Page 8 of Stealing Her Heart
“I give up,” I shout, putting my hands up as I catch my breath. “I won’t run again. Not that any of you had a chance of catching me.”
A door comes open as a dark chuckle sounds. That sound does improper things to me. I heard it once before, that night on the patio. There are a dozen people watching us, but I feel as isolated with him as I did that night.
“That might be true. If I would ever give up chasing you, princess. I won’t. Come, get in. I will take you anywhere you want to go.”
Inside my chest, my heart is thundering. Not because of the little breakaway I tried to make. Because it is Gabriel, and his voice is as silky smooth as I remember it. I step towards the door, for a moment wondering if he is even real. Then he steps out slowly and I bite back a gasp. He is poured into another suit, looking even more beautiful than I remember.
“I... I can’t go anywhere with you. Santino would...he would....”
“What did I say, princess? He will donothing,” Gabriel hums, coming close, his hand lifting to cup my cheek. Closing my eyes, I lean into his touch, welcoming his warmth. I have dreamt of him for days now, and seeing him, feeling him, smelling him, those dreams did not do him justice.
“I... I am scared,” I whisper, horrified to realize tears flood my eyes.
Letting out a string of curses in Italian, he moves fast. Gabriel pulls me with him inside the SUV. I am cradled against his chest, his fingers tangled in my hair. It is the first time in my life I have felt safe, and I want to savor it.
“My little princess. No need for fear. They cannot touch you now.”
“But...but you can...” I whisper it, almost asking the question.
“Oh, yes. I and I alone can touch you. Once you ask me to.”
Is he...is he giving me a choice for the first time in my life?
Chapter Five
Gabriel
Seeing the fire in someone’s eyes is life changing.
I have hurt people as they begged me to stop. I have killed men who wept about forgiveness for their sins. Their cries, the pleading, the absolute dimming of the light within them let me know I was doing them a favor. To see the fight, the fire in someone’s eyes as they fight for their life, for their freedom, for their dreams, is brand new for me.
Gianna stares up at me with fire in her beautiful eyes. A fire that others want to put out. A fire that I will not allow anyone to dim. Not her father, not Marconi, and not even me. I care about nothing else now. Protecting her, and that fire, that fight, that spirit, is all that matters to me.
Because if there are still beautiful creatures out there in the world, others with the same fire she has, the world can’t be that bad a place, can it? Even if there is bad in it, it is notallbad. I am holding onto that for all I am worth. If it is true, it means the things I have done, things I might still do, were not for nothing. I cannot erase the evil I’ve done but perhaps it was a necessary evil.
If it means taking down entire families, an entire syndicate, to keep that fire in her eyes, then so be it.
“Your eyes have saved me,” I whisper to her, brushing her dark hair back from her face. “I wasn’t sure until this moment. I thought it that night. You looked at me and....princess, my entire world shifted. It began the moment you walked into that room in that pretty princess dress with this fire in your eyes. Fire to live, to dream, to be free.”
“I said I was a princess,” she flushes, bowing her head. “What a silly little girl thing to say.”
“You can be my princess,” I husk, tipping her head back so I can stare into those beautiful, magical eyes. “I would give you a castle, a fortress, a crown of diamonds and gold. Whatever you wanted would be yours.”
“I....no, no, I am not allowed towantthings.”
“Wrong. They cannot take your dreams or your want away, Gianna. I just won’t allow it. What do you want? Right this moment?”
Her teeth come out to bite at her full bottom lip. Fire simmers in her eyes again. I have her settled on my lap and we both realize it at the same time. I am hard as stone with her plump ass sitting on my cock.
“I... I don’t know...”
Tugging at her lip with my thumb, I grin at her. “Liar. You do know. I see it in those pretty eyes. Anything you want, I will give it to you.”
For a heartbeat, the air sizzles between us. I fear she will ask me to let her go. I would. I would not just let her go, I would set her free. Not just from me. From all the men trying to dim her fire, trying to reduce her to nothing more than a pawn in their dirty game.
“Gabriel,” she whispers my name as if testing it out. “I want to be free. Not...not free of you. Or free of this,” she hums, pressing her hand to my chest where my heart gallops beneath her touch. “This is the first thing I have let myself want. I just...can...could you make me feel free? Could you....”
Trailing off, she slides back on my lap a little. I frown before I watch her thighs fall open. Heat rockets through me as if I were a live wire struck by the want in her eyes. My little princess wants to feel free, and she has an idea of how she can feel that way. A way that I can make her feel what no one else ever has before. Or ever will again.
