Page 108 of Wolf.e

Gabriel laughs, it’s the oddest sensation amidst the carnage we lie in but it’s so fucking beautiful.

“I think”—he kisses me—“you’re even crazier than I am, little bird, but I want all your crazy. Every last bit.”

“It’s all yours,” I tell him.

I’ve never felt like I fit in anywhere in my life before. I’ve always gone through the motions, doing what everyone else told me to do, doing what I thought was right, but here in Gabriel’s arms, I belong. Being with him is as easy as bringing air to my lungs.

In his eyes, I’m always strong. I’m always capable. I’m simply and beautifully me.

I feel the tears come and I can’t stop the words.

“In case it isn’t obvious Gabriel, I love you,” I tell him as I lean down to kiss him. “I love you so much.”

His strong bloodied hands hold my face as he hovers over my lips.

“The way I feel about you, Brinley, a word as simple as love isn’t enough. You’re the blood in my veins.”

I whimper into his lips with his words.

“You’re the one I would sacrifice everything for.” His lips meet my temple. “You’re my need to survive.” He smirks into my lips. “And they slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered...” Another kiss.

I giggle through my tears.

“Quoting Fitzgerald as we lie between two dead bodies?” I say as Gabriel’s lips never once stop their path over my cheeks, my jaw, the corner of my mouth.

“Just working on being romantic,” Gabriel says with a grin and a deep chuckle, before both his hands grip the sides of my face, focusing his stormy gray eyes on mine, as he falls serious.

“I love you, Brinley Rose.” His deep timbre fills my senses, butterflies flood my chest and the carnage around us fades.

“What the fuck!?” I hear Sean yell in horror as we both look up at him from our place on the floor when he and Kai come through the door.

Gabriel doesn’t move me, he just lets his head fall back against the floor in relief and says, “You’re late. Call Rick, and I hope you fuckers brought shovels.”

“They’re buried behind St Henry’s. Myself, Ax, and Kai put them in the ground.”

I look at my men, every one of them aside from Ax and Kai is fucking shell-shocked that Jake tried to do me in. Including me.

There was a good solid minute of silence when I played them the recording from Brinley’s phone. Smart little hummingbird. But I wouldn’t have needed it. My men would’ve believed me anyway. It took two hours for Rick to clean my cuts and stitch me up while the men worked to put the two traitors in the ground after we lit both their cuts on fire.

“Jake was like my brother. He let greed and envy cloud his judgement. From this point on it will be like he never existed,” I tell them.

“Amen, brother.” Kai knocks on the table.

I nod. “My only mistake was trusting him. I didn’t see it until it was too late and that’s my cross to bear.”

“We all trusted Jake,” Robby says.

No one is happy, aside from this choice Jake made, he’s been everyone’s brother for thirty years, but once this meeting is over, we’ll never talk about him again. He betrayed us and he got what he deserved. You don’t turn on your brothers.

“I have a meet set with Aiden Foxx.” I wait for the room to calm down with my announcement. “I plan to talk to him about patching over and I want to do it fast. While all this is still fresh.”

Their chatter ensues for a few seconds before I speak again.

“I’m only bringing two of you. The rooftop of Savannah Meadows. It’s crowded below, less chance of him trying to kill me,” I tell them.

I look around the room. “Ax, I need you to be my VP now if you’re ready to step up.”

“Of course,” he says, no hesitation.

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