Page 68 of Every Broken Piece

Chapter sixty-four

Gabe

One Month Later

“ I win,” Tess yells.

Pax groans and throws his cards down.

“Damn it,” Jack grumbles.

I sit back and grin. It’s been a month since Tess was taken, and Pax shot.

Life is different now. It can’t help but be different after what we all went through.

Pax came home a week after. By unspoken agreement we’ve all hunkered down in my apartment.

While Jack hasn’t moved back in, he’s here more than he’s at his own place. I’ve been working from home and helping Tess set up her business. All but one of her clients came back to her. I’m the one who didn’t. Not because I didn’t want to, but because she didn’t want me.

She prefers to keep business separate from pleasure and I’m more than happy to be the pleasure part.

Although she doesn’t know it yet, I cleared a corner of one of the floors at Strong Sterling and will be “renting” it to SmartDesk Solutions because the thought of her not being near me sends me into a panic I’m not proud of.

I know I need to work on that because I don’t want to stifle her but for now, she seems to feel the same way so we’re rarely out of each other’s sight.

She’s laughing as she scoops the playing cards into a pile. This isn’t a drinking game tonight, but we don’t care. We’ve played Go Fish every night since Pax returned home. It’s another comfort we rely on, but we enjoy it so no harm.

She smiles wide at me, but I see the new shadows in her eyes alongside the old shadows.

She’s told me a little about her experience with Carter.

I know she’s holding some of it back and it about kills me, but I’ve learned to go slow with my girl.

I also know that she needs to let it out at some point, so I’ve been researching trauma therapists for when she’s ready.

For Pax too because being shot changed him, matured him.

He’s like a diamond now—hard, a little bit cold, with sharp edges.

We’ll survive. I’ll make sure of it.

Jack stretches, then stands. “I’m heading home to bed. Night all.” He kisses the top of Tess’s head as he walks by, and she leans into him with a smile.

Pax stands too, a little slower than Jack and with a wince and heads up the stairs.

Tess watches him closely. The day she was rescued she’d been convinced she’d killed him and didn’t calm down until I took her to see him.

They hugged and she cried, and Pax acted like he wasn’t crying.

They’re good now even if Tess hovers too much and Pax tries to hide his annoyance.

Tess taps the playing cards into a neat pile.

I take them from her and pull her up by her hand to lead her to the couch in front of the fire I started earlier.

It’s almost May, but winter’s holding on tight and it’s still chilly at night although the days are warming up.

I settle on the couch and pull her down on my lap because I can’t get enough of holding her, can’t stop touching her.

She settles her head against my chest while I rub her back.

“You, okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She tucks her cold hands between us, her tone not hiding her annoyance at my question. Probably because I ask it multiple times a day, but I need to know for my own peace of mind even though her answer is always the same.

She’s not fine yet, but she’s getting there.

I heard from Hardwick this morning that Sandra Jansen’s body was found on the banks of the Chicago River. I haven’t told Tess yet and I won’t tonight because she’s happy and I refuse to ruin that with news of her mother.

I also haven’t heard from Ronan O’Malley since he walked away from the house Tess was held in, but I will. A man like O’Malley doesn’t do a favor without expecting one in return. I’ll pay it. Whatever it is I’ll pay it gladly for his help in saving Tess.

A few hours after he released Tess, the police found Carter's body in the woods behind the house. The official police report states he died from an inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The other two bodies weren't found. I don’t know how O’Malley covered up the murders of the three men and I don’t care.

I also have my suspicions that he had something to do with Sandra’s body ending up in the Chicago River, but I’ll keep that to myself as well.

“I should have told you before,” Tess says. Her finger draws circles on my thigh.

I lean my cheek against the top of her head. “Told me what before?”

“That I love you. The whole time I was tied to that chair I thought I was going to die, and I kept thinking I should have told you how much I love you.”

I squeeze her tighter, hating the image of her tied to a chair, helpless and scared.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore.” She tilts her head up to look at me with those sad caramel-colored eyes. “I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to avoid people because I might hurt them. I did all that and I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“Spitfire, you don’t have to. You be you, however that may look. I’ll love you no matter what.”

She scoots off my lap to straddle my legs and takes my face between her hands. I automatically grip her hips to keep her in place.

“I want to be brave and strong and to live in sunlight instead of shadows. I want to do all the things on my bucket list. But most of all I just want to love you. And I want Pax and Jack to be my family.”

“You have all that. Jack and Pax love you. I love you. And whatever you want to do, you tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”

Her gaze bounces between my eyes. “I want it all, Gabe. I want everything I’ve missed out on.”

This woman. I can’t breathe without her, and she steals my breath when I’m with her. I guess I’ll have to learn to be breathless the rest of my life.

“What are you saying, Tess?” I need her to say the words. I need to know because my heart won’t start beating again until I know for sure what she feels.

“I want people I can love and who’ll love me back.”

I shift her off my lap and stand, pointing at her. “Stay right there. Don’t move.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. I sprint up the steps, yank my nightstand drawer open so hard it flies to the floor and everything tumbles out of it.

I swipe up the little black velvet box and race back down the stairs.

Tess is still sitting there, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.

But I haven’t lost my mind. I’ve found it.

I’ve found everything I’ve been missing.

I drop to my knees in front of her and open the box.

“Gabe,” she breathes.

“Will you please spend the rest of my life with me? Please...” I hang my head and huff out a laugh. “I wanted to say all these pretty words, but all I can think to do is beg you to be my wife. Will you, Tess? Will you keep me forever?”

She nudges me back then slides to the floor, so she’s pinned between me and the couch. She cups my hand holding the two carat diamond ring and kisses my knuckles. “I’m yours, Gabe. Forever.”

Forever doesn’t seem long enough but I’ll take it, and I’ll hope for longer than that.