I go to her but when I do, she’s raging again. “Don’t come near me!”
I close the door. “Calm down, Gabriela.”
When I put my hands on her arms, she slaps them away, moving farther from me.
“How could you? Why would you? He told you the truth. Why did you do it?”
“I didn’t.”
“You’re a liar. I knew you were a liar. A monster. Why did you give me that phone? What was it? Do you get some sick pleasure from manipulating me? Playing me for the fool I am?”
“Sit down, Gabriela.”
“Did you have a good laugh afterwards?”
“Sit down. We’ll talk about it. I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Let me tell you what I know, Stefan. You’re a murderer. A cold-blooded killer.”
It’s like she remembers her friend in that instant because her shoulders slump inward and she’s sobbing.
“Did you kill his aunt too?”
“The house burnt down. They were both inside asleep.”
She whirls on me. “Asleep? You’re that much of a coward?”
I get the bottle of whiskey from the cabinet, pour a glass and hold it out to her. “Here. Drink this.”
She slaps my hand away and I’m not expecting it. The glass goes flying, shattering against the far wall, liquid spilling across the room, on my desk.
I take her arms more forcefully, make her sit down and hold her there.
“I went to see him, yes. And he told me what happened with Gabe. Told me about their relationship. About your father finding out.”
Her face crumples. I don’t know how she has tears left.
“You knew he wasn’t a threat. You knew.”
“I didn’t do this, Gabriela. I wouldn’t.”
She pushes out of my grasp and I let her go, let her stand.
I stand too. Go to her.
She backs away. “I’d thought you’d gone to see her you know that?”
“Who?”
“When Rafa told me, I thought you’d gone to see Clara.”
“Rafa? When did he tell you anything?”
“I’d thought,” she stops, sobs wracking her body as she struggles for a shuddering breath. “I’d thought you were out fucking her. I’d thought you had left me here to go fuck her. I stupidly cared about that.”
“You’re upset, Gabriela. I’ll take you to bed. We’ll have this conversation when you’re not so upset.”
She shakes her head and I’m not sure she can hear me.
“I thought you were fucking your cousin. You should have been out fucking your cousin! But instead you were murdering my best friend.”
She looks down at the desk, and I see what her eyes zero in on immediately and the instant she puts her hand on the letter opener, I put mine over hers, grabbing her wrist before she can pick it up, whirling her around and tugging her into me so her back is to me. I hold her tight, two arms across her chest.
“Stop this,” I tell her.
“Let me go!”
She squirms but I hold tight.
“I did not hurt Alex Romano. Why would I? What would be my reason? Think for fuck’s sake.”
“Get off me! Don’t touch me!”
“I’m going to have Millie get you something to help you sleep. We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” I say, walking her toward the door.
She claws her fingernails into the bare skin of my forearms, scratching out skin, drawing blood.
“That’s enough,” I say, squeezing my arms tighter around her. “I’m warning you.”
“You’re hurting me. Let me go!”
I loosen my hold and the moment I do, the moment she’s able to, she spins around and knees me hard in the balls.
“Fuck!”
I grab hold of her, doubling over in agony, but she slips away, grabs the letter opener and comes at me.
I manage to get hold of her wrist, squeeze until she screams. I spin her around so her back is to me again.
“That was a fucking mistake!”
“I’m going to kill you!” she cries out. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”
“You need to calm the fuck down! Are you going to calm down or do I need to make you?”
“Fuck you!”
“I guess I’ll make you then,” I say as she fights hard, harder than I thought she could, and I hug her closer, moving my arm up to her neck, shifting her a little to squeeze on the pressure point there and the result is instantaneous.
The letter opener drops to the carpet with a thud, and Gabriela goes limp in my arms.
I lift her up, put her over my shoulder, swallowing back the pain in my balls, and open the door.
Two soldiers watch, as does Millie.
But they all know to stay back as I carry her up to my bedroom and lay her on my bed.
Her hair is matted to her forehead, and she looks sad, even unconscious. I look down at her, at her young face, her sad face and I think how much she’s seen for her eighteen years. How much violence. How much loss.
I think about how she’d looked at me at the restaurant when I’d given her that phone. A simple fucking phone. How she’d tried to hide the fact that she was crying.
I bend and take off her shoes and cover her with the blanket and I think for the first time in my life, I am not only a predator but a protector.
Her protector.
27
Gabriela
I wake up feeling nauseous, my head aching. It doesn’t take me long to remember why and for a moment, I think it’s not true. Not real. But I know it is. And sadness overwhelms everything else.
I’m in Stefan’s bed. Again. I know right away. He must have brought me here after our fight.
Alex.
Alex is dead.
Alex. Is. Dead.
Sadness overwhelms me and I roll onto my side and for a moment, I let it. I let myself feel this agony. This loss.
But then I think about Stefan again. Stefan at dinner and how he was. Even laughing.
The Stefan at dinner was a world different to the man I’ve come to know. The true monster. He took me off my guard with his gesture today, but he is a monster. I can never forget that.
I don’t know how he got me up here. Did I pass out? Did he do something to me? Give me something?
He’s so strong, it takes nothing for him to overpower me.
I remember Alex’s text. How he thought maybe Stefan wasn’t a bad guy and how wrong he was. That mistake, it cost Alex his life.
I suck in a deep, shaky breath, push through the pain in my head to sit up. I wait for the world to right itself.
The clock beside the bed tells me it’s a little after three in the morning.
I have to get out of here. I have to get away from him. He’s a sadist. A murderer.
And here, he’s king.
He can get away with anything. Even murder.
Climbing out of the bed, I use the joint balcony to walk back to my room.
I’m still dressed at least. He didn’t strip me this time. I find the phone he gave me on the nightstand. I pick it up and I dial the one man who can help me. The one man who is as heartless as Stefan. As much a monster.
Because I was right.
Coming here, Stefan taking me, it was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.