She watched as Gabriel crashed into the dresser, breaking the mirror on the wall with his back and head, before sliding down and lying across the top, knocking the ice bucket, coffeemaker and television onto the floor. The men’s shirts were hanging in tatters, their skin cherry red from being twisted and gouged. They were both grunting and gasping as Tony leaned into Gabriel, their teeth bared as if they wanted to rip their adversary’s throat open.
Gabriel twisted, trying to free his head, rolling Tony to the floor. They went down with a crash, Tony roaring in pain as he landed on the television. That was the break Gabriel needed. He jerked his head away and drove a short jab into Tony’s throat. He didn’t hit him hard, not wanting to crush his throat because he needed to be able to tell them where the safe was, but it was enough. Tony’s eyes bulged and he let go of Gabriel’s head, but he wasn’t out of it yet. As he drew back to fire a hard right into Tony’s face, Tony’s twisted, spoiling his punch and throwing him off balance.
When Gabriel tumbled to his side, Tony scrambled to follow up and threw a hard left, but Gabriel saw it coming and twisted away, the blow only glanced his head before impacting the floor. Tony reared back with another bellow. He was losing it, and Gabriel wanted to take advantage while he could. He forced Tony higher with a shove, then curled his back, catching Tony around the neck with a leg and pulling him down. There was no way Tony could resist the core strength of his body, not from on his knees like he was, but he managed to get an arm between his body and Gabriel’s leg.
Stella’s breath caught in her throat as Gabriel wrapped his legs around Tony’s head, but with a snarl, Tony twisted, squirting free.
Gabriel knew he wouldn’t be able to hold Tony long with his arm in there, but the effort Tony expended to slip his hold was telling. Tony tried to roll to his feet, but Gabriel was quicker, hitting him as Tony was still rising to his feet. Again he drove through Tony, driving him backwards the three steps until they crashed into the sink.
Tony bellowed in pain as his back contacted the sharp edge of the sink. The fight was going out of him, but Gabriel wasn’t taking any chances. While Tony was stunned, he drew back and threw a hard jab into his face, snapping Tony’s head back. Tony tried to counter, but Gabriel ducked under his wild swing and fired another jab.
She covered her mouth, whimpering, as Tony powered off the sink, trying to drive Gabriel back, but it quickly became clear Gabriel was gaining the upper hand. He moved with Tony, slipping past him, then grabbed him from behind, sliding his arms under Tony’s and locking his hands behind his head as he passed.
Tony roared again, his arms locked helplessly above his head as Gabriel held him tight. Tony twisted, trying to throw Gabriel off, but he held to him like a barnacle. He drove Tony face down on the bed and lay across his back to keep the pressure on.
“Give it up!” Gabriel growled.
It took two tries, but Tony succeeded in rolling over so he was now lying on Gabriel. It was the move Gabriel was waiting for. With Tony’s head clear of the bed, he quickly shifted his hold, wrapping his arm around Tony’s throat, using his other hand to force Tony’s head forward and to lock the hold in.
Stella watched Tony struggle, trying to tear Gabriel’s arm from his throat, her heart thudding in her chest. This was clearly the end game and Gabriel was going to kill him. After a moment Tony went still. Gabriel held the grip a moment longer, then released him with a gasp, shoving Tony off of him and into the floor.
“Is he…?”
“No,” Gabriel gasped as he sat up and panted. “Just sleeping.” He took a couple of deep breaths then staggered to his feet, stepping over Tony to his gun and knife lying on the other bed. He picked them up, sheathed his knife, then slid the magazine back into it weapon and racked the slide. Pointing the now deadly weapon at Tony, he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out.
“Fuck,” he muttered and toss the phone aside. It had been smashed beyond use in the fight.
Tony began to stir. “Give me your phone,” Gabriel ordered as he stepped back but kept his weapon pointed at Tony.
Stella nodded and opened the drawer where she’d seen Tony put her phone. She pulled it out and handed it to Gabriel. He handed it back.
“Unlock it.”
She did and handed it back to him.
“You move and you’re dead,” Gabriel warned Tony as he started to rise. Tony rolled over and sat up, wiping blood from his face, but didn’t attempt to rise from sitting on the floor. “His gun is under that bed, somewhere,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of the bed. “Look under there and find it. Don’t touch the trigger.”
As Gabriel held his gun on Tony, she did as he ordered, squeezing under the bed and dragging the pistol out.
“Do you know how to safe it?” he asked when she popped up with the gun, holding it in two fingers by the butt. She shook her head. “Okay. Go lay it in the sink.”
Keeping an eye on Tony, he dialed Stella’s phone. “Get over here. Room 206.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked quietly when he hung up.
“I’m going to wait for Hammer to get here, then I’m taking you home.”
She kept her distance, not wanting to risk getting in the way or being used as a shield again. “Good. I’m ready to go home.”
Less than five minutes later there was a knock at the door. Gabriel rose from the corner of the bed he was sitting on and moved to the door, steering Stella along with him but never taking his eyes off Tony. He took a quick look through the peep, then opened the door.
“Shit! What happened to you?” Hammer asked as Blade and Goon followed him into the room.
“We had a difference of opinion,” Gabriel said. “His weapon is in the sink,” he said as he tucked his weapon away then took Tony’s knife from Stella and handed it to Blade. “His knife.”
Tony stared at them from his position on the floor, his eyes wide with fear, but said nothing. He hadn’t said a word since he woke up.
Now that he had backup, Gabriel turned to Stella and tipped her head back so he could look at her neck. She had a small puncture wound, but it had already stopped bleeding. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m okay, and no he didn’t hurt me. Not until you got here.”
Gabriel pulled her to him and held her. A moment later she began to cry, burying her face in his chest. She wept for time, then gathered herself and stepped back, sniffing and wiping her eyes before she smiled at him as she touched his face gently. She had so many things she wanted to tell him, needed to tell him, but not here. What she had to say was for him and him alone.
“Take me home?”
He smiled and nodded. He took stock of his appearance then shook his head in annoyance and tore the rest of his shirt off before shrugging into his vest. He walked her to the door but then stopped before he opened it, looking back to Tony, now sitting on the bed as his brothers hemmed him in. “Break him,” he growled then opened the door and guided Stella out without a backwards glance.
“What will happen to Tony?” she asked as they walked down the hall.
“That’s up to him. I need to use your phone again, then you need to call Connie.” She handed him her phone and he dialed Doc from memory. “We have him. We’re going to need your truck,” he said without preamble when Doc answered. “My phone is broken and I’m bringing Stella home.”
“I’ll work out the details with Hammer,” Doc replied. “I’ll be rolling for your location in twenty minutes. And, Royal…thank you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, or Wednesday, and give you all the details. Call this number when you have the safe.”
He hung up and handed the phone back to her. “Call Connie, then let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, as he pushed the door open and stepped into the sunlight and began slowly walking toward the strip mall and their ride back to Greenfield.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO The sun was low in the sky, just kissing the tops of the trees, when Gabriel
and Stella rolled to a stop in the On A Roll parking lot. He was hurting…badly. Most people he could take out of a fight in seconds without even mussing his clothes, but Tony had been different. He’d damn near dislocated or broken several bones, not to mention nearly breaking his back on the fucking dresser. He didn’t know how long they’d fought. It felt like hours, and Stella said it went on for a long time, which meant it probably lasted five or six minutes. That’s a hugely long fight, but at least two or three of those minutes had been when they were stuck behind the bed, unable to damn thing with each other except try to break the other man’s will.
“Are you okay?” Stella asked as he grimaced when dismounting his bike.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“Liar,” she said with a smile. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
He followed her to her apartment, then trudged up the stairs carrying the bundle of clothes he’d taken with him to High Point. Inside he slid out of his vest and pants and she inventoried the damage. He had a few small cuts, but he was already beginning to bruise over the bulk of his upper body.
“My hero,” she said softly, kissing him softly as she handed him a fresh shirt. “I really thought you were giving me up again.”
He pulled her into a gentle kiss. “Never. I was already in town when he called. I just had to wait for the right moment. I couldn’t risk you getting hurt or losing you again, so I was stalling him.”
“Does the safe really need a key?”
He smiled, then flinched, as he shrugged into his shirt. “Yes.”
“And you knew he didn’t have it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“There are two,” he said as he reached into his pocket, pulled his keys out, and held them out in the palm of his hand. His Harley key, and what appeared to be three regular door keys, were on the ring, but there was a fifth, an odd looking circular thing with a jagged edge and a hole in the center. “I have mine and Doc has his.”
“How did he not notice that?”
Gabriel shrugged. “It’s not obvious, especially if you are working in the dark and are in a hurry.”
“So you had the key all along? Was that the real combination?”
“No. I made it up on the spot. The real combination wouldn’t have done him any good, and now we don’t have to change it.”
She looked at him, her eyes narrowing. “If he’d thought to ask you for the key, would you have given it to him?”
“If he knew I had it, yes,” he said softly. “The real combination, too, if he would have let me take you away.”
“Was there really only a hundred thousand in the safe?”
“Less than that, actually. More like eighty-five.”
“Why did he think there was a million? He was so sure.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Most people have no idea what a million dollars looks like. I don’t, do you? I know it’s not that big a pile of money. I could have easily put all the money in the safe in my pockets, and that was a hundred thousand. Ten times that amount?” He shrugged. “I’m not sure it would even fill one of those plastic grocery sacks.”
“Would you have traded a million for me?” she asked. She didn’t know why it was important to her, but she had to know.
“I would have given him any amount.” He watched her eyes fill with tears, trying to read her. “Did you mean what you said?”
“What?” she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“That you loved me.”
She wiped her eyes again. “I don’t know! I’m afraid you will hurt me again, but at the same time…” She wiped her eyes again in anger.
“I’ll never hurt you.”
“You said that before, then you left.”
“I’m not that person anymore.”
“I know that, too. Or at least you don’t seem to be.”
He pulled her gently to him and gave her a slow and gentle kiss. “I’ll give my life for you. Letting you go was the stupidest thing I ever did. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“I’m hoping you mean that.” She nodded and wiped her eyes one last time. “Let’s go get our daughter.”
***
“You look like hell,” Hot Rod chuckled as Royal stepped into the kitchen. “I heard what happened. Good work, brother,” he said giving Royal a thump on the back then laughing as Royal grimaced.
“Mommy!” Katrina shouted as she ran to Stella. She scooped up her daughter and held her tight. “You’re squishing me!” Katrina complained squirming in her mother’s arms.
Stella giggled, then sniffed as she relaxed her embrace. “Have you been a good girl for Grammy?”
“Gabriel took me to the zoo. You didn’t go.”
“I know. Mommy was busy, but I’m back now. Maybe we can go again this weekend if you want. How’s that sound?”
“Good.”
“Are you okay?” Connie asked, stepping in and giving her granddaughter a hug.
“I’m fine, Grammy.”
“What’s that on your neck?”
“Just a little cut place,” Stella said with a slight nod at Katrina.
Connie’s eyes went wide, then glanced at Gabriel. “Tony. She’s okay. We’ll fill you in later,” he said softly.
She released Stella and gave Gabriel a long hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He gritted his teeth against the ache of her embrace and returned it. “I would do anything for her,” he whispered in return.
She released him then stepped back and wiped her eyes. “I want you to stop by and have dinner with us someday.”
He smiled and nodded. “I would like that.” He turned Hot Rod. “I think you’re done here. Thank you, brother.”
Hot Rod made like he was going to slap Royal on the back again, laughing when he flinched. “I think you have a great family.” He grinned. “You’re going to have problems with that one,” he said, pointing a finger at Katrina, or maybe it was Stella, Royal wasn’t sure.
Royal grinned. “Probably, but she’s worth it.”
***
It took almost an hour before they could escape Connie. Gabriel could see she was itching to hear the story, and though he tried, he couldn’t get Katrina away from Stella for more than a minute or two at a time.
“I’ll call you tonight,” Stella promised when Katrina interrupted her story yet again.
“Okay. Obviously you two, three, need some alone time.”
Connie gave Stella a long hug as they rose from the kitchen table. “I’m glad you’re back safe,” she said softly.
“Me too,” Stella replied, holding her grandmother tight until Connie relaxed her embrace.
Connie turned to Gabriel and pulled him into an equally long embrace, and Stella smiled as his face scrunched in discomfort. Grammy had been there for her when she needed someone, a rock she could cling to when the oceans of life tried to sweep her away, but as Gabriel hugged her, she realized if she would just believe, she may have another rock she could cling to.
“Take care of her,” Connie whispered as she backed out of Gabriel’s embrace. “Both of them.”
“You have my promise.”
Stella’s eyes filled with tears. She wasn’t meant to overhear the soft exchange between Connie and Gabriel, but she had. Grammy was obviously putting her trust in him, and with a small smile, she decided it was time she did the same.
***
“They have the safe,” Stella said as Gabriel drove them home. “He said Tony told them the location less than five minutes after you left. They’re spending the night because the rental place was closed, whatever that means.”
“We have to have a hoist, a crane, to lift the safe. I guess Doc didn’t make it before the place we rented it from closed.” He paused for a moment. “That will put them arriving back here between two and three tomorrow. Want to go see what all the fuss was about?”
She smiled. “Yeah, I think I would. I didn’t have a chance to thank the, bro
thers you call them?”
“Brothers,” Gabriel confirmed. “Did they say what happened to Tony?”
“He didn’t say anything other than he started talking right after we left.”
Gabriel nodded. “They didn’t kill him,” he assured her.
She snorted and looked out her window. “I don’t care if they did.”
***
Gabriel groaned as he settled into the bed. He was hurting all over, and having Stella leaning into his ribs as the three of them watched Winnie the Pooh hadn’t helped, but he could stand a lot more pain than that if it meant she was curled up next to him.
BENT AT THE ALTAR Page 49
