by A. L Long
Taking my hands in his, he locked his eyes on mine and replied, “I have never meant anything more in my life. You are one of a kind, Gabrielle Jackson. No woman has ever done to me what you have. I can’t explain it, but one thing I know for sure, more than anything I have ever known, I love you.”
My once shielded heart opened up when our lips met. If this was heaven, I never wanted to leave. The passion we shared was something out of this universe. I truly knew what it meant to be totally and completely enamored by someone. Deepening our kiss, Chavez lifted me from the floor and held me in his arms as he pressed my body against the wall. This was not the place I intended for this to happen, but the magnetic charge between us was unbreakable.
When a sound came over the elevator intercom, our connection was broken. Chavez carefully set me on my feet and answered the man on the other end. “Sorry, we hit the wrong button.”
“No problem, sir, happens all the time.”
Knowing exactly what the gentleman was referring to, we both broke out in a laugh before hitting the button to send the car in motion.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Chavez
I think I finally broke through her walls. As stubborn as Gabrielle was, she loved me, I just knew it. Her feelings, although she hadn’t professed them to me, were coming to the surface and I was so close to bringing them out. Our little episode in the elevator was clearly the tipping point.
When we entered her apartment, that all changed. Standing in the middle of the room was Kataryna. Even though her back was to us, I would recognize that body anyway. Even though I was deeply in love with Gabrielle, I was still a man and seeing her stand there made my cock begin to pulse. When she turned around, the pulsating feeling went away. Her face looked like it had met with a fist more than once. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would have thought that this was all an act.
“What are you doing in my apartment and how the fuck did you get inside?” Gabrielle hissed, stepping in front of me.
“I told the concierge I was your sister,” Kataryna confessed.
“You’re no more my sister than the Jolly Green Giant is my father. Now get the fuck out before I kick you out,” Gabrielle warned as she began approaching Kataryna.
Holding her close, I looked at Kataryna and then down to Gabrielle. “Baby, we need to hear her out. She may know something about Elliott.”
When Gabrielle began to relax, I suggested that we all take a seat and discuss what Kataryna was doing here and who did a number on her face. With Gabrielle beside me and Kataryna in the chair a safe distance away, I felt the need to hold on to Gabrielle’s hand in case she got the urge to move from her spot. Meeting Kataryna’s bloodshot eyes, I asked, sternly, “Please explain what you’re doing here, Kataryna?”
“He did this to me,” she began. “His plan was to change your identity for me.”
“What are you talking about, bitch?” Gabrielle seethed.
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Gabby, let her explain,” I warned as she leaned back against the back of the couch in defeat.
“I shouldn’t have helped him, but he promised me that if I did, he would pay to have my identity changed. At first, I thought it was a good idea. I wasn’t the prettiest girl growing up and with a little nip and tuck here and there, I could finally look the way I wanted to. It was fine for a while, until they found me. I should have never double crossed them. When I told Elliott that I was done with his plan, he had his men change my mind. He was going to use you as bait. Change your features to resemble mine, so that the men after me would think you were me. Then Elliott and I would go away and never be found. I just couldn’t do it no matter much they wanted me dead.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but everything she said was beginning to make sense. Letting go of Gabrielle’s hand, I stood and began pacing as I tried to piece all of this information together. “So, this whole thing was to let Gabrielle die for you. What connection does Gabrielle have to Elliott? We found out that she isn’t his daughter.”
“I know.”
“Wait, you knew?” I snapped as I looked directly at Kataryna.
“I’ve always known. Graham was hired to plant the seed to make Gabrielle think that Elliott was her father. It was the only way he could close to her.” Taking a deep breath, she looked at Gabrielle and continued. “Elliott thinks you are the reason that your mother committed suicide. You are the reason they would never be together. When your father died, he thought for sure they would finally be together. Your father’s death wasn’t an accident. Elliott knew your father used the service elevator at the hotel, and when. He cut the cable just enough so that it would snap, bringing the car down with your father inside. He thought with your father out of the way, he would finally have his chance to be happy. He would have even accepted you if he could be with your mother”
“Are you telling me that Elliott murdered my father?” Gabrielle’s eyes filled with anger and sorrow as she shouted.
“Yes!” Kataryna declared. “With your father gone, he thought for sure Rosalee would come to him, but all she cared about was you. He wanted you gone. Rosalee would have no one but him. The problem was, he was a wanted man and he was forced to take refuge. He had his identity changed just enough to resemble the features of your father’s. He began commissioning people to work on his plan to make everyone believe that he was your father. Even hiring Graham was part of the plan. He figured this was the best way to get close to you. He even endured twenty years of surgeries to get his look just right. By the time he came back to the States, no one knew him as the killer he was. It was too late, your mother had already committed suicide and his dream to be with her was gone, but you were still very much alive.”
Everything Kataryna was saying was beginning to make sense. The only thing I didn’t understand was how she fit into all of this. “What was your part in this? Are you his daughter?” I questioned.
“No. I’m his lover. I did everything he told me to. He wanted you to think I was your sister. If he couldn’t get close to you, at least I could. The only problem was you hated me from the start.”
“So, the information we found on you was all a lie?” Gabrielle quizzed.
“Yes. I’m not your sister. My real name is Katie Hughes. Elliott arranged everything. You have to remember he had a long time to plan this out.”
“You know you are going to go to jail for what you’ve done? It’s a federal offense aiding a convicted criminal,” Gabrielle pointed out.
“I was hoping that I could cut a deal. Maybe get immunity for testifying against him and help you catch him.”
“That isn’t my choice to make. This is a federal case and even though I work for the FBI, it’s not my decision.” Gabrielle’s eyes softened. She felt something for Kataryna and her situation. Hopefully she would be able to work something out with Delaney. We needed Kataryna more than anything.
~****~
After we took Kataryna to the hospital to get looked at while under the supervision of the FBI, we headed back to her apartment to sort through the information she shared with us. With the information that Kataryna gave us, we were now at an advantage in getting Elliott Crawford once and for all. There was one thing that puzzled us. Who the hell was this man before he became Elliott Crawford? The only way to determine this was to get a DNA sample and run it through CODIS.
It had been a long day and right now the only thing I wanted to do was hold Gabrielle in my arms and make sweet love to her. Before we had stepped into her apartment, I had her just where I wanted. My lips were pressed to hers and my hands were working to get her clothes off. There wasn’t any resistance on her part, which made my desire to get her into bed that much easier.
Lifting her, her legs wrapped around my waist and her head nuzzled lightly in the crook of my neck. Just the feel of her hard nipples against my chest had my cock rock hard. As much as I wanted to take this slow and easy, she was making it very difficul
t for me to control the raging inferno that was going on in my jeans. Every step I took, the tight material of my jeans rubbed against my throbbing cock.
Settling her down carefully on the king-sized bed, I was finally able to remove my pants and give my growing erection the freedom it needed. Her beauty was beyond anything that God could have created. Wanting to give her something special that she would enjoy, I walked over to her closet and grabbed one of her scarfs along with a thick belt she had hanging on a hook. Before I could exit the walk-in closet, I heard her voice from behind me. “Chavez, what are you doing in there?”
“Something that you will never forget,” I responded with a grin. She was going to be in for a big treat.
Taking the items that I had found, I walked over to the bed and laid them beside her. Her eyes held a ray of curiosity, which made her even more sexy, if that were at all possible. Leaning over her body, I began showering light kisses along her calf, up her sexy thigh, stopping for a moment at her womanhood as I admired the curves and lines of her perfect body. Continuing upward, I dipped my tongue inside her small button before moving up her stomach to her perfectly rounded breasts. With each deep breath she took, I watched the expansion of her chest and the hardening of her rosy peaks.
Licking my lips, I planted my mouth over her areola and began sucking and lapping my tongue around the hard tip of her nipple. Gabrielle’s moans of pleasure filled the room and her hands fell on my head, holding it in place while I consumed her. Stroking and caressing her breast with my hand, her back began to curve and the grip she had on my head began to intensify. Needing to have her in full control, I smoothed my hands along her silky arms and took hold of her hands. Kissing her palms, I reached for the scarf I had taken from her closet and began wrapping it around her delicate wrists. When I knew they were secure, I tied the ends into a knot and wrapped them around the iron spindle on her headboard. Now the fun was going to begin. She would be begging for more.
With her hands high above her head, the tips of her nipples became more prominent. She was picture perfect as she laid there under my control. Sliding my hands down her body, I leaned in and gave her a tender kiss on the lips and said, “Get ready to be showered with great pleasure.”
“Take me. I need you to take me.” Her voice was soft and demanding. If she only knew, I was planning on doing just that.
Reaching between her legs, I could feel the heat of her arousal as I glided a finger between her folds. Lapping up her creamy essence, I hunched on my knees and seized my cock, stroking it in slow, easy movements, watching her hooded eyes as they filled with hunger. She had been so patient with me as I continued to tease and taunt her. Sweeping my hard cock along her wet folds, I entered her tight channel and began pumping inside her. Once again her back rose from the bed, giving me the access I needed.
I had plans for the thick belt that lay beside her, but the way she felt, I would be saving it for another time. Feeling the warmth of her walls take me in, I knew she would soon meet her release. The hold she had on my cock was so tight that I would soon be emptying my seed inside her. Finding the rhythm, her hips began rocking, meeting my thrusts, hard and fast. When her movements stopped, I knew she was greeted with euphoria. Biting her lower lip, she sent my cock soaring. It was all it took to take me with her.
~****~
I must have been crazy to move out of the comforts of having Gabrielle resting on my chest. My mind had its own agenda and from the moment she fell asleep, she was all I could think about. If what Kataryna said was true, Gabrielle was in more danger than we anticipated. Elliott was on a mission to vindicate the death of the woman he clearly was obsessed with and he had a vendetta against Gabrielle. I had a gut feeling that he would stop at nothing to make sure she paid for something she had no control over.
Moving out from under Gabrielle, I needed to get up and do something to clear my head. Slipping on my jeans, I headed to the living room. As I looked out the window, I spotted a black sedan across the street with the back window rolled down. Whoever was sitting in the back seat was looking up, waiting for something to happen. It was then that I realized it was Elliott. I watched him closely as his suit covered arm came out the window holding what looked to be a detonator was in his hands. Everything went into slow motion as I yelled, “No…” and watched his thumb press down the button. Within seconds, a loud boom sounded and I could see that a small bookstore down the block was engulfed in flames. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.
Gabrielle came running from the hallway and stood beside me in horror. She saw the bookstore in flames and placed her hands over her face in agony. “No, no, no…,” she cried as her body fell to the floor.
Kneeling beside her, I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Get the picture,” the voice relayed on the other end.
“You motherfucker,” I hissed before getting cut off.
Elliott Crawford was a dead man. I would never let him have Gabrielle. He was going down. Walking to the window, I watched as the window of the sedan closed and pull away from the curb. My blood began to boil. Unable to control my anger, my fist went through the pane of the window, cracking the glass in what resembled a spider’s web. There was no pain as I watched, with little to no emotion, as the blood began streaming down my hand to the floor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gabrielle
I thought for sure I was going to be sick. The minute I heard the loud boom, my stomach began to churn. Then when I heard Chavez cry out, I knew he also heard it, only he was no longer beside me. I got so scared that I jumped out of bed thinking that something bad had happened to him.
When I got to the living room Chavez was standing there looking out the window. As I walked up to him, I saw the flames. All I could think about was why would Elliott do this. I couldn’t help the emotional turmoil that crept inside me. My heart let go and the gates opened. I could no longer stand and I fell to my knees. When Chavez’s phone began to vibrate, I knew it could only be one person. My hunch was confirmed and I couldn’t let this go on any further. When Chavez punched the window, almost sending his fist through the glass, it was the last straw. Grabbing the phone from his hand, I redialed the last number and waited for Elliott to answer.
Unable to conjure up a sentence, I made it clear. “Where.”
“You will come alone. The minute I see anyone else, more people will get hurt,” he commanded.
“Tell me where, asshole,” I yelled.
When he gave me the location, which was out in the middle of nowhere, I finished the call and threw the phone on the couch. Clearing my head, Chavez was staring at me in disbelief. Feeling like I was being examined, I turned on my heels and went to the kitchen to get him something for his hand that was now beginning to swell. I knew he was pissed, but he had to know that this had to be done. He also had to know that I wasn’t going into this alone.
While I tended to Chavez’s hand, I began explaining what Elliott had said. Even though he wasn’t happy the way I took control of the situation, I knew that something had to be done. Just as I finished with Chavez’s hand, the sirens could be heard loud and clear. As we watched from my apartment window, we were glad to see that the bookstore hadn’t opened yet and only the people living above the small store were evacuated. It appeared that no one was hurt.
Chavez looked over his shoulder and said sternly, “You should have let me handle this and not made arrangements to meet that psycho.”
“I had to do something. I can’t allow any more people to get hurt. We were lucky this time, but the next time he could actually kill someone,” I countered, heading to my room.
“Where are you going?” I heard Chavez ask behind me.
“To prepare. We don’t have much time.”
~****~
Heading inside the FBI building, Chavez was right behind me, barely giving me any breathing room. I knew he was worried about me and what was going to happen, but his being in my space was beginning to smother me. Holding my hand
up before he got on the elevator, I made my irritation known. “Chavez, you are smothering me. Elliott isn’t going to try anything. He’s not stupid.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t want to take any chances with this nutcase.” His hand went to my cheek, confirming his protectiveness.
Going to the equipment room, I searched the inventory to grab everything that I thought we could use. Elliott wasn’t stupid when he chose Blue Heron Park in Staten Island as the meeting place. With the massive wooded area, there would be several places where Chavez could remain out of sight. This was also true for Elliott’s men. Elliott wanted me to meet him on the bridge near the marsh by the wooded area. Chavez knew the exact spot and would be waiting there before I showed up. He would let the guys know what was going down so they would also be prepared. One thing we needed to be careful of was not to let Elliott know the guys were there. Given their military training, they knew exactly how to achieve that. There was nothing like having a team of Rambos on my side.
