Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
“Grand-mère!” Gisele cried out as she watched her worst nightmare unfold before her eyes. The lives of the two people she loved most hung by a thread.
“Shush, child,” Grand-mère said. “I found da money da day you had da cabinet delivered to my home.” She stared down her nose at Caney. “If he wants it, he must release you first.”
Caney laughed. “How about we play a little game of chicken with the famous Voodoo queen?” He aimed his gun at Gisele’s feet.
Gisele jerked them back as the gun went off. The bullet missed her toes but hit the edge of her sandal.
Caney laughed again. “Next time, I won’t miss. So, what’s it to be?”
Movement out of the corner of her eye drew Gisele’s attention.
With Caney’s attention on Grand-mère, Rafael moved ever so slowly closer to Caney. A few more inches, and he’d be close enough to make a move.
Gisele braced for action.
“I took the money to a safe location,” Grand-mère said. “Release my granddaughter, and I will take you there.”
“How about I shoot him and take both of you there?” He held Gisele in a necklock as he aimed the gun at Rafael.
No, no, no.
Gisele couldn’t wait another second. Caney could pull the trigger like hehad on the two mafia men. Taking a deep breath, Gisele relaxed all her muscles and dropped like adeadweight, slipping through Caney’s arms toward the floor.
In his struggle to bring her back up, he lowered the barrel of his pistol
Rafael threw himself at Caney.
The gun went off as the three of them landed in a pile on the floor with Gisele trapped beneath them.
The two men rolled to the side, fighting to win. Gisele rolled inthe opposite direction and lurched to her feet. The front of her blouse bore a dark red stain.
Blood.
She patted her chest, feeling no pain or wounds, which meant one of the men had sustained a gunshot wound.
Her gut told her it was Rafael. He struggled in his effort to subdue Caney. The man was a trained Navy SEAL. He should have had Caney under control by now.
Gisele searched the floor for one of the dead men’s weapons.
Grand-mère bent beside a chair and lifted a handgun. “Looking for this?”
“Yes!” Gisele took the gun from the older woman and rushed to where Rafael pinned Caney to the floor. She kicked Caney’s pistol across the room, out of his reach.
Rafael’s breathing came in ragged gasps as if he couldn’t get a deep breath. His face was pale.
“I’ve got him covered,” Gisele held the handgun the way Grand-mère had taught her at the gun range, balancing her right hand and the weapon in the palm of her left hand. “Go.”
Rafael hesitated. He didn’t look like he could hold out much longer.
“I’ve got him,” Gisele said. “I swear I’ll shoot his ass if he so much as twitches.”
Rafael gave what sounded like a laugh, then coughed. He cocked his arm and punched Caney in the face one last time before he rolled off the man and out of his reach.
Caney lay still, his eyes closed.
“Grand-mère, please call 911,” Gisele called out. “We need an ambulance. Now. ”
Grand-mère already had the landline receiver up to her ear, reporting the attack.
Rafael pushed to his feet, staggered a few steps, then bent and braced his hands on his knees. The front of his shirt had a dark stain that was a little hard to see against the dark fabric.
Gisele monitored his movements out of the corner of her eye while keeping a close eye on Caney.
She studied the man who lay on the floor, eyes closed as if Rafael’s last punch had knocked him out. His left arm stretched out beside him, but his right arm was tucked beneath.
Gisele tensed.
In an explosion of motion, Caney sat up and whipped a handgun out from behind him.
Rafael dove for Caney at the same time as Gisele pulled the trigger.
“Oh, sweet peaches!” she yelled and ran to Rafael’s side. “Rafael! Please, Rafael, talk to me. Did I shoot you?”
Rafael rocked back and forth as if he was in great pain.
Tears welled in Gisele’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I aimed at Caney. I would never hurt you. Please, please, please be all right. I love you.” She wrapped her arms around his back, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Don’t be mad at me. I love you, Rafael Romero. It’s okay. You don’t have to love me back. You don’t have to stay with me. I won’t cling. I know you like your freedom. Just please, don’t die.”
He rocked some more and pulled his arm out from between him and Caney with the other mafia guy’s gun dangling from his fingers.
“I’m not going to die,” he said weakly. “But I might need help getting up.”
Gisele’s hands wrapped around one of Rafael’s arms. “Is Caney...”
“Dead?” Rafael nodded. “You hit him in the heart. He died instantly.”
She let go of a rush of air and put her back into helping Rafael to his feet. “I’ve never killed a man before,” she said softly.
He cupped her cheek with a bloody hand. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “It was him or you. I chose you. Please, sit before you fall.” Gisele wrapped an arm around his waist and guided him to an armchair. “I hear the ambulance coming. We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll fix you up. After all, you said you weren’t going to die.”
He dropped onto the chair and winced. “Did you mean what you said?”
She couldn’t remember anything past Caney sitting up and nearly shooting Rafael. “What did I say?”
“About loving me?”
Her cheeks heated. “Please don’t be mad. I love you, but that doesn’t mean you have to love me back. I went into us with my eyes wide open. I expect nothing and will take whatever I can get and be fine when you move on.”
Grand-mère appeared beside her with a wad of freshly laundered towels. “Apply pressure to da wound so he won’t bleed out.”
“Right. Yes. You can’t bleed out.” She laid the towels against the bloody shirt.
He covered her hand with his, moved it to the right position and held it there.
“Before I lose any more blood and pass out, I want to get something clear.” His voice was weak.
Gisele choked down a sob and forced a smile. “You should save your strength. I know we made a deal. I’ll stand by it.”
He raised his other hand and cupped her cheek. “Shush and listen.”
She blinked back tears. “Okay.”
“I am reneging on that deal. I don’t want it anymore.”
More tears spilled from her eyes. “Okay. I respect that,” she said, a sob rising in her throat. “Well, hell. I promised not to be clingy but cut me a break on a few tears.”
He brushed his thumb across her wet cheek. “I want a new deal.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“I love you. ”
Her brow puckered.
He chuckled, coughed and winced. “Hear me out. I love you. I’m glad you love me, and I want you and me to love each other forever. Along with love, I want the ‘C’ word.” He smiled. “I want to commit. I know nowthatwhat I felt with my ex-fiancée wasn’t love. What I feel with you is something I can’t live without. If you need time to think about it and to feel the same, I’ll wait. You’re worth it.”
Gisele blinked at a steady stream of tears. “I don’t need time to think about it,” she said. “I need you.” She started to throw her arms around him but stopped herself, settling for a kiss. She maintained the pressure against his wound until the Emergency Medical Services personnel took over. As they loaded him into the back of the ambulance, her heart swelled with the overwhelming love she felt for the Navy SEAL.
“He’s a keeper.”