The Gambler (6 page)

They raced towards the gates of home
, and he didn’t breathe easy until he had her safe behind the walls of his home. She didn’t say anything about the kiss or what had happened, and he was satisfied that she hadn’t been adversely affected by either. He couldn’t say the same for himself, and not being a patient man, knew that his strength would be tested in a way he never experienced before.

There was so much to consider here, not least of all her innocence. His sister hadn’t lived long enough to get married and have kids. Would she, Jenna, understand the relationship between a man and a woman? How would he traverse those waters when the time came?

There was no doubt that she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on, but for fuck’s sake Stefan Andros was not known for being gentle, in bed or out; too much to think about right now. First he had to secure her safety; then he’d think of the rest. He was fucked if he was going to ask any of the doctors he had on call what to do. He figured he’d figure shit out as it came. His only worry was in scaring her, in hurting her in any way. The thought of it made his stomach cramp.

He set her up in the far corner of his office
, away from the desk where he was about to talk business with his guys. He didn’t want her overhearing anything he had to say; none of this should ever touch her ever. Not as long as he was there to protect her. Whatever else, he would make sure of that. His heart felt light for the first time in years, and he actually found himself wanting to smile for no reason at all.

He looked over to make sure she was preoccupied with her new tablet that he’d had loaded with games and copies of her favorite show. She was already fascinated with her new toy and he knew as long as she could see him she would be fine. She hated having him out of her sight already in the short time that they’d been together, which made him feel good. He hadn’t felt that needed in a very ling time.

“You know they’re gonna come after us hard
, so we have to have shit locked down. I want everyone on high alert, double the men on the walls; I’ll put the shields on the house. One of us will be with her at all times and I mean all times. If she has to go to the bathroom and I’m not there you come and get me, but she is not to be left alone at any time and no one gets near her, I don’t care who it is, not even grandpa…”

“What
, you don’t trust the old man?”

“When it comes to her safety I don’t trust anyone, I know he would never harm her
, but we’re in a war. I don’t have time to think about feelings right now. She’s the primary, no matter what, she’s to be protected at all cost…” He looked over to where she had started singing in that amazing voice of hers that went right to his gut.

He was also checking out the guys’ reaction to her, he wasn’t fucking around when he said he didn’t trust anyone with her, no one but himself. He wasn’t going to fuck up this time. He’d been living a kind of
day-to-day existence until last night. He hadn’t been looking for death, but neither had he feared it. Now with his sweet Jenna in the picture all that had changed. She made him think of tomorrow and shit that he hadn’t given a thought to in years, not since he’d become a man.

The fact that they’d only just met didn’t come into play. She had been destined for him a long time ago. He wouldn’t say that he’d been actively looking for her; he hadn’t even believed that she really existed. But he would never forget the words that had been told to him all those years ago
, by the only other person to ever truly own his heart.

He wasn’t quite ready to take that out and examine it either
, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to deal with what was really going on here. No one else would understand his actions, no one else needed to. He knew what he knew and that was good enough for him. The shit was enough to make him start believing again, something he hadn’t actively done in a long long time.

Not since the day a beautiful soul had been snatched from the earth. With this new development, another beautiful soul placed into his world, in h
is care, it was hard to hold onto the anger that he’d carried for so long. He had no doubt that she was his; that she was an answer to a promise made a lifetime ago.

When his sister had laid dying in his arms, she’d offered him comfort even as she drew her last remaining breaths on this earth. That was the beauty of people like her, people who were too beautiful for the world to really see. He’d spent his time as a teen learning all he could about his sister’s condition. He didn’t attribute any of the words the experts used to her, to him she was more than. The tint that everyone else seemed willing to stick on Alice was abhorrent to him. If they only took the time to really observe, they would see that instead of a flaw, his little sister had been blessed with more.

Her ability to see only beauty, that innate innocence that transcended everything else, it had touched him in a way that nothing else ever had. Now he was blessed for whatever reason with a second chance. If there were any fairness in the world
, he would be able to hold onto her for a long time. He would be allowed to make up for the one he failed. Her knew realistically that what had happened to his sister hadn’t been his fault. But as the big brother who’d always shielded and protected her, it felt like his failure, that he hadn’t been there when she needed him most.

He put the daunting memories aside once more and focused on the here and now.

With a few calls he set things in motion and had her surrounded. With that taken care of, he turned to more sinister things, like getting rid of the fucker who’d sent the goons after him with her in the car. Her brother had signed his death warrant the second he’d laid hands on her, and now her godfather was in the same fucking boat.

He didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought about what he was about to do. If people were going to try and take her away from him, they were going to die. He might let the mother live if he determined that she had been kind to his girl, otherwise she too was fucked.

After what had happened today, he was no longer feeling magnanimous. “I want you to find out what the Minnelli bitch was doing in my house. I don’t think it was a coincidence that she applied for the job as my assistant. Could be that she was spying for her brother in law or some fuck who knows. I don’t see why, since we’ve never had any dealings, but I’m not taking any chances.”

“I’ll get right on it boss.” Garrett pulled out his little handheld and typed in some shit.

“We need to do a sweep. The good thing is that when she left she didn’t have time to remove anything if there was anything here to take, but let’s cover all the bases.” There was a fuck load of shit to do now that she was here. His security hadn’t been lax before, but he wasn’t about to leave any stone unturned where she was concerned. If he could insulate her he would. The memory of his earlier loss was never far from his mind. Now that he felt that strong pull once again, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

He knew well what the world did to those it thought weaker than they. Had seen first hand the ugliness that could be inflicted on the innocents of society. He’d been too young and too naïve last time, he won’t be asleep at the wheel this time. He boosted up security on the places he had scattered around the city where he sheltered and cared for autistic children. He didn’t put it past the fucks to try hitting him there. Soulless fucks.

When the men had gone about his business
, he picked up the phone, still making sure that she was preoccupied. Every once in a while she’d pick up her head and check on him and they’d exchange a smile. She seemed happy, her bruise was already starting to fade and that beautiful face was just one big glow.

He made a million silent promises to her in that room: promises of fulfilling her dreams, of loving her for the rest of his life; of making sure that she never knew another day of fear. They weren’t empty promises, and not made lightly. He’d only ever felt that for one other human being before in his life and for many years he’d felt like he’d failed, he didn’t intend to fail this time.

“Angel.” He looked over to her as he was about to call his grandfather, and his heart tripped. She had her lips puckered, sitting there on the floor surrounded by all her new stuff. Getting up he walked over to her and bending on his knees, he kissed her again.  Her soft hand came up to hold his face in place as he kissed her lightly, not wanting to scare her, when what he really wanted to do was hold her as close as he could and never let go.

When she was satisfied with her new game of kissing he went back and picked up the phone with a grin on his face. That lasted until the phone was picked up on the other end.

“Gramps those fucks made first strike…”

“I heard; we aren’t really prepared for all out war yet boy
, this thing just got underway."

“Jenna was in the car with me old man, I don’t care if I have to walk up to their front door and blast the motherfuckers
, but they’re not gonna get a second chance." He kept his voice low and light so as not to alert her.

“Stefan."

“Are you with me or not?”

“For fucks sake boy of course I’m with you
, but we can’t just go running wild in the streets, this isn’t Chicago in the thirties. That’s always been your problem, born out of turn you hotheaded little shit, just wait; I have things lining up as we speak that will ensure you and the girl are safe and that you don’t have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. Now calm down and listen to the voice of experience.”

“Gramps fuck that shit, they’re not waiting, they want to set shit off I’m not backing down, no fucking way. They brought it, I’m gonna answer. You do what you have to do. But no one is getting anywhere near her. I lost once before I don’t intend to lose again. She’s mine, you know what that means.”

“Fuck; let me talk to the guys
, see if we can get things moving sooner, always knew you were gonna put me in an early grave.”

“Early my ass, you’re ten minutes older than dirt.”

They hung up and he sat in contemplation. He knew there was some truth to what the old man was saying, but it went against everything in him to let them get away with that shit. The fact that she’d been in the car is what pissed him off more than anything. They had to have known she was with him. If her godfather was willing to attack him with her in the crossfire that told him he didn’t give a fuck about her. His only interest was in getting back at him for taking something he probably saw as his. Fucking mob.

The old fuck’s big mistake was in fucking with someone who didn’t give a fuck and had no respect for him
, or what he thought he was. Bonata’s authority did not extend to him, and it stopped including her in that casino room when her asshole of a brother had knocked her around.

“Come my Jenna
, it’s time for lunch.”

“Chocolate?”

Damn, if he wasn’t careful that’s all she would ever eat, so he had to figure out how to get her to eat and then give her some as a treat.

“No baby you have to eat food first and then I’ll give you chocolate.” He wasn’t sure if she remembered that he had bought boxes of Godiva while they were out shopping. He had to remember to order a truckload of the shit.

She liked grilled cheese; he made a note of it. Grilled cheese and chocolate, that's what his girl liked most. She made him laugh as they sat at the table in the kitchen and she fed him little nibbles of her sandwich. He hadn't eaten grilled cheese since he was ten. He heard the whispers coming from the other side of the room and turned to look at Willy and Sue
, who were watching him like they'd never seen him before.

"Problem?"

"No no." They both turned and tried to look busy, but he knew what it was. They had never seen him this way; he hadn't been this way in a long time.

"Angel?"

"Yes my Jenna."

"Good?"

"It's very good." He pretended to bite her fingers when she fed him and she had a laughing fit. Such joy in something so simple; it almost brought tears to his eyes. He wondered not for the first time, why someone so beautiful was created with what the world saw as a defect? Some might theorize that the Maker had to find a way to contrast all that beauty, but he saw it in a completely different light. For him, she was the closest thing to perfection.

Her otherworldly beauty, coupled with her childlike innocence, to him, were the rarest of gifts. Like finding a perfect pearl in the deep. That one in a million gem that stands out above all the rest. He questioned why he'd been blessed with not one, but two of these phenomena in his life? One was his sister and the other will be his lover. His heart was full to overflowing as he watched her. Maybe this time he’d get to hold on longer…he broke off the dark thought that plagued him.

"Look at me." He turned her face to him so he could see into her amazing eyes and felt his heart clutch.

"You're the most beautiful girl in the world my Jenna." She lit up and smiled wide; as his hand caressed her cheek, feather light.

"My Angel nice." He smiled at that. Shit, she's probably the only person in the world who thinks that. Not even his gramps, who he knew loved him, would ever call him nice.

I'll keep you safe always my little Jenna, now and for always. He didn't say the words out loud but kept them in his heart. A promise meant to be kept until he drew his last breath.

He sat there for the hour it took her to finish her meal and then look out the box of chocolates he'd kept hidden under the table. She couldn't seem to choose which ones she wanted to try first.

"Have as many as you want."

She clapped her hands with glee and he picked one up and fed it to her. The look on her face at the first taste was priceless. He didn't know what to do with the reaction from his body when she licked the caramel from her lips.

"Fuck me." The words were a tortured whisper as he felt what was left of his heart lay down at her feet.