“You’re right,” Gabe lied. The man wasn’t even fucking close to being right but agitating Vic even more than he already was could be a fatal mistake for Ellena. “I should have, and I didn’t. That’s on me.”
“You’re damn right it’s on you!”
Keeping his voice steady, Gabe inched a step closer to the man holding his entire world hostage. “I know that, now. And you have every right to call me out, but this is between us, Vic. Ellena had nothing to do with it.”
“But I wanted her to be involved,” Vic revealed as he backed up slowly, toward the door leading from the kitchen to the back yard. The other man glanced down, his next words spoken directly to Ellena. “I wanted them to send me to you for my psych eval, but they wouldn’t.”
“They couldn’t, Vic.” Ellena’s swallow was audible. “I’m your team leader’s wife. I-it would’ve been a conflict of interest to have m-me be the one to evaluate you.”
For the first time since walking in on the horrifying scene, Gabe allowed himself to glance at his wife. The tremble of fear in her sweet voice made him want to put a bullet between his former teammate’s eyes.
“Elle, look at me.” Gabe stared into Ellena’s frightened baby blues. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Her bottom lip quivered as her bow-shaped lips attempted to form a smile. “I know.”
That smile turned into a wince as Vic pressed the barrel of the gun even harder against Ellena’s temple.
“You’re wrong,” the angry man growled back at him. “Everything’s not going to be okay. It’s never going to be okay, and it’s allyourfault.”
As if she could sense Vic was about to pull the trigger, Ellena blurted out, “I’m pregnant!”
Vic froze. His cold, dark eyes shot to Gabe’s.
“It’s true,” Gabe confirmed the news, barely resisting the urge to end the other man for daring to touch what was his.
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit, Vic.” Ellena tried to convince him. “Look at the fridge. Look at the picture hanging there. That’s a copy of the sonogram I had last week. I’m only eight weeks along, but I was h-having some cramping, so my doctor ordered the test. Just to m-make sure everything was okay.”
Gabe watched the man’s eyes slide to the appliance on his left. Hanging by a thread, he waited while Vic studied the blurry, black and white image.
Vic’s voice filled with an accusing tone as his focus shot back to Gabe. “You never said anything.”
“Because I asked him not to,” Ellena responded quickly. “I-I wanted to wait until we’d made it past the three-month mark.”
“Please, Vic,” Gabe pleaded. “Just drop the gun so we can talk about all of this.”
“Talk.” Vic chuckled. “I don’t want totalk.I’m sick to death of fucking talking!”
“Okay, fine.” Gabe nodded. “Then let Ellena go. She and the baby”—Gabe had to swallow to keep his own voice from cracking—“they’re innocent in all of this. You were right before. This is all on me. So if you want to kill me, fine. But not them. Please, man. Just let her go.”
“No!” Ellena shook her head vehemently. The blues in her eyes darkened with anger. “You are not going to sacrifice yourself.”
Gabe’s heart swelled, even as it began to shatter. “That’s my job, baby.” He smiled sadly. “I’d sacrifice myself a hundred times over if it meant keeping you safe.”
She was shaking her head again even before he was finished. “I won’t let you do it.”
His eyes softened. “Not your choice to make.”
“Yes, it is.” Ellena stared back at him with a sudden determination. It was clear she was trying to tell him something more.
The blood in his veins grew cold with fear as he realized what it was. “No, it’s not,” he tried to get through to her.
Ellena licked her lips nervously before whispering, “I love you.”
Knowing there was nothing he could do to stop her, Gabe prepared to defend her and their child—with his life, if necessary.
In what he hoped was an indiscernible move, he curled his finger around the gun’s trigger.
