Chapter 8 – Gabby
Chapter Eight
Gabby
We park in Beacon Hill, which I thought was a fancy neighborhood, not a place where cold-blooded murderers lived.
I know he was just trying to save my life, but the contrast strikes me as particularly stark.
What? Did I expect him to disappear into an alleyway?
Of course murderers and villains live in regular houses.
Even fancy houses. Isaac keeps close to me as he leads me to the ornate, iron front door of the Beacon Hill home that must be worth close to three million dollars, possibly more.
Isaac knocks on the door, which is completely unnecessary.
I can tell that they have one of those insanely fancy front doorbell cameras.
The doors open and Isaac ushers me down a long sterile white hallway.
The home exterior might be the classic historic brownstone, but the interior is completely modern and breathtaking.
I’m afraid to touch anything and take my shoes off when I enter.
Isaac waits for me, but leaves his boots on.
We take a left turn after walking a few feet down the hallway and emerge at the entrance of a vast open concept with a flickering gas fireplace centerpiece drawing focus towards the center of the room.
Behind the fireplace, I notice a gigantic slab of a man, his size only rivaled by Isaac.
He stands up when he notices us within earshot but he doesn’t bother looking at me.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he asks Isaac.
Isaac shrugs. “I’m going through something.”
“Right.”
“Tylee–”
“This has nothing to do with Tylee,” the large growly man says. Finally, he turns his attention towards me and I almost wish he hadn’t looked over at me at all. I feel locked in place beneath this stare and if I thought Isaac was mean, this new bearish character appears nothing short of brutal.
“Who are you?” he asks me. He looks me up and down, keeping his opinion to himself. Mostly, I sense his total disinterest in me and continued frustration with Isaac. I wish I could sink into my bed but I strongly doubt I’m going home tonight.
I was able to finally reach Averie to make sure she was safe and made it home. I called her four times before she texted me back an annoyed “What?” like I was bothering her. She doesn’t even get why I’m scared.
“I ditched you and the biker,” she responded. “I have your location on and got a tarot reading this week that said we would both be very lucky so I’m not really worried about it.”
There’s something wrong with my older sister. She takes being nonchalant to an entirely new level.
“What about the bar getting gassed???”
“Um… If Mr. Sexy didn’t protect you, I certainly couldn’t. I got an Uber black to take me home.”
While I was worried for her life, my sister was escaping in a luxury rideshare. She’s unbelievable.
“I’m still with the biker.”
“By choice I hope.”
Averie doesn’t even phrase it as a question, which means she must be knee deep in one of her favorite Netflix shows and losing interest in my side quest now that she knows I’m safe – or assumes I’m safe at least. She doesn’t seem to care that I’m with the biker from earlier.
She told me to “get some” and reminded me that I shouldn’t let my ex-boyfriend hold me back because he “clearly didn’t give a fuck about me”.
I mean. He cheated on me with his sister, so that’s a total fucking understatement.
Nonchalant, harsh, unbothered… my older sister might be slightly toxic but maybe she’s right about getting some and letting loose with Isaac. He is… hot. I’ll give him that.
I look up at this terrifying new biker, unable to form a proper response to him.
Instinctively, my eyes glance towards Isaac, as if I expect him to rescue me.
His hand moves swiftly to my lower back in a strangely protective act that I don’t expect.
Warmth spreads through me but guilt eats me up just as quickly.
“Her name is Gabby,” Isaac responds. “Don’t scare her. She’s fucked up enough as it is. Gabby, this is Ethan.”
Ethan grunts in response. It’s hardly a “nice to meet you”.
Instead, Ethan gets right to business. “What the fuck happened out there?”
I must no longer be interesting to him, because I fall out of his gaze and feel like I’m invisible immediately afterwards. Isaac doesn’t seem remotely apologetic.
“I got into trouble.”
“What if she goes to the police?” He says along with an obvious glance in my direction.
“She won’t,” Isaac reassures him. I feel uncomfortable in the room, especially because I don’t feel welcomed or safe. I don’t know these people and while I don’t want my sister to worry about me, I’m not sure how the hell I’m going to wriggle out of this situation.
“I don’t need this tonight,” Ethan says to Isaac. “I got news about your wife.”
After saying the word “wife”, Ethan gives me a sharp glance, as if I intruded upon a sacred marriage just by being near Isaac. He’s the one who threw me over his shoulders and dragged me out here.
The reality hits me coming from someone else, but Isaac never really kept it a secret.
Still… He has a wife. Ethan’s dirty look makes me feel guilty.
The only thing that worries me more is Isaac glaring at him.
His jaw clenches and I worry that they’ll both start hitting or shooting each other.
I can practically smell the testosterone in the room.
“You and I both know that Tylee refuses to sign the divorce papers. Our relationship ended when she decided to drug a woman and set her up for assault.”
Ethan grunts and shakes his head. “Lucky for us, it worked out.”
“Yeah,” Isaac mutters. “Lucky. Except what about that woman’s free will? The child brought into the mix? There are no limits to what Tylee will do for revenge.”
“We’re still lucky.”
“I suppose.”
Ethan’s face appears to be more… diffused. If anybody escalates the situation here, it’s going to be Isaac. Considering he killed somebody right in front of me, this doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Ethan breaks the unsettling few moments of silence. “Wyatt also wants the marriage to end. We’re working as hard as we can to fix this.”
“Great. This is good news, then?” Isaac asks, “I can see my kids again.”
There’s another reminder that he has kids and even if Isaac is extremely hot and saved my life – I just got cheated on. The last thing I need is a guy with three kids and a wife. I need to heal. Can I really heal if I hop into bed with a tall, bearded biker?
I never had any intentions of getting attached to this man for longer than a drink and now I feel like I stepped into something much bigger than me that I don’t even understand.
“Oske’s tracing a lead that the kids might be with your mother. Tylee’s hooking up with some biker who goes by the name of Scum and we’re pretty sure that’s her contact in St. Louis.”
“Is that a joke?” Rage returns to Isaac’s voice. He sounds protective and I feel stupid for flirting with this man who is obviously deeply entangled with another woman.
“You know the guy?” Ethan asks calmly, giving me a brief, curious look, but obviously more interested in Isaac’s story than stopping him due to my presence.
They don’t have to worry about me telling anybody because there’s nobody I would even discuss this with.
When I get back to my life in Boston, I’ll just…
forget this ever happened and try not to get killed by a member of an organized crime group.
Getting over my break-up just took a major backseat to just surviving.
Isaac’s hands ball up into fists, but just as quickly, they unravel and the tension dissipates for both of them. I don’t feel like I belong here at all, but I also can’t leave. Just witness. And that feels more dangerous.
“She never stopped seeing him,” Isaac says somberly.
For a man as violent as Isaac, I didn’t expect to see this tenderness.
I fold my arms over my chest, wishing they would at least offer me a seat if I’m going to have to stand here and listen to a conversation that I barely understand.
I don’t want to hear the entire history of Isaac’s past relationships.
I’m surprised that a woman would cheat on him.
It’s not just because of his looks, although Isaac is attractive in a rough, masculine way.
I would be too scared to cheat on a man who could kill a man right in front of me.
It’s basic human survival instincts, you know?
Isaac also seems loyal, and genuinely hurt by the news that his wife never shared his loyalty.
I still feel stupid for the chemistry between us.
He’s clearly still not over her. I’m probably not over my ex-boyfriend either.
He cheated and I don’t want to be with him anymore, but the wound still feels fresh. Wide open, really.
Ethan’s story distracts me from the growing emotional woundedness.
“Hunter and Ryder have a strange theory that she ditched the kids so she could come after you, so we’re sending Ruger to check on your mom’s place.
Nobody will expect Ruger and he’s using his ranger training to avoid detection from any bikers that Tylee might have in her corner. ”
“Scum is a screwed up motherfucker,” Isaac warns Ethan.
“Great. So is Tylee, apparently. I don’t relish having another problem on my hands.”
“Understood.”
Ethan turns his gigantic body towards me, and I feel the instinct to run away that anyone would feel in the presence of a large predator.
“Gabby,” he says. “My name is Ethan. Some people call me Bear. I have a wife Amanda, a daughter, and a short temper. This idiot you stumbled across might ruin your life. I’d be careful. ”
“Thanks, asshole,” Isaac mutters.
Ethan keeps talking unperturbed, “You have three kids, a psychotic ex-wife on the loose, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and a drinking problem like every other Sinclair.”
“Gabby, don’t listen to him. Everything will be just fine and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Ethan groans. “Christ. That didn’t take long, did it?”
My cheeks grow hot. Ethan’s insinuation isn’t exactly hard to pick up on and it’s totally embarrassing since Isaac is a complete stranger, a murderous stranger, and I don’t want to put the idea of sex or romance in his head while I’m totally under his control.
“Tylee fucked half of Missouri while we were married. Do you have anything else to tell me?”
“Yes. Wyatt has pretty much been convinced your life is at risk, so he wants you staying here under my protection until further notice.”
“I’m forty-three years old, Ethan,” Isaac says. “I don’t need protection.”
“I understand that.”
“What about Gabby?”
Ethan shrugs. “She needs a babysitter just as much as you do.”
“I don’t,” I chime in. “I really don’t. I can go home.”
Ethan gives me a once-over like I’ve lost my mind and then goes back to talking to Isaac like I’m not in the room. The man has all the social skills of a grizzly bear.
“I’m sorry, you two don’t have a choice. We have a fully furnished basement apartment suite that Amanda was renting out on AirBnB until the camgirl incident. The place has been deep-cleaned. Nothing to worry about.”
I wasn’t worried until he said that. Now I’m starting to realize that this man intends to trap me in a former sex dungeon with Isaac – a married man with three children.
“I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Don’t be a princess,” Ethan grunts. “There’s a California King down there. You could fit four or five people on that bed. Kind of the problem with us renting it…”
“What am I supposed to do tomorrow?” Isaac asks. “Because I’m not going to be your prisoner, and I don’t need protection.”
“Wyatt will be here tomorrow,” Ethan says. “Our sister’s the one causing all this trouble. We’re taking responsibility for our problem.”
“You realize this isn’t really news, right?”
“It’s more than we had before.”
Isaac turns to me finally, giving me a sympathetic look. “I’ll give you all the space you need. Trust me, Gabby, I have no intentions of hurting you.”
“I know,” I whisper. But I don’t know if I believe him.
Trusting men hasn’t exactly landed me in the best situations in the past. Isaac has more baggage than any man I’ve ever even met in Boston.
He’s not some trust fund baby whose biggest problem is deriving some meaning out of his life of excess.
He’s… rough. Mysterious. Dark. I saw something fucking terrifying in his eyes, but I also felt utterly safe in his presence despite my horror.
Even now, I feel safe with him. I know he won’t hurt me.
And I feel so sure of that, it makes me wonder if I ever knew this feeling before or if I had always been pretending before Isaac stormed his way into my life.