatever happened, but hearing that he was a complete creep somehow made me feel vindicated for what I was about to do.
‘I imagine your hands are pretty important for your job then?’ I asked as I looked down at him.
He started to shake his head violently as tears streamed down his face. ‘No, please. No!’ he begged.
‘I did warn you,’ I said as I stood on the fingers of his right hand, crushing them under the heel of my boot as he howled in pain. ‘Do you know there are twenty-seven bones in the human hand? That’s fifty-four in total. I wonder how many I can break before you pass out?’
I shifted my weight towards his wrist and heard a satisfying crack. He screamed and I heard a yelp of fright, or maybe it was horror from the woman behind me. That was when I felt Scott’s hand on my shoulder. ‘Come on, Boss,’ he said quietly. ‘He’s not worth it. Let’s go.’
I lifted my boot, allowing the crying man on the floor to withdraw his hand, cradling it to his body.
I turned to Scott. ‘Get her a cab and make sure this prick knows who he’s fucking with,’ I said as I gave him a parting kick to his feet. ‘I’m going home.’
‘Will do, Boss,’ Scott said.
I walked around to the back of the club to my car. My temples throbbed and my blood thundered around my body. Unfortunately, I knew that there was only one thing that would make me feel better, but Samantha had made it clear she didn’t want to see or speak to me.
I felt my phone vibrating in my jacket pocket and I pulled it out. Despite knowing that it wouldn’t be, I still foolishly hoped that it was her. I frowned when I saw Jennifer’s name flashing on the screen instead.
It was almost 1am. What the hell did she want?
‘Hello,’ I snapped.
‘Gabriel,’ she cried. ‘I think there’s someone trying to get into the flat. I heard a noise.’
I frowned. This was all I fucking needed. ‘You’re on the second floor of a building. There’s a mortice lock on your front door. You’re perfectly safe. It was probably just one of your neighbours walking past.’
‘Please, Gabriel. I’m really scared. You know I hate living on my own. What if it was someone? Could you please just come and check for me?’
I sighed loudly. ‘Fine. I’ll be r
ound there in twenty minutes.’
I walked around the back of the flats and down the alleyway and could see no-one hanging around and no sign of forced entry at the back door. Whatever Jennifer had heard, if she’d heard anything, had probably come from inside the building and was one of her neighbours.
Walking back around to the front, I pressed the buzzer and told her it was me. Two minutes later I was standing outside her door inspecting it for any signs of damage.
She smiled at she opened it. Her eyes were pink from crying and I groaned inwardly. Her drama was quite literally the last thing I wanted to deal with right now.
‘Thank you for coming,’ she said as she opened the door wider allowing me to step inside.
I walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. ‘I couldn’t see anyone hanging around. There’s no-one in the corridors and your door doesn’t look like anyone has tampered with it. I’m sure whatever you heard wasn’t someone trying to get in.’
She nodded and sat on the sofa next to me. ‘That’s such a relief. I was convinced I heard something. And then I couldn’t get back to sleep and I kept imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to me,’ she shuddered.
‘Well, like I said, these flats are really safe.’
‘I’m sorry to have dragged you here at this hour of the night. Can I get you a drink or anything?’
I shook my head. ‘No thanks, I’d better go.’
She bit her lip as though she had something else on her mind. ‘I haven’t felt the baby move for a few hours,’ she said. ‘Do you think that’s normal?’
I’d actually done a lot of reading up on pregnancy and movements. ‘Maybe he or she is asleep? When was the last time you felt them move?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe this morning?’
‘You’re only seventeen weeks, aren’t you? I think it’s unusual to feel loads of movement that early. But why don’t you go and see your midwife tomorrow if you’re worried?’
Fallen Angel (The London Ruthless Series Book 2) Page 3
