Page 16 of Black Truth (A Twisted Fate 2)

Someone… probably Alex… put an immeasurable amount of work into this. Or someone had Alex and wanted us to think he was dead.

Why?

I looked at Gabe. He was not the same as the man I’d married. There was no doubt in my mind. For the last six months Alex hadn’t been able to hide the evil lurking beneath the surface. He got off on scaring and fighting with me. While Gabe pretended to be Tack, and even now, his only concern had been me.

Why put all the effort into letting us think it was Alex when we already had a body that matched Gabe’s dental records? Were the partials used because that was the only part of Alex that matched Gabe? Alex had to pull his teeth from his mouth and put them in this man’s. Or someone pulled them. I shuddered at the thought.

The elevator ride to our floor was quiet. The tension between Gabe and Trent was palpable and had been since the hospital. While Bennett had said good-night to me, they’d stepped away for a brief conversation.

Gabe unlocked the hotel room door and it clicked open. Mercifully, we were back to my home away from home.

“Night, Trent.”

“Night, Willow.”

Before Trent closed the door, he said, “I think it should be Willow’s choice.”

My eyes darted between the two men as fury rolled over Gabe. “Trent, I’m warning you. Don’t.”

The darkness in Gabe’s voice wasn’t something to mess with, but Trent stood his ground. “I’m here to protect Willow. Finding out the truth protects her.”

Without another word, Trent turned and left. Both men radiated irritation. “What was that about?”

Gabe clenched and unclenched his fists several times as he in his reaction. He was giving nothing away. “Willow, I don’t want to go there. I need to think some things through.”

Now, I was getting irritated. This morning we had bridged the chasm between us. “Gabe… you’re the one constant I have right now. Don’t make me second-guess you. This morning you said our relationship was not about hiding things from each other. Let’s not lose the ground we’ve fought so hard to gain.”

He was silent as he stared into my eyes. The fact that he was debating on telling me something Trent believed I had a right to now had me boiling.

Enough!

If he wanted distance, I’d give it to him. Abruptly, I took my phone out to dial Trent.

“Willow?”

“Is there another room I can stay in?”

If Gabe was able to get more agitated, he managed to do it. He plucked the phone from my hand. “Willow won’t need another room.”

He clicked off the phone.

“You cannot—”

He took a step forward and I stood my ground. “No, you cannot, Willow. There is a fucking lunatic on the loose and you are not changing rooms because of some temper tantrum. I was going to tell you what Trent referenced, but I just needed to think it through.”

There was a knock at the door.

I went to the door as Gabe called my name. I opened it to Trent.

“Everything okay?”

The last thing I wanted was to leave during our argument since Gabe and I were in the process of working through it. Looking over my shoulder, Gabe appeared furious but remained silent.

“Yes. Everything’s fine. I’ll call if I still need the room.”

I shut the door and stormed passed Gabe to my bedroom.

“You’re not staying somewhere else.”

I got in his face. “I don’t need you censoring what I hear. It’s not your place. I’m not your wife, Gabe.”

Wife. I said wife. Oh shit. I hadn’t meant to throw that out there like that. We weren’t ready. The heat of the moment had me word vomiting again.

He turned and combed his fingers through his hair. “For fuck’s sake.” Pacing five agitated steps, he turned and faced me. His eyes were blazing. “You and I both know I would marry you in a heartbeat if I thought you were ready for that next step.”

My fingers knotted nervously with each other. “I know. I don’t know why I said that.”

“What do you want from me, Willow?”

“Honesty,” I said.

He took a step.

“Loyalty.”

He took another step.

“Love.”

He closed the gap with his last step bringing him within inches touching me. The heat from his body penetrated mine.

I finished with one thing I wanted most. “To be yours.”

“I have been honest except for misleading you with Tack.” He cradled my face. “There is no one I am more loyal to, Willow. No one. You’re it for me.” His head dipped down. “I love you so much it hurts.” He pressed his lips against mine and I leaned into him. “You are mine. No one else’s. Ever. Only mine.”

He kissed me again and I deepened it, wanting—no, needing— more. He lifted me off the floor, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I was in Gabe’s arms. We were each other’s forever. His tongue commanded my mouth as I gave myself to him. My back found the bed and I tightened my grip on him. His desire pressed against my core and I moaned at the slightest bit of friction.

And then he was gone. “Six more fucking days.”

I threw my hand over my eyes. “I want a second opinion. For real. I hate this.”

Gabe’s jaw was clinched tight when I reopened my eyes. “I don’t care if the world is coming to an end, six days from now nothing is keeping me from you. Nothing.”

A tremble resonated through me. “It’d better not.”

Gabe stood across the room and I patted the bed. “I won’t bite. Promise.”

Having him near me and enduring the sweet torture was better than being kept from his touch. Gabe was still tense as he lay beside me. I molded to his side, and he wrapped his arm around me.

“Hell, you make me lose my mind, Willow.”

“We could do something for you?” His head reared back like I was crazy. “There’s no reason for you to suffer, too.”

In a fluid movement I was flipped on my back and his face came within inches of mine. He tasted me, then nipped my lip. “When we come, we come together.”

The intensity was off the charts as Gabe held me in my place.

“But—”

“No but. Together.”

“Together.”

He reversed our positions. We still hadn’t discussed Trent’s comment. I wasn’t going to let it go, but for now I wanted to be in Gabe’s arms.

Without any prompting, Gabe shared. “I was going to talk to you tonight about what Trent was hinting at. I thought it would be best after you rested for a bit. It’s been a long damn day. And you’re still dealing with the DNA news. I get you’re strong, Willow, but I have to protect you at the same time.”

I sat up and looked at Gabe who put his arm behind his head. His muscles caused the shirt to fit snuggly across his biceps. I played with my fingers. “Do you think Alex is alive?”

“Yes.”

I froze and my blood went cold. Hearing someone else confirm my thoughts made what we were dealing with monumentally worse.

“I think Alex wanted me to think he was dead. To him, that will make everyone more vulnerable with him being able to imitate my movements. I’m already working with Trent on how his men can identify me. I’m sure he accessed my dental records and used only the matching teeth. Sometimes twins have identical teeth, too. Alex figured I would have the finger tested and he infused his blood. I don’t know if he or Jack De Luca sent you the note in Italy. Hell, they might be working together. Or Alex may be setting De Luca up. From what we can tell, none of De Luca’s men have followed you or showed any interest.”

“Then why send the finger? Why would Alex risk blowing his cover?”

Gabe dragged a hand down his face. “He’s so fucked in the head, I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on. I think he was sending the note to draw me out. I was untraceable. Alex has no idea about the skills I’ve acquired since being on a black ops team

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