Gabriel's Salvation: small town, misunderstood MMC, overcoming trauma, first love romance

43. Chapter Forty Three

“What do you want?” I snap, as I see Marko enter the office. He knows that he’s not supposed to be here, not during business hours. And after spending the last hour arguing with some useless twat who can”t even do a basic debt collecting job correctly, I have no patience left for whatever Marko wants from me. We despise each other at the best of times.

“Well?” I snap again when he doesn”t answer me rightaway.

“John said you might need a hand. That someone needs to be taught a lesson,” he replies, with a fake air of respect.

“Actually, yeah I do.” I nod, for once grateful to see his ugly face. I”ll send him instead. I”m in no mood for this shit, not tonight. It’s been an awful day, and all I wanna do is go see Riley and fuck my frustration away.

“What do you need?” he asks, a glint of mischief and mayhem flashing across his face.

“McBride. That asshole owes us close to ten thousand, but he seems to have forgotten to pay his last three installments. I sent the new guys, Luke and Sam, to give him a warning yesterday, but they seem to think a few slashed tires were enough incentive. So, of course, there was no money when we tried to collect today. Think it”s time to send in the big guns.”

“Oh goodie, I have a new baseball bat that”s just begging for some action.”

“Fists only,” I snap back. He fucking knows how I roll - weapons are for pussies. “If you can”t win a fair fight, you shouldn’t be in the fight at all.”

“What the fuck? John never cares…”

“Well I”m not goddamn John, and I do care, so either fight fairly or I”ll get one of the other guys to go. Do you fucking understand me?” I growl as I lose my temper further.

“Fine,” Marko says through gritted teeth, “let me grab one of the other guys and the three of us will go together.”

I reach for my phone, ready to call Phoenix or Michael, when I spot a bunch of messages from Riley.

17:30

Hey babe, are you finishing work soon? Wanna meet for coffee? I”m near your work.

18:00

I”ve gone home, but message me when you”re done. Maybe we could go for a drive or something.

18:20

Why aren”t you replying? I”m home alone, Harper has gone out and my parents are at dinner. I”m bored and extremely horny. Come quick!

18:22

Or do I have to find someone else to help me instead?

I can”t help but smirk at my spoiled little brat and imagine the frustrated pout on her face as she sent that last message.

“You calling the guys or what?” Marko barks, breaking me out of my happy thoughts and instead making me think about bashing his fucking head against the wall.

I call Phoenix and tell him they all need to come over, knowing that they won”t be long as they are probably at Saints’ Bar, around the corner. As expected, he arrives less than ten minutes later followed by both Michael and Deeno.

“Here”s the address. I expect a call when it”s done,” I instruct as I scribble down the location and hand it to Phoenix.

“You”re not coming?” Phoenix questions.

“No, I got somewhere to be,” I say, careful not to give anything else away.

“What the fuck is more important than this? You”re just gonna leave us? This is like the fifth time you have disappeared off on us!” Marko complains as he bangs his fist on the table.

I reach out and grab him by the scruff of his collar. “What I do and where I go has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with you!” I growl before releasing him with enough of a shove that it causes him to stumble.

I see from his face he’s desperate to punch me, and part of me wishes he would. Just to give me an excuse, any excuse to kick his ass.

There”s zero love lost between the two of us. Marko has been desperate to take over my position as the boss for years, but we both know I”m basically family in John’s eyes.

The only way he’d get my position is if I step down, and as much as I hate it, I have zero desire to do so. We’d both happily fight for the role of king of the pack but we know it would cause anarchy in the ranks if we did, so we don”t.

“I am your fucking boss, and you will do as I fucking say,” I bellow.

“But..” he begins.

“But what? There”s four of you here, you”re telling me the four of you aren”t man enough to scare one jumped up little prick who owes us money? In that case, maybe I need to tell John we need to find some new blood if you”re too much of a pussy to go alone.”

“No, course not. I”m more than capable of getting shit done without you,” Marko counters and he’s so angry that I can see the veins in his neck are threatening to burst.

“Then get the fuck out of my sight then.” I snap as I open the door and virtually kick them out.

The four of them scurry out of the office like the fucking cockroaches they are. Once they are gone, I lock up and leave myself. I fire a quick message to Riley letting her know that I”m on my way, determined to ensure she remembers exactly who owns each and every one of her orgasms.

I pull up outside her house, and notice all the lights seem to be out. I reach for my phone ready to text her, and see there”s one waiting already. - ‘The door’s unlocked and I”m ready and waiting, come find me!!!’

I race inside not even caring if anyone else is home. As soon as I enter, I spot the stairs and am about to run up them when I see a piece of paper.

-Wrong stairs lover boy. Try again.

I turn around and spot another piece of paper stuck to a door.

I make my way towards it and there”s another handwritten note.

Getting warmer lover boy, now come downstairs and

prepare for things to get hotter!

I fling open the door that appears to be leading down to a basement and make my way down. I almost turn back, thinking it”s a joke until I spot another door. This one welcomes me to ‘Riley and Harper’s hideaway.’

I push the door open and spot my girl lying on the bed in a red lace bra and matching panties. Fuck me! She definitely looks like fire.

“You found me,” her voice low and seductive.

I sprint over to her, seeming to make my way across the room in only a few steps. I kick off my shoes and whip off my jeans, wasting no time before claiming my prize.

We must pass out, as the next thing I know, I”m waking up as the heat radiates off my little hot water bottle. How the fuck she can get so hot when she’s asleep, I have no idea.

Unsure where I left my phone and unable to see in the dark, I reach for what I think is my phone, but unfortunately it”s Riley”s.

As I do, I spot a message on the lock screen.

Twinnie

really guys? in our room? I”m sleeping at Izzy”s!

Feeling guilty but also confused about how her sister obviously managed to come in while we were sleeping, yet I didn”t wake up. I decide to sneak out the open window, not wanting to risk bumping into any other family member.

My intention is to sneak out, have a cigarette, then sneak back in. I get out surprisingly easy and am just about to light up when all of a sudden everything goes dark.