Chapter 25 Gabriel
Gabriel
“I’ve been living here with my brother.” Gabriel gestured at the mess. “This is all his doing. Take a seat on the couch, ill be back in a few minutes” I sat awkwardly on the couch as he disappeared into a room
“This is my brother, Damien,” Gabriel said as he returned to the living room with another man.
“Hi,” I managed weakly.
“Good to finally meet you. Gabriel never stops talking about you.” Damien smiled warmly, acting as if this were a normal first-time meeting. Gabriel gave him a disapproving look.
“Damien, start cleaning this up.”
“What? I’m only half responsible for this.”
“I don’t care. Start cleaning.” Damien sighed and whipped a trash bag into the air, opening it after a few tries.
Once Damien began cleaning, Gabriel knelt in front of the couch where I sat. He took my hands in his and looked me in the eyes.
“Sophia,” he said, his voice gentle but serious, “you’re safe now. Okay?”
Heat flooded my cheeks at his closeness, and I looked away, my lip quivering. How could he be so calm after what had just happened? He was capable of so much violence. But today, I learned I was too.
“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed, my voice barely more than a whisper.
For a moment, Gabriel didn’t say anything.
Then, very gently, he tilted my chin up until our eyes met again.
“You don’t have to do anything,” he said quietly.
“Just know you are safe here with me. All you need to do right now is lay down and rest. If you need time away from the town, then we’ll leave for a while, we can talk about that later, for now just rest.” He stood up and turned away while pulling out his phone.
“I don’t want to leave for a while. I want to leave and never come back.” This got Damien’s attention, who tried to conceal the eager look in his eye.
Gabriel turned back toward me.
“I want to go to New York,” I said, just throwing it out there.
“New York?” he questioned softly. “Sophia.” He shook his head. “I don’t have to even say this, but it's dangerous there.”
“It’s dangerous here, Gabriel. If anything, we would be safer there, right?”
“You would be so much safer there.” Damien jumped in. “And it’s the greatest city in the world. You would love it there, Sophia. It has everything you could ever want or need.”
“You’re not helping,” Gabriel said over his shoulder.
Damien smiled. “No, she’s right,” he continued. “Sophia, you need a fresh start. You deserve a life that’s all yours, away from this nightmare. You shouldn’t have to live in fear.” He paused, his eyes drifting towards the window. “There would be no safer place for you than with us in New York.”
“Damien,” Gabriel warned through gritted teeth.
Damien simply smiled, dropped the trash bag, and walked down the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him.
Gabriel’s eyes locked onto mine, and I could see him battling with himself.
"I don't care about your past or your family. I care about us. What we could be together. New York could be a fresh start for you too, in a way.”
“How is that?” He asked.
I fluttered my eyelashes without meaning to. “It would be a fresh start because, well, you would be with me.”
When our eyes met again, Gabriel’s brow furrowed, clearly torn. I could see he was wrestling with a decision. His hand found mine again and held on tightly, like he was afraid I might disappear.
“Sophia…” He started, his voice choked with emotion. His gaze swept over me, taking me in. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
“I know what I'm asking, Gabriel. I'm asking you to face yourself, your past, and everything you are pushing down, for us. For me.”
My voice was a mere whisper, but the intensity of my gaze matched his.
Something changed in his eyes. A spark of something—maybe hope or even resolve—flickered there before he looked away. But it was enough for me. Gabriel was concerned, yes, but he also wanted this. He wanted us.
"Just consider it," I added quickly, my voice shaking. “Just take some time to think about it, please.”
"I don’t need time to think,” Gabriel said, standing up. I sank back into the couch, staring up at him.
“You are stronger than you give yourself credit for, Sophia.
I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this. I will take you to New York.” Relief washed over me.
I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him.
“This would have happened whether you were here or not.
I would have discovered Henry's camera eventually anyway, Except because of you, Im safe. I'm not alone.”
“They way it looked to me, you could have handled him on your own. Sophia..." he began, his eyes filled with an intensity that made my heart flutter, "Going back to New York is... it's complicated."
"Isn't everything?" I found myself replying, attempting to keep the conversation light.
"Life is messy, Gabriel. It's never going to be perfect, but that's ok.”
There was so much in his eyes that he wanted to say yet didn’t. I wrapped my arms around his big shoulders and hugged that part of him that he couldn’t give voice to.
His voice vibrated my body as I clung to him.
“Before we go to New York, how would you feel about a long vacation first? Somewhere nice, maybe Europe?”
“Europe?” I said, pulling back to look up at him, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject.
"I... I've never really given it much thought," I confessed.
A faint smile curled up his lips. "Ok then," he said gently, taking my hand in his. "We can go wherever you want. Monaco, Capri, wherever.” He trailed off.
I laughed. “I have to admit I don't even know where those places are. I'd love to see them, of course, but I think for now it would be better if we went straight to New York.”
“Why is that?” He said.
“I don't know, I think I'd like to start experiencing our new life rather than take a luxurious distraction from this one.”
“I see,” he said. “Whatever you want, Sophia. I just thought all girls wanted to go to Europe.”
"Well, not all girls are the same, Gabriel," I smirked, poking his chest lightly. He chuckled, a deep sound that warmed me.
“You're right," he murmured, his hand falling to rest on my hip. His gaze lingered on me, soft and adoring. For a moment, we were silent.
“Sophia…” His voice had a serious lilt to it now. I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “Once we’re in New York… there will be things you’ll have to deal with. Difficult things.”
“I can't imagine it could be any worse than what we just went through.” I said.
“You’ll see a side of me there, a part of who I used to be… but just know that who you know me as now is also me.”
“Who you are is who you are, Gabriel. I'll accept whatever that is.”
I blinked at him, my heart pounding in my chest. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears and, for a moment, everything seemed surreal. The weight of what had just happened with Henry, and the unknown ahead of me was almost too much to bear. “Your family…” I started, then swallowed hard.
Gabriel sighed, rubbing his forehead with his free hand.
His eyes were sad when he looked back at me, full of regret.
"They’re worse than me, but you have nothing to fear from them.
They would risk their life for you and do unspeakable things for you, because I care about you.
Still, it's important they like you, just like in any normal family.”
"But it's not a normal family, Gabriel," I pointed out. "Does being with you mean I will have to do…” I trailed off, unable to think of how to word it. “Would I have to do criminal things?”
He laughed. “I wont force you to do anything you don’t want to do, and I’ll be with you as much as I can when it comes to navigating my family.
Just remember this Sophia, I left that life.
I wanted to be free of it and the consequences of what living that way leads to.
Things won't be easy at first, for either of us.”
Suddenly I felt terrible. In my selfishness, I was forcing him to return to it all, to face a reality I was completely ignorant about.
I could see the regret in his eyes, and yet, there was also an undercurrent of determination there. He was resolved to support me, even if it meant confronting his past.
"Do you remember what you promised me Gabriel?”
“You want me to always tell you the truth. Sophia, if we’re doing this, going to my home, I won’t be able to keep that promise.
I get that you don’t want to be in the dark, but I just won’t be able to tell you everything at any given moment, I’ll do my best to keep you out of the dark, but things are different there.
"That's... fair enough, I suppose," I replied.
His answer reassured me somewhat, but a knot of unease remained in my stomach.
Then he kissed me. He really kissed me. Not a lust-fueled, superficial kiss, but a real, caring kiss. The uncertainty and unease washed away with the scent of him, the feel of him on my lips. The revelation that he truly cares for me through this authentic kiss was all I needed to know now.