Chapter 38 #2
Before long, she was curled up on the couch fast asleep. Gavriel came over and pulled me close to him, kissing the top of my head. His muscles relaxed slightly as he held me and let out a long, calm breath. “Thank you.”
“Of course. She was scared when I came in. She’d just watched her whole security team get shot down, and Mendez attempted to rape her.” I ground my teeth.
I felt his breathing pick up as he looked back at his sleeping sister. “Easy . . .” I placed my hand on his forearm, and I felt his taut muscles move as he flexed and balled his hand repeatedly. For a moment, I thought he might ignore my warning, but then his shoulders sagged slightly.
When he turned back toward Rhea, his whole body was tight as a drum and radiated rage that would have broken lesser men in two. I was watching him so closely that I jumped when Harley stepped up beside us. “You two need anything else right now?”
I shook my head. “No. We’ll keep her here until it’s safe to move.”
Gavriel’s attention snapped over to Harley. “Don’t go far. Office in ten. We’ll hash out the plan.”
Harley nodded once and left as quietly as he’d come. The door clicked shut, and the room seemed to exhale. Gavriel’s energy shifted, like a dog straining against its leash. I tightened my grip on his arm, grounding him before he did something we’d both regret.
Rhea stirred, twisting beneath the blanket. Her breathing was slow, but every few seconds her good hand flexed over the bandaged one, as if she needed to confirm she still existed. I recognized that twitch. The body’s desperate check on reality after fresh trauma.
Gavriel moved to his knees beside her, his hands hovering over her hair without daring to touch. My throat clenched at the tenderness in his posture.
“Hey,” he whispered. “You’re safe. You did good, Rhea. You hear me?”
“Yeah,” she managed, her voice muffled. “Safe for now.”
He glanced at me, those dark eyes raw with pain. I brushed a stray strand of Rhea’s hair behind her ear, careful not to press on the swelling there.
“You want water? Painkillers?” I asked softly.
Rhea shook her head. “Just . . . need a minute. Everything hurts, but it’s better now.”
Gavriel’s jaw clenched before he spoke. “You’re not going back. I don’t care what Father says. I’ll burn his fucking world down to keep you away from them.”
Rhea let out a bitter laugh. “You sound like Dad.”
Watching his face twist at that cut me open. For a moment, he looked decades older, bone-tired. He forced a smile. “I’m not him. I’ll never be him.”
A crack opened in my chest—being compared to a hated parent, feeling your own bones hewn from the same poison. I squeezed Rhea’s hand. “You don’t owe anyone anything. Not your father. Not Juarez. Especially not after today.”
Her good eye met mine, glassy and wet. “I just want it to be over. To go somewhere and wake up without looking over my shoulder.”
I nodded. “We’ll make that happen. But for now, you stay here, and when it’s safe, we will move you to my place.”
“He’s going to look for me there. It will be the first place he’ll look after Gavriel’s.”
I shook my head. “He doesn’t know about my safe room, Rhea. They won’t be able to find you there. You’ll be under total lockdown there, which I’m sorry about, but—”
“It’s the only way. I understand.” Rhea curled tighter under the blanket. “Thank you.”
I watched her drift off, her face softening in stages. Gavriel remained kneeling, staring at the floor, his hands trembling.
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
He didn’t answer at first. I saw the wheels turning in his mind—the calculations, the violence. Counting how many men he’d have to kill to rest.
“I’m fine,” he lied. Then softer: “I just . . . I don’t get how he could do this to her. His own daughter.”
I shrugged, anger bubbling anew. “Sociopaths don’t see family like we do. They see assets, weaknesses. You just happened to learn and pull your head from your ass.”
He almost laughed. Almost.
We sat in silence for a couple minutes, the only sound Rhea's occasional whimper in her sleep.
I watched Gavriel's face—the tight line of his jaw, the way his fingers clenched and unclenched around my waist. I'd seen him in many states before: submissive, vulnerable, even broken.
But this protective rage was something else entirely.
"I need to make some calls and talk to Harley," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Gavriel." I used my domme voice without thinking. "Whatever you're planning—"
His eyes met mine, and I saw the struggle there. "I won't leave. And I won't do anything. Not yet."
I nodded, knowing that "not yet" was the best I could hope for.
Standing, he headed to his office to make his calls.
I checked Rhea's injuries again. Sitting on the floor, I just watched her sleep.
The shit this woman had had to endure was bullshit.
You read and heard stories of families who used their children as currency, but even I, knowing that my father had been mafia, had never thought I would actually see this kind of cruelty. Not even from Ezequiel Azzaro.
My chest was tight as I watched her. It just wasn’t fair. My teeth ground as I saw the swelling around her eye had worsened, but I relaxed as I noticed her breathing was even.
Getting up, I grabbed one of the ice packs, broke it open, shook it until it was cold, and then placed it gently over her eye as she rested.
"Is he still here?" she murmured, her good eye fluttering open.
"Yes, but he went to his office for now."
She tried to sit up, wincing at the pain. "I didn't want him to see me like this."
"He loves you, Rhea. Let him be here for you."
Tears welled in her eyes. “Am I going to be safe at your house? I don’t want them coming for you.”
“Like I said, you’ll stay in the safe room. Can come topside when either Harley, Gavriel, or I are there.”
She huffed. “Why do I find it surprising for a moment that you have a safe room?”
“You think Dad would have allowed me to have my own place without numerous protections involved? They are nowhere near the level he had at his place, but shit. It was a battle just get him to let me move out of that house.”
I started thinking about that. If Rico was going to be awhile, maybe she needed a more locked down location.
Somewhere she could stay long-term. The door opened, breaking me from my thoughts as Gavriel returned, and Rhea stopped talking immediately.
I watched the silent communication between them—the question in his eyes, the plea in hers.
Family secrets and unspoken truths hung in the air like smoke.
For a moment, I thought he might argue. Then he looked down at his sister and sighed. "Please, Elin. I need your help tonight. Both of you."
The vulnerability of his request caught me off guard. I nodded and reached for my phone to cancel my appointment at the Lounge. As I did, it buzzed with an incoming message from an unknown number.
Unknown: Tell Rhea I know where she is. This isn't over.
I stared at it, my finger hovering over delete.
Instead, I turned the screen toward Gavriel.
"We have a problem." His eyes narrowed as he read it, jaw tightening.
Without a word, he locked eyes with Harley, who nodded once and slipped out the door.
"Where's he going?" I asked, watching Gavriel's face harden into something lethal.
"To make sure your place isn't swarming with Juarez's men and to put some feelers out to see who sent this."
"Alright," I said, putting my phone away. "I'll make us some tea. And then we'll talk about how to get her to the safe room at my place."