Chapter 16
16
CELIA
G abriel kept me in that damn cage all night and well into the next day.
Strangely, we were together more than we had been since we were married. He seemed to want to keep an eye on me. All day long, he sat at his desk, and as he promised, no one entered the room. Several times he left and stood in the hallway, conferring with his men. Their voices drifted to me, though none of them could see me. But he left the door open so I could hear.
But he wouldn’t talk to me, which was driving me insane.
I wanted to ask him about Dante and Luca, but I knew he would be jealous. Eventually I couldn’t bear it anymore, though.
He carried a dinner tray into the room and shut the door with his foot. “The staff’s left for the night, tesoro. It’s just you and me.”
“And Dante and Luca?” I asked. “Are they alive?”
“Of course they are. They’re too useful to me to be dead.”
“To control me?” I asked. I’d had a lot of time to think lately. There’d been an accusation I had been on the verge of making when he first dragged me upstairs. “Because the three of you have been working together?”
He smiled faintly to himself as he set the tray down on the floor. “Should I feed you? I don’t know if I should trust you with a fork. You’ve proven to be far more resourceful than I expected.”
He settled onto the floor beside me. “I’d like to hear that story. How the spoiled mafia princess secretly became quite the warrior.”
“I’m not.”
“Celia.” His tone was mild and reproving. He removed the trays from a plate and several bowls, small enough to fit between the bars. There was a delicious-smelling pasta with red sauce along with freshly grilled vegetables and warm breadsticks. I expected him to play a game with me, but he handed over each bowl, just as he had at breakfast and lunch.
“We’re going to have to have some dinner conversation. You might as well tell me how you became so dangerous and fooled everyone all at once.”
“It’s a boring story.” It wasn’t. The story of how Kara, Natalie, Moriah, and I became friends was unlikely, and the last five years of plotting had been fraught with danger. We had waited a long time for our revenge…just as Gabriel must have. “We could talk about your plans.”
“Your father might not willingly hand over half his business to me, but since I’m married to his daughter, I’m family if something happens to him.”
Well. At least that made sense. “Do you need me alive for your little takeover?”
“I want you alive. You make the world an interesting place.” He smiled at me. “Though you could live a long time in that cage, couldn’t you?”
“You’re wasting me if you keep me caged, Gabriel, and you know it.” I twirled my pasta around my fork. I should’ve felt more anxious, sitting on the floor of the cage, naked in front of him. But now I knew how much the sight of my body drove him wild. I didn’t feel self-conscious in front of him, even though it was hard for me to believe that these men thought I was so perfect.
“Is it a waste if I enjoy it?” His voice was husky, and I looked up to find he was watching me with open desire written across his face.
“The three of you maneuvered me here for a reason,” I said. Dante and Luca would have told me the truth, I didn’t doubt it. But that didn’t help me. Gabriel would keep us separated until he had some kind of breakthrough in the therapy he wasn’t attending. “Why not tell me what it is? Gloat a bit. Since I can’t really go anywhere.”
“Dessert?” He passed tiramisu through the bars.
I took it, because I’m not passing up dessert even if it comes from a psycho.
“So, David survived the gunshot,” I reasoned out, even though I was talking to myself. It was all right. I was beginning to be able to read his body language, even though his tells were very faint. “You did something there; that’s why you were the one to pull the trigger. Did you block everyone else’s view and shoot near him? Or…you seem to have a knack for sleight of hand, so maybe you…switched the bullets?”
My voice grew dour when I mentioned his sleight of hand. I’d never even felt him take the phone from my body.
His brows arched. “What a fascinating theory. It makes me sound a lot better than if I murdered my own little brother.”
“Is that why you beat him? Did he pass out?” It was hard to imagine anyone could fake death while they were in that much pain. “Was that your plan all along?”
“I love the way you tell the story,” Gabriel told me. “Go on.”
“David obviously looks different now.” Luca came to my mind, another big, black-haired man, and I let out a groan. “And Luca, too. Lorenzo .”
I should’ve seen it earlier.
“You’re doing pretty well,” Gabriel said. “Continue.”
“David didn’t come back to me for five fucking years. “My fingers curled against my knees, sinking into my skin. I couldn’t hide my rage, or underneath that my pain. I hated David more right now than I hated Gabriel.
Gabriel hadn’t owed me anything.
Gabriel seemed to realize how I felt, because he looked amused.
Pain choked my chest. “You and Luca and Dante came back into my life for a reason. Is that it? Just to marry me so you could take over my family, getting your revenge for what my family did to David?”
He studied me curiously. “There’s more to it than that.”
“Your parents,” I said.
“Your father had them killed.”
“He had my mother killed too, Gabriel.” My hands trembled with emotion. No one would ever admit it, but I was sure it was true. The kind of people who would steal my mother’s letters…they had stolen every bit of love from my life. “Stop caging me! Let me be your ally! I want him dead too.”
He gave me a long, studying look, as if the bastard were considering it.
But I already knew he’d get up and walk away.
He was too close to admitting to himself that he wanted me to truly be his wife.
When he got up, I let out a hard, bitter little laugh. He looked back, startled, as he headed toward the door.
I propped my hand up on my knee, waving goodbye to him, knowing he’d be driven mad by both my breasts and by the amusement on my face.
He could cage me, but he couldn’t stop me from seeing through him.
When he thought I was asleep, I could hear him though making phone calls and talking about the Manchester family. He’d managed to outmaneuver my father and make his own deal with the them, which had put my father in a bad place.
“Yes, it would be a shame if the Manchester family retaliated against Carmichael for offering them products—and letting them sell it to another party—when he never had them himself.” Gabriel sounded amused. He said his goodbyes and hung up with his newest co-conspirator.
“Are you awake, Celia?” Gabriel asked softly. I couldn’t see him with my eyes closed, but I could feel him, the power of his attention, the heat of his intent. There was a faint thud as he set the phone down. I was attuned to every shift of his body. He rose from the chair and walked toward me; his feet quiet on the polished floor.
There was a faint rattling and clicking sound as he unlocked the cage. During the times he’d had to leave me alone, I had rushed to the cage, trying to open the keypad. But I couldn’t get it unlocked from my side. I couldn’t even see the screen. He’d come back and mocked me for trying.
Gabriel was trying to convince me he always knew. That he was omniscient, like a god. As if I were stupid enough to believe that. The man just always had a camera on me.
I could feel him tower above me, before he crouched. The scent of his cologne washed around me, and with it, a pulse of desire.
Gabriel’s attention was as addictive as it was dangerous.
I know you’re awake, Celia. Are you hiding it so you can try to murder me?”
I gave up and opened my eyes. “No.”
“Because you are a good wife or because you know it would be fruitless and would just result in your punishment?”
I didn’t bother to answer. He already knew.
“Though given you still care for Luca…I’m not sure punishments are much of a deterrent for you, are they? Besides hurting Luca and Dante…how do I control you, Celia?”
“We’ve already established you’d be wise to work with me, not control me.”
“Have we?” His brows arched. God he was so beautiful, even though he was such a dick. “I need to make sure you won’t run away from me.”
“I never ran, Gabriel. If you treat me right, I never will.” God, I’d uncovered Luca’s mommy issues around tears; were we touching on Gabriel’s deep-seated insecurities? Was he afraid I’d leave him? “Where would I run? I have every reason to want this marriage to work, even though I know you only entered into it for a purpose.”
“Everyone in our world enters into marriage for a purpose.” He raised a hand and stroked it over my bare arm. I shivered under his touch, although his palm tracing across my skin felt good.
I sat up, so the two of us were eye to eye. He reached out and took my hands and his, leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. It felt unexpectedly sweet. Then he drew both my hands together, gripping both his wrists in one of his big hands.
“Since you never intend to run, you won’t mind if I make sure I can always find you.”
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
He reached into his belt, at the small of his back, and I cringed back expecting him to pull out a weapon. I struggled at the first glimpse of a gun, fear spiking in my chest, before I realized it looked different. He was going to inject me with something.
“What’s that for?” Although I already guessed from everything else he had said. “Gabriel…you can’t stick an air tag in me like I’m a piece of luggage.”
“It’s more like a microchip for a beloved pet,” he said. “You could take it as a compliment.”
“No. Gabriel?—”
“And if you don’t want to take it as a compliment, you can just take it.” He pressed my hands together tightly, and as I began to struggle, he threw one of his muscular legs over mine, holding me still.
“Why are you doing this?” I cried out as he brought the gun close to my skin.
“I wouldn’t be much of a husband if I had someone else do it,” he said, sounding perfectly reasonable.
I cried out in pain, but just as much in horror as the tracker went under my skin.
Once it was in, he released me. I scrambled away, as far as I could. I went toward the door of the cage, but it was locked.
Gabriel looked amused. “How far do you think you would get if the door were open, Celia?”
I ran my fingertips over the swollen, red skin where he’d injected the tracker. “You’re insane!”
He shrugged, not appearing offended by the accusation.
There was something under my skin. The thought made me feel panicky, and I scratched at it.
“Celia, stop.” Gabriel’s voice was stern. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“And that’s your job?” I snapped back.
He sighed as if I were being ridiculous.
Clearly, I was the unhinged one in this situation. Many men have a seemingly unlimited capacity for believing they are the rational ones no matter what’ve just done.
I dug my fingers into my skin again, and he reached to grab my wrists. He held them away from my body, his blue eyes meeting mine. “Stop. Does it hurt?”
“Yes,” I spat out.
He gathered both wrists in one big hand. I couldn’t get away from him, and he kissed the corner of my mouth. I tried to pull away, but there was no escaping his lips.
And then he kissed me breathless. I stopped fighting, at least to lull him into a false sense of security, while his mouth teased against mine. My lips parted against his, and the heat between us seemed just as intense as his insanity.
I caught a glimpse of the handcuffs, too late to escape them.
Cold metal clicked around my wrist, sending a shiver down my spine. He raised my hands and slid the handcuffs around the bar, and I struggled but it didn’t matter, before he latched the other one around my wrist.
Now my arms were drawn up slightly over my head, so my body was exposed to him. Gabriel’s eyes locked with mine, lit with desire. He leaned in, his lips brushing mine softly at first, then more insistently. I tried to turn my face away from him, but he gripped my face and kissed me hard, claiming, demanding.
My bare feet slid over the ground, trying to find purchase, trying to find a way to escape him, even as my body heated, craving more of him. My knees drove into his hard torso as he leaned over me and as I struggled, but he never seemed to notice. My lips felt swollen when he dipped his head to my throat.
He trailed kisses along my jaw, down my neck. My skin tingled wherever his lips touched.
“Don’t touch me,” I told him.
He let out a soft huff against my skin. His hands kept sweeping over my skin, and I felt the pain of the injection already fading, replaced by an electric thrill. My body tightened with need.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice husky.
“Why do you sound turned on by putting a tracker under my skin?”
“Consider it my mark.” His five o’clock shadow tickled the skin of my shoulder as his face moved across my shoulder. “Now you’re mine.”
“I’ll never be yours, Gabriel.”
He let out another soft huff that could almost be a laugh. “You already are. It’s just taking a while for both of us to accept reality.”
His hand slid between my thighs, and I let out a gasp. He teased his hand over my thigh, out toward my knee. Too late, I jerked my knees closed. But he knew.
Gabriel’s mouth curved into a smile against my collarbone. Slowly, torturously, he kissed his way down my body. My fingers clutched at empty air, longing to run through his hair, to pull him closer. Even though I also wanted to push him away.
When he settled between my thighs, I let out a soft gasp. “Gabriel…”
I should have said no. But I couldn’t.
He looked up at me, eyes smoldering.
When he pressed a kiss to my center, my hips jerked.
Then he settled in, his tongue slipping through my folds. My eyes fluttered closed. I still hated him. But I could love the way his mouth felt on me.
My hips rose of their own accord, seeking more of his touch. I wouldn’t admit I wanted him, but I moaned, arching my back, offering myself up to him.
His hands skimmed up my sides, cupping my breasts. His thumbs brushed over my nipples, and they pebbled in his grip. Somehow, he knew exactly how much pressure to apply, how to make me whimper with need.
And then he pulled away, pressing one last kiss to my thigh as he straightened.
Disappointment washed through me.
The cold metal of the handcuffs bit into my wrists as I strained against them, trying to reach for Gabriel. But he kept just out of reach, a smirk playing on his lips as he lowered his head to my chest.
His fingers danced across my breasts, teasing me. He cupped them gently in his hands, and I arched my back, wanting more. He obliged, his thumbs flicking across my nipples, sending waves of pleasure coursing through my body.
His mouth closed around one nipple, sucking and teasing it with his teeth. I cried out, my hips bucking involuntarily.
Just when I couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled away, leaving me gasping for air. His hand trailed down my stomach to brush between my thighs.
But Gabriel was merciless, pulling his hand away just as I started to respond. I whimpered, frustrated and aching for release.
“What do you want, Celia?” Gabriel murmured into my ear. He pressed another kiss to the side of my breast.
I shook my head, refusing to give him what he wanted.
His hand slid down my thigh. My hips bucked despite myself.
He slid down, spreading my legs apart, even though I tried to push my knees back together. I didn’t fight him for long, but it wouldn’t have mattered if I did anyway. He spread my thighs. “Open for me.”
The world around me faded away as Gabriel’s tongue circled my clit, teasing and tantalizing me until I’m practically begging for release. I arched my back, my hips bucking against his mouth as I try to chase the elusive orgasm just out of reach. He kept pausing. Punishing me. Drawing out my need so that orgasm would be devastatingly powerful.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
But I knew exactly what he wanted.
“Please,” I murmured, my voice cracking with need that was real, even though I’d chosen my words to control his response. “Please, Gabriel.”
He hummed in response, the vibrations sending shockwaves through my body. I could feel myself getting closer, my muscles tensing as the pressure built. And then, just when I couldn’t take it anymore, Gabriel slid a finger inside me, pressing my g-spot and turning me to nothing but pleasure.
I cried out, my body shaking as the orgasm washed over me with an intensity that left me breathless and dizzy. I pulsed around Gabriel’s fingers as he continued to lap at my clit, drawing out my pleasure. The world went bright white, but his face lingered in my mind.
Slowly, I returned to myself.
I was a boneless heap on the floor of my cage. My shoulders were beginning to ache from my position, and I realized my wrists were chafed and sore from the handcuffs. But I didn’t feel any of the pain as strongly as the aftershocks of pleasure that rippled through my body.
“It’s so terrible to be mine,” Gabriel mocked me. Despite his tone, his hands were gentle as he released me from the handcuffs.
He drew me into his arms, cradling me in his lap. He brushed my hair back with one hand, pressing a kiss to my forehead. His clothes felt rough against my bare skin. He fingered the mark on my skin where he had buried the tracker.
“It is if you aren’t mine,” I whispered back.
He studied my face, but he didn’t answer.
Still, I was surprised he kissed my forehead again.