GABRIEL (Killer Book 2) (18 page)

“There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.”

-Charles Dickens

THREE MONTHS LATER

I pace back and forth backstage as I wait for the models to line up for the show.

My heart is pounding, and I’m not sure why I’m so nervous.

Once Gabriel pushed my father from the rooftop, I felt so much anger and resentment drain from me. So many different emotions surged together, but in the end, I was left with gratitude. I was thankful for the man that vanquished my demon once and for all. But I was also heartbroken. I was devastated when I found out that the man that I’d grown to love was my brother.

I would be lying if I said that I still didn’t have this sick, underlying desire to touch him – to kiss him, and to tell him that we did it. We defeated someone that’s haunted both of us our entire lives. Of course I can’t do those things, because I can’t talk to him. I can’t find it in my soul to torment myself with his presence. It’s for the best. For both of us.

“We’re ready to go, lady!” Taylor exclaims.

I smile at her before my eyes travel down the uniform line of my spring collection. The models look ethereal with their larger than life hair and their makeup done to perfection as it emphasizes their eyes and cheekbones. The lineup that I have is stunning, starting with swimwear and ending with formal. Now, we just hope for a smooth show with no twists of the ankles.

I watch as each model owns the stage, sashaying their hips before popping their hip out and posing for the audience. Each girl has her own individual flare as their unique beauty compliments each piece.

I sigh when it’s my time to conclude the show.

Smoothing my hands over my black gown, I look myself over in the mirror.

My hair is pulled up elegantly and my blue eyes stand out beneath my heavy eyelashes. My lips are red and my face shimmers beneath the lighting. My body is no longer skin and bones, but healthy curves which fill the gown perfectly. I look happy. I look healthy. Though, I am a mere shell of what I aspire to be.
Really
happy and
really
healthy. I suppose that all comes with time.

I step out into the blinding flashes of the camera as I make my way down the runway. Looking out into the sea of people, I’m thankful that I can’t make them out due to the cluster of flashing lights.

“Thank you,” I say as the models line up behind me.

“I’m Dani LeBlanc, and this is my spring collection.”

“You know, this guy just started working in my office, he is hot.” Misty says, propping her leg up on the park bench and stretching her fingers to her toes.

“Misty! Seriously!” I exclaim as I tie my tennis shoe.

She laughs. “He’s got these big brown eyes. You know, they’re kind of girly looking but still hot.”

I roll my eyes. “Why don’t you get with Mr. Girly eyes then if he’s all that?”

I follow the trail before she eventually catches up.

“I’m dating Tod, remember?” She says between breaths.

I look towards her. “Yeah, well I’m dating myself. At least for a while.”

She stops abruptly and places her hands on her knees as she catches her breath. “Have you seen him?”

I turn and face her. “No.”

Placing her hands on her hips, she approaches me. “Why, Dani? Didn’t he save you? Why are you running from him?”

I purse my lips as I look into my best friend’s eyes. No-one knows the truth. They don’t know that he’s my brother. They don’t know that he was my lover. I told Misty and everyone else that I went to stay with Gabriel because life was too much… that I got caught up in everything that happened with is family.

They only know that he saved me from his psychopathic father – they just don’t know that he was also
my
psychopathic father.

“I just want to leave the past where it belongs. That’s all.”

“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

“This place is nice.” My date, Morgan says as she twirls her light brown hair around her index finger.

She talks. A lot.

Me dating a girl like her is more of an experiment than anything. Dr. Branson and Dr. Gnosh advised that I should go against my norm. My norm being sad, lonely women.

I guess I understand their logic. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s what Einstein said, so I guess I can’t go wrong listening to his advice.

I just don’t know how to carry on a conversation with somebody as normal as her. Even after my epiphany, I still am crazy in a sense. I mean, it’s expected after everything. I can’t just pop back into the world and expect to be this average guy with an average life. I still have my twisted impulses, for sex, not for killing. Killing before meant silencing the shadow that haunted me everywhere I turned. Now that he’s dead to me, I no longer need to feed him with the blood of others.

My sexual appetite hasn’t changed, if anything, it’s only amplified. I’m sure if I took Morgan home and did the things that I wanted to do, she’d take off running.

“Can you believe that?” She says.

My eyes snap to hers when I realize that I’ve missed most of the one sided conversation.

“What’s that?”
She scoffs as she continues, “He literally found out by the kid’s eye color. I mean, he’s a scientist and all, but that’s crazy. He said that the chances of the child being his was slim to none.”

I clear my throat. “Why is that?”

She pats my hand playfully as she rolls her eyes. “Haven’t you been listening?”

No
.

“My brother found out that the kid wasn’t his because he has green eyes, the mom had brown and the kid had blue. He said that wasn’t possible… or that it was highly unlikely.”

I shake my head as I wrack my brain.

“What were the odds of the kid being his and having blue eyes?” I implore.

She shrugs, “I don’t know, like 10%... maybe 12%. It wasn’t likely. Anyway, he got the paternity test and found out that it wasn’t his kid.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, fumbling around in my pocket. “I need to go.”
I toss a hundred dollar bill on the table and stand.

“Where are you going?” She asks. I swear she’s about to cry as she looks at my vacant seat.

I kiss her cheek. “I’m sorry, I’ve got things to do.”

“I’ll call you!” I holler back to her as I hurriedly make my escape.

“I need a piece of your hair.” I say dryly as I hold the phone to my ear.

He snickers as he narrows his eyes at me through the glass. “You came all the way out here because you need my hair?”

I sneer at him. “Just give me your fucking hair.”

He leans back in his wheelchair as he surveys my face. “Put $500 dollars in my commissary, then we’ll talk.”

“Ease up on the play on words.” I growl. “I’ll put $500 into your commissary account after you give me your hair.”

He shakes his head slowly. “Fine. I’ll send it to you.”

“Fast. Send it tomorrow.”

He laughs dryly as he looks towards me. It seems that his green eyes have dimmed. He’s getting skinny from being in the wheelchair all day, every day.

He leans forward and props his elbows on the armrests of the wheelchair. “So. How’s life going on the other side?”

I laugh. “You mean what you didn’t manage to completely obliterate?”

He leans in more as a devious smile forms on his face. “How’s your sister?”

I force a smile as I stare at this sorry excuse of a human. “She’s doing phenomenal now that you’re in here where you belong. Send me the fucking hair, and you’ll get the money.”

I slam down the phone before standing and exiting the visiting room.

When I get home, I run up the stairs and enter my room. Looking over to the dresser, I see the brush that Dani left on the wooden surface, where it’s stayed since she was last here.

Grabbing it, I slide down the wall, pulling a strand of her long blonde hair from the bristles. Bailey sits beside me and sniffs the brush and I scratch him behind the ear.

“You miss her too, huh?” I whisper, and he tilts his head to the side as I hold the strand before my eyes.

I can only hope that I’m not setting myself up for disappointment.

I scan through the work emails that I’ve received.

My new office has a better view of the city, and sometimes I like to just watch as people go about their days. I like to guess where they’re going and what they’re thinking. Sometimes I like to make up names for them.

“Mr. Smith, I have an envelope for you.” Nora says from the doorway.

I look over my shoulder, “Thanks. Throw it on my desk.”

Once the door closes, I watch Dani below. I watch as she walks to the pastry store, and I watch as she drops a couple of dollars into the homeless man’s mug. The real reason that I moved to this office wasn’t because I felt that it belonged to me as the CEO of Smith and Son, it was because I have the best view.

Sighing, I turn and retrieve the envelope from my desk before slumping down in my chair.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I tear it open. I run my fingers along the open end, afraid of what I might find. I received the hair from Gabe two weeks ago, and I sent it, along with mine in to a lab shortly after.

My life will change immensely either way that this goes. Either Gabe was right and she is in fact my sister, it would make our act vile and so wrong, something that I’ll probably have to seek extensive therapy for.

Or… she’s not. What then? Where do I go from there? I’m not sure. I meant it when I told her that I’d never let her go.

I quickly pull the paper from the envelope before slowly opening my eyes and discover the truth. My fingers tighten around the edge of the paper as reality smacks me in the face.