Page 85 of Tempting Fate

I just know it’s true.

Gabriel is a law unto himself in Australia.

Maybe worldwide.

“I hope you have a warrant for this little circus?” There is humour in Gabriel’s voice as he poses his question. “I’d hate to see the amount of paperwork you’d need to wade through if it turns out this is an illegal raid.”

“We have probable cause,” Joseph replies with a smirk. “Multiple calls were made to triple zero about gunshots coming from this area.”

Gabriel waves the document he has clutched in his hand in Joseph’s face. “That’s funny… because I immediately put in a request for the records when my clients informed me that you’d stormed their premises for the second time in less than forty-eight hours. I bet you’ll never guess what the good people at the emergency services department told me?”

Joseph’s smug expression drops.

Angelis grins.

Gabriel folds his arms across his chest.

Zeke relaxes a little.

I look between the three men in front of me, unable to accept that the solution to Joseph’s unwanted presence at the compound is this simple… and that Alex’s seemingly never-ending plan to control me is actually this convoluted. My skin crawls, dread infects every part of me, as the possibility that Alex isn’t going to stop until he possesses me sinks in.

Cub’s been hurt.

Sander’s been hurt.

I’ve been hurt.

Fret’s been hurt.

Alex needs to die to set us free.

I’ll set the world on fire if it’s what it takes to make his demise a reality.

“Enlighten me,” Joseph quips.

It takes me a second to remember what he’s talking about.

Always ready to land the knockout blow, Gabriel grins. “Emergency services told me that no such calls had been received. In fact, when I asked them to dig a little deeper, they informed me that the only hint that anything was amiss in this area came seventeen minutes ago when you radioed in a potential gun threat yourself.”

“They must’ve been mistaken.”

“Or you arranged this encounter to manufacture yourself some time alone with Miss Mayberry and Mr. Miles? After all, the chance of a tête-à-tête to intimidate the young woman who could have your son imprisoned a second time for abduction and grievous bodily harm must be hard to resist for a man like you?—”

“Once again,” Joseph cuts Gabriel off. “I’d appreciate you enlightening me… this time as to what kind of man you believe I am?”

“Certainly,” Gabriel replies with absolute calm. “You’re the kind of man who takes pleasure in the pain of others. The kind who not only assists in but covers up the depraved games his sick son plays with young women. The kind who should be stripped of any semblance of power in this country and jailed alongside the men he’s placed behind bars in order to keep his dirty secrets safe. The kind who deserves natural justice.”

“I’d almost agree, except you missed one thing… I’m also the kind of man who’ll stop at nothing to take revenge on the miscreants who refuse to learn their place in this world. That means you can dream of stopping me, locking me up, killing me, whatever outcome fills your tiny, empty lives with comfort, but it’ll never happen… I am the law. You’re the ones who must abide by it.” At the end of his invective, Joseph gives me a malevolent grin, then shoulders his way toward the exit with his rent-a-cop nipping at his heels.

Before he breaches the doorway, he tosses one last taunt in my direction. “Now, if I was attempting to intimidate Miss Mayberry, I’d caution her that this isn’t over. Alexander will heal, and then he’ll expect restitution… likely in the form of his Lily’s unbridled struggle. I don’t believe anyone’s ever given my son the same level of hunt as Miss Mayberry. Seems her fight has become quite addictive.”

“Fuck. You.” Zeke moves to launch himself after the minister for police. “I’m gonna kill you and your fuckin’ son.”

Thankfully, Angelis and Gabriel use their bodies to block Zeke from following after Joseph. I duck in front of him when it looks like he’s going to push through them and, hands on either side of his face, I force him to stop and look at me.

“Don’t. Please.” My lips refuse to cooperate when I try to offer him a soothing smile. The strain I’m feeling must show on my face, because his eyes flicker with remorse. “He’s baiting you because he wants you to do something he can lock you up for. Don’t fall for his tricks.”

In contradiction to the guilt dimming his expression, Zeke’s grip is harsh as he knocks my hands from his face and seizes hold of my shoulders. I grip the front of my towel as he shakes me. Darkness invades his eyes, and he walks me backward until my backside hits the dresser that lines the opposite wall. When Zeke stares hard at me, disappointment and rage etched on his face, the two older men in the room with us quickly slip out into the hallway.

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