Chapter 24

Idon't like the way Daisy is looking at me right now. "Why did you shower at the club?"

As soon as the question is out of her mouth, I know I have to lie. I really don't want to lie to her, but I can't tell her the truth. I mean, how the fuck do I explain I had to shower and change before I came back out because of the blood splatter all over my clothes?

For the first time, I stumble. Usually, the lies come so easily. But right now, I have no idea what to say. So I stand here, in her hallway, just staring back at her.

"Gabe, why did you shower?" Daisy folds her arms around her waist. It's defensive posturing, even if unconsciously performed.

"Don't look at me like that," I plead with her.

"Like what?"

"Like you're afraid of me, like you don't know me." I can handle just about anything, from anyone else. But the thing that drew me to Daisy in the first place was how she looked at me like she knew me. She looked at me like we were long-lost friends the very first time I saw her.

The way she's looking at me now? It's as if everything we've shared over the last couple of months is gone. Like we're nothing more than strangers passing in the night.

"Do I know you, Gabe? Because I thought I did. And then, tonight, I saw a totally different person."

"You know me better than anyone else in the world, Daisy," I tell her. "Whatever I do for the good of my family has nothing to do with us. Here. Right now."

"Did you kill them? Those men?"

"Daisy, those men were forcing the girls at that club to do things no woman should be forced to do. Those men were paid to protect those dancers, not abuse them," I try to explain. There was only one way tonight was going to end, and it wasn't the happy ending the fuckers were hoping for when they holed themselves away in that room.

"Did you kill them?" she asks again.

"I…" It's on the tip of my tongue to tell her I did. I don't do that though. Because I'm not a fucking idiot. Anyone could have planted a bug in this apartment. "No, of course I didn't."

A tear runs down her cheek as she nods her head at me. "I don't know if I can knowingly be with someone who can be so effortlessly violent."

Panic hits me, hard and fast. I will not lose this woman because of my job. I don't care how, but I will find a way to make her see that the person I am with her is not the same person I am when I'm working.

"There's nothing effortless about it, Daisy. I do what has to be done. That's it. I don't take pleasure in it. I'm not a fucking psychopath. And I would never hurt you."

"I know that," she whispers.

"Do you? Because right now, I'm not so sure you know. Daisy, you're the last person on this fucking galaxy that I'd ever consider harming. I would throw myself in front of a bullet for you. I'd fall on any fucking sword if it meant protecting you."

"I wouldn't want you to do that for me, Gabe," she says.

"You have every right to have questions, but don't ever question how much I love you. And don't ever question your place in my life."

"I'm questioning your place in your life, Gabe. I know you don't like doing whatever it is you do. I saw your face tonight. It's still haunting you now. I know you're protecting your family, but at what cost? How much are you willing to pay to do it?"

"At any costs. I'll pay everything I have."

"Even if it means hurting me? Losing me?" she asks.

"You can't ask me to choose between you and my family, Daisy." I curse under my breath and comb an exasperated hand through my damp hair, which only reminds me of the massacre I left behind at the club.

"I'm not asking you to choose. I'm telling you that the longer you do this, the greater the chances are of you being seriously injured… or worse. Do you have any idea how much it would break me to lose you? I wouldn't recover from it, and I know I shouldn't say things like that. But it's true, Gabe. I'm so far in love with you that I'm standing here, overlooking my own moral compass to be with you, because the thought of not being with you hurts too damn much to do anything else."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Daisy. I can't change who I am. I can't change who my family is either."

"I know that."

"Then where does that leave us?" I ask her. Not that there's really an option. I won't give her up, not for anyone.

"Like I said, I'm going to go jump in the shower." Daisy turns around and walks away.

I let her. Mostly because my head is screaming at me to load her up in a car, drive away, and never come back to this city. That's obviously not an option either. I can't just leave Melbourne. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don't know how to navigate this relationship, and the fear of losing her has me losing my damn mind at the same time.

"What are you up to today?" I ask Daisy the next morning. I was supposed to meet Theo first thing, but after last night, I wasn't leaving Daisy without at least having breakfast with her.

After she showered, she climbed into bed. I followed her and we both fell asleep. No more words were exchanged. To say tension runs deep would be an understatement.

"I have to do a few school visits," she says. "What about you?"

"No idea yet," I tell her, because I don't think mentioning that today is the day I'm visiting her stepfather in jail to send him to hell is something she would be on board with. A silence drops over us. I hate it. I hate feeling like I'm walking on eggshells around her.

Daisy's phone starts ringing. She looks down at it, frowns, and declines the call before whoever it is starts calling again. "One of the girls I work with," she says while swiping up the device in one hand, placing it to her ear, and answering. "Kiah, are you okay?" I don't hear the girl's reply, but Daisy nods her head. "I'll meet you there. Three thirty?" There's a few more seconds of back and forth; then Daisy sets the phone on the table again.

"Everything okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah, she just wanted to reschedule for today. I was supposed to see her at school and she's not going to be there."

"You really are an amazing woman, Daisy."

"Why?"

"You're kind. You love with all your heart, even if you don't want people to know that about you. You're loyal, and you're mine." I smirk.

"Being yours makes me amazing?" She smiles even as she says the words.

"It's because you're amazing that I made you mine," I tell her.

"Well, I happen to think you're pretty amazing too."

"I have El looking for a house for us."

Daisy drops the fork that was in her hand. "What?"

"I asked El to find us a house. I can't live with my brothers forever." I shrug.

"It's the us part that's confusing me, Gabe. You can do whatever you want."

"Well, I'm not fucking living without you, Daisy. So I'm not sure what you're not understanding," I tell her.

"Okay, I don't have time for this today. I'll see you later?" Daisy asks like it's not a forgone conclusion.

"You can count on it, baby." I push to my feet and pull her into my arms.

"Whatever you're doing today, be safe, Gabe," Daisy whispers.

"Always." I kiss her forehead. I don't want her to worry about me every time I walk out the door. I just don't know how to ease that worry for her.

As I'm leaving Daisy's apartment building, I send Gio a message.

Me:

I'll be twenty minutes. Meet me out front. I need you to come somewhere with me.

Gio:

Okay.

That's all he says. Doesn't want details first. The thing about my brothers? There are never any questions asked. If I need one of them, they will be there. And sure enough, when I pull up to the front of our house twenty or so minutes later, Gio is standing there waiting for me. He jumps into the passenger side of my car.

"Where we going?"

"Port Phillip Prison," I tell him.

"Any particular reason you're taking me to a prison, or are we just sightseeing?"

"I had a guy moved there, and I need to pay him a visit," I say.

"Who?"

"Daisy's son-of-a-bitch stepfather," I grit out.

I've been waiting for this day. I had that asshole transferred after I decided it'd be better to bring him to me than to be forced to go to him. Plus, we have a hell of a lot more guards in our pockets in Port Phillip. Which makes gaining access to that fucker that much easier. I could have had someone on the inside do it for me, paid someone to jump him, but this is one kill I actually want to make myself. I want to see that fucker suffer.

Maybe I should have brought Santo with me instead?

He would enjoy drawing out the pain, whereas Gio likes things quick and easy. Straight to the point. Get the job done and get out.

Too late now.

"How's El?" I ask.

"She's… getting there," Gio says. "I need you all to start backing off Santo."

"Why? He's not ready."

"He is, and the more we hover around him, the less likely it is he's ever going to get back to who he was."

"I don't think that's ever going to happen. You ever see him talk to Shelli likes she's there?" I ask him. "Because I have, and that shit scares the fuck out of me."

"I've seen it," Gio says. "He needs to find his own way."

"He's using alcohol as a balm, which isn't helping him at all."

"I agree. I just want everyone to ease off. Give him back some of his responsibilities and see how he handles them."

"If it means I don't have to be your acting underboss, then I'm good with it. I never wanted the job. But I won't compromise my brother if he's not ready for it either."

"And you think I would?" he grunts.

"No, I don't."

"I appreciate you stepping up these last few months, Gabe. You know that."

"I know." I pull into the staff car park. Jump out and swipe the access card one of the guards slipped me earlier to get in.

As we're walking through the door, Gio grabs my arm. "In and out, Gabe. I don't have all day to watch you play with this fucker."

"In and out. Got it, boss." I salute him, and he rolls his eyes.

A few minutes later, we're led into one of the inmate bathrooms. The old guy is already there. Alone. A mop in one hand and a bucket by his feet. He turns around when he hears us approach. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm a friend of Daisy's," I say and enjoy the moment the recognition hits him.

"I don't know no Daisy," he says while taking a step in the opposite direction.

I pull the knife out of my pocket. "Really? That's not what I heard." I stroll forward as the asshole continues to back himself into the wall.

"I don't know what that little slut told you ?bout me but she's lying, man."

Two seconds later, my left hand is wrapping around his throat as I push him into the wall at the same time my knife sinks into the meat of his throat. "See you in hell, motherfucker. I look forward to meeting you again. Next time, I won't be so quick," I tell him, tugging the blade free and watching the blood pour from the gaping wound in his neck.

His body drops to the tiled floor, and his scream echoes off the walls as I continue to watch the life drain out of him. He struggles to clutch at his throat, attempting to stop the bleeding. But there's no point. Help's not coming for him.

As soon as we're pulling away from the prison, Gio turns to me. "What'd he do to her?"

"Raped her for three years," I tell him.

He doesn't say anything, just nods his head. "Should have made it hurt more," he says after a minute.

"You told me to be in and out." I shrug. Now that the job's done, I'm starting to think there's something to this whole getting to the point thing my big brother has going on. In the end, the result's the same. The fucker's dead.

After a few more minutes of silence spent lost in my head, Gio clears his throat. "We should have a family dinner. Invite Daisy."

I look at him. "Why?"

"You've been hiding her away, Gabe. If this thing between you two is sticking, then you need to bring her in. Let her become part of the family."

"What if she can't handle it? What if all the shit we're involved in is too much for her?"

"Then you have a choice to make."

"What choice?"

"You can either stay with her, remove yourself from the life… Or let her go and remove her from your life instead."

"I'm not leaving you guys," I tell him.

"Doing less of the shady shit—letting the rest of us handle it—isn't the same as leaving us, Gabe. You could always get an office job? Take over one of the legitimate businesses?"

I've never considered doing that. "I will always do whatever I need to do for the family, Gio."

"I know. But you also need to do what's right for you, Gabe."

Is it actually a possibility to take a step back? Focus on the more legitimate side of things? I've never allowed myself to consider the options before. Although I've never had a reason to be on the other side of the law either.

Until now. Until Daisy.