Chapter 21
21
CELIA
G abriel set me on the passenger seat. His shirt was soaked with my blood.
“We’re going to get you to the house and get you fixed up,” he promised me.
I started to tell him that I’d live.
But maybe I should just let Gabriel worry about me.
He stopped, his eyes studying me. “Next time, let me walk into the room. I would have had time to react. You didn’t need to put yourself between me and the bullets.”
“You’re my husband, Gabriel.”
He seemed annoyed with me now as he moved around to the driver’s seat. We started the car and roared out of the parking garage. “I am your husband…who you didn’t want and were forced into marrying.”
“You didn’t want me either. You still came to get me when I needed you.”
He stilled. I wasn’t sure why the words had affected him, and I played them back, trying to figure out what I’d said.
In his usual commanding tone, he said, “You should be quiet. Preserve your energy.”
I let out a little laugh. It hurt, and I pressed his tie against the wound. “You always think I should be quiet.”
He cast a sidelong glance at me. “Wrong.”
I frowned at him, but a call was coming through. He pressed a button on the steering wheel, and the call came in over the car’s speakers. “We’re out. What’s the status?”
“Everyone’s out.”
“I’m getting my wife back to the house. Have the medical team meet us there.”
They started to talk about something else, and then abruptly, the voice at the other end of the line broke off. “Looks like we’ve got trouble. Looks like there was a backup plan. We’re blocked off on the way back to the house, on the road outside. Ambush.”
Gabriel asked, “Do you know anything about that?”
I didn’t realize he was talking to me until he prompted, “Celia?”
“Oh, no,” I said, feeling unexpectedly crushed by the suspicious note in his voice.
“I’m not taking her into an ambush. Get the way clear for us.” His jaw worked once. “Get Dante and Luca to help. They need to earn their keep.”
My fingers knotted in the blood-streaked fabric of my fine gown. “Gabriel?—”
“All my men are in danger. Their lives are all worth something too, Celia.” He cursed. “If I didn’t have you in the car, I’d be going in myself.”
“You don’t need to treat me like I’m something precious. I know what I am to you.”
He cast a look at me. “Are you sure about that?”
I wasn’t sure how to interpret his words, or that look.
Another call came through. “Boss, it’s Royal. Got eyes on him coordinating from the north side.”
Gabriel’s knuckles went white on the steering wheel. “Of course he survived. Cockroaches always do.”
“And look out, I think they’re coming after you.” There were gunshots over the line, then gunshots in real life, behind us. “We’re trying to get them off your tail, but?—”
A burst of gunfire pinged off the car, though it didn’t matter; it was armored. Gabriel swerved hard, and pain shot through my injured shoulder as I braced against the door. “Fuck. They’re trying to drive us toward the ambush.”
Through the windshield, I could see the blockade ahead. Three black SUVs arranged across the road, men with rifles taking position behind them.
Another call. Luca’s name flashed on the screen. Gabriel hit a button on the steering wheel to accept. “Talk to me.”
It was Dante’s voice on the phone. “Luca’s trying to get to you, but we’re pinned down.”
“Dante?” Gabriel’s voice had an edge I’d never heard before.
Another spray of bullets.
Then the car slammed into us, pushing us toward the jersey barriers on one side.
Gabriel fought for control as we fishtailed. We slammed to a stop at an angle, the median barrier on one side, a concrete wall on the other. The engine was still running, but we weren’t going anywhere.
“Stay down,” Gabriel ordered, already reaching for his weapon. “I need to get to my brothers.”
“Gabriel, wait?—”
But he was already moving, ducking low as he circled around to my side of the car. He yanked my door open, keeping his body between me and the gunfire. “Stay in the car. Keep your head down. When there’s an opening, slide into the driver’s seat and get ready to move.”
“What about you?”
His eyes met mine for just a moment. “I have to help them.”
Then he was gone, moving in a crouch toward where we’d last heard from Dante.
I slid down in my seat, my heart pounding. Through the windows, I could see flashes of movement, hear the sharp reports of gunfire. Gabriel’s men were engaging the ambushers, but they were outnumbered.
Somewhere out there, Royal was orchestrating all of it.
A familiar voice cut through the chaos. Dante, shouting something I couldn’t make out. I risked raising my head enough to see. He had broken cover, trying to reach what looked like a downed man. Luca, maybe? My heart stuttered with fear, But the angle was wrong for me to be sure.
Movement caught my eye, a figure detaching from the shadows near one of the SUVs.
Royal. He was moving purposefully toward where Luca was exposed, raising his weapon.
No one else seemed to see him. Gabriel was too far away, focused on trying to reach his brother from another angle. Royal’s men were keeping everyone pinned down, and Royal himself was nearly invisible in the chaos.
My shoulder screamed as I pulled myself across the center console into the driver’s seat. My hands shook as they gripped the steering wheel, leaving bloody smears on the leather.
I saw Royal step out from behind the SUV, taking aim at Dante’s unprotected back.
I wasn’t going to let Royal take one more thing from me.
I revved the engine.
My brother turned, his eyes going wide with terror right before I hit him.
The impact rattled through my bones.
Royal’s body bounced off the hood like a ragdoll.
He rolled across the pavement and lay still. For a moment, everything seemed to stop. Then a surge of wild, vicious satisfaction rushed through me. Twenty years of fear, and I’d finally been the one to put him down.
“Celia!” Luca’s voice cut through the ringing in my ears. He was running toward the car, Dante right behind him. My vision swam as I tried to focus on them through the cracked windshield.
“Are you okay?” Dante yanked open the driver’s door. His face went pale when he saw the blood soaking my dress. “Jesus Christ?—”
“I’m fine.” I fumbled at my feet where I’d seen Gabriel’s backup weapon earlier. My fingers closed around the grip. “Both of you, get in the car.”
“What? Celia, you’re hurt, let us?—”
I raised the gun, trying to keep my hand steady. “Get in the car. Please.”
They exchanged a look I couldn’t quite read. Luca raised his hands slowly. “Okay, easy. We’re getting in.” He slid into the back seat while Dante took the passenger side, both moving carefully like I was a spooked animal that might lash out.
Maybe I was.
“Drive,” Dante said quietly. “Whatever you’re thinking, whatever’s going on, just get us out of here first.”
He was right. I threw the car into reverse, metal screaming as the ruined tire dragged. Royal’s men were regrouping, and Gabriel would realize what was happening any second. We needed to move.
I started to apologize, then stopped myself as I navigated around the debris of the firefight. I apologized too much, “I need to talk to you. To make my own decisions. I’m done with Gabriel dictating everything about all our lives.”
“So, you’re kidnapping us?” Luca’s voice held a hint of amusement despite everything.
“Borrowing,” I corrected, checking the rearview mirror for pursuit. “I’ll give you back.”
Luca shrugged. “Kidnapping me would be fair, anyway.”
“You know Gabriel’s going to lose his mind,” Dante said. He hadn’t taken his eyes off my bleeding shoulder. “More than usual, I mean.”
“I know.” My hands were shaking on the wheel, but I kept going. “But you’re the only people he loves.”
“I don’t know if we’re—” Dante started to say.
Luca cut his brother off with a sharp look. “Maybe we should get you patched up first. Then we can talk. About everything.”
Dante admitted, “We owe you that much.”
I nodded, relief making me lightheaded. Or maybe that was the blood loss. “I know a place. It’s not far. Just outside the city.”
“Good,” Luca said. “Because this car’s not going to last much longer, and I hear police sirens. Gabriel’s going to be focused on getting everything cleaned up. It buys us some time.”
“Also,” Dante added carefully, “you might want to lower the gun. Since we’re all friends here.”
I realized I was still awkwardly holding the weapon while trying to steer. “Oh. Right.” I set it in my lap, still within reach but no longer pointing at anyone.
“There’s one thing we’ve got to do to get away from Gabriel first.” My fingers touched my already-ruined shoulder. Maybe the tracker had been destroyed by the bullet, but there was only way to find out. “And I might pass out if I have to do it myself. Luca, you’ve never minded hurting me. Help me out now.”