Chapter 29

Ipace up and down the bedroom. I can't believe she was actually fucking leaving me. When John called and told me she was headed to the airport, I thought he'd fucked up. There was no way Daisy would be going to the airport. Then I checked her search history and confirmed it when I pulled up her credit card transactions. She'd purchased an airline ticket this morning.

Why?

I didn't know the answer to that question until I saw her at the airport, and she'd mentioned what happened on the news. She knows what I did last night and ran.

She's been asleep for three hours. The doc said the dose I gave her will wear off soon. Four to five hours tops. And I'm counting down the time until she wakes up. The whiskey bottle stares at me from the wet bar. I don't touch it though. I can't. I need to be clear-headed for the fight that's about to come. I have a feeling she's not going to be my number one fan when she realises what I've done. I didn't have a choice though.

Like I said, she was going to fucking leave me.

I panicked. I've never been more scared of losing something in my life. I can't lose her. I've told her that multiple times, and she thought she could just take herself away from me. I'm not about to let that happen. If I have to be the villain, be the bad guy here, then that's what I'll be. After all, it's what I'm good at. Who I was raised to be. Someone who takes what they want. Without hesitation.

What I want is Daisy, and not even she is going to stop me from having her. She just needs to understand that I need her.

I knew she'd find out about that fucker. I left him that way for a reason. I want the city to know. I just didn't expect her to find out so soon, or to fucking run from me. I don't know if she's scared, or just pissed that I did what I did. Either way, we're going to work it out, like normal fucking adults, by talking and not running from our problems.

That's what I'm telling myself anyway. That's why I brought her back here. To talk to her. To make her see reason. So she understands that leaving me isn't the answer.

My phone rings and I see Gio's name flash on the screen. "Where are you?" he asks when I click the green button to accept the call.

"Busy," I tell him.

"Gabrielle, tell me you didn't just snatch Daisy from the fucking airport," he grunts into the phone.

"I can't do that," I say while wondering who the fuck ratted me out to my big brother.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing. I gotta go, bro. Girl problems and all. Chat later." I hang up without waiting for a reply. Then I power down the phone, remove the sim card from the back, and break it in half. I pick up a metal ornament from the closest shelf and smash the phone until it's in pieces.

I don't trust my brothers to not track me down. I don't want to be found before I've had the chance to talk this out with Daisy. I had John jump out of the SUV. Told him to call someone to pick him up before I drove to a rental joint and hired a car under a false name with a fake credit card. One my brothers don't know about. I never thought I'd have to use the alias. But, fuck, am I glad I was paranoid enough to keep the cards on me.

"Gabe?" Daisy's voice has me turning towards her. I watch and wait for the moment she realises she can't move. She tugs at the binds around her wrists.

"Stop moving. You'll hurt yourself."

"What's happening? Gabe, untie me." I can hear the panic in her voice.

"I can't. Not yet." I sit on the edge of the bed. "You were leaving me."

"Gabe, untie me. Please," she says.

"Why?"

"Because you can't just keep me tied up to a bed. Untie me, Gabe." She's getting irritated with me, her words coming out quicker and louder. But it doesn't matter how much she screams. No one will hear her.

"Why were you leaving?"

"Seriously? I'm not having this conversation while I'm tied up," she hisses.

"Why were you leaving me, Daisy?" I ask again.

"Untie me and I'll tell you," she says. "I need to pee, Gabe, please."

I reach up and release her wrists. Then I help her get up off the bed and escort her into the bathroom.

"You're not watching me pee, Gabrielle," she grits out between clenched teeth.

"I'm not leaving you in here alone either," I tell her. "Either you pee or you don't." I shrug and lean one shoulder up against the door, essentially blocking her only exit. Daisy glares at me with so much hatred in her eyes I almost cave and tell her she can have whatever she wants. And then I remember what she wants is to be far, far away from me.

"At least turn around."

I roll my eyes but pivot my back to her. I don't spin around again until I hear the toilet flush. "Better?" I ask, but Daisy doesn't answer me.

Instead, she walks over to the sink and washes her hands. I follow her out of the bedroom, as she heads straight to the door and tries to turn the knob. When it doesn't open for her, she turns to face me. "Why am I here, Gabe?"

"Because we need to talk," I tell her. "Sit down."

"I'll stand," she says. I move towards her and she takes a step in the opposite direction with her hands out to put more distance between us. "Don't touch me."

"I'm not going to fucking hurt you, Daisy." I walk backwards until my legs hit the bed, and I sit down.

"How am I supposed to trust anything you say?"

"Come on, you know I wouldn't hurt you," I grunt, my jaw tight and my shoulders tense.

"You drugged me and tied me to a bed. You have me locked in a bedroom. Where the bloody hell are we?" she says while eyeing the rest of the room.

"At one of our houses."

"You need to let me go, Gabe."

"I can't do that." I shake my head as my hands run through my hair in frustration. "I told you I need you, Daisy. I can't lose you."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you went and killed that man," she says.

"That man put his hands on you. Hurt and bruised you. He didn't deserve to live."

"I begged you to leave it be. I asked you to not do anything like that for me. I don't want you to do those things for me, Gabe. I can't be with someone who ignores me so easily. Someone who goes rogue and doesn't care about my opinion or how I feel. What if someone saw you? What if you get caught? I'm the reason someone is dead. Me. That's something I have to live with now. You don't get it. It's not just about you."

When I look at her face, I see the hurt staring back at me. But I can't say that I regret it. Because I don't. I just regret the way she found out. I regret the pain I caused her. "You are not the reason that asshole is dead. He is the reason. His choices led to his death, not yours. And I didn't ignore you, Daisy. That would suggest I thought about it, and I didn't think. I saw the marks on you and this rage built up inside me. I wanted to end him. I wanted to make him hurt. And I fucking enjoyed doing it."

"I can't live like this, Gabe," she whispers. "Let me go."

"No."

"What do you mean no? You can't just keep me locked in this room."

"I can and I will until we sort this out. I'm not letting you go, Daisy. Ever," I tell her. "I'll be back with dinner. Try to rest." I open the door and close it quickly, locking it before she realises what I'm doing.

I hear her rush forward and tug at the handle. Then the banging starts. "Gabe, open the door. Don't leave me here. Please open the door," she screams.

I lean my back against the wood. I can't walk away from her. But I know I have to, in order to keep my fucking cool. Her cries break my fucking heart. I hate doing this to her. I fucking hate myself for not having another choice. But the idea of letting her go hurts so much fucking more. I can't. Just the thought has me breaking out in a cold sweat. I know I'm fucked up. It's not right, the need that I have for her. She's going to be my downfall, just like Shelli was for Santo.

If I lose Daisy, I fear I'll never find myself again. Because she'll take my sanity with her, my peace. My fucking heart. I'll be nothing but a shell of a man. She needs to understand that I'm doing this because I fucking love her.

I force myself to walk downstairs. I do need to make her something to eat and get her some water. I decide on a sandwich. Something quick and easy. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I head back upstairs. I can't hear her banging anymore. Balancing the plate and water in one arm, I dig the key out of my pocket, unlock the door, and push it open. I step one foot inside before a petite little blonde knocks into me.

I should have expected it. I didn't. I underestimated her.

The plate and bottle fall out of my hands, and Daisy takes off running down the stairs. I'm on her in a flash. My arms wrap around her waist and I pick her feet up off the ground. Then I stomp my way back up the stairs, before bending down to pick up the water. I leave the discarded sandwich where it landed. Daisy is thrashing around, hitting and kicking me wherever she can make contact. And yelling a string of profanities—words I didn't even know she had in her vocabulary.