Gabriel's Inferno 01 - Gabriel's Inferno (56 page)

Gabriel straightened his shoulders slowly and cracked his neck to one side. He looked remarkably relaxed in his tweed jacket and Oxford shirt. He looked as if he was on his way to a faculty meeting at the university and not presently kicking the ass of a senator’s son from Philadelphia.

“Get up,” Gabriel said in a voice that made Julia’s blood cool.

Simon moaned.

“I said
get up!”
Gabriel stood over him like an avenging angel, beautiful and terrible and absolutely without mercy.

When Simon didn’t move, Gabriel grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his head back.

“If you even
think
about going near her again, I’ll kill you. The only reason you’re still alive is because it would upset Julianne to see me go to prison. And I’m not about to leave her alone after what you did to her, you sick motherfucker. If a photograph or a video of someone who even looks like her ends up on the internet or in a newspaper, I’ll come after you. I’ve gone ten rounds with a few Southies in Boston and lived to brag about it. So don’t think that I will hesitate to smash your skull in next time.”

Gabriel reared back and his left uppercut shattered Simon’s jaw. Simon slumped onto the ground and remained perfectly still. Pulling a handkerchief out of the pocket of his wool trousers, Gabriel nonchalantly wiped the blood from his hands. At that moment, Julia appeared at the front door and hobbled out to meet him.

“Julia!” He caught her in his arms as she nearly fell down the stairs. “Are you okay?”

He swung her to the ground carefully, clasping her to his chest.

“Julia?” He pushed her hair back so that he could see her. Her lips were red and swollen, there were scratches on her neck, her eyes were wild and was that…a huge
bite
mark?

That animal fucking bit her!

“Are you all right? Did he…?” Gabriel dropped his eyes to her clothing, fearing what he might see. But no, her clothing wasn’t ripped, and she was still dressed, mercifully, even though her shirt was unbuttoned.

He closed his eyes and thanked God that he hadn’t arrived any later. Who knows what he would have found.

“Come with me,” he said firmly, removing his jacket and placing it around her shoulders. He quickly buttoned up her shirt and carried her to the passenger’s seat of the Jeep, closing the door behind her.

“What happened?” he asked as he climbed in beside her. Julia was clutching her injured ankle and muttering to herself.

“Julia?” When she didn’t respond, he reached over to brush the hair out of her eyes.

She flinched toward her door.

He froze. “Julia, it’s me. It’s Gabriel. I’m going to take you to the hospital. All right?”

She gave no indication that she’d heard him. And she wasn’t shaking or crying.
She’s in shock
, he thought. Gabriel pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Richard? Something happened to Julia.” He paused and looked over at her. “Her old boyfriend appeared, and he attacked her. I’m taking her to the hospital in Sunbury. Yes, you could meet us if you want to. See you there.”

Gabriel looked over at Julia, hoping she would make eye contact. “Richard is going to meet us in Sunbury. He’s going to call a friend of his who is a doctor.”

When Julia didn’t respond, he dialed information to find the number of the Selinsgrove Fire Station. He left an urgent message for Tom, explaining what had happened and that he was taking Julia to the hospital.

It’s her god damned father’s fault. Why the fuck did he leave her by herself?

“I slapped him.” Julia’s voice, high and unnatural, broke into his thoughts.

“You what?”

“He kissed me…I slapped him. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again. I didn’t want to kiss him.”

At that terrible moment, Gabriel was grateful that he had to drive her to the hospital. Without his need to care for her, he would have turned around and finished Simon off. Permanently.

She began to say the most bizarre things. She was murmuring about
him
kissing her and something about Natalie, and then something about him, Gabriel, not wanting her anymore because she’d been marked and she was going to be a lousy lay…

What the fuck did he do to her?

“Sssshhh, Beatrice. Look at me. Beatrice?”

It took a moment for the old nickname to sink in, but when it did she looked at him, her frantic eyes slowly focusing on his face.

“This isn’t your fault. Okay? It isn’t your fault that he kissed you.”

“I didn’t mean to cheat on you. I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

The tone of her voice, the panic in her eyes—Gabriel swallowed back bile.

“Julia, you didn’t cheat on me. All right? And I’m glad you hit him. He deserved it and much, much worse.” Gabriel shook his head, wondering with horror what had actually happened before his arrival.

***

When Richard arrived at the hospital, he found his son and Julia in the waiting room. Gabriel was stroking her hair and speaking to her softly. It was a tender scene, but the level of intimacy between the two of them surprised him. Greatly.

While they waited for Richard’s friend to arrive, he gently examined her ankle. She yelped. Richard glanced sideways at Gabriel, who was gnawing on his knuckles in order to control his reactions.

“I don’t think your ankle is broken, but it’s certainly injured. Gabriel, why don’t you get us all a cup of tea and maybe some cookies?”

Gabriel pulled his knuckles out of his mouth. “I won’t leave her.”

“It will just take a minute. I want to speak to Julia.”

Gabriel nodded reluctantly and disappeared in the direction of the cafeteria.

Richard couldn’t help but notice her neck. The bite mark was obvious, the love bite less so. His eyes flickered to where his son had stood a moment before. The love bite was old, obviously from a day or two ago. Clearly, things between Gabriel and Julia were more intimate than he thought.

“Grace used to volunteer at this hospital. Did you know that?”

Julia nodded.

“Over the years, she served in a lot of capacities but most of her work was with victims of domestic abuse.” He sighed. “She saw a lot of sad cases, some of which involved children. Some of her cases ended in fatalities.”

He looked into Julia’s eyes. “I will tell you what Grace used to tell her patients. This is not your fault. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you didn’t do, you did not deserve this. And at this moment, I don’t know when I’ve been more proud of my son.”

She looked down at her injured ankle and remained silent.

A moment later, a pleasant-looking Asian gentleman walked up to them.

“Richard,” he said, extending his hand.

Richard sprang to his feet, shaking his friend’s hand. “Stephen, I’d like to introduce you to Julia Mitchell. She’s a friend of the family. Julia, this is Dr. Ling.”

Stephen nodded and directed a nurse to help Julia to an examination room. He followed shortly thereafter, assuring Richard that he would treat her as if she were his own daughter.

Knowing that Julia was in good hands, Richard decided to walk to the cafeteria to join his son. As he entered the hallway, he could hear Gabriel arguing with Tom Mitchell. Loudly.

“I think I’m a better judge of character than you are.” Tom was in Gabriel’s face, trying to physically intimidate him, but Gabriel met him toe to toe.

“Well, clearly you aren’t, Mr. Mitchell, or I wouldn’t have had to drag that animal out of your house before he raped your daughter in her own fucking bedroom.”

“Gentlemen, this is a hospital. Take it outside.” Richard was stern as he walked toward them.

Tom acknowledged his friend briefly then turned back to Gabriel.

“I’m glad Julia is okay. And if you rescued her, then I owe you. But I just got a phone call from a police officer telling me that you beat the shit out of Senator Talbot’s son. How do I know you didn’t start the whole thing? You’re the drug addict!”

“I’ll take a drug test.” Gabriel’s eyes flashed. “I have nothing to hide. Instead of worrying about the senator’s son, don’t you think you should be a little more concerned about your daughter? Protecting Julianne was
your job
. Your job as a father. And you’ve been doing a lousy fucking job of it her whole life. Christ, Tom. How could you have sent her back to live with her mother when she was a little girl?”

Tom clenched his fists so hard he nearly burst the blood vessels in his hands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so you need to shut the hell up. You’ve got some nerve lecturing me about my daughter. You’re just a cokehead with a history of violence. I don’t want you anywhere near her, or I’ll have you arrested.”

“I don’t know what I’m talking about? Come on, Tom, get your head out of your ass! I’m talking about all those men traipsing in and out of the apartment in St. Louis, fucking your ex-wife in front of your little girl.
And you did absolutely nothing
. In fact, you finally rescue her before she becomes another statistic for child molestation, and then you send her back. Why? Was she a delinquent nine-year-old? Was she too needy? Or were you too busy being volunteer fire chief!”

Tom looked at Gabriel with an expression of utter hatred. It took all of his self-control to keep from either punching Gabriel’s lights out or grabbing his hunting rifle from his truck and shooting him. But he wasn’t about to do either around the corner from a waiting room full of witnesses. Instead, he swore at Gabriel a few more times and stomped over to the Admissions desk to make arrangements to pay for Julia’s hospital bill.

By the time she returned on crutches, Tom had calmed himself. He stood by the door of the emergency room with his hands in his pockets, swimming in guilt.

Gabriel walked to Julia immediately, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw her bandaged ankle. “Are you all right?”

“It isn’t broken. Thank you, Gabriel. I don’t know what I would have…” Julia swallowed her words as tears fell down her face for the first time that evening.

Gabriel put his arm around her shoulder and tenderly kissed her forehead.

Tom watched the exchange between his daughter and the violent but valiant cokehead and walked over to Richard. The two friends spoke for a minute before they shook hands.

“Jules? Do you want to come home? Richard says you’re welcome to stay at his place if you’d rather.” Tom shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

“I can’t go home.” Julia pulled away from Gabriel and hugged her father with one arm. He immediately teared up and whispered an apology in her ear before walking out of the hospital.

Richard bade the couple good-bye, leaving Julia to dry her tears.

Gabriel turned to her immediately. “We can pick up your prescriptions on the way back to Richard’s. I’m sure Rachel has clothes that you can borrow, or I can lend you something. Unless you’d rather go home and pack your suitcase.”

“I can’t go back there,” she whimpered, curling in on herself.

“You won’t have to.”

“What about
him?”

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore. The police have already picked him up.”

Julia looked into his eyes and almost lost herself in the warmth and concern that radiated from them.

“I love you, Gabriel.”

At first he didn’t react to her statement, he simply stood there as if he hadn’t heard. Then his expression softened. He drew her into his side, crutches and all, and kissed her cheek, saying not a word.

Chapter 28

After dinner, Scott had dropped by a friend’s house for a visit. When he arrived home, he was shocked to discover two police cruisers in the driveway. Officer Jamie Roberts was interviewing Julia in the living room, while Officer Ron Quinn was interviewing Gabriel in the dining room. Richard had already been questioned.

“Will someone please explain why there are cops in the house? What did Gabriel do now?” Scott stood in the kitchen staring down his sister and their father.

Aaron walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a Samuel Adams. He opened it and handed it to Scott, who drank it gratefully. “Simon Talbot attacked Julia.”

Scott almost spat out his beer. “What? Is she okay?”

“He fucking bit her,” said Rachel. “And he almost broke her ankle.”

“Did he…” Scott’s voice was matter-of-fact, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

Rachel shook her head. “I asked her. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did. And she said no.”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Scott slammed his beer down on the counter. “Well, where is he? Let’s go, Aaron. Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”

“Gabriel got to him first. Ron told me that they had to take Simon to the hospital to have his jaw wired shut. Gabriel smashed his face in,” Aaron explained.

Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “The Professor? Why would he do that?”

Aaron and Rachel exchanged a knowing look.

“I’d still like to pay the asshole a visit.” Scott cracked the knuckles on his right hand. “Just to talk to him.”

Aaron shook his head. “Listen to yourself. You’re a prosecutor; he’s the son of a senator. You can’t tune the guy up. And besides, Gabriel finished it. They’ll take him into custody when the doctors are done with him.”

“You still haven’t explained why Gabriel would get his pretty little hands dirty for Julia. He barely knows her.”

Rachel leaned over the kitchen island toward her brother. “They’re a couple.”

Scott blinked like a lazy stoplight. “Come again?”

“Just what I said. They’re—together.”

“Holy shit. What the hell is she doing with him?”

Before anyone could offer a hypothesis, Gabriel walked into the kitchen. He looked at the worried faces of his family and frowned. “Where’s Julianne?”

“Still being interviewed.” Richard smiled at his oldest son and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “I’m very proud of you, for what you did for Julia. I know we’re all grateful you arrived in time.”

Gabriel pressed his lips together and nodded uncomfortably.

“Clocking Simon Talbot will earn you a medal. But screwing around with Julia will earn you a beating. You aren’t good enough for her. Not by a long shot.” Scott put his beer down and cracked his knuckles again.

Gabriel’s eyes glinted coldly at his brother. “My personal life is none of your business.”

“It is now. What kind of professor screws his students? Don’t you get enough tail already?”

Rachel inhaled deeply and slowly moved toward the door, away from the impending titanic clash.

Gabriel’s fists clenched at his sides, and he took a step closer to his larger but younger brother. “Speak about Julianne that way again and you and I are going to have more than words.”

“All right, you guys, no more Cain and Abel bullshit. There are cops in our living room, and you’re scaring your sister.” Aaron stepped in between the seething men, placing a light hand on Scott’s chest.

“Julia is not the kind of girl that you screw around with and then dump. She’s the kind of girl you marry,” Scott said over Aaron’s shoulder.

“You think I don’t know that?” said Gabriel, with evident hostility.

“Don’t you think she’s had her quota of assholes?”

Richard held his hand up. “Scott, that’s enough.”

He looked at his father curiously.

“Gabriel rescued Julia from her attacker.” Richard nodded slightly.

Scott stared at his father as if he’d just told him that the earth was flat. And everyone, except him, already knew it.

Rachel jumped in, eager to change the subject. “By the way, Gabriel, I didn’t know you knew Jamie Roberts. Did you go to high school with her?”

“Yes.”

“Were you friends?”

“Vaguely.”

All eyes swung to Gabriel, who turned on his heel and disappeared.

Richard waited a few minutes for the tension in the air to dissipate before turning his attention to his remaining son. “I’d like a word with you, please.” His voice was calm but firm.

The two men climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked into Richard’s study. He closed the door behind them.

“Have a seat.” He pointed to a chair in front of his desk. “I want to talk to you about your attitude toward your brother.”

Scott sat opposite his father and prepared himself for what was to come. Richard only brought his children into the study for the most serious of conversations.

He gestured to a reproduction of Rembrandt’s
The Return of the Prodigal Son
, which was proudly displayed on one of the walls. “Do you remember the parable behind that painting?”

Scott nodded slowly. He was in trouble.

***

Julia sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air.

It was only a nightmare. It was only a nightmare. You got away.

It took a moment to bring her frantic breathing under control. But once she realized that she was safe in the Clark’s guest room and not underneath Simon on the floor of her old bedroom, she was able to relax. Somewhat.

She leaned over and turned on the lamp. The light dispelled the darkness of the room but did not cheer her. She picked up the glass of water and the pain pills that Gabriel left when he tucked her into bed several hours earlier. He’d curled around her, fully clothed, and held her until she fell asleep. But he was gone now.

I need him
.

More than the pain pills or the light or the air, Julia needed Gabriel, to feel his body wrapped around hers, to hear his deep voice whisper words of comfort. He was the only person who could make her forget what had happened. She needed to touch him. She needed to kiss him in order to blot out her nightmare.

Julia took the pills to soothe the pain in her ankle. She hopped on one foot to Gabriel’s room in order to soothe the pain in her heart. She was quiet as a mouse, listening for any stirring or footsteps in the other rooms. When she was satisfied that she would not be surprised, she silently opened Gabriel’s door and closed it behind her.

It took a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness. He’d neglected to pull the shades on the windows and was lying on what was normally her side of the double bed. She wondered if it was accurate to say that she had a side of the bed. She limped to the other side, pulled the covers back, and placed one knee on the mattress.

“Julianne.” Gabriel’s low whisper startled her.

She clapped a hand to her mouth so that she wouldn’t cry out.

“Stop.”

She froze. When her wits finally returned, she lowered her head. “Um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.” Shame flooded through her, and she blinked back tears as she slowly turned to go.

“That’s not what I meant. Wait.”

Julia watched him throw off the covers and stand up, his back toward her. He was naked and the streaming starlight through the shades scattered across his back. It was an optical illusion of sorts, the delicate points of light dancing across his athletic form. She saw his shoulder blades and his spine, and the muscles of his lower back where the skin stretched as he leaned over to find his pajama bottoms.

And of course, the most beautiful backside and legs…

When he’d pulled on his pants, he turned to face her, his brilliantly sculpted chest and shoulders perfect in the dimness, the tattooed dragon slightly muted but ever present.

“Now you can crawl in with me.” He chuckled. “I thought I’d make you nervous if you found me naked.”

Julia rolled her eyes. She didn’t like when he laughed at her, but she saw his point.

(Or rather, she didn’t actually
see
it, but she understood what he meant.)

“Come here,” he whispered, extending an arm and drawing her close so that when they reclined, her head rested naturally on his chest.

“I set my alarm so I could check on you. It would have gone off in fifteen minutes. How is your ankle?”

“It hurts.”

“Did you take the pills I left for you?”

“Yes. They haven’t kicked in yet.”

Gabriel carefully shifted so that he could reach her hand and tenderly pressed his lips against her fingers. “My little warrior.” He stroked her hair, caressing the waves with his fingertips. “Were you having trouble sleeping?”

“I had a nightmare.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

He squeezed her more closely just to indicate that he’d heard her and that if she changed her mind, he would listen.

“Would you kiss me?” she asked.

“I thought that after what happened you wouldn’t want me to touch you.”

Julia angled her head so that she could bring her lips up to his, ending their conversation.

Gabriel’s mouth was soft and gentle, barely moving against hers. He could feel that her mouth was still tender, and he silently cursed Simon for making it that way. But Julia was having none of that. She wanted to drink him in, to let his fire engulf her, so that he was all she could feel or think about.

Opening her mouth, Julia traced his bottom lip with her tongue, savoring his sweetness. She pushed her tongue inside his mouth, laving his with hers and dancing, tangoing, tripping over it. Gabriel’s fingers tightened in her hair, gently pulling her head back. Now his tongue pushed hers back, entering her and caressing her.

Julia began to hum at the sheer pleasure of his unhurried affection. While she was kissing him, she could think of nothing else. She kept her injured ankle away from him in order to protect it, and with her hands she found his hair, pulling and twisting it.

Gabriel groaned but didn’t stop. She felt his body begin to stiffen next to her, pushing out against her bare thigh. He ran his right hand down her side, hovering over the swell of a breast before rubbing against her ribs and then her hip. He liked the way Rachel’s tank top and yoga shorts fit Julianne’s form, hugging her curves and exposing a great swathe of pale skin across her shoulders and above her breasts. She was beautiful, even in the semi-darkness. All of a sudden, she was on her back while he hovered over her, pressing his weight into his forearms. His knee came between her legs, and she parted them willingly.

She wanted more. She needed more. Her breathing was ragged and coming in gasps as she refused to loosen her hold on his hair, forcing their mouths together.

Gabriel responded by stroking her breasts over her tank top with his long fingers, applying just enough pressure to make her tingle and want more but not enough to satisfy her desires. Then he was pulling back, leaning on one forearm with eyes closed. This was her moment. Without even thinking about it, she grasped the hem of her tank top and tried to pull it off.

Gabriel’s hand came to hers and halted her movement. He pressed their lips together, and soon they were teasing each other with their tongues, panting with warm and moist breaths. Julia freed her hands from underneath Gabriel’s when he moved to stroke her upper thigh, dragging her leg around his hip as he pressed closer to her. Now that her hands were free, nothing prevented her from wresting off her top. She found the hem again and began to pull, twisting and writhing beneath his naked chest.

Both of Gabriel’s hands clasped over hers. “Julianne,” he gasped, for he was breathing hard. “Would you…please…stop.” He rocked back on his heels and kneeled next to her, trying to catch his breath.

“Don’t you want to?” Hers was the soft voice of an innocent, and it made Gabriel’s heart clench.

He shook his head and closed his eyes. As his response sank in, so did something else. All of the cruel things Simon had ever said to her began to echo in her ears.

You’re a stupid bitch. You’re going to be a lousy lay. You’re frigid. No other man is ever going to want you.

Julia rolled to her side, effectively sidestepping Gabriel, and swung her feet gingerly to the floor. She wanted to make it to the door before a sob ripped from her throat. But before she could put her weight on her good ankle, two long, strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she was trapped.

Gabriel placed his legs on either side of hers and pulled her so that their bare legs were dangling over the side of the bed together and her back was flush against his naked chest. She could feel his swift heartbeat and his breathing through her shoulder blades. It was an odd but especially erotic feeling.

“Don’t leave,” he whispered, pressing a light kiss to the edge of her ear. He leaned forward to bring his mouth to the right side of her neck, nuzzling her.