Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (31 page)

Now he gave her the tiniest bit of a smile, as if trying to remember how to do it, and the jealousy abated. A little.

“How about a snack?” she said. “I’m in the mood for chocolate.”

Gabriel laid his hand on her forearm as she turned to go, stopping her in her tracks. His hand felt slick and warm against her skin, making her heart pound. “Shea, give me a minute. Leo, go with Quinn, okay?”

Leo didn’t even hesitate. Just nodded and followed Quinn down the stairs.

“Did you find anything?”

She dropped her gaze and she knew Gabriel would know she was lying. But she wasn’t ready.

Not yet.

“I need more time to go through the rest of journals. There’s a lot of information. I just…need some time.”

When she fell silent, she held her breath, knowing he wouldn’t let her off the hook that easily. Of course, he wanted to hear what she’d learned. But she couldn’t. Not yet.

“Fine.” Surprise made her gaze jump back to his, staring down at her with compassion. “I’ve got a question for you.”

Gabriel dropped his hand and she nearly grabbed for him, restraining herself at the last minute. She needed something to hold onto and he was fast becoming her rock.

“If I tell you to shoot me, will you do it?”

Her mouth dropped open. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He walked to a large chest on the back wall and pulled out one of the drawers. “Just what I said. If I tell you to shoot me, will you do it?”

Had he lost his mind? “Why would you tell me to do that?”

He turned to face her again, a small revolver in his hand. It looked downright silly there, feminine. Walking back to her, he held out the gun, butt first, determination etched on his face. “I won’t be taken by Dario’s men. If it looks like I will be, I want you to kill me. I won’t let them have that pleasure. So, can you do it? Will you shoot me if I tell you to?”

Could she? Gabriel stared at her with his steady dark gaze, hair loose around his shoulders.

The man was gorgeous. He had the body of an Etruscan god—broad shoulders, wide chest, narrow waist and muscular legs. But it wasn’t just the size of his body, so much as the way he held himself. His confidence.

She transferred her gaze to the gun in his hand, a Beretta Px4 Storm. Like the one she’d had to leave behind in their apartment in the city.

Grasping the weapon by the butt, she pointed the muzzle down and away. She checked to make sure the safety was on then checked to see if it was loaded. Yes to both questions.

She wasn’t afraid of guns. Her father had trained her well, and she’d become proficient over the years, though the only thing she’d ever shot had been targets.

She would shoot anyone who tried to take Leo. But could she shoot Gabriel?

She shook her head and looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I could pull the trigger.”

“Come on, baby, you know you want to hurt me.”

His tone teased a reluctant smile out of her. “Yeah, you’re a bastard, but I still don’t know if I could do it.”

“Let’s hope you don’t have to find out.”

He turned and walked down the stairs.

She took the gun to her room and hid it in her backpack then returned to the kitchen where the guys had a smorgasbord of junk food laid out on the table. Quinn had made sandwiches, enough for all of them. But chips, pretzels, cookies, candy and soda littered the table as well. All the things she’d tried so hard not to let Leo get hooked on. A habit she’d picked up from her mom. The first time she’d tasted chocolate, she’d been fifteen. Her dad had given her a Godiva chocolate bar as a birthday present.

Of course, she’d been hooked after that and, when she’d started to make secret forays into the nearest town, chocolate was always the first thing she’d buy.

The males congregated at the table, talking about weapons and fighting, guy stuff. She pulled herself onto the counter to munch Double Stuff Oreos and watch the testosterone show. Men were interesting creatures, particularly in the way they dealt with each other.

Quinn and Gabriel appeared to be on their best behavior, she assumed because of Leo and, for that, she wanted to kiss them. Both of them. Okay, maybe she’d give Quinn a hug, but Gabriel she wanted to keep in her arms for a while.

And that was probably the worst thing that could happen. But damn, he was fascinating.

“When did you know what you are, Gabriel?”

Leo’s boyish voice rang out through the rustle of bags and the background music of AC/DC coming from a small CD player on the counter.

Gabriel didn’t hesitate. “My dad started my training at birth, I think. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t know what I am.”

Must have been nice, she thought, to have a purpose in life from the time you were born. She’d grown up without one, never knowing from one day to the next what life held for her. She hadn’t cared until she’d realized there was more to the world than their house and the forest. Then she’d discovered ballet and thought she’d found her reason for living.

“Where’d you grow up?” Leo asked.

“Mostly southeastern Pennsylvania.”

“What about your mom?”

Gabriel paused before answering. “I didn’t see my mom much.”

“Why?”

“Because it wasn’t safe.”

“Why?”

Shea was sure Gabriel would redirect Leo’s question. He surprised her.

“Because those men that are after you, they’re after my mom, too. She didn’t want anything to happen to me until I could defend myself.”

Leo’s expression hardened into one she’d never seen. It was mean with determination, anguish and fury. “They killed my parents.”

Grief, biting and terrible, knifed through her.

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah, they did. And that’s why we’re here. The women need us to protect them. They have power, but they’re not fighters. We fight for them.”

Leo looked over at her. “I’ll never let anything happen to you, Shea.”

Tears she couldn’t control sprang to her eyes but she blinked them back and smiled at her brother, forty pounds of skin and bones with too-long dark hair, big brown eyes and a solemn expression.

“I know, bud.”

“Hey, Shea.”

Gabriel’s voice drew her attention. She couldn’t read his expression. There was something in his eyes, something she wanted so badly to decipher.

“What?” she asked, but didn’t get answered.

The phone rang.

Chapter T
welve

Quinn waited for Gabe to get the phone but the guy never acknowledged its ringing.

Hell, his gaze didn’t stray from Shea for the slightest second. Probably didn’t even hear the phone, if his expression was anything to go by. He’d never seen Gabe so fixated on a woman before. Any other time, Quinn would jump for joy. Now…

With a sigh, Quinn snagged the receiver off the wall.

“Speak fast.”

“Quinn? Quinn, is that you?”

The voice on the other end of the phone froze him in place.

Shit, not now.

He had to swallow to loosen his tongue. “Hey, Tammi. How’s it going?”

Gabriel turned to stare at him.

Oh, sure, now he had the guy’s attention.

“Quinn, it is you.” The young woman sounded so happy, guilt practically knocked him on his ass. “I thought you fell off the face of the earth. I had to badger your boss all day to get this number. Where are you?”

“Sorry, I…had to go out of town on the spur of the moment. We got notice of an audit at one of the clubs in Maryland. Is something wrong?”

Tammi huffed and, in Quinn’s mind, he could see the woman the outside world believed to be his girlfriend. A twenty-two-year-old Villanova master’s student in theater policy, Tammi Graves was blond, blue-eyed and brilliant. Except for the fact that she considered him the perfect boyfriend. She thought he was a normal guy with a normal life, a steady CPA for a chain of clubs and restaurants.

It was scary how much she didn’t know. Would never know.

Quinn closed his eyes and turned away from Gabriel’s intent stare and Shea’s unspoken questions.

On the phone, Tammi laughed, a sexy little trill that didn’t do a damn thing for him. “No, sweetie, there’s nothing wrong. I just wanted to talk. Are you busy? You didn’t call last night and I got a little worried.”

Christ, he didn’t need this now. Not now. He hated this fucking charade. It wasn’t fair to Tammi, but Cole Luporeale, Legate of the American
Legio
, the
lucani
army, insisted he put on the show of a normal life, including a human girlfriend.

“I’m fine, Tam. Just busy. Didn’t get back to the hotel room until early this morning.”

“Where are you staying? The receptionist sounded really strange.”

Stifling a slightly hysterical laugh, he took a deep breath. “A dive. Couldn’t find a real room. There’s some convention in town.”

“So when are you coming home? I miss you already.”

The pain in his chest tightened and he found himself trying to massage it away. Christ, could this get any worse? “Soon. Listen, I’ve got to get moving but I’ll call you later, okay? We’ll make plans for dinner when I get back.”

“Okay. Don’t work too hard, Quinn.”

“Never. See you soon.”

By the time he hung up the phone, the weight on his chest had morphed into a blinding pain behind his eyeballs.