AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gabriel walks with long, easy strides into the living room. “Now, I didn’t know where you’d want this.”
My eyes widen at the sight of the painting resting against the couch. It’s the painting I stared at all night long at the benefit Gabriel and I attended. The same one where I met one of Bishop’s men with the cowboy hat.
“Is that for me?” I ask, stepping closer to it.
“Yeah, I bought it.” His usually hard demeanor softens. “I knew you liked it and I wanted you to have it.”
I gaze back at the painting, finding my favorite soft pink strokes on the canvas, letting it calm my nerves. The same way it soothed me as Bishop’s man tried to throw me for a loop.
“You really bought this for me?” I step even closer wanting to make sure it’s really here and not a dream.
He shrugs, like it’s no big deal, but to me it’s the biggest. “Yes.”
I want to hug him, and normally, I probably would, but I need to get some of this weight off my shoulders. “Can we talk?” I ask, moving to sit on the couch. I don’t really know who to trust anymore.
“Sure.” He crosses his arms, crossing the room to join me.
“Are there people trying to stop our wedding?” I already know the answer, but I want to know what Gabriel has planned to keep Bishop away and anyone else who may have an issue with it.
“Did someone tell you that?” His eyes don’t waver from mine, and the intense stare he’s throwing my way makes me uneasy about whether to trust him. He’s suspicious and I fear I may have taken this all too far.
I shake my head.
“Then why do you ask?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Sit down,” he says. “I need to tell you something I should have told you before. There’s a man, Bishop Blackstone, and let’s just say he’s very involved.”
“Involved how?”
“He doesn’t want us to get married. He wants to see me vulnerable.”
“Is he dangerous?” Once again, I already know the answer. I’ve known the answer since the first moment I stared into the dark eyes of Bishop Blackstone. I’ve known since the first time he hurt my family. But I want to know Gabriel isn’t afraid of him.
“No. Yes, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Gabriel actually believes the words he says, and it makes me want to believe it too. He’s already told me more than I could have ever expected.
“Are you sure?”
“You have nothing to worry about. I told you I would keep you safe and I meant it,” Gabriel assures me.
“I just know mafia…” My voice falters. I messed up and we both know it. “I mean…”
“Who told you Bishop was mafia?”
I shake my head, trying my best to get myself out of the corner I’ve trapped myself in. “I..uhh…” I don’t know how to answer his question. How do I tell him that I’ve known Bishop for years, maybe even better than Gabriel knows him?
“Ok, look, I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, Bishop Blackstone is head of an organized crime family in the South Seas. They’re into some pretty bad things, but I have a feeling you already know this.”
“Are you in the mafia?” I cut him off, remembering all the men always close by, hoping he’ll forget my mess up.
He levels me with two words, “Define mafia?”
That’s not what I expected him to say. “You know, bad guys, murderers. Fuhgeddaboudit.”
His brow raises. “Fuhgeddaboudit?”
