Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) (11 page)

“No. I have no idea where they are or what they’re doing now.” He played with his fork. “I haven’t even tried to find ‘em.”

“Why not?”

“After all they did for me for all those years? I just couldn’t face them. I’m sure they’d have been supportive and understanding, but in some ways, that’d be even harder to take than anger.”

Gabi thought about that. “Yeah. I get it.”

“You do?”

“I do. It’s hard to let down people who believe in us – especially if they had faith when nobody else did… not even ourselves.”

Aidan nodded.

“So how’d you end up in Denver?” she asked.

“Total fluke, really. I landed in a rehab place out this way and just stayed.”

“That’s how you got sober? In rehab?”

“Yeah. I went in to rehab back in Texas about a year after I got my ass canned by the DEA, but I didn’t like that place or its philosophy and nothing really stuck. I heard about this center in Colorado Springs and got myself on a plane a few weeks later. I was lucky, ‘cause this place really worked for me. I stayed for eight months and came out strong and sober.”

“Thank God.”

“Yeah, I know. That was six years ago and I have no desire to go back to Texas at all. I love Colorado and I love Denver and I just started again here.” He shrugged. “This is home now.”

“And Curves?”
This
was the part that still floored her. “Why did you decide to start bartending?”

“Because in a completely crazy and totally inexplicable way, I find it easier to handle not drinking alcohol if I’m around it all the time.”

She cocked her head. “Say what?”

“I know, right?” That teasing, sexy grin was back on his face now and she relaxed a bit, feeling like she knew Aidan again. “It’s a kind of… exposure therapy, I guess.”

Gabi was puzzled. “What’s that?”

“It’s typically used to treat fears and phobias, actually. The whole idea is that if someone is around the thing that they fear the most in a safe and controlled setting, then they’ll gradually be able to change their reaction to the thing.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, and it’s amazingly effective too. It totally breaks the person’s automatic response to whatever it is – spiders or heights or things like needles – and they learn new ways to react. They actually plan their reactions to whatever it is and that way, they gain some measure of control over the situation. The fear or phobia never fully goes away, you understand, but the person’s
reaction
to it is healthy and positive.”

“And this is how you handle being around alcohol now?”

“I think so. By choosing to be around booze all the time, I feel like I’m in control of it – it’s not in control of me. I control the relationship and the dynamic, I control the contact. I make the decision to be around it, it doesn’t seek me out or ambush me. It’s all about having the power on my side for once.”

“I – I see.”

“
Do
you?”

“Yeah. I really do.”

He felt a wave of relief crash over him. “I’m so glad.”

“Does anybody else know?” she said. “Anyone at work?”

“King knows, but that’s it.”

“God. That man knows
everything
, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” Aidan laughed. “He’s the ultimate Secret Keeper, let me tell you.”

Gabi paused, wondering if she should ask the next question. “And do you ever feel – feel tempted to drink?”

“Honestly? No, almost never. I’ve been sober for over six years now and it’s a habit, it’s a whole lifestyle. I run every day, no matter what, and the exercise clears my head. I box at a local gym and that helps me blow off steam. I stay healthy physically and that keeps my head on straight.” He smiled at her. “And now that you’re with me, I feel even stronger and steadier than I did yesterday. And yesterday I felt pretty damn strong and steady.”

“You really feel that way about me?” she stuttered. “Right from the beginning?”

“Uh-huh, but this ain’t really the beginning of us, is it baby? I’ve finally told you things that have been on my mind for a long,
long
time now. Having you in my home, having you in my bed… I feel like something that’s been undone and open for a long time just got tied up and closed. Like – like things are the way they’re meant to be at last, like this is the life I’ve wanted for so long. The last piece has just clicked in to place… you’re here now and I’m keeping you here.”

“I feel the same way,” she whispered. “About all of it.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other now, the tension between them building. Gabi thought about the things he’d done to her in the shower, on the bathroom sofa, and she blushed. He saw the color rise on that golden skin and his cock hardened.

“Eat up, honey.” His voice was molten, dark. “In five minutes, I’m taking you to bed and I’m making love to you until you collapse.”

She gasped as the area between her legs moistened and throbbed.

He smiled. “You like the idea of that?”

“Yes,” she said again.

“Me too.” He gestured at her half-full plate. “Eat, then we go to the bedroom for dessert and you should know, baby, I’m gonna have
at least
two helpings.”

**

Two hours later, Gabi was stretched out next to Aidan, her long, lean curves pressed up on his hard planes. His muscular arms were around her and she couldn’t remember anyone’s arms
ever
feeling so damn good.

He ran his rough fingers up and down her spine, caressing that amazingly sexy lower back that he’d finally worshipped with his lips. “You OK?”

She tipped her head back to gaze up at him. “Oh, yeah.”

He kissed her nose. “How’s your neck? Your throat?”

“Sore,” she admitted reluctantly. “That guy really grabbed me.”

“I know.” His eyes flashed fire. “But we’ll get things under control. We’ll make sure you and Maria are safe.”

Gabi was quiet. She knew that King and Jax had decided to approach Trigger the day after next and she was nervous and worried for them. Yeah, she knew that the guys could handle themselves but still – if anything happened to them, it’d be her fault. She’d never forgive herself if Jax or King got hurt cleaning up her damn mess.

“Gabriela?”

She started a bit. “Yes?”

“What’s going on in your head?”

“I’m worried about King and Jax going to that clubhouse. What if it’s a trap or something?”

“Yeah, I know you’re worried. But this is what King does best, you understand? The man is able to navigate these kinds of situations and walk out in one piece and with some kind of deal. He’s damn good at it.”

“I know.” She moved around a bit so she could see his face. “But it doesn’t mean I like it.”

“Me neither. The Fallen Angels are brutal, stupid assholes and I hate that you were ever anywhere
near
them, baby. I don’t even want you on their radar.”

She shuddered and he held her closer, trying to offer her some comfort. He decided to change the subject slightly.

“Gabriela?”

“Hmmm?”

“Can I ask you something about Maria?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I was wondering – how come she has the same last name that you do?”

Gabi sighed. “Yeah, that was a surprise for me, too, but as it turns out, her Mom wrote my Dad’s name on her birth certificate. When her Mom just disappeared one day, Maria got put in the system and all they had to go on was that one piece of paper. Since the father’s last name was actually given, that’s what they used.”

“Oh. And your Dad never – never got involved?”

“No.” Gabi’s anger came through in her voice, clear as day. “No, he left Maria’s Mom all alone and he never raised a finger to help his daughter. He never mentioned her to me once, not ever.”

“Do you think your Mom knew?”

Gabi was silent again, tracing her fingers over Aidan’s bare chest.

“Baby?”

When Gabi finally spoke, the words were drawn out from a place of deep fear. “I’ve spent the past year wondering about that, Aidan.”

“And what do you think now?” he asked gently.

“I think that I lost my parents a year ago in a car accident, and then I feel like… like I lost my Dad all over again in a different way when I found out about Maria. He
knew
about her, he had those documents with all his things, just hidden away. That means that he could have found her if he’d wanted to. Maybe he tried, I don’t know, maybe he even knew exactly where she was the whole time. But what I
do
know is that my Dad – the Dad that I
loved
– would
never
have done any of this to a daughter of his. And since he did, I feel like I never really knew him, you know?”

Aidan nodded. “Yes.”

“How did he look at me for all those years? I mean, how the hell did he stare me in the face knowing that he had another daughter out there? What did he think? Did he wonder if she and I had the same eyes, the same mouth? If she liked the same things that I did? If we sounded the same?” Gabi shook her head. “I don’t know and I’ll never know.”

“You angry at him?”

“Yes.” Her response was immediate. “I’m fucking
furious
at him and that’s why I don’t know what to think about my Mom. The Mom that
I
knew would
never
have left Maria in foster care if she’d known about her.
Never
. Mom would have insisted that Dad go and get his other daughter and she’d have raised Maria like her own.”

Gabi stopped to gather her chaotic thoughts, then carried on.

“But the Dad that I knew would never have had an affair, never have abandoned the mother of his child, never have left his daughter alone in the world… and since he
did
do all of those things, I kind of feel like I can’t trust my judgment about my own parents right now.”

Aidan sighed, stroked her hair. “Yeah.”

“So did my Mom know? I want to think that she didn’t – but I have no clue.” Gabi twisted her fingers together in agitation. “I’m – I’m having hard time with that, actually, and I can’t answer it. Maria asked me, too, and I didn’t know what to say.”

“Is
she
angry about it all?”

“Surprisingly, no. She was shocked when I called her up out of the blue and explained who I was and she was really hesitant to meet me in person for a long time. It took about six months of phone calls before she finally agreed to meet me.”

“And it went OK?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it did. Like I said, she didn’t seem angry but she was really… wary, I guess. Like she was afraid to believe she actually had any family at all. She seemed to think that we’d meet and I’d leave and never come back again.”

“Well, she’s probably learned that people abandon her – especially family.”

“Yeah, I think that too. She was really defensive, but I don’t mean in an aggressive way. I mean – she was all pulled back and quiet, like she was protecting herself from me. It made me sad, actually, that she was so afraid to let me in. I’m her sister. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“And now? How are things?”

“I guess we’re – friends.”

“And that’s OK?”

“Yeah, for now. I want more, you know, but I think she needs to set the pace of things. She’s the one who was left behind by everyone who was supposed to care about her, and she’s been alone for her whole life. I get the feeling that she considers all the people up at Open Skies her family, to be honest, and she’s happy there. I think that’s her home. Really, I just want her to make a bit of room for me in her life, but I know that’ll take some time.”

“Are you disappointed that she’s decided to stay up at Open Skies?” Aidan asked softly. He’d avoided the subject completely since Maria had called Gabi back right after their second shower together to tell her that she was staying put. Dillon would also be staying, as it turned out, since King and Jax had ordered him to take bodyguard duty. Aidan could only imagine how thrilled Dillon must be about
that
– the thought of him stuck up in the middle of goddamn nowhere watching Maria’s back was almost comical.

“Ummm… I don’t know. Maybe?” Gabi thought about it. “I guess I’d have liked to live with her for a while, get to know her… but these aren’t the best circumstances, right? Besides, like I said, Open Skies is her home and her family and when you’re scared, the only place you want to be is home.”

Her words tugged at him. “You scared, baby?”

She looked up at him, her dark eyes totally open. “Yes.”

“You feel safe with me?”

“Yes.” She kissed his chest. “You’re my home now, Aidan. Don’t you know that?”

His eyes were as bright as she’d ever seen them. “And you’re mine, Gabriela.”

“I’ve always wondered, why do you do that? Call me by my full name?” She brushed her hair back over her slim shoulders and he ran his fingers over her hard nipples. “Nobody else does.”

Aidan gently rolled her over on to her back and lowered his head to her breasts. “Because it’s a gorgeous name for a gorgeous woman.” He kissed her nipples and she arched up to meet his mouth. “It’s like… music.” His tongue flicked out now. “It’s so feminine and delicate and it suits you perfectly.” He sucked one bud in to his mouth and she gasped. “So I use it.”

“Oh.” She was starting to lose her concentration as he moved to her other breast. “OK.”

He smiled as her skin heated up under his touch. Slowly, deliberately, he started to move down her body, kissing and licking every inch of skin on the way. He reached her thighs and looked up at her.

“Yes?” he said.

“Yes.” She opened her legs, hot and already ready. “
God
, yes.”

Chapter Eight

The next afternoon, Gabi was watching from the sofa as Aidan finished his coffee. She was pale and biting her full lip and shaking a bit and he hated to see any of it.

He came over to her now. “You’re going to be OK here.”

“I know.” She tried to smile. “I know I’ll be safe with Curtis.”

“Yeah, you will.” He pulled her in to a tight hug. “He won’t let anything happen to you. Not ever.”

She nodded in to his chest and tried to calm down. She knew that Aidan had to go to work and she trusted Curtis without question… but still. Being with Aidan brought her such a sense of peace and calm, it was amazing. The thought that he was actually going to walk out the door and take his golden warmth with him was incomprehensible. She felt like her world was going to go darker and colder just by not being close to him.

There was a knock at the door and she jumped.

“Hey,” Aidan said soothingly. “It’s OK. It’s Curtis. He texted me that he was in the elevator on his way up from the parking garage.”

“God.” She exhaled. “I’m a wreck.”

“Not surprising. But you’re safe.”

“I know,” she said again. “It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Aidan squinted through the peephole and sure enough, there was Curtis looking up and down the hallway. He opened the door.

“Come on in, man. How you doing?”

“Good.” Curtis ambled in all deceptively casual, his blue eyes taking in everything in mere seconds. Now that Gabi knew he had a military background, she wondered how the hell she’d ever missed the man’s keen intelligence and observation skills before now. Curtis, Dillon, Alex and Wes
all
looked like they were ready for anything
all
the time, and she wondered what kind of training had made them like that.

“Hey, hon.” Curtis’ voice was its usual gravel. “You doing OK?”

“Yeah, not bad.”

“Uh-huh.” His hard gaze blazed down at her. “Your neck?”

“Better.”

“Yeah? You telling me the truth?”

“Yes.”

“OK.” He looked back at Aidan. “Give me the tour of the place? Windows, doors, locks, any panels in the ceiling or between here and the neighbors. You know the drill.”

“I do.”

Gabi blinked and watched as the men promptly reduced Aidan’s home to a floorplan of entrances and exits, of windows and other vulnerable points. Suddenly, she didn’t feel totally safe here, either.

Come on, girl. Any place you go is going to have at least
one
damn door. Jesus. Get a grip.

Aidan put on his jean jacket, his heart heavy in his chest. He wanted to stay here, but Trey had covered his shift the night before and couldn’t make it tonight and Jax needed a bartender. He had every confidence in Curtis, but still… he wanted to stay. He’d barely let Gabi leave his arms over the past forty-eight hours and they now felt strangely empty without her.

He walked over to her and – totally uncaring that Curtis was right there – he kissed her, hard. She automatically moved in to his embrace and he held her close to him, so close that he felt her heart beating against his. When he pulled back, he did so with nothing but regret.

“See you later, baby. Get some rest, OK?”

“You’ll be home at about two o’clock?”

“I will.” He kissed her again, lightly. “I’ll try to climb in to bed without waking you up.”

She smiled. “You can wake me up. You can even get creative about it. I don’t mind.”

Curtis cleared his throat. “I’m right here, guys.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Aidan kissed the top of Gabi’s head. “We know you’re right here, man. You’re the size of a goddamn semi.”

Gabi giggled.

Curtis shut the door behind Aidan, locked it, spun around to face her.

“OK, Gabi. Spill.”

“About?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him, all coy and mock-clueless.

He huffed. “What the hell do you
think
?”

“OK, I will. On one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“
You
spill about Tessa.”

Curtis’ normally implacable face actually registered shock. “Tessa? What – what
about
Tessa?”

“What
about
Aidan?” she chimed.

“Argh. Goddamn, woman.”

“Yep.” She grinned up at him, enjoying seeing this intimidating hulk of a guy actually blush. “Quid pro quo, tough guy.”

“Fine.” He shrugged. “Not that I have anything to tell.”

“Uh-huh. We shall see.” She wandered over to the kitchen. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, please.” He followed her. “I get the feeling this is going to be a
very
long night.”

**

Aidan was on automatic pilot at the bar. His body may have been at Curves pouring beers and shots of whisky, but his mind was at his place, wondering what Gabriela was doing right then. And God knows, his heart was with her; he was sure it was actually beating in time with hers.

“So… how’s Gabi?”

He jumped a bit, startled out of his thoughts. He turned to see Jax standing there, Mac on one side of him and King on the other. Aidan blinked, wondering just how the hell the three of them had snuck up on him like that.

Wow, I’m a goddamn space cadet tonight, huh?

“She’s better,” he said, starting to pull beers for the guys. “Worried about Maria, scared about those fuckers finding both of them… but calmer, I think.”

“Yeah?” Mac said, going in to doctor mode. “She’s eating OK?”

“Yep. No problems there.”

“She talking to you? Or does she sit and stare in to space?”

“No, nothing like that. She’s OK mentally and she’s talking about everything openly.”

“Bad dreams? Insomnia?”

“Well, a bit. She has nightmares but not so bad that she wakes up. Thrashes around and then calms down again.”

Delighted that Aidan had fallen smack in to his trap, Mac pounced. “And how do you know
that
, man?”

Aidan paused. “She – she told me.”

“Huh.” Mac smirked. “How would
she
know that she’s thrashing around the bed? Hmmmm?”

Aidan poured another beer and kept his mouth shut. Sadly, he was doing so about ten seconds too late.

“You want to know what
I
think?” Mac announced.

“Not particularly,” Aidan muttered.

“Sure you do!” Mac said brightly. “
I
think that you and Gabi are in the
same
bed
and that’s how you know about the bad dreams.” The grin damn near split his face in half as he glanced at Jax and King. “What do
you
guys think?”

“Well.” King seemed to think about it hard. “I think you might be on to something. Jax?”

“Ummm. Yeah, maybe.” Jax leaned on the bar casually. “That makes sense, if you think about it, right?”

They stared at Aidan now, watched as he silently slid the beers over to them, then stood with his hands in his jeans pockets.

“Yeah?” he asked. “You looking for me to actually respond to this?”

“Yes,” Mac said. “Most definitely.”

“Well, don’t hold your goddamn breath,” he said. “I ain’t telling you boys jack-shit.”

“Just as I thought,” Mac said. “You’re in the same bed.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re together. You’re an item. A
thing
.”

“I never said that.”

“You never said
anything
. That’s how I know.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Sure it does.” Mac drank some beer. “The less a man says about a woman, the more he has to say and the less he wants to share it, so the more he stays quiet. It’s simple, really.”

Aidan sighed. “Again, that makes no sense.”

“Yeah, it does. Look at these two lovesick idiots.” Mac gestured at Jax and King who looked offended. “They told us exactly nothing about Sarah and Naomi, right? And they did that because they liked them just as much as they lusted after them.”

“That’s all true,” Jax said and King nodded.

“So… according to this theory, if I’d blathered on and on about fucking Gabriela, then I wouldn’t give a damn about her?”

“Basically? Yes.” Mac grinned. “So you
are
fucking Gabi, huh?”

Even though he knew exactly what Mac was doing, Aidan still reacted. “Watch it, Mac. Not one more fucking word about her, you hear me?”

“Uh-huh.” Mac nodded in satisfaction. “Just as I thought.”

“OK, OK, enough.” Jax finally decided to give the man a break. “It’s no surprise you know, Aidan. We’ve been waiting for you two to get together for ages. Years, really.”

Aidan silently washed some shot glasses, not looking at his friends.

“What?” Mac said to him innocently. “I went too far this time?”

Aidan dried the glasses, still not looking up. Mac gazed at him, starting to feel worried now and he exchanged looks with the other men.

“Aidan?” Mac set his beer down. “Hey, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off so much… you know me. Big mouth and no goddamn filter.”

Aidan put the shot glasses back behind the bar, started on some beer mugs.

“Aidan? What?” Mac looked genuinely concerned now. “What’s the matter? Is it Gabi? Is something wrong with her? Something you haven’t told us?”

“No.” Aidan finally looked up. “For the first time in a really long time, everything is exactly right.”

Mac relaxed. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“So – you guys are OK?” King said.

“Yeah. We’re good.” He thought about Gabriela waking up in his arms, all soft and warm in the summer sunrise. “We’re great, actually.”

**

“So why don’t you ask Tessa out?” Gabi said to Curtis. “If you’re so interested?”

Curtis shrugged his massive shoulders. “She’s got a boyfriend. I don’t mess with other guys’ women.”

Gabi harrumphed. “Who, that Kevin idiot?”

Curtis snapped to attention. “I know! He
is
an idiot, right? It’s not just me?”

“Nope, it’s not just you.” She took a sip of tea. “I don’t like him.”

“Yeah, me neither.” He paused. “Why don’t
you
like him?”

Gabi hesitated. What she’d seen and heard at Curves that one night a few months ago had been so incredibly upsetting, she’d talked to Tessa about it right away. She’d also promised to never tell anyone else what had happened and Gabi Torres didn’t break promises.

“I just think he doesn’t like her as she is,” Gabi hedged. “I think he’s the kind of asshole who’s always trying to… to change a woman. You know?”

“What?” Curtis stared at Gabi. “Change her how?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Gabi scrambled to think of something to satisfy him. “I just mean – there’s a certain kind of guy that never really accepts a woman for who she is. Her hair, her body, her clothes, whatever.”

“Yeah,” Curtis said slowly, still staring at her.

“And I just feel like Kevin’s
that
guy… the one who’s always criticizing and complaining.” She stopped talking now, feeling like even that much was far too much.

“You seen something, Gabi?” Curtis said quietly, his instincts on high-alert. “Heard something?”

She
had
, of course, but she’d also made that promise. She hated lying to Curtis’ face, but she was going to.

“No.” She looked down, not able to meet that hard, blue gaze any longer. “No, it’s all just speculation.”

Curtis nodded, not believing a word of it. Gabi definitely knew something about Tessa and Kevin and she’d almost definitely seen something. Curtis took a deep breath and resolved to keep a better eye on Tessa from now on. If this fucker her boyfriend was hurting her in some way – and Curtis knew damn good and well that sometimes the deepest hurts had nothing to do with fists or blood or physical violence – then he was going to deal with it. Somehow.

He glanced at the clock. “It’s getting late. You want to try to get some sleep?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Gabi stretched a bit. “I’ll take a shower and crawl in to bed. You don’t mind staying out here alone?”

He waved his hand. “Nah. That’s what bodyguard duty is, in the end. Lots of time alone, just watching.”

“I suppose so.” She smiled at him. “You’ve done this before, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. I know the lay of the land, believe me. Nothing new going on here.”

She nodded. “You need anything else before I turn in?”

“Nothing, Gabi. You go do what you need to, just relax. I got this.” He smiled at her, reassuring and calm. “We
all
got this.”