by DL Roan
Three agonizing steps and Claira had a death grip on the door handle. A loud clang of metal on metal made its way through the pounding in her ears. Adrenaline laced her veins as she heard the faint timbre of Daniel’s voice in the distance. He’s here. Oh thank you God, Daniel found me!
She ignored the blackness closing in on her again and concentrated on turning the door knob. With an unfamiliar strength, she pulled the heavy door with her good arm and threw herself into the brightly lit hallway, straight into the oncoming path of her own personal demon.
In slow motion Grant’s arm uncoiled and aimed a huge, black gun at her head. She turned to run, but her socked feet slipped out from under her. She tumbled backwards, her elbows cracking against the hard tile floor as a loud boom filled the hall. It’s over.
She pulled her knees into her chest, making herself as small as possible, covering her head as she waited for the final shot that would end her life. When another shot rang out, she felt and heard the bullet hiss by as it whizzed over her head.
Confusion warred with disbelief when she opened her eyes. He missed? She peeled her arms from her face and caught a glimpse of Lucien as he retreated down the hall in the opposite direction Grant had come from. Grant sprinted past her and disappeared down the hall after him, Daniel right behind him.
“Claira!” Grey called out to her.
An eerie numbness flowed through her limbs, flushing all the pain from her body as a pair of big hands wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her up to lean against the wall.
“Grey?” Her brows pinched together as she studied the man in front of her. She’d heard Grey’s voice, but the man in front of her was not Grey. “Who are you?” She slapped at his hands. “Grey!” She began to panic as things made less and less sense. Who was this man and why was Grey so far away?
“Sit tight, Gabriella.” Cade squatted down in front of her and gently cupped her shoulders. “As soon as Daniel gives me the okay I’ll get you back to your room and get you some help.”
What? “You know Daniel? M….Marshal Gregory?”
“My name is Cade and yes, Daniel is my friend.”
“Cade! Is she hurt?” Grey shouted from somewhere to her left. Cade turned just as she did to look for the voice that belonged to the man she loved but couldn’t see.
“Grey!” Claira bolted to her feet, but her legs crumbled beneath her and she fell to her knees. “Grey! You’re hurt!” Ignoring the pain in her knees and shoulder, she scrambled across the hard, cold floor toward the hunched over form in the distance.
Blood. There was so much blood. “Oh God! Grey. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I never meant for this to happen!” She watched as a group of nurses and doctors worked to cut Grey’s jeans from his leg. One nurse pulled a gurney beside him as a rush of other nurses hurried toward her.
“It’s not bad, baby bird. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Grey reached for her, but a man in a white coat secured his arm as they lifted him onto the gurney.
“I’m okay!” She reached for him, pulling against an army of arms and hands that grabbed at her. “Grey, please don’t leave! I’m so sorry!” She sobbed as she collapsed, no longer able to fend off the forces that kept her from his side. She’d done this to him. Please don’t let him die.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Depressive clouds filled the sky. An unusually cool breeze blew drops of rain under the porch roof, a few stray drops landing on Gabriella as she sat in one of her rickety rocking chairs and stared into the storm. “I can’t believe he’s dead.” She turned the hot cup of tea in her hands, fiddling with the string hanging over the rim. “Everything is still so raw; so unreal.”
“Give it time, Gabby.” Daniel reached over and took her cold hand in his warm one. He was always warm. Her warm safe place. She nodded, forcing a smile she knew he would see straight through. It was all she was capable of.
The screen door creaked open. A shiver ran through her, something that always happened when she laid eyes on Grant Kendal. He looked so different than he did when she first met him. His hair was lighter and shorter; his brown eyes now the color of a golden god. His Midwestern accent sounded strange to her ears, a three day old scruff covering his once clean-shaven jaw. He had a dangerous look about him now, all lean muscles and hard edges he’d somehow hidden before.
His chin came up in a silent greeting as he dropped a duffle bag next to the front door and took a few cautious steps toward her. He stopped a few feet in front of her, crossing one ankle over the other as he relaxed against the porch railing behind him. The sounds of the rain and the late summer storm filled the air around them for an indeterminable amount of time before he spoke.
“The house is fixed up. I put the left over can of paint under the kitchen sink in case your landlord ever needs to do some touch-ups.” He swiped a hand over his strong, stubble-covered jaw and then cupped the back of his neck, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, again, for all the trouble the fire caused.”
Gabby peeked up through her lashes at the man who had replaced Lucien in her nightmares. She still couldn’t look at him without seeing his gun pointed at her. She knew now that he hadn’t been trying to kill her. He’d saved her life, for better or worse, but he still made her nervous. She opened her mouth to thank him again, but she couldn’t get the words past her lips.
“You’re going to ground.” Daniel’s voice pulled her from her mangled thoughts. He glanced at Grant’s duffle bag.
Grant nodded and folded his arms over his chest. “It’s time. I need to find a deep, dark hole to crawl into for a year or ten. Decompress for a while.”
Daniel pushed to his feet and reached a hand out to his friend. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. I know you said we’re even, but I consider myself in your debt on this one.”
Grant shrugged and shook the man’s hand. “Don’t. That bastard deserved worse than what he got. Killing him was well overdue, but it didn’t get you any closer to finding Natalie.”
Daniel shook his head and glanced down at Gabby with more love than her own father had ever shown her. “She’s free now. You’ve done more than enough. I’ll find Hector’s ledger and put the rest of those bastards in hell eventually.”
“I’m still sorry.” Grant pushed away from the railing. Taking the distance to the front door in two strides, he bent and hoisted the single strap of his bag over his shoulder then stood and faced them. “I hope you find it.” Giving a quick, lazy salute, he started down the steps, but stopped when she called out to him.
“Grant, wait!” She stood on shaky legs, her healing shoulder protesting the quick movement. She cautiously approached him, hiding her trembling hands beneath the thin blanket draped over her shoulders. “Thank you,” she said.
The fear she had of him was unfounded. He deserved more than she could give him. “Thank you for saving my life.” She swallowed against the nervous knot in her throat. “And for killing Lucien.”
A weak grin pulled at Grant’s lips. He reached up to touch her angelic face, but stopped when she flinched away from his hand. “No thanks necessary, Gabby.” He winked at her and jerked his chin toward his friend. “Keep him out of trouble, okay?”
She nodded and backed away from him, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she stopped next to Daniel. With one last glance at the house behind them, Grant hiked his bag higher onto his shoulder and walked through the rain to his rented sedan, slid behind the steering wheel and drove away.
“Looks like you have more goodbyes to hand out today.” She followed Daniel’s gaze to see a familiar silver truck turning onto her street. It passed Grant’s car with a quick honk and pulled into the spot he’d just vacated. “I’ve got a few things I need to pick up from Cade’s place before we ship out.” Daniel pulled a set of keys from his pocket and left Gabriella standing alone on her porch. He waved to Matt and Mason as they slipped out of Matt’s truck.
The twins’ gazes followed him as he backed out of the driv
e. When he was gone, they turned back to face her. Gabby gripped the railing to keep from falling to her knees at the conflict she saw in their sea-blue eyes.
She wasn’t surprised to see that Grey hadn’t joined them. Why would he? She’d nearly gotten him killed; nearly gotten them all killed, including their precious babies. How could she have put them all in so much danger? Why were they even there?
She held herself together as the brothers, shoulder to shoulder, walked toward her and stopped at the foot of the concrete stairs. Lazy drops of rain fell into their sandy-brown hair and streaked their beautiful faces.
She hadn’t seen them since the day after Lucien was killed. The day after he’d shot Grey in the leg. The wound itself had been clean, she’d heard, but the bullet had nicked his artery and he’d nearly bled to death before they fixed the tear. She ached to take it all back, to make it so he’d never know that pain.
She’d never been more scared in her entire life than she’d been that day, except for now. She was leaving tomorrow, going back to a house she knew was empty of all but the ghosts of a past she’d yet to face. Her only option was to sell everything and start over.
After today she’d be well and truly alone, and she’d stay that way. She’d never love anyone else but these men, and she knew she would never have them. Facing a lifetime of loneliness was nothing. She was used to that life. Facing life without the three men she loved? Without the twin boys she’d almost gotten killed? Without the love their family had shown her was possible? That was the fate that would break her.
Against Daniel’s advice she’d ignored their calls and denied their requests to see her in the hospital. She couldn’t face them. Daniel had finally contacted them the night before and told them they were leaving.
After another fitful night’s sleep she’d decided she deserved to hear whatever they had to say to her, no matter how painful. They had every right to hate her. She’d lied to them. She hated herself for doing it, for letting herself get so close to them.
Matt’s hand trembled as he reached up and ran his long fingers through his hair. Don’t cry. I will not cry. Their silence was deafening. She closed her eyes against it and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from quivering. Please, yell at me, say something. She could take anything but the silent censure that rolled off them in waives.
A sharp yelp in the distance caught her attention. Her lips parted with a gasp. Beyond Matt and Mason, the back door of Matt’s truck opened and Grey eased out, bracing himself on the bed of the truck as he closed the truck door. The rain fell a little heavier as he turned and began a slow trek toward her, a heavy limp accenting his stride.
He looked well; magnificent even. He was perfect and she’d nearly lost him. He may hate her, but at least he was still alive and she knew she wouldn’t have to live in a world where he didn’t exist.
Her heart broke as she took in the somber, resolved look in his striking green eyes. She followed the line of his strong jaw to his broad shoulders, memorizing every hard line and curve. A sob bubbled out of her aching chest when she reached his arms to the wiggling black puppy with a big red bow tied around its neck. She clamped her hand over her mouth to hold in all the pain and love and heartache that clawed at her chest.
Grey stopped next to Mason. A sad smile touched his face as he looked up the stairs at her. “Con wants you to have him, to keep you safe.”
Gabriella collapsed against the railing and slid to the wooden floor, a sobbing cry escaping despite her best efforts to hold it back. “Why?” She cried into the blanket clutched in her hands. “Why would he do that?”
“Aw, sweetheart. Don’t cry.” Mason shot up the stairs and gathered her into his arms, cradling her into his chest as he sunk down into one of the rockers.
“But that’s his favorite puppy.” She said, sobbing against Mason’s shirt. “He can’t do that!”
“Darlin’, why would you say that?” Matt stooped down and cradled her cheeks in his hands, wiping away the steady stream of tears from her eyes with his thumb.
She turned her face away from Matt’s hand and buried it deeper into Mason’s shirt. “I lied to you,” she cried, shaking with her sobs. Mason held her as she cried, rocking her in his arms. When she was able to take a shuddering breath without the tears starting over again, he loosened his hold on her.
“Look at me, baby bird.” Grey tipped her chin toward him. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, tasting the salt in her tears. He licked the taste from his lips and repeated the action, taking only what she would give him.
After a lingering pause, he pulled back and looked into her puffy, chocolate eyes. “You deserve to be happy. We understand why you had to lie. We also understand why you want to leave. After what happened, we can’t blame you for not wanting to stay with us. No one deserves what Dawes did to you. Not everyone is homicidal over their beliefs, but there will be more people lined up behind him that won’t approve. We can’t ask you to go through that after what happened to you.”
What? She pushed against Mason’s chest and turned to look at Grey. “I don’t understand.” She sniffled and tried to clear her throat. “You don’t want me to leave?”
Matt crouched next to Grey. He took her hand in both of his and brought it to his beautiful lips. His eyes filled with tears as he kissed the palm of her hand and held it to his cheek as if he were savoring every last touch he could get from her.
“We love you. We know it’s not what you want now, but if you ever…” Matt closed his eyes and she could see the tick in his jaw as he bit back his words. He lowered her hand to her lap. His eyes danced between Mason and Grey before he stood and paced to the railing.
“I can’t do this.” Matt ran his fingers through his hair and paced back to stand in front of them. “I know we agreed that we should let her go, but I can’t. I can’t sit back and watch her walk away without a fight.”
“Matt, stop.”
“No, you stop, Mason. All of you. This is crazy.” He slid down onto his knees in front of Gabriella and took her hands in his again. “Claira—Gabriella—I know…” He paused and shook his head. “We understand that all this is new for you, and that…that you’ve been through hell. Not only in your own life, but also because of who we are and how we live our lives.
“Our souls know you are the one we were meant to be with. Nothin’ in your past, or ours, changes that. The chances of some other crazy loon goin’ off the deep end like…like that bastard did, they’re not…” He let go of her hands and cupped her neck as he struggled for the words he needed to convince her. “We won’t let you go without a fight, darlin’. You belong here, with us, with our boys and our crazy family. If you want to leave…”
“I don’t.” Gabriella sucked in a strangled breath.
“What?” Mason and Grey asked in unison.
“I don’t want to leave you.” Her shoulders tightened as another sob built in her chest. “I belong to you. All of you. I love each of you with all my heart, but, how can you ever forgive me for bringing your family into this…this…nightmare? For putting you at risk like that?”
“Forgive you?” Grey drew back as if he’d been slapped. “Baby, what are you talking about?” He pushed to his feet and stood next to Matt. “We’re the ones asking for forgiveness here. You were shot, for Christ sake! Dawes shot you, and tried to kill our sons because of the way we live. We can’t ask you to forgive us for dragging you into that!” He scrubbed his free hand over his face and shook his head. “God, not after everything you’ve been through.”
Forgive them? What did she have to forgive them for? She knew what she was getting involved in was unconventional. Most people didn’t always accept what they didn’t understand, but Dawes was crazy; creepy crazy.
Sure she might get a nasty look or hear a rumor or two in the future, but surely no one else in their right mind would try to kill her for it; unless it was out of jealousy. She glanced between Matt and Mason, and then up at
Grey. Yeah, she’d definitely have to watch out for the occasional jealousy-induced hormonal rampage from the locals.
“Grey, you were shot, and almost died because of me!” She choked back a lingering sob, but for the first time in two weeks she could feel a glimmer of hope.
Matt chuckled when he saw the look in her eyes change from broken to breathtakingly hopeful. Going out on a limb he was sure wouldn’t hold his weight, he shrugged. “So, you were shot, Grey was shot. Doesn’t that make us even then?”
Grunts and giggles burst from all of them. Even Con’s black puppy squealed and wiggled in Grey’s arms. Claira sniffled and wiped at her tears, giving Mason a disapproving shove. “It’s not funny.”
“Claira?” Grey held out his hand to her as the other cradled the puppy to his chest. “Come home? Please?”
She shook her head, more tears pooled in her eyes. “There’s more.” Matt began to protest but she continued on before she lost her nerve. “You have to know that I…” God, could she say the words? She had to. They deserved to know. Stephan deserved her admission. “I killed my brother.”
“Claira—”
“No, Mason. You have to know. I don’t remember anything other than having the gun in my hand. I had to protect him from Lucien, but then I don’t know what happened. They arrested me for murdering him. I could have…”
“Daniel told us what happened,” Grey said, shaking his head. “You don’t honestly believe you are capable of the cold blooded murder of your own brother, do you?” His tone held no doubt of her innocence. “Claira, baby, that’s ridiculous. You couldn’t hurt a fly if you tried.”
Mason curled her into his arms as another lingering sob wracked her body. Matt cupped her cheek in his hand and wiped away the new tears. “Claira, there is no way we’ll ever believe it, even if you signed a full confession, darlin’. We love you. All of you.” He turned her face to look at him. “Come home with us, where you belong.”
