Chapter 10 - A Pact Sealed in Velvet
The silence in the medical suite was so profound you could hear the soft hum of the fluorescent lights above.
Gabriel stared at the digital scan on the wall,
his dark eyes filled with a terrifying mix of profound shock,
shattering hope,
and absolute,
lethal fury.
For six long months,
he had lived in the dark shadow of physical defeat,
believing his body had betrayed him,
enduring the quiet pity of his enemies and the hidden contempt of his uncle.
And all along,
it was nothing more than a mechanical clamp placed inside his body by a bribed doctor.
"He kept me in this chair..."
Gabriel whispered,
his voice low,
shaky,
and vibrating with a quiet rage that made the air in the room feel heavy.
"He let me sit here for half a year,"
"watching my family's legacy rot from the inside..."
I stepped around the light desk and knelt down right beside his wheelchair,
placing my hands gently over his tightly clenched fists.
"It's over now,
Gabriel,"
I said softly,
looking directly into his dark eyes.
"We know the truth."
"I've already contacted a world-renowned neurosurgeon in Boston."
"He’s independent,
he has no ties to the mafia,
and he can be here by tomorrow morning to perform the clip removal."
Gabriel slowly looked down at me,
his powerful fingers unclenching from his fists to wrap around my small hands.
"You did this,"
he murmured,
his voice thick with an emotion he usually kept hidden behind armor and violence.
"Thirteen nurses walked through those front gates."
"They saw a bitter,
dangerous man in a wheelchair and they ran away."
"You stayed."
"You threw coffee on my shoes,"
"you yelled at me about my diet,"
"and you saved my life three times."
"I stayed because you promised me hazard pay,"
I tried to joke,
though my own voice was cracking with emotion.
Gabriel didn't smile.
He reached out with his free hand,
his long fingers gently catching my chin,
lifting my face until I had nowhere else to look but into his dark,
possessive gaze.
"Don't lie to me,
Maya,"
he whispered,
leaning down slowly until his forehead rested against mine.
"You stayed because you belong here."
"With me."
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I couldn't draw a full breath.
The boundaries between nurse and patient,
between crime lord and employee,
had completely burned away into dust.
"Gabriel..."
I breathed,
my fingers tightening around his dark jacket.
"I'm just a broke girl from upstate New York."
"I don't belong in your world of guns and blood."
"You are the only truth in this filthy world,
Maya,"
he growled softly,
his lips brushing against mine with a soft,
reverent pressure that sent a wave of pure fire straight down to my toes.
The kiss was slow,
deep,
and filled with a fierce,
possessive heat that made me completely forget where we were.
When he finally pulled back an inch,
his dark eyes were wild and bright.
"Once this surgery is finished,"
"once I am back on my feet,"
"I am going to destroy every man who tried to take you from me,"
he swore softly against my lips.
"Starting with the doctor,"
"and ending with the Romanov family."
Before I could answer,
the security alarm on Gabriel’s desk suddenly began to chime with a low,
urgent tone.
Vincent’s face appeared on the secondary monitor,
his expression pale and frantic.
"Boss!"
Vincent yelled through the speaker.
"We have a massive problem at the holding safehouse!"
Gabriel pulled back slightly,
his eyes narrowing into slits.
"What happened to Carmine?"
"He's gone!"
Vincent shouted.
"A heavy assault team from the Romanov syndicate just breached the holding facility!"
"They wiped out the guards and broke Carmine out!"
"And Boss..."
Vincent swallowed hard,
looking straight through the camera.
May you like
"Carmine left a message painted on the holding room wall."
"He knows about the nurse."
