Page 13 of The Gambler

He didn't know what made him do it. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush from the mini firefight, maybe it was the way she felt in his arms, so soft and sweet and...His. Whatever it was he felt powerless to stop as he lowered his head and kissed her.

Fuck.

Shit he’d kissed her, his head felt light and his heart was racing. His first fear was, had he scared her? But when he pickedup his head, she had the most beautiful smile on her face. Then she petted him to make sure he was okay.

“Angel okay?”

He realized he’d scared her unintentionally, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Yes baby Angel’s okay…” He ran his hand up and down her back to ease her, knowing that they needed to get out of there, because he’d just offed two motherfuckers and the heat would no doubt be there any moment; somebody must’ve heard the gun fire.

He started walking her back towards the car, not sure what to do about the change in their relationship. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, not this soon anyway. He knew she would need time to get to know him or at least he thought she would, but the way she’d reacted gave him hope. He would never do anything to hurt her, not in a million years and he was willing to wait as long as it took for her to get there with him, but he couldn’t help but be pleased with the way it had all gone.

His mind was going in too many different directions at once by the time they made it back to the car and the guys drove towards home. She kept a death grip on his hand all the way back and he knew somehow she’d understood the danger.

He didn’t show any of the anger that was steaming beneath the surface, since she seemed to be so in tuned with his moods. But his mind was full of bloodshed. He’d have to take out the kiss and examine it again later. For now his focus was on the men who’d come after him and the others that would no doubt follow.

They raced towards the gates of home, and he didn’t breathe easy until he had her safe behind the walls of his home. She didn’t say anything about the kiss or what had happened, and he was satisfied that she hadn’t been adversely affected by either. He couldn’t say the same for himself, and not being a patient man, knew that his strength would be tested in a way he never experienced before.

There was so much to consider here, not least of all her innocence. His sister hadn’t lived long enough to get married and have kids. Would she, Jenna, understand the relationship between a man and a woman? How would he traverse those waters when the time came?

There was no doubt that she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on, but for fuck’s sake Stefan Andros was not known for being gentle, in bed or out; too much to think about right now. First he had to secure her safety; then he’d think of the rest. He was fucked if he was going to ask any of the doctors he had on call what to do. He figured he’d figure shit out as it came. His only worry was in scaring her, in hurting her in any way. The thought of it made his stomach cramp.

He set her up in the far corner of his office, away from the desk where he was about to talk business with his guys. He didn’t want her overhearing anything he had to say; none of this should ever touch her ever. Not as long as he was there to protect her. Whatever else, he would make sure of that. His heart felt light for the first time in years, and he actually found himself wanting to smile for no reason at all.

He looked over to make sure she was preoccupied with her new tablet that he’d had loaded with games and copies of her favorite show. She was already fascinated with her new toy and he knew as long as she could see him she would be fine. She hated having him out of her sight already in the short time that they’d been together, which made him feel good. He hadn’t felt that needed in a very ling time.

“You know they’re gonna come after us hard, so we have to have shit locked down. I want everyone on high alert, double the men on the walls; I’ll put the shields on the house. One of us will be with her at all times and I mean all times. If she has to go to the bathroom and I’m not there you come and get me, but she is not to be left alone at any time and no one gets near her, I don’t care who it is, not even grandpa…”

“What, you don’t trust the old man?”

“When it comes to her safety I don’t trust anyone, I know he would never harm her, but we’re in a war. I don’t have time to think about feelings right now. She’s the primary, no matter what, she’s to be protected at all cost…” He looked over to where she had started singing in that amazing voice of hers that went right to his gut.

He was also checking out the guys’ reaction to her, he wasn’t fucking around when he said he didn’t trust anyone with her, no one but himself. He wasn’t going to fuck up this time. He’d been living a kind ofday-to-day existence until last night. He hadn’t been looking for death, but neither had he feared it. Now with his sweet Jenna in the picture all that had changed. She made him think of tomorrow and shit that he hadn’t given a thought to in years, not since he’d become a man.

The fact that they’d only just met didn’t come into play. She had been destined for him a long time ago. He wouldn’t say that he’d been actively looking for her; he hadn’t even believed that she really existed. But he would never forget the words that had been told to him all those years ago, by the only other person to ever truly own his heart.

He wasn’t quite ready to take that out and examine it either, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to deal with what was really going on here. No one else would understand his actions, no one else needed to. He knew what he knew and that was good enough for him. The shit was enough to make him start believing again, something he hadn’t actively done in a long long time.

Not since the day a beautiful soul had been snatched from the earth. With this new development, another beautiful soul placed into his world, in his care, it was hard to hold onto the anger that he’d carried for so long. He had no doubt that she was his; that she was an answer to a promise made a lifetime ago.

Chapter 8

When his sister had laid dying in his arms, she’d offered him comfort even as she drew her last remaining breaths on this earth. That was the beauty of people like her, people who were too beautiful for the world to really see. He’d spent his time as a teen learning all he could about his sister’s condition. He didn’t attribute any of the words the experts used to her, to him she was more than. The tint that everyone else seemed willing to stick on Alice was abhorrent to him. If they only took the time to really observe, they would see that instead of a flaw, his little sister had been blessed with more.

Her ability to see only beauty, that innate innocence that transcended everything else, it had touched him in a way that nothing else ever had. Now he was blessed for whatever reason with a second chance. If there were any fairness in the world, he would be able to hold onto her for a long time. He would be allowed to make up for the one he failed. Her knew realistically that what had happened to his sister hadn’t been his fault. But as the big brother who’d always shielded and protected her, it felt like his failure, that he hadn’t been there when she needed him most.

He put the daunting memories aside once more and focused on the here and now.

With a few calls he set things in motion and had her surrounded. With that taken care of, he turned to more sinister things, like getting rid of the fucker who’d sent the goons after him with her in the car. Her brother had signed his death warrant the second he’d laid hands on her, and now her godfather was in the same fucking boat.

He didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought about what he was about to do. If people were going to try and take her away from him, they were going to die. He might let the mother live if he determined that she had been kind to his girl, otherwise she too was fucked.

After what had happened today, he was no longer feeling magnanimous. “I want you to find out what the Minnelli bitch was doing in my house. I don’t think it was a coincidence that she applied for the job as my assistant. Could be that she was spying for her brother in law or some fuck who knows. I don’t see why, since we’ve never had any dealings, but I’m not taking any chances.”

“I’ll get right on it boss.” Garrett pulled out his little handheld and typed in some shit.

“We need to do a sweep. The good thing is that when she left she didn’t have time to remove anything if there was anything here to take, but let’s cover all the bases.” There was a fuck load of shit to do now that she was here. His security hadn’t been lax before, but he wasn’t about to leave any stone unturned where she was concerned. If he could insulate her he would. The memory of his earlier loss was never far from his mind. Now that he felt that strong pull once again, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

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