Chapter 35

After five hours of searching every nook and cranny of this house, we still haven't found shit. I have no idea what Kristen was doing here, how she knew about this house at all. I do, however, intend to find out.

"We should go home. There ain't shit here," Marcel says.

"Wait. I think I have something." Daisy walks into the room, and Marcel and I pivot in her direction.

"What is it?" I ask her.

"A journal. I'm not sure whose, but if the handwriting is anything to go by, I'd say it belongs to a woman," she says. I reach out to grab it, but Daisy passes it to Marcel instead. "You read it."

I frown at her. Why would she hand it over to him and not me?

"You don't need to take on everything, Gabe. You can let others do things too." She sighs, as if reading my mind.

"That's not…"

"I agree. Come on, let's go home," Gio announces from the doorway. "And Daisy, call my wife. She's starting to worry that you've been MIA for two whole days."

"Did you tell her I was kidnapped?" Daisy asks him.

"No, because I don't actually want my brother dead," he says with such seriousness I think he actually believes El would try to kill me.

"Right, well, me either. So we're sticking to the whole Gabe and me having a very imaginative sex life thing, right?" Daisy says while her cheeks glow a bright red.

"We do have a very imaginative sex life, baby," I tell her.

Daisy's eyes widen before narrowing in my direction. "Take me home and prove it."

"Anytime." I grab hold of her hand and guide her to the front door, before calling out over my shoulder to my brothers, "Catch you guys later."

"Wait up. I'm coming with you," Vin says, running after us.

"Why?" I ask him.

"Because I like you two better than those two." He smirks.

"Whatever. You're in the back." I unlock the car and open the passenger door for Daisy.

"I can sit in the back. I don't mind," she says.

"I do mind. Get in." I nod my head to the open door. Daisy slides into the seat, and I shut her inside the car. Vin is already climbing into the back by the time I get around to the driver's side. "Buckle up," I tell him while starting the ignition.

"When'd you get this car?" Vin asks.

"It's a rental."

"Huh, Marcel hacked your accounts and didn't see any purchases," he hums.

"No shit. I'm not a fucking amateur, kid. I know how to not be found," I tell him.

"I'm aware. But I am glad you didn't go all Roberto Arguelles on us. I happen to like this one. We should keep her." Vin says.

"Who the fuck is Roberto Arguelles? And she's mine. I'm keeping her," I grunt as I reach over, pick up Daisy's hand, and entwine our fingers.

"He was a serial killer in the nineties. They called him the Salt Lake City Strangler. He kidnapped and murdered women, did some other heinous shit to them I'd rather not mention in mixed company," Vin says.

"Why the fuck do you even know that?"

"I watch a lot of true crime." The little psycho shrugs like it's no big deal to know random facts about serial killers.

"Huh, don't get enough of that shit at home?" Daisy says, and Vin cracks up laughing.

I hide my smile. It was funny.

"Maybe Gio's dropped the ball in the true crime department. But I'm mostly kept out of whatever shit they're up to. Baby of the family and all," Vin tells her.

"Oh, that's good. You are still a baby," Daisy replies.

"He's almost eighteen. When I was his age, I already…" I stop short. I can't finish that sentence without incriminating myself and possibly freaking her out.

"You were already what?" Daisy lifts a curious brow.

"Working for the family," I tell her, instead of listing off my body count by the time I was eighteen.

"It's sad, you know. That none of you really got a childhood," she says.

"It is what it is. We had each other," I say. Truth is… her childhood was far worse than mine and she had no one else.

"So… this whole kidnapping thing seems to have worked out for you," Vin comments.

"Shut the fuck up," I tell him.

"Fine, I won't talk," he huffs out.

Daisy turns around in her seat. "I don't recommend following your brother's relationship advice, Vin. Take it from me. There are much better ways to deal with your issues—ways that don't involve kidnapping."

"What if she won't even look at me?" he asks.

"Have you tried a big romantic gesture? Or a small one? Or maybe writing her note?"

I eye my brother's face in the rear-view mirror. He's actually considering Daisy's advice.

I drop Vin at home and then head straight to Daisy's place. When I park the car, she turns in her seat. "I know you're not going to like this." She looks right at me. "But I want to be alone tonight. I need you to go home, Gabe. Spend the night with your brothers. Go out, do something. But I need to just put my pjs on, hop into bed, and read a book until I can't keep my eyes open any longer."

"You're right. I don't like it," I tell her. "You can read a book with me right next to you."

"Gabe, I promise I'm not gonna run again. I just want time to myself. That's all. You need to trust me or this is never going to work," she says.

Going against everything that's screaming at me to do the opposite, I nod my head. "Okay, I'll spend the night at home, but I'll be here first thing in the morning." I reach over and cup the back of her neck, pulling her face closer to mine. My lips slam onto hers as I push my tongue past the seam and kiss her as if it's the first and last time. Then I force myself to pull away. I don't know why I'm agreeing to her whole needing space thing, but part of me knows I have to. "I love you," I tell her.

"I love you too," she says. "I'll be here when you come over to make me breakfast."

"Okay." I force a smile on my face, when I'm screaming on the inside. Then I watch as she enters the lift and disappears behind the doors. I sit in the car park for another thirty minutes before I can bring myself to drive away.

When I get home, the first thing I do is go in search of Marcel. I need to know what's in that journal. I find him in his room flipping through the pages.

"What's in it?" I ask while shutting the door behind me.

"Nothing fucking good," he mutters.

"Is it Shelli's?"

He nods his head. "We can't show this shit to Santo, Gabe. It's going to fucking destroy him… worse than he already is."

"Why? What's in it?"

Marcel turns the pages back and hands the journal over to me. I skim through it twice, not once believing what I'm reading. "There's a lot more than just that," he says.

"You're right. We can't show him this," I agree. "And now I need a fucking drink."

"Where's Daisy? Chained to your bed?" Marcel asks with a lopsided grin.

"Funny, but no. I dropped her at her place."

"You're not worried she's gonna try to run again?"

"Fucking petrified," I tell him honestly.