Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
We were halfway down the stairs when he suddenly froze, his hand tightening around mine and going clammy. Immediately, I turned to face him. He shook his head at me, opening his mouth to speak but unable to make his tongue work so he could form the words.
“I’ve got you,” I soothed, pulling him to me. Gripping the back of his slim thighs, I lifted him, and he wrapped his arms and legs tight around me. With one arm beneath his ass to keep him up, I cradled the back of his head with my other, finishing the walk down the stairs.
Alejandro was standing in the middle of the room. His men were outside, and Mark and Elias were on either side of the door. My pistol was still at the small of my back, but seeing my brothers ready to kill Alejandro if need be left me feeling a bit more at ease.
“This is him?” Alejandro asked as I gently set my boy in a chair at a table. I stroked my hand over his hair, standing at his side with his shoulder pressed to my abdomen.
“His name is Gabriel,” I told him. “He’s under my protection, as well as the protection of both the mother and this charter.”
Alejandro ran his eyes over Gabriel, but he didn’t move forward. He remained standing where he was, barely moving anything but his lips as he spoke. “Makes sense now why they are willing to cause a bloodbath over him,” Alejandro murmured more to himself than to anyone else. I knew why; one of their toys was gone—a moneymaker. Not to mention, they knew without a shadow of a doubt that Gabriel had run his mouth to us. Alejandro looked at me. “I’ve got ears to the ground. When I hear something, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded once at him. With that, he turned on his heel, heading back into the chapel. I lifted Gabriel and took him back upstairs without a word.
My boy needed downtime after that. I knew he was afraid of men like Alejandro, which was another reason I didn’t want him around the man.
“You did so good, baby boy,” I softly praised him as I kicked our door shut behind us. “I’m so proud of you.”
He snuggled closer to me in response, his blunt nails digging into the back of my neck in his urge to plaster himself to me. But he didn’t say a word, regressing almost immediately. I pressed a kiss to his temple, preparing to take care of him while he mentally recovered.
4
Gabriel
I’d been on edge for days. Ever since Tango informed me that my father and the Russians he was working with were actively trying to bring me back home, I’d been sleeping like shit. Nightmares tormented me. Flashbacks wrecked me. And I hated even more that Tango was suffering because I was. Every time I woke up, he woke up with me, holding me close and whispering soothing words to me until I was able to fall back asleep.
The one I’d had last night had been… horrific. It was the night they stuffed me in that dog kennel. Except the flashback morphed into a nightmare, twisting that horrible night into something even worse.
I’d been forced to hold onto to the bars of the kennel while they dragged my ass out through the door just enough that I could be used again.
And again.
And again.
I’d woken up vomiting and crying for Tango. He was thankfully right there in bed with me still, and he held me close, curling his big body around mine. He’d managed to coax me back to sleep, and I didn’t know when he’d cleaned my vomit off the floor, but when I woke up, everything was clean and the room smelled like the lemon cleaning supplies I’d picked out a couple of weeks ago since I preferred the scent of them.
Sighing, I leaned my head back under the shower head, letting the hot water run over my scalp. I slicked my hair back from my face, wishing the water could wash away my worries as easily as it washed away the dirt from my body. It would be even better if it could wash away my trauma.
But alas, it could not.
Tango’s grunt sounded from the bedroom as I reached for the shampoo. I paused with my hand in mid-air, straining my ears. He grunted again, and my breath caught in my throat.
I knew the sound of that grunt. How many times had I listened, my ear pressed against the bathroom door, while he fucked his fist in the shower? My cock hardened immediately, and I bit back a whimper as I fisted it. My breathing quickened.
I’d imagined Tango fucking me more times than I could count. Owning me. Wrecking me all while he praised me for being so good for him. And I knew he’d make it good. He’d take such good care of me because with me, that was just who Tango was. He was a gentle giant, but only with me. For me. And I so desperately wanted him to be mine. I wanted to be his. And not just in my head. I wanted to be his for the entire world to see.