Chapter 6 - A Promise in the Dark
What followed was twenty seconds of terrifying, calculated chaos.
Gabriel didn't even flinch as Victor’s shot chipped the marble step beside him. With blinding speed, Gabriel drew a heavy tactical pistol from his side holster and fired two shots.
BANG! BANG!
The deafening roars echoed off the high ceilings like cannon fire.
The bullets struck Victor’s shoulder and knee. The traitor screamed in pain, dropping his weapon and tumbling down the grand staircase, crashing onto the marble floor of the foyer in a bloody heap.
Marco and the security team instantly swarmed him, pinning his arms behind his back and disarming him before he could even crawl.
Gabriel didn't glance at his bleeding cousin. He didn't look at the stunned lieutenants spilling out of the boardroom.
He took the stairs four at a time, his eyes locked entirely on me.
I was sitting against the gallery wall, my hands shaking uncontrollably, stone dust clinging to my hair.
Gabriel dropped to his knees in front of me, his massive hands wrapping around my shoulders, pulling me firmly against his chest. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a war drum, his breathing heavy and ragged.
“Nora,” Gabriel rasped, his hands frantically checking my face, my neck, my arms for any sign of blood. “Are you hurt? Did he hit you? Tell me!”
“I’m... I’m okay,” I sobbed, the adrenaline finally washing out of my system, leaving me shaking like a leaf. “He... he was copying your security files, Gabriel. He was calling the Morettis. They were going to attack tonight at midnight.”
Gabriel froze. His dark grey eyes turned into two shards of pure, lethal ice.
He looked down over the gallery railing at Victor, who was groaning on the marble floor below, surrounded by armed guards.
“Marco,” Gabriel said, his voice dropping into a register so cold, so terrifyingly calm that it made the skin on my neck prickle. “Take my cousin down to the subterranean holding rooms. Strip him of everything. I will deal with him personally in ten minutes.”
“Understood, boss,” Marco replied grimly, dragging the screaming traitor away toward the basement doors.
Gabriel turned back to me. He slipped his arms beneath my knees and back, lifting me into his arms as effortlessly as if I weighed nothing. He carried me down the hallway, away from the blood and dust, and into his private master suite.
He set me down gently on the massive leather sofa, kneeling right between my legs. He grabbed a damp cloth from the bathroom and gently, meticulously began wiping the stone dust from my cheeks and hair. His touch was so tender, so impossibly soft compared to the violent tempest he had displayed moments before.
“You saved us again,” Gabriel whispered, his eyes searching mine with an intensity that burned. “You saw the snake in my house when my own security failed.”
“I was scared he’d hurt you, Gabriel,” I admitted softly, reaching out to lay my hand over his broad jaw, my thumb feeling the rough stubble along his skin. “I couldn't let him hurt you or Mikey.”
Gabriel closed his eyes for a brief second, leaning his face into the palm of my hand, letting out a long, ragged breath.
When he opened his eyes again, the stormy grey was filled with an emotion so deep, so overwhelming that it took my breath away.
“I have spent four years living in the dark, Nora,” Gabriel murmured, his voice thick with raw honesty. “I thought my heart died the day Elena was taken. I thought I was just a ghost breathing air, existing only to keep my son alive.”
He leaned closer, his broad hands coming up to frame my face, his fingers threading through my hair.
“And then a girl with dirt on her jeans and fire in her heart brought my son home,” Gabriel whispered against my lips. “And suddenly, I remembered what it felt like to be alive.”
My breath hitched. “Gabriel...”
“I love you, Nora,” he vowed softly, the dark king surrendering his crown right at my feet. “Not because you saved my son. Not because you saved my life tonight. But because you are the bravest, purest, most extraordinary woman I have ever known.”
Before I could answer, he captured my mouth in a deep, passionate kiss.
It was an explosion of long-suppressed desire. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his massive body close to mine, surrendering completely to the heat, the power, and the fierce protection of the man who ruled my world.
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When he finally pulled back, both of us breathless, I looked into his eyes and smiled through my tears.
“I love you too, Gabriel,” I whispered. “More than I ever thought possible.”
