I phoned DS Phillips, and he told me he’d stop by to pick up the letter as soon as he could. I realised I’d have to tell Nick and the rest of the team so they could be on alert. I groaned inwardly as I realised I’d have to tell my father and Gabriel too. God, they weren’t going to let me move — but maybe that was a good thing?
I was starting to realise that having them to watch out for me might not be such a headache after all. Anthony Garvey was starting to terrify me. The sooner the police picked him up again, the happier I would be. I had already spoken to one of my contacts in my old firm to see if I could get a legal visit set up to speak to Jackson in prison. If I couldn’t, I’d have to ask him to send me a Visiting Order himself, and I could only imagine how much the arrogant prick would love that. But I needed to get to the bottom of what was going on sooner rather than later.
I’d phoned Gabriel shortly after Detective Phillips left and half an hour later, he was standing in my office. He walked over to my desk and pulled me up into his arms.
‘Are you okay, Sam?’ He asked as his eyes scanned my face.’
‘Yes,’ I said and then I realised that was a blatant lie. ‘No, not really,’ I added.
He wrapped his large arms around me and kissed the top of my head. ‘Where is the letter?’
‘The police have taken it.’
‘What did it say?’
I told him what I could recall. He listened intently, his face set in a grimace. His jaw working, the way it did when he was trying to maintain control of his temper. He scowled when I’d finished speaking. ‘When I get my hands on him …’
‘He’s not worth it, Gabe. Let the police handle it.’
He cupped my face in his hands. ‘I won’t let him hurt you, Sam. I promise.’
‘I know that. You’re going to be a nightmare now though, aren’t you?’ I said with a smile.
He nodded. ‘Yes, I will, and you’ll just have to do as you’re told. We’ll have to tell your dad too, you know?’
I buried my face in his chest and groaned. ‘Let’s tell him tomorrow. I feel like going home for the day. Come with me?’
He kissed my forehead. ‘Of course. I’m not letting you out of my sight.’
When we got to my apartment, Gabriel poured us each a glass of wine and we lay on the sofa together watching Casablanca.
‘I don’t know what I’d do if he hurt you, Sam,’ he suddenly said, his voice thick with emotion.
‘Well, I hope you’ll never have to find out. The police will catch up with him. They deal with people like him all the time.’
‘Well they better had, because if I do …’
I kissed him before he could finish his sentence. I didn’t want to think about Anthony Garvey.
‘Why don’t we do something to take our minds off that lunatic? I don’t want to think about anything,’ I whispered in his ear. He didn’t need much encouragement and he started unzipping my skirt before I’d even finished my sentence. Soon enough, I was naked and lying beneath him while he remained fully clothed. I started to undress him and he stopped me.
‘Kneel on the floor and bend over the sofa,’ he ordered as he stood up.
I did as I was told. He took his tie from the coffee table and then used it to bind my wrists together behind my back. ‘You’re going to get fucked. Hard. Is that what you want?’ he asked.
I nodded. It was. I loved how he always knew exactly what I needed.
After he’d nailed me to the sofa and made me beg to let me come, he untied my wrists and carried me to bed where he kissed every inch of my body. He told me how much he loved me. How much he wanted me. Then he fucked me slowly, gently rocking us both to a long rolling orgasm.
‘I love you, Sam,’ he whispered as I lay my head on his chest and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 59
It had been a week since I’d received the letter from Anthony Garvey, but thankfully I’d heard nothing from him since. The sound of my office door opening made me look up from my computer screen.
‘Gabe! This is a nice surprise.’
‘Sadie told me you had a couple of hours with no appointments so I thought I’d take you out to lunch,’ he said.
I looked at the pile of paperwork on my desk. I had so much to do, and spending far too much time with Gabriel was the reason why. But I could do with some fresh air, and I realised I was starving. I closed my laptop and grabbed my coat.
We walked to a coffee shop near my office and managed to snag a table by the window. Gabriel was at the counter ordering for us when I heard someone call my name. Gabriel heard too and he looked over. I prayed he didn’t notice the look of horror on my face when I realised who it was.
‘Stanley,’ I said as he approached me. I could feel the colour draining from my face as he stood there, leering at me. If the cafe wasn’t so packed I would have stood up and walked out. But if I’d done that, I would have no choice but to brush past him, to touch him, and the thought of that made me want to vomit. He moved closer towards me, his heavy jowls wobbling as he did. His face shining through a sheen of perspiration as his glasses began to slide off his nose.
‘Here on your own?’ he asked, lips curling back over his yellowing teeth.
‘No, she’s not.’ Gabriel’s voice startled him.
Stanley turned around and I couldn’t help but smile as he visibly flinched at the sight of Gabriel. A six foot two wall of solid muscle.
‘Nice to see you, Samantha,’ Stanley squeaked before trying to move through the crowd as quickly as his chubby legs would carry him. I could see his wife waiting in the queue for him, so there was no escape for him. He would have to wait with her, although I would bet, lecherous old Stanley would rather be making a very sharp exit.
‘What’s wrong?’ Gabriel asked. ‘You’re as white as a sheet. Who is he?’
I shook my head. ‘No-one. I’m fine.’
‘Who is he, Sam?’
‘He’s an old friend of Jackson’s,’ I whispered and I saw the realisation dawn on his face that Stanley was one of the men from the house. His jaw clenched shut as he started to get up from his chair.
I grabbed his arm. ‘Gabe. No. Please. Don’t make a scene. These people are my colleagues. He’s with his wife for God’s sake,’ I pleaded. The thought of him confronting Stanley, here, in front of all these people made me feel sick again. My heart was pounding in my ears.
‘Then she should know what a fucking pervert she’s married to,’ he snarled. ‘That he gets his rocks off raping women who are young enough to be his daughter.’
I felt my face flush bright red. ‘Keep your voice down,’ I hissed.
His face softened then. ‘I’m sorry, Sam,’ he said quietly. ‘I won’t say or do anything. But only because I don’t want to embarrass you. Not that you should be embarrassed. He, on the other hand, should be fucking deeply ashamed. I can’t believe he has the nerve to even look at you.’
Gabriel was true to his word and he didn’t make a scene, although he glared at Stanley the whole time he was in the cafe. An already perspiring Stanley mopped his brow continuously, no doubt sweating from the heat of Gabriel’s gaze.
Chapter 60
Samantha
To escape the drama of the Garvey situation, Gabriel and I discussed getting out of the city for a few days. We both needed a break. It had seemed like the perfect opportunity to take up his aunt Maggie on her offer of a visit. When I’d suggested it to Gabriel, he’d been thrilled at the idea.
Maggie and Hugh were standing on their large driveway as Gabriel’s car pulled up to their house. Maggie pulled me into a hug as soon as I stepped out of the car and ushered me inside the house as Gabriel and Hugh got our bags from the boot.
‘Samantha, I’m so pleased you’re both here,’ Maggie beamed. ‘Gabriel hasn’t visited us for years. You must be a good influence on him,’ she said with a wink.
Gabriel walked in behind us and grabbed me by the waist before I could answer. ‘She certainly is,�
� he smiled as he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
Maggie bustled us all into the kitchen where she had laid out a spread fit for a platoon of hungry soldiers. We spent the evening eating and drinking and laughing, mostly at Maggie and her stories about Gabriel when he was a small child.
By midnight Hugh could barely keep his eyes open and we all decided to call it a night. Maggie showed us to the guest room which I noted was tastefully decorated, much like the rest of the house.
I changed into one of Gabriel’s old t-shirts for bed while he pulled back the covers. The conversation had turned to him and Jennifer during the evening and Gabriel had done his best to change the subject each time it did. I managed to glean more information from Maggie about Gabriel’s ex-wife when she had shown me around the garden. Maggie and Hugh had got on with her well enough, but they’d only met her on a few occasions as she had usually been busy whenever Maggie and Hugh had visited Gabriel in London.
I noticed that Gabriel had been quieter since the mention of Jennifer’s name.
‘Maggie told me you and Jennifer came here a couple of times,’ I said as I climbed into bed beside him.
Gabriel shrugged in response.
‘Did you have sex in this bed?’ I asked.
He didn’t even acknowledge that question and I knew that it was none of my business, but I was trying to provoke some reaction from him.
‘Why don’t you ever talk about her?’ I asked.
‘Why would I?’
‘Because she’s a big part of your past, and your life. That’s why. I want to know about the two of you. How did you meet? How did you propose? What was she like, Gabe?’
‘Why does any of that matter?’ he said.
‘I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me about her.’
‘Because she ripped my fucking heart out, Samantha,’ he snapped.
I realised he wasn’t going to talk to me and I turned on my side to face the huge bay window. Gabriel pushed his body up against mine, slipping his hand under my t-shirt and onto my bare skin.
‘Don’t touch me,’ I said.
‘You don’t mean that, Sam.’
‘Don’t tell me what I mean.’
‘Okay. Maybe what I should have said was I hope you don’t mean that.’
‘Well, that would make sense wouldn’t it,’ I turned to face him. ‘Because as long as I let you touch me, then we’re all right. Let’s face it, Gabe, that’s all we’re about, isn’t it?’
He sat up in bed. I saw the look of hurt flash across his face. ‘Samantha, you know that’s not true.’
‘Do I? Because if you don’t share your past with me, if you won’t talk to me, then we are just about the sex, aren’t we?’
‘So, because I don’t want to talk about my ex-wife, I’m only interested in you for sex? That’s quite the leap, Sam. Even for you.’
‘Even for me!’ I snapped.
‘Shall I tell you what you want to know then? I met Jennifer at a party. I thought she was gorgeous so I went over and started taking to her. For our first date, I took her to the cinema. I proposed while we were on holiday in Mexico. It was at sunset on the beach and I got down on one knee and proposed. It was fucking perfect. For our first anniversary, I took her back there. Did I fuck her in this bed? Yes, quite a few times, actually. What was she like? She was quiet and thoughtful. In the five years we were together she gave me less grief than you have in the last five months. Is that what you want to hear, Sam?’
I blinked at him. Why was he being so unreasonable? I had told him all about my past, as painful as it was, so why couldn’t he do the same? I threw back the cover and climbed out of bed.
‘Where are you going?’ he said with a sigh.
‘Away from you,’ I snapped as I stomped out of the room.
I was sitting on the wooden patio furniture in Maggie and Hugh’s garden, enjoying the silence, and wondering how on earth I had managed to get into another epic row with Gabriel when I heard the door opening behind me. Gabriel walked out onto the decking in his bare feet before placing two glass tumblers on the table. Then he poured us each a glass of Hugh’s finest Scotch.
Gabriel sat on the chair nearest to me and ran a hand though his hair before picking up his glass and taking a large gulp of the golden liquid.
‘She was seeing him for six months behind my back. Six fucking months and I had no clue. I was working away and I decided to surprise her so I came home a day early. I found them in bed together, although I heard them first. After I threw him out, she started crying and told me I’d neglected her. I called her some horrible names, and then I threw her out too,’ he said as he finished off the last of the whisky.
He looked at me. ‘I’ve never told anyone that before. I didn’t even tell your dad the detail. I don’t talk about it. Not with anyone. It wasn’t my finest hour.’
‘Do you still love her, Gabe?’
‘No. I love you, and only you. I can’t believe you would ever doubt that.’
I blinked at him. ‘I …’ I just couldn’t say the words.
‘You own me, Sam. Everything I am. Everything I have — is yours.’
He stood up and placed his empty glass onto the table. He held his hand out to me and I considered whether to take it. I was still angry with him. He expected openness and honesty from me, but when it came to his own past, he didn’t give me the same in return. Part of me also hated that he had once loved someone else so much that she had broken his heart. But, the other part of me knew that he loved me, and I wanted to crawl into bed with him and let him make me feel the way that only he could. I took hold of his hand and noticed how warm it was, despite us being in the cold garden. I loved the feel of his rough skin on mine as his fingertips brushed my palm. He pulled me up from my seat and I followed him silently back to bed.
Once we were in the bedroom, Gabriel peeled off my t-shirt, his hands working quickly. Then he pushed me onto the bed, and silently removed my underwear before he stepped out of his shorts. He crawled onto the bed and held himself over me before trailing kisses from my jawline, along my throat, down my collarbone and onto my nipples. He sucked one into his mouth while he gently tugged at the other. I pushed my hips into him, grinding myself onto his already rock hard cock. He didn’t stop me like he usually would, but after a few moments he moved to kiss my stomach, and then to where I wanted to feel his mouth on me the most. He licked the length of my cleft before settling his mouth over my clit, licking and sucking until I was thrusting my hips to meet his rhythm. When he pushed two of his fingers inside me, I moaned loudly. He made me come quickly, rubbing and sucking on those sweet spots. Then he wrapped my legs around his waist and fucked me — slowly. In and out. So, damn slowly. His lips didn’t leave mine the whole time. When I came for him a second time, I groaned into his mouth and he responded by thrusting harder until he found his own relief.
He collapsed on top of me, but he didn’t pull out of me as he whispered in my ear.
‘I love you, Sam. I love you so much that sometimes it feels like I can hardly breathe.’ He looked into my eyes and started to run his right hand down the length of my body, back to my throbbing clit, before he started to rub again. ‘I will never get enough of your body. Sex will always be a big thing with us, but that doesn’t mean that’s all we are. That doesn’t mean that’s all I want from you.’
‘I know, Gabe,’ I whispered, hoarsely. I could barely focus with his maddening teasing of my over-sensitive flesh.
‘Even though you drive me crazier than anyone I have ever known, and you push every single boundary I have, I would rather fight with you, than do anything, with anyone else. You do know that, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I panted, desperate for another orgasm, the type that only he could provide.
‘Shall I make you come again?’ he growled.
‘Please,’ I whimpered and he obliged.
Gabriel and I lay in bed facing each other. I had my legs draped over his and he ran his warm
hand up and down my back.
‘Do I really give you that much grief, Gabe?’ I asked.
‘No, you don’t. That was unfair of me.’
‘I’m scared too, you know? At least you’ve done this before. This is all new to me. I’ve never had a healthy relationship. I’ve never been in love with anyone else.’
‘And are you with me?’ he asked.
‘What do you think?’ I said.
‘You’ve never actually told me.’
I stared at him. It was true, I’d never told him that I loved him, even though I did. I had loved him for most of my life.
‘Yes,’ I whispered before pulling his face to mine for a kiss.
Chapter 61
Samantha
Gabriel and I had enjoyed a wonderful weekend with Maggie and Hugh and had driven back to London late the previous night. I stifled a yawn as Nick walked into the conference room of Donovan Cook and handed me a fresh mug of coffee. ‘The next one looks suitably nervous, Samantha,’ he said with a smile.
‘Good. Nerves are good,’ I replied. We had been interviewing all day for a new junior solicitor given that our workloads were becoming unmanageable for just the two of us. We’d also hired a new junior secretary the previous week to help Sadie out. We’d had plenty of applicants and had chosen to interview six of them. I was sure we’d get ourselves a good fit.
Dark Angel: A Dark Romance: London Ruthless Series Book 1 (The London Ruthless Series) Page 22
