Chapter 10
Gabriella
The silence dragged on, making the air almost thick with tension.
It wasn’t quite awkward, but not quite the easy familiarity we had both shared either.
“How are—?”
“Do you need—?”
We both laughed as we spoke at the same time. Vienna gestured for me to speak first.
“I was just going to ask how you are? Probably a silly question, all things considered,” I said with a rueful smile.
“I was going to ask if you needed anything.”
“I need to talk,” I said, and he sighed heavily.
“Yeah, I figured you would. Pull up that chair,” he said, nodding at the wooden stool near the desk. “I’ll answer anything you need to ask.”
I did as he asked, and the second I was sitting down, I asked my question without hesitation.
“What happened to her, Vienna? Where’s my mum?”
Vienna grasped my hand, running his thumb along my knuckles. To anyone else, this may have looked like an innocent gesture. But I knew what he was doing. He was subtly checking me over, looking for bruises and marks.
And I let him. Because the time for hiding what happened was long over.
“She’s dead,” he replied quietly, and though I felt my heart shatter at his words, an intense, physical pain exploding through my body, I wasn’t surprised.
“How?”
“Short story—I killed her.”
My head snapped up, and I pulled my hand away.
“And what’s the long story?”
“Would it make a difference?” he asked, a kindness shimmering in his eyes.
“It would be the difference between me stabbing you between the eyes right here, right now, and me being willing to listen to your explanation,” I snapped back, a burning, almost hateful sensation creeping down my spine.
“Gabby… when was the last time you looked at your mum? And I mean, really looked at her?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I saw her every damned day.”
“But did you really see her? She was fucked. Her body was exhausted, she was mentally on the edge of collapse and—”
“And you think you can make that judgement in the space of an hour, do you?” I hissed, standing up so forcefully that the stool tipped over onto its side.
Vienna didn’t react. He simply grabbed my hand and pulled on my wrist until I was forced to sit on the edge of his bed.
“Listen to what I’m saying. Did you ever notice how little your mum ate? How easily her bones broke? She was malnourished, Gabby. She was in pain every second of every day.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, she knew she didn’t have long left.
And she knew I wasn’t in much better shape, either.
When my club ambushed the Riders, we were attacked by a guard.
I did my best to fight him off, but I was in no fit state to stand up, never mind fighting.
He pulled out a knife, and your mother acted without thinking.
She threw herself in front and took the—”
“So you didn’t kill her?” I gasped. “Why would you—”
“Just listen to me. Please,” Vienna said softly.
I nodded once.
“The wound was fatal. Especially considering we couldn’t get her medical attention—you know all the reasons why. When Dante arrived, she was already bleeding out. She asked me to put her out of her misery and set you both free.”
“What did you do?” I whispered.
But I already knew.
Vienna, my noble, fierce, protective Vienna would not have stood by and allowed a woman to suffer if he could help it. He would not have allowed her to feel any more pain if he had the power to stop it.
So when he opened his mouth and told me the truth, I wasn’t surprised. I was just hurt.
“I shot her,” he said simply. “I took Dante’s gun and shot her as cleanly as possible, in the forehead, and she was dead instantly.”
And there it was.
The truth.
Because Vienna would never lie to me. He had never concealed anything from me, even if he knew I wouldn’t like what he had to say. There were no secrets between us then, and there still wasn’t now—at least on his behalf.
“But why?”
“Because she knew you wouldn’t leave her otherwise. Can you honestly say you would be sitting here now if you knew she was still there? Can you honestly say you wouldn’t throw yourself at Nico and beg for his forgiveness if it meant he would go easy on your mum?”
I stayed quiet because he wasn’t wrong, and I hated to admit that he was right.
“Things were set in motion tonight that couldn’t be undone.
I think it’s safe to say Nico knew about us and the other night…
?” he hesitated until I nodded. “He believed you were dead. As did I, Gabby. He killed Natalie, and he would have killed your mother, because her only use—at least to him—was to keep you in line. Am I right?”
Every word he spoke felt like a vice tightening around my heart.
My mum… Natalie… two beautiful souls who didn’t deserve to die because I was a fucking idiot.
“Gabby?”
“You’re right,” I admitted. “And I would have gone running back if I knew it would save her.”
“Nico has no idea you’re still alive. He has no idea you’re with me. You have a fresh start. We have a fresh start… if that’s still what you want?”
He looked at me, his eyes soft and full of love, and for the first time… I didn’t know.
What did a future for me and Vienna look like?
We couldn’t go back to what we were. That was shattered beyond repair. But was the new version of us something improved, or something doomed?
Vienna would eventually need to know what I had gone through, what Nico had done to me. I would need to address what happened that night when everything shattered. And then there was his club.
“Gabby,” he said softly. “You don’t need to decide anything now. I’m not going to pressure you into anything.”
“Thank you. I just… I need some time,” I admitted.
“I have plenty of that,” he smiled. “Until we know where Nico is, and he’s been dealt with, you’ll need to stay on the compound for your own safety.
But other than that, this place is yours as much as it is ours.
Come and go as you please. I have Church tomorrow, and I will speak to my brothers about what’s happening and ensure none of them speak out of turn to you. ”
“Thank you,” I said again, blinking back my tears.
“And one last thing?” he said as I went to stand up.
“What’s that?”
“Talk to me, Gabby. Don’t shut me out and live in that head of yours overthinking everything.
I won’t pressure you, but I’m also not going to avoid you.
I’ll be right here whenever you need me, but you need to take that leap and talk to me.
I’ve seen what happens when so much is left unsaid—it almost destroyed Rachel and Dante more than once.
And I don’t want that to happen to us, not if there’s a chance we can make this work simply by talking. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I said softly.
He looked at me as though he didn’t quite believe me, but then nodded, as though he had decided not to push the matter.
“Get some sleep, princess. Do you need anything?”
“I don’t think so. Rachel said everything was all set up next door.”
He chuckled softly.
“What’s so funny?”
“Next door is her old room. Before she and Dante sorted their shit out.”
“And why is that funny?”
“It isn’t. But if walls could talk, trust me, your night would be much more entertaining.”
I smiled back, imagining the possibilities. “They are… a unique couple, aren’t they?”
“They’re a fucking nightmare. But it works for them.”
“I… sure,” I said, not believing that for a second. But then again, they must have something to have lasted more than a week together without killing each other.
“The end of the hallway is Rachel and Dante’s room.
Well, it’s actually two rooms they knocked together.
Which means it’s split into a sort of triangle.
They are the end, on either side of them is the kids.
Bee on the right, Axel on the left next to me.
Opposite me is Kitty and Crash’s old room, which Jenna is currently staying in.
You’re next to me, and the room opposite you is empty.
The other end of the hallway, where the stairs are, is a massive playroom for the kids, which doubles as a classroom for when Heather is teaching Bee.
She doesn’t always go to school. And downstairs you already know—two spare rooms for emergencies, the kitchen and living room, Church, Dante’s office, and the club out front. ”
I nodded, even though I already knew this. Though it was nice to get an update on who was staying where. The only unoccupied room was the one that used to belong to Macbeth. I remember because that had been the one I’d needed to sneak past the most back in the day.
“I’ll leave you to get some sleep,” I said to Vienna when silence fell once more. He nodded his response, knowing there was nothing left to say. I left his room, slipped in next door and softly cried myself to sleep.
Because what else did one do when the man they loved had both saved them, and yet had taken something so monumental from them?