Challenging Gabriel (Knight Security 2) (19 page)

Caleb lifted his T-shirt, revealing the rows of silver scarring inflicted by several dozen knife cuts across his chest and back.

“I’m not responsible for that—”

“Then who the fuck is?” Caleb pulled Sinclair onto his feet, hands still tied behind his back. “Men like you never take responsibility for what you do. It’s all a game to you, isn’t it? A low-maintenance way of adding to your personal fortune. Well, it all stops here,” he bit out. “Right here, right now.” He dragged the other man over to the middle of the room and started to place the noose over his head.

“He’s fucking insane!” Sinclair twisted away from that noose, eyes wide and panicked.

Gabriel shrugged. “I told you, he’s what men like you made him.”

“You can’t do this!” The noose was now firmly about Sinclair’s neck, despite his struggles.

“Bring the chair over here, would you, Gabriel?” Caleb requested calmly. “It should be easy enough to lift him up onto it and then push it from underneath him— Oh, good grief…”

Gabriel frowned. “What is it?”

“He just peed himself.” His brother grimaced his disgust.

Gabriel’s gaze dropped to where he could see the wet patch was growing on the front of Sinclair’s tailored trousers, the acrid smell filling his nostrils. He lifted dark brows. “I guess he’s realized we mean what we say.”

“You’ll never get away with this.” Sinclair’s face was pale. “My men are outside—”

“Unconscious.”

“When they wake up, they’ll tell the police what happened.”

“What makes you think they’re going to wake up?” Caleb’s tone was pleasant.

“This is preposterous,” Sinclair continued as the two brothers lifted him onto the chair.

“Last chance,” Caleb warned, holding on to the other end of the twine. “You either agree to write down all of the last three weeks’ dealings, drugs, arms, girls, the lot, or I’m going to kick away the chair.”

“Fucking bastards!”

“Is that a yes?”

“Rot in hell!” There were tears in Sinclair’s eyes as he looked down at them. Actual tears.

“You’re going there first,” Gabriel assured him grimly, totally unmoved by those tears, knowing that if Sinclair managed to get away, he would have them both killed and calmly carry on running his illegal empire. “Caleb—”

“Okay,
okay
, I’ll tell you,” Sinclair shouted, sweat glistening on his brow and dampening under the arms of his shirt. “Just don’t—don’t push the chair away,” he sobbed.

“I want it all, Sinclair,” Caleb warned. “Every fucking thing you’ve done the past three weeks.”

“Yes, yes, all of it. My computer is in the safe, behind the Renoir.” He nodded at the painting on the wall behind his desk.

“Lucky for me, I brought a spare memory stick.” Caleb produced it from yet another pocket in his trousers.

“I’ll want your word, on Angel’s and Daniel’s lives, that you aren’t going to kill me afterward anyway?”

“You’re hardly in a position to be making terms,” Caleb snorted.

“I want your word first,” Sinclair insisted.

Gabriel looked at him coldly. “You really think we want to soil our hands on you again?” The smell of sweat and urine was almost overpowering.

Both Gabriel and Caleb loomed over Sinclair as he once again sat at his desk and downloaded all the information they wanted onto the memory stick. “What happens now?” He looked up at them.

Caleb put a second memory stick into the computer and copied the same information before removing it and placing it back in his pocket. “Now we open the apartment door and let the police in.”

Sinclair’s mouth fell open. “What…?”

Gabriel moved to stand in front of him. “The police are waiting outside, and all your men are now in custody. We’re a security company, Sinclair, not assassins.”

“I— But— You never meant to kill me?”

“Who said anything about killing you?” Caleb removed the noose from the light fitting and then moved to the back of the chair and untied Sinclair’s arms before stowing the twine back in his pocket. “Did you say anything about killing him, Gabriel?” He straightened. “Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”

“You bastards!” Sinclair’s face was livid. “I’ll tell the police the two of you broke in here, that you threatened me, planted evidence on me—”

Caleb snorted. “Good luck with that.”
 

“They already have all the information from the memory stick Angel took away with her,” Gabriel spoke evenly. “Pretty damning stuff, according to my tech guy.”

“I— But—”

“Just shut the fuck up and listen.” Gabriel placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder and pushed him back down as he would have risen to his feet. “You’re going to prison for a long time. A very long time. But if you or anyone you’ve paid ever comes near me or mine again, you won’t live to see the end of your sentence. Am I making myself clear?”

A nerve pulsed in the older man’s jaw. “Yes.”

“Say it.”

“You have made your position very clear.”

“No, I’ve made
your
position very clear. Be a good boy, and you’ll live. Attempt to harm Angel or Daniel in any way, and you’ll die. You’ll also sign the divorce papers that will be served on you in the next week, giving full custody of Daniel to Angel.”

“You’ll be wanting me to give her half my fortune next!”

“She wouldn’t be interested in taking any of your blood money,” Gabriel assured him scathingly before glancing at Caleb. “Time to let the police in, I believe.”

“You let me think— The police knew all the time— You let me sit here worrying—” Angel was so angry, she didn’t seem to be able to finish a sentence before another one occurred to her. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had involved the police?” She glared her displeasure at Gabriel. “And please don’t tell me it’s because you thought I might worry!”

Her relief had been immense when Gabriel arrived back at the Grayfeathers’ home a short time ago, the two of them taking the opportunity to talk while Daniel was busily occupied watching Lily bath Amelia.

That relief had quickly turned to confusion, and then anger, as Gabriel explained what had happened. She had spent the past four hours worrying about him, terrified he might have been killed, and all the time he’d had the backup of the police. Oh, she didn’t take anything away from the fact that he and Caleb had entered Clive’s apartment or the risk involved in that, but Gabriel hadn’t been honest with her.

Again.

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. “The truth?” He sighed as she nodded. “I’m simply not used to sharing that sort of information with anyone.”

“The police obviously knew.”

He nodded. “My tech guy decrypted the information you gave us, and it was duly passed along to them.”

“Your three brothers also knew?”

“Yes.”

“Your sister and brother-in-law?”

“Yes.”

Angel drew in a sharp breath. “But apart from the police, your three brothers, your sister and brother-in-law, no one else knew you had back up the whole time?”

“We went in alone—”

“Answer the fucking question, Gabriel!”

Gabriel winced at her vehemence. “I had three snipers placed on the rooftop across the street.”

“So, the police, your three brothers, your sister and brother-in-law, and three snipers?”

“Well…obviously we had to explain the situation to the housekeeper and chauffeur when we invaded their private rooms.”

“Sure that’s it? The police, three brothers, sister and brother-in-law, three snipers, and Clive’s housekeeper and chauffeur? No one else? Perhaps a few passing pedestrians, so they could hang around and watch the show when the police brought Clive out in handcuffs?”

Gabriel could see the anger building in Angel. Her eyes glittered stormily, her cheeks were flushed. “For fuck’s sake!” He began to pace the sitting room. “I did what I had to do.”

“No, you did what you always do, and kept the details to yourself!” Tension rolled off her in waves. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Gabriel Knight, superhero to the rescue! Have you forgotten what happened the last time you did that?”

“I was trying to protect you, damn it!”

“Well, guess what?” Her tone dripped sarcasm. “I don’t need protection from you so much as I need honesty. You could have confided in me, Gabriel, could have reassured me in that way. Instead, you chose to go off, leaving me completely in the dark—again—as to what was really happening. I’ve had it, Gabriel. Up to here.” She raised a hand in front of her face. “You can carry on playing superhero for our son’s sake. I’m sure he’ll be very impressed. But I’m done.” She turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

“Fuck!” Gabriel muttered, knowing he had deserved every bit of Angel’s anger. He
had
thought he was protecting her by not telling her the whole truth, but he should have thought beyond that, should have remembered what happened the last time he did that.

He had lost Angel.

He had just lost her again.

Not physically, because he had no intention of allowing either her or Daniel to leave his life again. But in every way that mattered, he knew he had lost her.

Her caring.

Her warmth.

Her love?

Maybe.

He had begun to hope in Majorca that the two of them might be able to find that again, to maybe build the life together they should have had eight years ago.
Would
have had eight years ago, if he hadn’t fucked up.

“I’ve found that a little groveling usually works under these circumstances.”

Gabriel turned to look at his brother-in-law. Jonas had entered the sitting room with his usual stealth and now stood in the kitchen area, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Want one?” he offered.

“No, thanks.” Gabriel ran an agitated hand through his hair. “What sort of groveling did you have in mind?”

Jonas shrugged. “That usually depends on how seriously I’ve fucked up.”

“Majorly.”

The other man winced. “Way past flowers or chocolates, then?”

“God, yes.”

“Hmm.” Jonas looked thoughtful. “I’m guessing a romantic dinner or a weekend away are out of the question too? Thought so.” He nodded as Gabriel snorted. “Lily sees straight through those things anyway,” he admitted ruefully. “So I’m guessing Angel would be the same.”

“She could consider it an insult to her intelligence.” Gabriel nodded. “Besides, this is way, way past flowers, chocolates, dinner, or a weekend away. I lost her eight years ago because I didn’t tell her the truth or make it clear enough how I felt about her. I’m losing her now for the same reason.”

“Then tell her.”

“It isn’t as simple as that—”

“Of course it is. Lily would tell you it’s time to man up. Or rather, man down. That you don’t always have to be the macho hero, hiding his feelings and saving the day.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “That’s more or less what Angel accused me of.”

“What are you protecting yourself from, Gabriel?” Jonas probed. “Fear of rejection? The vulnerability of admitting your feelings for her? The possible pain of losing her? Because from where I’m standing, you’re doing a damn good job of doing that
because
of those fears. Do you want to be without her again? Have her in your life but as nothing more than the mother of your son? Someone you only see when you call to take Daniel out for the weekend?”

Fuck, no!

Chapter 12

“I love you.”

Angel’s head snapped up at the sound of Gabriel speaking. At the words he was saying.

He strode farther into the bedroom Lily had told Angel was hers and Daniel’s for the length of their stay here. He closed the door behind him before he crossed the room to kneel in front of where Angel sat on the side of the bed, his hands resting on his jean-clad thighs. “I love you, Angel.” His voice was gruff with emotion. “I’ve always loved you. From the moment I first looked at you. Even
before
I looked at you. Something about your perfume called to me the night we met, and when I saw you… Jesus, you looked like an angel. All that long, glorious golden hair. Velvet-soft gray eyes. Lips I wanted to devour. A body I wanted to claim for my own.”

“You did those things.” Her throat was thick with the same tears streaming down her cheeks.

“But I forgot to tell you why. No, damn it, I didn’t forget.” He frowned darkly. “I was scared, Angel.”

She gave a choked sob. “You’ve never been scared of anything in your life.”

“
You
scared the shit out of me eight years ago. You were twenty years old, with your life ahead of you, what the hell did someone like me, an arrogant bastard ten years older and a hardened and scarred soldier, have to offer someone like you?”

“Yourself. Not part of you, but all of you.”

He swallowed. “I’ve made the same mistake this time around, haven’t I? Claiming you as mine without telling you why. Am I too late, Angel?” He felt the sting of tears in his eyes, unable to remember when he had last cried, but very much afraid he was about to do so again now at the thought of losing Angel for a second time. This time for good. “Is it too late for us to try again? For me to court you, properly this time, to open myself up to you in ways I never have before, and hope that one day you might learn to love me?”