Page 38 of Gabe
Gabe uses the back of his hand to wipe the soap from his lips. “About a month after Valarie came and got all your stuff.”
“That’s what I thought.” I step back and swirl my finger in the air for him to turn around. I add more bodywash and continue to clean him. “The sizes on the clothes gave it away. So even though everyone around you thought I was dead, you?—”
“Like I said before, Princess. I knew you were alive. I would have felt it the moment your soul left your body, and I never did. So yeah, I went out and replaced everything the best I could. I’m not sure about the makeup, but I bought one of everything I could remember, and we can pick up anything I missed later. When I finally found you, I didn’t want you to have to deal with what she did.”
I press a kiss to the middle of his back and sigh. “I shouldn’t have stayed away so long. I’m so sorry I did that to us, Gabe.”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Princess. That year was the most painful three hundred and sixty-five days of my life, but I’m ready to move on and start our forever.”
I turn Gabe around and cup his face. “Me too, Marito.”
“What does that mean?”
I laugh and tip my head back to wet my hair. “That, my love, you will have to find out on your own.”
Chapter
Twenty-Two
GABE
“Did you get enough rest?” I watch Tara getting dressed for multiple reasons. One, she is fucking stunning, and even though I just took her body, I already want more. Two, I want to make sure I wasn’t too rough with her.
Tara pulls one of the shirts I bought for her over her body, and I almost groan at losing my view. “Yes, Gabe. I’m sore,” she says, raising an eyebrow and smirking. “But I’m ready to do this. I’m not going in alone this time.”
“Damn right, you’re not.” Stepping forward, I link our hands together and kiss her lips softly.
While Tara has been asleep, Reed, Demon, Carlos, Elio, and I have been setting things up for this moment. She doesn’t know it, but Ned is currently being held in my basement. Carlos’s men found him hiding out a couple of hours north of here in a town whose population is only two hundred. Everyone is where I left them when I heard the shower running upstairs. When we enter, all their conversations come to an end.
“How are you feeling?” Elio asks, rising out of the chair and striding toward Tara.
“A little sore, but I’ve had worse.” She allows Elio to hug her but never lets go of my hand. “Alright, fill me in on what’s been going on?”
A feminine throat clearing pulls our attention toward the laundry room that is off the kitchen. “Um… Mr. Mariano?—”
I hold up my hand. “I’ve told you to call me Gabe. Calling me mister makes me feel way too old.” I let go of Tara’s hand and placed mine on the lower part of her back. “Tara, I would like you to meet Christina. Christina, this is my girlfriend, Tara.”
Christina waves and says, “Nice to meet you, Tara.” She points over her shoulder. “I’ve looked everywhere for another bottle of laundry detergent but can’t find any.” A blush stains her cheeks as she drops her gaze to the floor. “I’ll replace?—”
“I’ve already told you that is not happening. I keep extra in the hall closet; I’ll?—”
Tara steps forward and holds out her hand toward Christina. “I’ll show you where they are at.”
“Thank you.” Christina allows Tara to place her hand on her back and guide her down the hall.
I return to the dining room chair I have been sitting in for hours. My laptop sits in front of me, and the security feed from the basement is on the screen. Ned is currently curled up in a little ball in the corner of the room. From how his shoulders shake, I bet everything in my bank account that he is crying. Seeing him breaking down makes me angry because I can’t help but think about Tara crying that night, begging him to stop. Those thoughts almost make me say fuck it and go handle him myself, but Tara needs to see this through.
“Thank you, Tara,” Christina says as they come back into the room.
“No problem, and I’ll get you that number as soon as I’m finished here,” Tara says, smiling the bright smile I love seeing.Tara watches Christina enter the laundry room and shut the door before approaching us. “Where is that fucker?”
“Sit down and let us explain,” Reed says, pointing to the empty chair at the head of the table to my right. Once Tara is in place, everyone looks to Carlos, as he is the one who found Ned.
“Like I told you earlier, we have Ned, and he is alive. We found him through one of my men. Rodrigo has a grandmother living in a small town three hours north of here. Harrisburg is very small, so the whole town knows instantly when anyone new moves in. Rodrigo’s grandmother hired a woman two months ago at her small café named Maria. When I called Rodrigo to enlist his help with searching for Ned, he recognized him instantly as Maria’s douche boyfriend.
“As it turns out, Maria’s real name is Christina Holloway. Ned showed up at her house the day you were declared dead. As you overheard that night, she was, in fact, pregnant, Ned spun a story about how Dean had gone crazy, and they needed to get out of town. Not only that, they needed to use fake names. He had everything they needed to start a new life. Christina has no family that lives close enough to her. Ned had already isolated her from the ones she speaks to regularly.”
“I’m going to make this hurt,” Tara snarls.
