Chapter 28 Gabe
GABE
For the first time maybe ever, someone sees me for me, instead of Jon’s kid, or the future president. To Ash, I’m just Gabriel.
And God, do I love that.
I never realized how lonely I was until Ash. She’s the most intoxicating person I’ve ever met. When I’m with her, I can go from feeling the weight of the world to feeling completely at ease. I think I love her, but that seems crazy.
It’s been three weeks, and I’ve yet to break the news to Shane.
Luckily, he lives on another planet most days, so he hasn’t noticed.
But it’s only a matter of time. And I’m certain that’s going to go over like a lead balloon.
I don’t give a shit, though. She’s mine.
There’s nothing he can do about that now.
When I left for work this morning, she headed to Gran’s. She’s supposed to meet me here when I’m done at work to hang out in the clubhouse. I’m finishing up in the shop when I catch a glimpse of men standing outside the door talking to my dad and a few of the other guys.
Shit.
The closer I get, I realize it’s Tony. He’s been the president of the Iron Angels since before my dad took over this club.
After a long history of beef, they finally came to an agreement on turf a few years ago, and that’s worked for the most part.
But he’s a shady bastard. Anytime his club’s involved, it puts my dad and everyone else on edge.
“Don’t push me, Tony,” my dad barks through his teeth.
Tony’s eyes flick to me. “We’ll talk again soon, Abbott.” Then, he strolls out.
“What was that?” I ask, following my dad into his office.
“Nothing,” he replies curtly.
“Obviously, it’s not nothing.”
He sighs, mulling over what to say. This is the frustrating part of being his kid. He wants me in the club, but then when shit gets sticky, he wants to leave me out of it.
“He thinks we sold on his side.”
“And did we?”
“Not that I know of, but if someone did…” He shakes his head.
Jon Abbott “the president” fades and the man that raised me rises to the surface. His eyes soften but his brows furrow. He opens his mouth to say something but stops and swallows hard. “Shane’s sister upstairs?”
“No. She’ll be back later.”
He nods. “Having her here is a bad idea.”
I blink a few times. “What?”
“This isn’t a place for a girl like that.” He brings his eyes back to mine. “If you care about her, you need to keep her away from this club. Especially with Tony sniffing around.”
I don’t say anything at first, trying to process what he’s saying. “She’s my girlfriend?”
“Yeah. And that right there could be the thing that gets her hurt—or worse.”
“Are you suggesting I don’t date?”
“No, but—” He sighs. “This world is ugly. If you bring her into it, you risk something happening to her.”
“What about Mom? How’s that different?”
“Because your mother can handle it.”
“And how do you know Ash can’t?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stands there, staring at me like I should know. Then he adds, “Even as strong as your mother is, there have been times over the years I’ve questioned if I made the wrong choice by dragging her into this mess. I don’t want you to do the same.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
Glancing away, he clenches his jaw, then walks away without another word.
Ash’s tough, and it’d be a cold day in hell before I ever let something happen to her. She’s safe with me.
As I waltz through the door between the garage and the clubhouse, Lily barrels toward me, draping her arms over my shoulders.
“Hey, stud.”
“Hey, Lil. What’s up?”
After Ash left last summer my occasional hookups with Lily became less and less satisfying. It didn’t feel right. Eventually, I stopped taking her home with me at all.
She pushes her tits out, tilting her head to the side. “You’re liable to hurt a girl’s feelings ignoring my texts like this.”
“Sorry.” Pulling her arms off me, I take a step back. “I’m kind of seeing someone.”
Her brows lift. “For real? Like you have a girlfriend?”
I nod.
“Damn.” She laughs. “Is she here?”
Scanning the room, my eyes find the head of blonde curls perched on a barstool. She lifts her head to the ceiling and laughs at something JT said. I gesture toward her. “At the bar.”
Lily looks her over. “Cute. Wanna share?”
I pin her with a look. “Not a fucking chance.”
“I never thought I’d see the day.” She smiles. “Good for you.”
I make a beeline for her, leaving Lily behind. She’s got her back to me, her shoulders bare in a blue sundress.
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I whisper into her hair, “Did you think you could slip in, and I wouldn’t notice?”
“I figured you were busy with your friend. I didn’t want to interrupt,” she bites, not turning toward me.
What the hell? Ash is never cold, and my brain almost can’t comprehend what’s happening at first.
“What?” Rearing back, my brows furrow. “Lily’s just like that. There’s nothing going on with her.”
Her eyes stay trained on the bottles behind the bar. In a bored tone she says, “I don’t care. It’s not like we’re together. You can do what you want.”
Did she fucking bump her perfect little head?
The fuck we aren’t.
I spin her around on the stool, crouching to eye level. “I don’t know what planet you’re living on, but we”—I gesture between us—“are absolutely together.”
Then she rolls her fucking eyes, lighting me on fire.
“No, Ash. Don’t fucking roll your eyes. You’re mine.” I lean forward, bracing myself on the bar behind her.
Her breath hitches.
“No one else. You.”
She looks away from me, and I grab her chin bringing her back.
When her eyes finally meet mine, she mutters, “Can we not do this here?”
I nod, standing up straight and running a hand over my mouth as I take a step back.
She doesn’t want to do this here? Alright.
I wrap an arm around her legs, pinning her sundress down, and throw her over my shoulder.
She squeals. “Put me down!”
JT raises a brow, not saying a word as he turns his attention to his whiskey.
Storming through the crowd, people stare. Good. I hope everyone sees so they know exactly what we are since she apparently doesn’t get it.
She’s about to, though.
I pack her across the parking lot, rip open the door, and drop her into the passenger seat of my car. After slamming the door, I round the car and climb into the driver seat.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouts. “Where are we going?”
“Not here,” I say through gritted teeth.
She flops back into the seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
I don’t say a word or even look at her until we pull into an empty parking lot down the road. After putting it in park, I turn in my seat and say, “Okay. Would you like to tell me why you’re throwing a damn hissy fit?”
Her mouth pops open, and she scoffs. “Me? You hauled me out of there like a maniac!”
“No. I hauled you out of there like the brat you are, Ash.”
“Brat? I’m a brat because I don’t want another girl throwing herself at my boyfriend—” Her cheeks flush, and she looks away. “Or whatever you are.”
“One, she wasn’t throwing herself at me. And two, I told her I was seeing someone, but you must’ve already been pouting at the bar when that happened.”
She stares out the window. It’s annoying we’re even having this conversation because she’s all I fucking think about. I couldn’t give anyone an ounce of my attention because she bleeds me of every drop I have to give. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
She sucks her teeth, but I see her eyes soften in her reflection in the window. “You told her that?”
“Yeah, obviously! Do you really think I do that? Right in front of you, nonetheless?”
She shrugs.
“I would never do that to you.” I grab her chin, making her look at me. “Never. In case you were confused, when I said I don’t want to see other people, I meant it. I only want you.”
She stares at me not saying anything for a moment before she exhales, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry. I panicked. I saw her hanging on you, and I saw red.”
“Jealous, huh?” I chuckle. “That’s kind of hot.”
She rolls her eyes, and I lean over to kiss her, only breaking it long enough to add, “It’s only you. It will only ever be you.”
I kiss her harder, letting my hand slide from her hair, down her body until I reach her bare leg. Her thighs part when I squeeze, and I slide my hand under her dress to run my knuckles over her panties. When she rocks into me, I break the kiss to say, “Ditch the panties.”
“Gabriel—”
I lift a brow. “Ditch them, or I’ll tear them off, and you can go back to the party with nothing under that dress.”
She looks at me wide-eyed. I don’t think I’ve ever had sex this much, but every time I’m around her, we seem to find ourselves naked. Since the first time, Ash has become more confident. She doesn’t need me to tell her a damn thing anymore.
A grin pulls at her lips as she reaches under her dress and slides them down her legs before tossing them to the floorboard.
Her teeth find her bottom lip, and I yank her across the car onto my lap and devour her mouth.
She wraps her arms around my neck, grinding into my cock that strains against my jeans so hard it aches.
The strap of her dress falls off her shoulder.
She’s a dream illuminated in the moonlight.
With a hand on the back of her neck, I pull her toward me to kiss her neck, then her chest before pulling down the front of the dress and covering her breast with my mouth.
She arches before frantically unbuckling my belt.
I take over, undoing my pants and sliding them down just enough that my cock springs free.
She grins, moving to position herself over it before sinking onto me, and we groan in unison.
I fist her hair and drag her mouth to mine.
It’s wild and desperate, like I can’t quite get close enough. Probably because I can’t. Every minute away from her, I’m counting down the minutes before I can get back to her.
“The moment I saw you in this dress, I wanted to bend you over that bar so everyone would know you are mine.”