Page 23

Chapter

Twenty-Two

GABE

“ D id you get enough rest?” I watch Tara getting dressed for multiple reasons.

One, she is fucking stunning, and even though I just took her body, I already want more.

Two, I want to make sure I wasn’t too rough with her.

Tara pulls one of the shirts I bought for her over her body, and I almost groan at losing my view.

“Yes, Gabe. I’m sore,” she says, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“But I’m ready to do this. I’m not going in alone this time.”

“Damn right, you’re not.” Stepping forward, I link our hands together and kiss her lips softly.

While Tara has been asleep, Reed, Demon, Carlos, Elio, and I have been setting things up for this moment.

She doesn’t know it, but Ned is currently being held in my basement.

Carlos’s men found him hiding out a couple of hours north of here in a town whose population is only two hundred.

Everyone is where I left them when I heard the shower running upstairs.

When we enter, all their conversations come to an end.

“How are you feeling?” Elio asks, rising out of the chair and striding toward Tara.

“A little sore, but I’ve had worse.” She allows Elio to hug her but never lets go of my hand.

“Alright, fill me in on what’s been going on?”

A feminine throat clearing pulls our attention toward the laundry room that is off the kitchen.

“Um… Mr. Mariano?—”

I hold up my hand.

“I’ve told you to call me Gabe. Calling me mister makes me feel way too old.” I let go of Tara’s hand and placed mine on the lower part of her back.

“Tara, I would like you to meet Christina. Christina, this is my girlfriend, Tara.”

Christina waves and says, “Nice to meet you, Tara.” She points over her shoulder.

“I’ve looked everywhere for another bottle of laundry detergent but can’t find any.” A blush stains her cheeks as she drops her gaze to the floor.

“I’ll replace?—”

“I’ve already told you that is not happening. I keep extra in the hall closet; I’ll?—”

Tara steps forward and holds out her hand toward Christina.

“I’ll show you where they are at.”

“Thank you.” Christina allows Tara to place her hand on her back and guide her down the hall.

I return to the dining room chair I have been sitting in for hours.

My laptop sits in front of me, and the security feed from the basement is on the screen.

Ned is currently curled up in a little ball in the corner of the room.

From how his shoulders shake, I bet everything in my bank account that he is crying.

Seeing him breaking down makes me angry because I can’t help but think about Tara crying that night, begging him to stop.

Those thoughts almost make me say fuck it and go handle him myself, but Tara needs to see this through.

“Thank you, Tara,” Christina says as they come back into the room.

“No problem, and I’ll get you that number as soon as I’m finished here,” Tara says, smiling the bright smile I love seeing.

Tara watches Christina enter the laundry room and shut the door before approaching us.

“Where is that fucker?”

“Sit down and let us explain,” Reed says, pointing to the empty chair at the head of the table to my right.

Once Tara is in place, everyone looks to Carlos, as he is the one who found Ned.

“Like I told you earlier, we have Ned, and he is alive. We found him through one of my men. Rodrigo has a grandmother living in a small town three hours north of here. Harrisburg is very small, so the whole town knows instantly when anyone new moves in. Rodrigo’s grandmother hired a woman two months ago at her small café named Maria. When I called Rodrigo to enlist his help with searching for Ned, he recognized him instantly as Maria’s douche boyfriend.

“As it turns out, Maria’s real name is Christina Holloway.

Ned showed up at her house the day you were declared dead.

As you overheard that night, she was, in fact, pregnant, Ned spun a story about how Dean had gone crazy, and they needed to get out of town.

Not only that, they needed to use fake names.

He had everything they needed to start a new life.

Christina has no family that lives close enough to her.

Ned had already isolated her from the ones she speaks to regularly.

”

“I’m going to make this hurt,” Tara snarls.

Carlos ignores her comment and continues the story.

“They moved around a lot, but then the money ran out, and Ned forced Christina to get a job. I’m sure you noticed the bruises on her, as we all did. When we found them, they were living in a small one-bedroom rental house. Rodrigo took the lead and reported that Christina and her son were locked in the bedroom when he arrived. She told him that Ned had gone mental almost six months ago. We assume it was when Dean was reported missing. The abuse started because Christina was caught talking to her mom.”

Everyone is so focused on Carlos that we don’t see Christina standing off to the side until she speaks up.

“I was trying to get away from him.”

We all turn toward her, but Tara quickly jumps out of her chair.

She is across the room in seconds, wrapping her arms around Christina.

“I’m so sorry that you went through that.”

“But… He… You…” Christina can’t get a complete sentence out due to her sobs.

I’ve been in love with Tara for two years, but right now, I fall even more in love with her.

It doesn’t matter that she was also a victim of Ned’s, not to her, not in this moment.

In this moment, Tara is affected by the abuse Christina endured in the past and is comforting her because she is nothing short of an angel.

She has a huge heart that has been touched by darkness, but she didn’t let that take away from her humanity.

Her ability to empathize with others who have been hurt might be her biggest quality that I adore.

“Did you ever find out who was helping him?” Tara asks without letting a sobbing Christina go.

“From what we have found, he was getting money from an offshore account. We’re trying to figure out who started the account and who eventually closed it, but so far, nothing,” Demon answers, as he is the one who has been focusing on this.

“Where is he?” Christina’s sobbing is quieting down now, and her hold on Tara seems to be lessening.

“In the basement,” I speak up for the first time.

Tara looks over her shoulder at me.

Her eyes have darkened with rage, and my dick twitches.

It might make me fucked up, but yes, I do get turned on when my girl turns dark and dangerous.

I absolutely love watching her exact her revenge, and I won’t be ashamed about it.

Tara turns back toward Christina and pulls her face up.

“Listen to me. I’m going to go destroy that little cockroach and make sure that he can’t hurt you anymore. I promise I’m going to make it hurt for him.”