“Now he’s found me again. Because I didn’t kill him when I had the chance.”
Gabriel steps closer, careful not to crowd me. “You didn’t deserve any of it. Not as a kid. Not now. Not ever.”
His certainty cuts deeper than any blade could. My chest constricts, lungs forgetting how to draw breath, vision narrowing to pinpoints.
No one has ever said those words to me before, not Rowan when he helped clean me up after, not the counselors who knew pieces of what happened.
My fingers curl into fists, nails cutting into my palms, and I welcome the pain as a distraction from the storm raging inside me. With every heartbeat, the need to strike surges. I don’t care if it’s brick, bone, or skin. Any solid resistance that will break under my hands will do.
“I should have killed him.” I rock forward on the balls of my feet, poised for violence. “But he transferred before I got the chance. And I let myself believe he was gone for good.”
Gabriel’s hand settles on my forearm, palm warmon my skin, touch light enough that I could break away with the slightest movement.
“I’ll find him.”
Gabriel’s thumb presses once into my pulse, grounding and claiming in the same breath.
“And when I do, he won’t ever touch you, or anyone else, again.”
15
My head lifts, ready to scoff at the offer of violence on my behalf. That’s Rowan’s territory, not this rich Alpha.
But his cold resolve gives me pause, and I remember the Gabriel who had moved through the shipping yard with me, silent and deadly. I remember how Gabriel’s cousin is an assassin, and how he’s somehow tied to one of the most feared gunrunners in the country.
When Micha was being stalked, I saw firsthand how dangerous the Rockfords can be, so why do I keep telling myself Gabriel is just a rich playboy? Because believing the lie makes it easier to disregard Gabriel and pretend he’s not serious.
But his offer to take care of the man who lives inmy nightmares isn’t bravado, and he has the resources to see this vow through to the end.
“You don’t understand what you’re saying,” I whisper, throat tight at how willing he is to put himself in harm’s way for me. “You don’t understand what you’re getting into.”
“Then tell me.” His fingers remain on my arm, thumb tracing a small circle on my skin. “All of it, if you can. Or none of it, if you can’t.”
“I can’t.” The admission costs me, dragged from somewhere deep and wounded. “Not tonight. Not all of it.”
Gabriel nods, accepting this boundary without question. “Whenever you’re ready. If you’re ever ready. I’m here.”
Somehow, I believe him.
The air between us shifts, molecules rearranging themselves into charged electricity. Gabriel stands too close and not close enough, his presence a gravity I can’t escape.
My heart rate accelerates for reasons that have nothing to do with panic. I step forward, foot coming down on the envelope.
My mouth finds his, hard and desperate, teeth catching his lower lip as I press him backward. The kiss holds nothing of tenderness. It’s about escape,distraction, and grabbing onto this man as if I’m drowning.
Gabriel meets me without hesitation, his mouth opening under mine, accepting the onslaught without surrendering to it. His hands rise to my hips, touch firm but not trying to take over.
My fingers tangle in his hair, pulling his head back to deepen the kiss. I need this control, need to direct this encounter. It’s the only way to quiet the chaos in my head.
When I reach between us to grip him through his slacks, Gabriel catches my wrist, his fingers circling my wrist bones with deliberate care, as if pressure alone could bruise them.
“This doesn’t have to be about pain,” he murmurs, lips caressing my jaw, his breath a hot fan across my skin.
I try to pull free, to reclaim the momentum. “That’s exactly what it needs to be.”
His grip remains steady, neither tightening nor releasing. “It can be about real connection.”
His lips brush the hollow below my ear. “It can be about safety.”
