Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
OLIVIA
I didn’t let go of Theo.
Not even when he surprised me by trying to push me away, saying, “Listen to him, Liv. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
But it was too late for that.
I was already hurt. I didn’t care about what anyone did to my body. My heart was already shattered in my chest.
So, I held on tight to my brother, latching my hands together around his waist so he couldn’t pry me off.
“I’m not letting go,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I won’t stand by while you do this. I refuse.”
Heavy steps came up behind me.
Was it strange that I could recognize Gabriel just by the rhythm of his stride? When had that happened? When had we become so close that I could practically feel his presence?
I tensed up, waiting for him to grab me, to forcefully yank me away from my brother.
He could do it. There wasn’t any doubt of that. He was much bigger than Theo. Much stronger, too. He wouldn’t even have to try to toss me clear across the pier if that’s what he wanted to do.
But apparently, it wasn’t.
Because instead of using brute force, he stopped a few feet away and said, “Liv, stop. It’s over. You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
Harder for who? For him? For the car full of murderers he’d brought to toss my brother’s corpse into the river?
Well, boo- fucking -hoo.
This was already hard. For me, it was goddamn devastating, and nothing was going to make it easier.
Eyes clenched shut and arms gripped tight around Theo’s waist, I shook my head. “I won’t let you hurt my brother,” I said.
There was a pause. Then a sigh. For a moment, I dared to hope I’d gotten through to him.
But then I felt his hands, so big and so strong, grip me around the shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Liv,” he said before effortlessly peeling me away. “But you can’t stop me.”
I cried out as Gabriel wrapped his arms around me, crushing me against his body as he turned us around—away from the sight of my brother’s terrified face and toward the glistening lights of the city.
He was right, of course. I couldn’t do anything to stop him. No matter how desperately I clawed at his hands, I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t powerful.
But something else was.
As Gabriel carried me back the side of the car, another pair of headlights turned the corner and shone down the pier. A plain black sedan hit its brakes, coming to a stop just a few feet away.
Another sedan followed close behind. And another after that.
Three in all.
The D’Angelos put together what was happening a few seconds before I did. Gabriel’s hold relaxed enough for me to slip down his chest until my feet hit the pavement. Every man on the pier stopped in their tracks, turning around to watch as the doors of these new black cars opened and a swarm of men in equally nondescript black suits stepped out.
“Fuck,” Gabriel sighed next to my ear. “The feds.”
The FBI?
Behind me, Theo let out a massive breath along with a loud, “Thanks God. Liv, we’re saved.”
But I wasn’t so sure.
I understood my brother’s relief. I just wasn’t certain this was the salvation he was hoping for—more like a temporary reprieve.
While there was no way that all of these agents could be dirty, Gabriel still had informants inside the Bureau willing to feed him information. As long as that was true, Theo would never be safe.
My mind spun, trying to figure out how to deal with this new situation as Gabriel protectively slid me behind him.
“Mr. D’Angelo,” one of the suits said as he strode up, stopping just short of us. Even though it was dark, the agent wore aviator-style sunglasses, making it impossible to see his eyes and fully read his expression. Even so, it was clear that he was the man in charge of this whole operation. “You want to tell me what you’re doing out here by the river?”
Gabriel raised a brow—an expression that made him look as relaxed and unbothered as always, though not exactly innocent. “I’m just out enjoying the evening, Agent… Thompson, ” he said, narrowing his eyes to read the name on the government badge the fed was flashing.
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
“And you expect me to believe that your evening stroll just happened to lead you to this dark pier with a handful of your known associates?”
“I’m not expecting you to do anything.” Gabriel shrugged. Clearly, this wasn’t his first run-in with law enforcement, and he didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. “As for my associates , they’re free men, just like me, Agent. They can go where they please.”
“Not with my witness, they can’t,” Agent Thompson said.
“ Your witness?” Gabriel remarked before nodding slowly. “Well, if he’s your witness, doesn’t that make him your responsibility? Don’t blame me if you can’t keep a leash on your snitches.”
The agent’s mouth flattened into a straight, thin line. Even his reflective lenses couldn’t hide his irritation. “But I can blame you for forcing him out of protective custody tonight.”
But Gabriel just shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the shit, D’Angelo,” Agent Thompson snapped. “I know you kidnapped Mr. Collins and brought him down here to kill him. We thought you might pull something like that, so we slipped a tracker into his clothes back at the office.”
No wonder they’d been able to find us so quickly.
“That was a good idea,” Gabriel quipped. “Between you and me, that guy looks like the slippery type.”
“No,” Agent Thompson said with a slowly widening smile. “It was a good idea because now I get to be the man who becomes famous for finally arresting the notorious Gabriel D’Angelo. Witness intimidation, kidnapping, attempted murder—once the DA’s done with you, you’ll never see the outside world again.”
No .
As much as I couldn’t stand the thought of Theo’s death, I didn’t want Gabriel to spend his life in prison. Hell, I didn’t even want him to spend the night there.
Especially not for something he didn’t do.
“Gabriel didn’t take Theo out of your safe house.” I pushed my way out from behind the safety of Gabriel’s back and looked up at Agent Thompson. “I did.”
The agent slowly lowered his head. Maybe a few months ago, I would have been intimidated by the obvious power move, but not anymore. Now, it only annoyed the dismissive tactic only annoyed me.
“And who are you?” he asked.
“Theo’s sister.”
Behind the glasses, a brow arched. Agent Thompson looked over at my brother. “Is that true, Mr. Collins?”
“Yeah,” Theo said, pushing his way out of the circle Gabriel’s men had formed around him and rushing toward me. “She’s the one I was telling you about. She can collaborate my story.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I shook my head. “ Corroborate ,” I corrected him.
“Right—that,” Theo said quickly. “Anyway, she was the one Gabriel D’Angelo kidnapped. She’s the voice on the messages. The one he’s been holding hostage.”
I could read the skepticism on Agent Thompson’s face as he looked me up and down. He didn’t need to open his mouth for me to know what he was thinking. In my designer heels and couture hoodie, I’m sure I didn’t look like any other hostage he’d seen before.
“So, you’re the reason your brother came to us?”
Is that what Theo had told them? That this was all about me and not the money he’d taken from the mob? Of course, it was.
“Not exactly,” I said. “I’m afraid it’s a little more complicated than that.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but the second the words were out of my mouth the whole mood on the pier grew even more intense.
I felt the sting of a dozen pairs of eyes zeroing in on me and piercing me with their stare.
Caught between the feds, the mob, and my faithless brother, I did my best to hold my head high.
“Come on, Liv,” Theo pleaded from a few feet away. “Back me up here. Tell Agent Thompson what you’ve been dealing with the last few months, and this will be over. We can both go home, and things can go back to normal.”
Normal .
I knew what Theo meant when he said the word.
He wanted to say sorry the whole flight home and then slowly forget all about it the second the wheels were on the ground. He wanted to go back to using the family business as his piggy bank. Our parents there to catch his fall in Chicago and me back in Milwaukee, where I was easy to find when the real consequences came calling.
That was Theo’s normal.
And a few months ago, it had been mine, too.
But not anymore.
I turned my head and looked over at Gabriel. Unlike my brother, he was standing tall. Even with the threat of a lifetime in prison hanging over his head, there was no desperation in his eyes as he met my gaze.
And even more remarkably, no threat either.
While I could feel the tension radiating off his men, Gabriel’s energy was completely different. There was understanding in those gorgeous, dark eyes. I could practically hear his voice in my head as a trace of a smile lifted his lips.
It’s okay, dolcezza. Do whatever you think is right.
So, I did.
Turning back to Agent Thompson, I said, “It sounds like we need to clear up a few misunderstandings.”
“Is that right?” The agent lifted his chin. “Well, why don’t you come with us back to the office? We can have a nice long conversation there.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head firmly. “We can talk right here. This won’t take much time.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. Because unfortunately, Agent Thompson, my brother has been lying to you.”
“ What ?” Theo’s howl echoed off the brick and steel buildings at our backs. “Liv, what are you doing?”
“Making things right.” I went over and took Gabriel’s hand in front of everyone. “As you can see, Agent Thompson, no one kidnapped me. I’m with Gabriel D’Angelo of my own free will.”
The agent’s composure finally cracked, and he pulled off his glasses. “You’re saying you two are a couple?”
“Exactly,” I told him. “Ask around. We’ve been going out every night for the last month. Honestly, I’m surprised you don’t already know this, given the way the Bureau likes to stalk him.”
“So why did your brother tell us you were in danger?”
“Because he hates that I’ve fallen in love with someone he considers dangerous,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie. Large parts of that statement were true.
“Mr. D’Angelo is dangerous,” Agent Thompson said.
But I just shook my head.
“You sound just like my family,” I said. “They couldn’t stand the fact that I decided to move in with him so quickly, especially Theo. He’s always been an overly protective older brother. When he couldn’t convince me to come home of my own free will, he started making up stories to force me, saying I was kidnapped and held hostage. I never expected him to go so far as to involve the FBI, though.”
Agent Thompson narrowed his eyes. “You’re saying none of it’s true.”
“Not a single word.”
“What about the voicemails?” he asked. “I heard one where you admitted how dangerous Gabriel was, and begged your brother to pay a seven figures so you could come home.”
“A deep fake,” I said. “It’s scary what AI can do these days.”
“That’s not true,” Theo shouted. “She’s lying. All the recordings are real.”
I made a show of rolling my eyes.
“On the walk down here, he said he’d made one that sounded like he’d recorded the exact moment when Gabriel decided to hold me hostage. As if anyone would believe that.”
“It did seem too good to be true,” Agent Thompson muttered to himself. “But how did you know where to find your brother?”
“He called and told me where he was,” I answered simply. At this point, the lies were rolling off my tongue with an ease I’d never felt before. “I was hoping to talk some sense into him, and he’d see for himself how happy Gabriel and I were together. But when you showed up, I realized this was just another trick to trap Gabriel and force me to come home.”
I watched as Agent Thompson’s eyes flickered back and forth between Theo and Gabriel, trying to decide who to believe.
But in the end, my plausible lies were more reasonable than Theo’s outrageous truth.
“Mr. Collins, come with me,” Agent Thompson said. “It sounds like we have a lot to discuss back at the office.”
“Wait,” I said, stepping forward to block his path to my brother. “I’m sorry for any inconvenience Theo has caused, but I don’t want him to get in trouble. He made a mistake—sure—but it’s an understandable one. He thought he was doing the right thing and looking out for me. But now I just want this to be over. I’m sure we both have better things to do with our time than waste any more of it on this drama.”
“I do have too many case files on my desk as it is.” Agent Thompson chewed on his lip, thinking for a second.
He looked back at his men. Then back at Gabriel.
“Mr. D’Angelo, this is your lucky night,” he said.
“Every night I’m with Liv is a lucky one,” he answered, squeezing my hand.
Agent Thompson nodded. “If you’re smart, you’ll work on becoming the man she seems to think you are.”
“That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all night,” Gabriel told him.
Agent Thompson turned around, motioning to the agents behind him to follow as he climbed back into his car.
Theo was left flailing as they drove away.
“Great job, Liv,” he wailed. “Now I’m a dead man for sure.”
But I shook my head, looking up into Gabriel’s dark eyes. “I’m not sure about that.”
Gabriel stayed silent for the better part of a minute, and when he finally spoke, his voice was low and rumbly—for my ears only.
“You lied,” he said. “And you did it for me.”
“I did,” I said with a nod. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you spending the rest of your life in prison.”
“And you did it without the promise that I’d let your brother go.”
“Of course. This wasn’t about a negotiation or a deal,” I said. “It was about me trusting you, about me needing you.”
Another few seconds passed, then?—
“Go.”
The whole pier went dead quiet—no one quite able to believe what they had just heard.
“What?” Theo asked, his voice thin and shaky.
“You heard me, Collins.” Gabriel’s commanding voice boomed again. “ Go . Now.”
“G-Go?” Theo sputtered. “Go where?”
“Get on the fucking boat, you idiot. Sail away from my city and never come back.” Gabriel shouted. “And thank God every day that he blessed you with a sister who I love more than I hate you.”
“Yes. Of course, Mr. D’Angelo,” Theo said before turning tail and bolting down the pier toward the boats.
I didn’t watch him go.
I didn’t need to.
My brother was my past, running far away from me.
My future, on the other hand, was standing right in front of me.