a wrinkle out of place, and he wears a tie the color of blood around his neck.
Gabriel’s striking black eyes narrow on me. I refuse to cower, though my instincts warn that I probably should. I am in the presence of a predator—no doubt about it.
Gabriel opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to the punch.
“You murderous son of a bitch!” I yell. “Have you not ruined my life already? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
Harry shuffles in my arms. It’s poor form to act like this in front of him, especially since he’s bound to be very annoyed at being woken, but I can’t help myself. I rub his back, hoping that will be enough to keep him from crying.
If Gabriel is shocked by my outburst, he doesn’t show it. “It’s good to see you too, Alexis.”
His husky voice sends a shiver down my spine. I try not to think of all the times he has commanded me with that baritone or praised me in his equally seductive deep whisper.
I focus back on my justified rage, at the indignity of my capture and the burning knowledge of his unforgivable crimes. As though sensing Gabriel’s presence, Harry tries to wiggle around to look at him. I turn my body to the side, shielding Gabriel from his view.
“Good to see me?” I hiss. “What is wrong with you? Why can’t you just leave me alone? I obviously want nothing to do with you, or don’t you know how to take a hint?”
Gabriel’s jaw tenses. “I rescued you from Andrew Walsh and you repaid me by taking my child and running away. What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re right!” I snap. “I should have stayed so you and I could raise Harry together like a happy little family, and one day when he was older we could sit down and tell him the heartwarming story of how you murdered his grandfather in cold blood.” I glower at him. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Gabriel’s expression flickers, and I realize that he didn’t know I overheard him in the hospital that day, loopy on painkillers, telling Vito that he needed to confess to me what he’d done. It is seldom I get a leg up on Gabriel Belluci and I savor this moment.
Gabriel closes the distance between us with long strides, stopping close enough for me to smell his musky, woody cologne. The scent of it still fills my belly with warmth, and I resist the urge to lean in and inhale deeply.
Gabriel reaches for my shoulder and turns me to face him, fingertips lingering on my collarbone. The brief touch makes every single one of my nerves sit up and take notice. My breath hitches. I marinate in the realization that despite all my anger and fear, my body still craves him like a drug.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Gabriel says, voice low. “You don’t understand.”
His hand strays to Harry’s head, stroking his silky tangle of dark hair. Harry looks up, smiling.
“I think I understand perfectly well. You’re a monster.”
“Dada!” Harry exclaims, undercutting my point.
Gabriel’s lips tilt at the corners and my heart does a wet flop in my chest like it always does when I see Gabriel and Harry together. I think of the days when we were a happy family, when I was free to feel the way I did about Gabriel, free to give in to my body’s cravings.
That was before I knew what I know now.
I hike a couple steps backward. “Let us go. You can’t keep us here.”
Gabriel’s mouth flattens. “I think you know that I can keep you here,” he says. “However, I will let you leave, but there is something we need to discuss first.”
I don’t believe him. Gabriel is just trying to manipulate me.
“Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.” I stand tall, bouncing Harry as he begins to sniff and huff in my arms. “You might look clean and polished, Gabriel, but on the inside you’re as twisted as the Celtic knots you revile so much.”
Harry starts to cry in earnest and the sound is like nails driving into my skull. I lean over and whisper soothing words against his cheek, but Harry isn’t listening. He reaches a chubby palm toward Gabriel, and my heart cracks.
Gabriel sweeps toward us and I stiffen. He leans over Harry.
“It’s okay, little man,” he murmurs. “You’re home now.”
My stomach churns. Home. There was a time when this place almost felt like home,