Gabe's Reckoning Page 3

  “Right before the bomb dropped, she visited your mother. That’s how this all started. So, I think the questions you should be asking are how in the hell did your momma know that I was yet another missing son? AND… Why did she keep that a secret from everyone all these years?”

  Tucker’s eyes narrowed and Gabe could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. In fact, he knew his friend so well he expected the denial any second now. He wouldn’t go so far as to call Tucker a momma’s boy, but he knew the man would go to the ends of the earth and back to protect his mother.

  “Tucker?” Maggie stepped closer and touched his arm.

  “I don’t know,” he finally answered, sadness weighing down his words. “For someone who apparently chose not to talk to us for years, she’s certainly become chatty.”

  Gabe agreed. Except when it came to the details they’d truly sought. “Although she still won’t discuss that night. That’s what Nina wanted from her and I don’t think she got it.”

  “You don’t think? What does that mean?”

  Gabe took an extra breath. He was on the edge of his temper and tired of this conversation. But he had to remember that Tucker was just as worried about Nina as him. The two of them were close. Probably the closest of them all. Neither Tucker or Nina had divulged a great many details about their time growing up, but he’d picked up enough to know that before he’d come along, she had gone solely to Tucker for solace and friendship.

  Which meant that if any of them knew where she was it would be him. And so far, the bastard wasn’t telling.

  “It means we didn’t get a chance to talk about it before she accused me of marrying my sister in front of half my staff.”

  Tucker winced. Maggie gasped.

  “Oh yeah. You missed the fireworks for sure. I’m sure the tongues will be wagging at Purgatory for weeks over this one. So much for privacy.” He felt his anger rising along with his voice. “Come to Purgatory. We’ve got incest, murder, fraud—probably kidnapping too. What a way to live up to the name.”

  Maggie stepped toward him and he took a step back. He didn’t want her any closer than necessary to his anger.

  She froze in mid step, her eyes widening in surprise. “I know it seems bad right now. But we’re going to work through this—together,” she said. “That’s what family does, right?” She looked between the two men, hope shining from her eyes. “We are family. So start acting like it. You can do that, right?”

  Gabe shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I didn’t even know I had a family until three days ago.”

  “I didn’t mean in the sudden way you’ve just found out you are biological brothers,” Maggie interrupted. “We were already a family. Now there just happens to be a blood connection too.”

  Gabe shrugged. “I don’t have a clue how this is going to work anymore.”

  “That’s going to be up to you,” Tucker said. “Levi and I had no clue either. Now I’ve lost a sister and apparently gained another brother. Things are fucked, man.” He threaded his hands through his hair before locking his gaze back on Gabe. “Oh, and I heard you quit your job. What the hell is that about? Purgatory doesn’t run itself you know.”

  Gabe shrugged. “Not my problem anymore. Let Mason deal with it. He likes to be in charge of everyone and everything. I don’t care. Right now I have one thing to focus on and everything else can either wait or simply be forgotten.”

  “You’re going to walk away from Purgatory just like that? After everything?”

  “For Nina? You bet. I am going to find her and when I do we’re going to work this shit out. She is my wife and I have every intention of keeping it that way. I don’t know what’s in her head right now nor do I know what other bomb fragments your mother might have dropped, but it’s my job now to make sure she’s all right. Mine, goddamit.”

  “You love her,” Maggie whispered.

  Since it wasn’t a question, Gabe didn’t answer.

  “Is that true?” Tucker asked, rubbing his jaw.

  Gabe nearly hurt his head rolling his eyes. “Are you seriously asking me that question? You’ve watched us like a hawk for years. What do you think?”

  Tucker smiled at him. “You have been trailing after her like a puppy dog all this time, waiting on her table scraps. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised that you finally made a move.”

  “Fuck you,” he said, his patience for humor at an all-time low. “You know she hasn’t been ready.”

  “What makes you think she’s ready now?” Maggie interrupted. “Tell us what we’ve all missed as she’s been hiding away in your mansion unable to deal with reality.”

  Gabe ran his hands down across his face. “She told me she was ready. She’d reached the limit of what she could take from this family even before this latest explosion and agreed to let me help her. In my way.”

  Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  He shook his head at his friend. “What the hell do you think it means? Don’t play daft now, asshole.” They may have been friends for a long time, but right about now he was beginning to question why. There were so many secrets surrounding these men. He had a feeling there was a lot they were withholding and he probably wouldn’t like them.

  Tucker paced away from him and Maggie followed. She placed her hand on his back and whispered something he couldn’t hear. Gabe’s eyes narrowed as he watched husband and wife interact. Maggie had a good heart, but she hadn’t been around that long. She’d brought Tucker out of the shell he had retreated to, but he wasn’t so sure even she had the whole picture. Lies once spoken, were difficult to change.

  Tucker placed a quick kiss on his wife’s forehead and walked back over to Gabe.

  “You can’t fix Nina with BDSM, if that’s what you’re planning. She’s not like that.”

  Anger surged through Gabe’s veins. “Nina doesn’t need to be fixed,” he seethed. “She doesn’t need to be coddled either. The fact you think so is what has led us here in the first place. It’s no wonder she’s run from this family.”

  “She’s my sister. I think I know more what she needs than you do.”

  Gabe laughed, a bitter sound that echoed through his entryway. “She’s my wife. How many times do I have to repeat it? And unlike you and your brothers, I don’t want to help her hide from the memories that, even locked so deep she can’t get to them, they haunt her. I’m going to help her access those memories in a safe place with a man she trusts. If you can’t accept that then I suggest you get the hell out of my way. Because this is happening whether you like it or not.”

  Tucker’s eyes narrowed, but he remained silent. As the two men stared at each other, Gabe could feel the tension thickening in the room. They were clearly at a crossroads in their friendship and what happened next could make or break their future. He only hoped Tucker realized it. He didn’t always think through his options when he felt backed into a corner. His impulsiveness had made him one hell of a football player in college and an incredible artist today, but everywhere else it made him more than a little bit dangerous.

  “Look Gabe, I get how you’re feeling here. We’ve all known you’ve had a thing for Nina for a very long time. But BDSM is not the answer for her. She’s afraid of it. That’s one of the reasons why we warned you away from her so many times. It was as much for your good as hers. You have needs she’ll never be able to meet. She’s just not like the rest of us.”

  Gabe sighed. It shouldn’t be this hard to make his friends understand. “You really think I don’t know Nina? That’s a serious insult coming from you. I did keep my distance, as you asked, and waited long past the normal limits of patience. But not because she wasn’t the right woman for me.” He shook his head. “You’re wrong. I know Nina. I have for a long, long time in a way you couldn’t as a brother. I only had to wait until she was ready.”

  “And you think she’s ready for you now? When her life is crumbling down around her?”

  “The only reason anyth
ing is crumbling is because Mason kept secrets. Probably the rest of you too.”

  Tucker started to say something, but Gabe interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear any more lies. I’ve had more than I can take for a lifetime. It’s time for action, not talk, so either help me or get the fuck out of my way.”

  A slow smile crept across Tucker’s face. “Maybe I was right about you all along.”

  “What?” the expression creeping across his face unsettled him.

  His grin grew larger. “I had a feeling about you two. I don’t know. I thought it would be impossible though considering your lifestyle and Nina’s disdain for it. But I guess if anyone can figure it out it will be the two of you.”

  Thoroughly confused, Gabe turned to Maggie for some help. “What the hell is he going on about? Did he hit his head or something because he just said—”

  “I know exactly what I said and I’m feeling somewhat satisfied with your response. Nina is my sister, no matter what biology says. That’s never going to change. We grew up together with her tagging along after me everywhere I went. As you know, we’ve always been close. But the night of the fire, something took her away from me. Sure, we’ve still been close, but she was never the same. And the only time I’ve ever gotten a glimpse of my real sister was when your sorry ass is around. I have my guesses about what happened that night, but only she and my mother know the whole truth and whatever that is, it is eating her alive.”

  “Then you understand that I have to do whatever it takes to help her remember. How else can she move on from that nightmare?”

  Tucker nodded. “I agree that it needs to get resolved. But I have a bad feeling about the truth. Whatever it is, it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.”

  Gabe tipped his head. “Agreed. And all the more reason why I need to find her sooner rather than later.”

  “I think I can help you with that. I’m not one hundred percent sure of her whereabouts since she’s ignoring my calls too, but I know of a place she might have gone…”

  Gabe turned and dug into the console table behind him and fished out his keys. “I never doubted you did.”

  Chapter 4

  Nina huddled in front of the fireplace and rubbed her hands together. Despite the blazing fire in front of her and the thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders, she couldn’t get warm. How could she? The icy sensation came from the inside not outside. Ever since she had confronted Gabe in his office and Mason had uttered words that changed the course of her life, she’d lost all warmth.

  She’d lost Gabe.

  A lone tear that she didn’t bother to wipe away slid down her face and into the blanket. Why had she insisted on going to Savannah for answers? More importantly, why had she ever thought that woman would tell her the truth? They’d never been friends. Tucker’s mother had barely tolerated her as a child and even after that night that bound them together, they’d not said a word to each other since. No matter how many times she went with Tucker to visit her.

  Anger bubbled inside Nina. That family. Part of her family she’d thought. Jesus. They’d cost her everything. Including the man she thought she’d loved. Now she didn’t know what to think. The hatred she’d spewed at Gabe in his office, in front of an audience no less, had been unfair, to say the least. If she truly loved him why would she not have given him the benefit of the doubt? There was no excuse strong enough to wipe away the damage she’d done.

  No, if she was going to be honest with herself, and that was the whole point of this sabbatical, she’d been cruel. Unusually so. It reminded her of how her mother sometimes behaved when she thought she was being righteous. Her shining, and apparently everlasting example of what love was supposed to look like. That thought made her stomach twist as she tried to shake the image from her mind.

  There were too many things happening that made her uncomfortable in her own skin. And of her own making. The words that came out of her mouth to Gabe had dug deep into her soul, like claws burrowing under her flesh one slow inch at a time and refusing to stop or let go. And if it affected her this much, then she couldn’t imagine what it had felt like for him. The pain she’d caused.

  The shocked and stricken look on his face when she’d stupidly accused him of willingly marrying his sister had said it all. She couldn’t sleep at night because she feared seeing the pain etched into his beautiful face in her nightmares.

  The worst part was… She’d known better and if she’d bothered to take ten minutes to think things through, or talk to him without wild accusations, she would have known. There were a lot of damn things she couldn’t be sure about, but Gabe’s loyalty to her wasn’t one of them. He’d proven that to her time and again over the years. Always willing to be the rock she desperately needed.

  God, she missed him something fierce. Her heart ached from regret of what could have been, and more importantly she ached from the loss of his friendship. Of his trust.

  Her mind stuttered, refusing to acknowledge the pain.

  In her one defense, she’d tried to warn him this would happen if they got intimately involved. Intimacy was a dangerous road with no U-turns allowed. The promise she’d made to her mother to save her virginity for marriage had been shockingly easy to make. And even more surprisingly easy to ruin.

  Nina took a deep breath and forced her mind to do something else. Eventually, she would have to stop this pity party and find a way to move on to a new life. One without her family and friends.

  She couldn’t hide out here for much longer before someone found her. She and Tucker might be the only ones who knew about this place, but that wouldn’t protect her for long. Her big brother would eventually seek her out.

  Pain sliced through her. She had to face facts. Tucker wasn’t her brother and neither were Levi or Mason. Everything. God dammed everything was a lie. Her whole stupid life!

  Nina surged to her feet, unable to sit still another second. She needed to do something. Anything. She searched the immediate area for something to throw. Since no one had used this cabin in quite a while there wasn’t much to grab. She settled on the hand carved coasters sitting on the coffee table and flung them across the room. Unfortunately, her aim was off and one crashed against the window.

  She gasped, waiting for the glass to shatter. When it didn’t she didn’t know whether to sigh in relief or cry in frustration. She couldn’t even have a proper fit. Instead, she dropped back onto the couch and let her head fall into her hands.

  “Feel better?”

  Nina screamed and scrambled across the side of the couch, seeking cover while searching for something to use as a weapon.

  “Whoa. Whoa, it’s just me.”

  Nina barely heard him over the roar of her pulse as it rocketed straight into orbit. “Gabe?” She peered over the arm of the sofa to find him standing in the doorway, his broad shoulders filling most of the space around him. Was her mind playing tricks on her now? How could he—

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just you looked pretty frustrated and I didn’t want to interrupt until you were done. Are you done?”

  She lifted her hand to her chest and tried to calm her racing pulse while also choosing to ignore his sarcasm. “You did scare the hell out of me. Have you forgotten how to knock?” She rose to her feet and moved away from her hiding spot while keeping plenty of distance between them. “And no, I’m probably not done, but the urge to throw something else right now has temporarily subsided.”

  He arched his brow, a questioning but sexy look on the man she could technically still call husband. Or could she? He could have had their marriage annulled by now. She pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. She had no right to call him anything. However, that didn’t stop her from noticing everything about him. Such as how delicious he looked standing there, with his tousled dark hair and three-day-old scruff on his face that made him look even hotter than usual. And that was saying something considering every time he walked into the same room
as her, he took her breath away.

  Taking a moment to take more of him in, she also didn’t miss the way his dark slacks hugged his legs to perfection (probably tailored like that on purpose). Or the way his long sleeve thermal shirt hugged his broad chest and thick arms. Then there were the buttons undone at the neck that allowed her to get a peek at the muscles and tattoos that always made her hands itch to touch him. She’d never denied what a fine specimen of manhood he was. And even if she tried, the flutters low in her stomach would call her out as a big fat liar.

  But it was the intensity in his eyes as he stared back at her that made it difficult for her to maintain eye contact. He’d yet to cross the cabin threshold and she already felt like a captive from a single look. Or maybe hunted. Yeah, hunted. That seemed to fit this scenario much better.

  “How did you find me?” She immediately waved her hand in the air. “Never mind. I know. Only one person could have told you about this place. The traitor.”

  Gabe stalked forward and closed the door behind him. “You consider Tucker telling a desperate man where to find his wife traitorous?”

  The word wife zinged through her like a bolt of lightning, a flash of heat left behind in its wake.

  “Not much of a wife now am I? In fact, I would have expected you to have our marriage dissolved by now.” It was a sham anyway, although it hurt to admit even if only to herself.

  “I have no intention of having our union dissolved, so you can get that thought out of your pretty little head. We made a deal that you belong to me now, even put pen to paper to make it official and I’m here to make sure you live up to your end of the bargain.”

  She sputtered, unable to form words as images of what he’d just implied popped into her head. As she tried to gather her thoughts into coherent sentences, he edged closer.

  Without thought, she took several steps back until her back collided with the wood planked wall. The flutters in her stomach turned to a full flight of massive movement. “You don’t mean right—right now, right?”