Chapter 22 Gabriel
Gabriel
The handle on the armored door moves, and my blood goes cold, not with fear but with rage that hits hard because that door is mine, that corridor is mine, that room is mine. I built it to keep her safe, and she is behind it.
Juan is already moving, fast and quiet, while Luca’s voice slides into my ear through the comm. “Service hall camera went dead.”
“Of course it did,” I say.
Viktor doesn’t rush. He dosen’t need to. He moves slow on purpose because he likes what it does to people.
I turn to Juan. “Two teams. North and west. Sweep it in silence. Start with thermal and treat every heat signature as if it’s real until you prove it’s not. No radio chatter unless it matters. If you see something, you move. If you don’t see anything, you keep moving.”
Juan nods once, already signaling with two fingers. The men split off and disappear into the dark, and I keep my hand on my gun.
Savannah’s voice comes through the armored door, thin and shaking. “Gabriel.”
“I’m here,” I say.
Her breath catches. “The handle.”
“I know.” My voice comes out gentler than the rage in my chest. “don’t move. don’t speak unless I ask you to.”
“…Okay.”
Luca’s voice snaps again. “Jefe, movement. East hallway, near the old storage door.”
Viktor is moving, and he is not trying to break the armored door. He is doing something worse. He is circling, testing response time, waiting for the moment I step away from her, and I do not. I stay planted outside her door.
“Luca,” I say, “I want him alive.”
Luca exhales once. “Alive is going to be harder.”
“Do it anyway,” I reply.
Juan steps close, voice low. “If he’s inside, someone let him in.”
“Yes,” I say, and then, quieter, “And that person is going to die.”
Juan’s eyes harden.
A guard jogs up and stops short, breath ragged. “Jefe, safe corridor is clear. We found a breach point.”
“Where,” I demand.
He points. “Utility panel. Someone accessed it earlier.”
Viktor did not come through the front. He came through the hidden parts of the house, through the areas you don’t watch because you think you built them too well.
I stare down the corridor as the lights flicker once in a taunt.
He knows I’m watching, and I know what he’s doing.
He is not trying to take Savannah yet. He is trying to make her panic.
I step closer to the door again. “Savannah,” I say, low.
“Yeah,” she whispers instantly.
Good. Still here. Still present.
“You’re going to breathe,” I tell her. “In my rhythm.”
I hear her inhale, shaky and too fast. I keep my voice steady. “In.” She pulls air again like it hurts. “Out.” She exhales. I keep going, in and out, in and out.
The corridor behind me goes quiet, too quiet, and that is when I feel it, a pressure change, a presence. Juan’s head turns. He feels it too.
Then Luca’s voice explodes in my ear. “Jefe, he’s behind you.”
I spin with my gun up, and Viktor is there. Not six feet. Two. Like he came out of the wall. Tall, black coat, dead eyes, a small smile, he’s enjoying the show. He lifts his hands slightly, palms open, like we’re old friends.
“Gabriel,” he says in accented Spanish. “So dramatic.”
I don’t answer. I fire.
Viktor moves fast, dropping behind the corridor corner as the bullet drives into the concrete. He laughs. Actually laughs.
I step back instantly, putting my body between his last position and Savannah’s door. Juan and two guards rush up, guns raised.
“Hold,” I snap.
Juan freezes, jaw tight.
“Kill him quietly,” I say. “don’t make a mess.”
Juan nods once.
Viktor’s voice drifts down the hallway from around the corner, low and pleased. “You married a whore. She will always be a whore.”
My jaw locks so hard it aches.
“I can smell it on her,” Viktor continues. “The shame. It clings to her.”
My hand tightens on the gun. Viktor laughs softly again.
I speak for the first time. “You came here to die.”
Viktor steps out just enough for me to see him again. His eyes flick to the armored door and his smile widens.
“Hello, princess,” he calls toward the door.
I lift the gun and fire one clear shot. Viktor moves again, fast, disappearing down the corridor.
Luca’s voice hits my ear, sharp. “He’s baiting you.”
“I know,” I say.
Juan steps closer. “Let me take him.”
“No,” I say.
Juan’s eyes flash. “Jefe.”
“I said no,” I repeat, then signal through the comm. “Cut power to the corridor he went down. Lock down gates three and four.”
“On it,” Luca replies.
The lights dim. Emergency strips glow. The corridor turns narrow and red tinged.
Juan mutters, “He’s still inside.”
“Yes,” I say. “And he’s running out of exits.”
A scraping sound hits the wall, metal on metal, a maintenance panel again. He is moving through the house like a parasite.
I take one slow step forward, still keeping my back to Savannah’s door. I won’t leave her, so I’ll bring the fight to me.
“Viktor,” I call, quiet.
Silence, and then his voice returns, closer. “You’re protective. That’s sweet.”
I smile without humor. “Come closer.”
There is a pause, then a soft step, then another. He is approaching, confident, because he thinks I am pinned.
Viktor steps into view again, and this time he’s holding something, a small remote. He lifts it like a gift.
“You built a pretty fortress,” he says. “But fortresses burn.”
My stomach drops.
Viktor’s thumb taps the remote. A light blinks. Somewhere above us, a line hisses. Not water. Gas. My lungs tighten instantly. Not smoke. Not fire. Sedative. He is trying to put my hallway to sleep, and if that gas reaches her, rage floods my veins.
I move fast and shoot the remote out of his hand. The plastic shatters. Viktor’s eyes widen a fraction.
Juan lunges after him and two guards follow. Viktor pulls a knife.
He slices one guard’s arm and slips sideways, but Luca’s lock down hits. The side gate slams and metal grinds shut. Viktor’s escape path disappears.
For the first time, he looks irritated.
Good.
I step in with my gun lowered now. This is personal.
Viktor’s gaze meets mine as he smiles again. “You’ll never change her. She will always be a trained little whore.”
My jaw tightens. His eyes flick to the armored door again, and his voice rises just enough for her to hear. “You’ll always flinch, princess, because you learned you’re…”
I cross the space and slam my fist into his mouth, hard. Bone crunches. Blood sprays hot across my knuckles. Viktor staggers. Juan grabs him instantly, locking his arms around him.
Viktor laughs even through blood.
I step closer. “Bag him,” I order. “Silence him.”
Juan shoves cloth over Viktor’s mouth, cutting off the poison. Luca rushes in from the side, eyes scanning.
“Gas line,” I snap. “Shut it down.”
Luca signals. The hissing stops.
I turn back to the armored door. My hand finds the lock and I open it fast.
* * *
Savannah is inside, standing rigid, the device clenched in her fist, frozen like her body doesn’t know whether to run or disappear. Her gaze locks on me. Her breath shakes.
“Is he” she starts.
I step in and close the distance immediately, grabbing her face with both hands. “Look at me,” I say.
She looks.
I lower my voice. “He’s contained. He didn’t touch you.”
Her lips tremble, then she whispers the part that matters. “He said my name.”
My jaw tightens. “I know.”
She swallows hard. “He said” Her voice breaks. “He said things.”
I tighten my grip. “Don’t repeat them,” I say.
Her breath stutters.
I lean in, forehead to forehead. “Breathe. In my rhythm.”
In and out. In and out.
Her breath catches, then matches. One more.
Then she whispers, “I felt the door move.”
“I know,” I say again.
Her eyes squeeze shut. A tear slips. She hates it. I wipe it away.
“No one gets you,” I tell her. “Not him. Not the past. Not Cassio. Not anyone.”
Her eyes open.
I release her face and slide my hands down to her wrists, turning her palms up. She is still clutching the device, white knuckled, and I ease her fingers open carefully. I take the device and set it on the counter beside her, then I pull her into my chest.
She stiffens for half a second, then her shoulders drop in a tiny collapse, like her body finally believes the moment is over.
My mouth stays near her ear. “You did good,” I say.
Her voice is barely there. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You stayed,” I correct. “That’s everything.”
Her breath shudders.
Then she whispers, “My chest hurts.”
I pull back just enough to look at her face. “Ribs,” I say.
She nods.
“Come,” I tell her, and guide her slowly out of the armored room and into the inner office space.
* * *
Juan and Luca are still in the corridor. Viktor is gagged and restrained on his knees. Guards surround him. Savannah sees him for one second and her whole body tenses, starting to step back.
I move in front of her instantly, blocking the view. “No,” I say quietly. “You don’t have to look.”
Her throat works. “I want to.”
I shift just enough so she can see.
Viktor’s eyes are on her even with the gag. Savannah’s voice comes out small, shaking, sharp. “You don’t get to talk to me.”
Viktor’s smile falters for the first time.
Savannah’s breath shakes. She looks up at me, eyes wet, furious. “Make him disappear,” she whispers.
My chest tightens, not because she asked for violence, but because she asked like she believes I can actually deliver. I nod once. “I will.”
Then I turn to Juan. “Take him to the basement.”
Juan drags Viktor away. Luca follows, already on comms.
* * *
I lead Savannah back into my office and close the door. She stands in the center like she is not sure where to put her body.
I step close and lower my voice. “You’re shaking.”
She swallows hard. “I’m not cold,” she whispers.
“I know,” I reply.
Her eyes flick to my mouth for half a second, then away.
I lift my hand slowly and touch her cheek with my thumb. “Do you want me to hold you, or do you want space.”
Her eyes widen. She swallows. “Hold me.”
I pull her in. My arms wrap around her like a shield. Her forehead presses to my chest. Her breathing shakes.
“You’re safe,” I tell her.
She whispers into my shirt, “don’t say that.”
I tighten my hold slightly. “Why.”
“Because it makes me believe you,” she whispers. “And believing can break me.”
My jaw tightens. I tilt her chin up gently. “Look at me.”
She looks.
“I won’t break you,” I say.
Her lips tremble. Her eyes flicker. Then she leans in and kisses me first, not the other way around.
Her mouth presses to mine with trembling heat, her hands gripping my shirt.
I kiss her back slowly, my hand sliding into her hair at the nape of her neck.
She exhales against my mouth like she is melting.
Then she pulls back, eyes wide and wet. “I hate that my body does this.”
I hold her face gently. “Your body is surviving,” I tell her. “Let it.”
I wipe her tears, then murmur, “Tell me what you want.”
Her throat works. “I want to feel like I’m not trapped in my own skin.”
My chest tightens. I kiss her again, firm, then pull back and keep my forehead against hers.
Outside the office, I hear muffled footsteps.
But in here, for one moment, her hands stop shaking.
And that matters more than Viktor’s smile ever will.
My phone buzzes on the desk. Luca.
I answer. “What.”
Luca’s voice is tight. “Viktor had a second team. And we just found a note.”
My stomach drops. “What note.”
“It was left in your bedroom,” Luca says. “On her pillow.”
Savannah goes still in my arms, frozen.
My jaw locks, because that means they got that close. They walked into the most private room of my house. They touched her space. They touched her bed.
I look down at Savannah. Her voice is barely a breath. “What did it say.”
I don’t answer yet, because I don’t know, and because I already know what it will feel like. A threat, a reminder.
I tighten my hold around her and make a decision. If they left a message on her pillow, then I am going to leave a message in Viktor’s blood. And everyone will read it. Even Cassio. Even Mikhail.
Because my wife is not leverage. She’s a person.
And anyone who forgets that gets reminded.