Gael's stare at Angela was intense, but she refused to look at him as if she was afraid of what he would see in her eyes. So many things rushed into his head like what happened in the past, when they met at the wedding, the night they spent together, the morning he left and not seeing her for three years, the book—fuck. The book.
His heart kicked against his ribcage wildly as the passages and scenes in the book played in his head like a fast reel. He was so familiar with the story like the back of his hand, having read it several times. Almost everything clicked in the timeline, how the two main characters met, their personalities, the physical description—nearly identical, save for the different tattoos but same placements. All of those were similar, except in the story, Nicco and Kayla didn't only have a one-night stand and forgot about each other for years.
Nicco and Kayla went back to their respective cities. Weeks later, Kayla found out she was pregnant. She was so scared and didn't know what to do, but eventually, she decided to look for Nicco through the couple who had the wedding the night when they hooked up. It wasn't long after that that they reunited, and their lives got in a tangled mess, partly because of the surprise pregnancy and also Nicco's identity as a Mafia prince.
One of the things that struck Gael was how when Kayla lost the baby, the pain was so vividly detailed in writing—even he teared up as if he could feel her loss when he wouldn't even experience conceiving or go through birthing himself.
The book was different in the sense that Gael and Angela didn't experience those together as they separated after the Chos' wedding. Gael really thought Angela had gotten inspiration from their night and the rest just stemmed from her creativity. But it wasn't really all in her imagination, was it? She wrote those parts as if she experienced pregnancy firsthand.
Where was the baby? Did she give it up for adoption? Did she lose it, too, just like Kayla had? And the one question he couldn't quite bring himself to ask her right now was: who was the father? Was it another man—a random hookup like fucking Evan said? All of these, he asked himself. But the furious beating of his heart somehow told him that even though he was still very much baffled, part of him already knew the answer. He still dared to ask in his head, 'Was it me?'
"Angel… Is it true?" Gael asked, his voice almost a whisper.
Angela didn't answer, her head still lowered and her shoulders still shaking from her sorrowful cry. She sounded like she was…grieving. The sound was so haunting that goosebumps prickled his skin.
In the next breath, there was a sound of a clinking chain and then a whoosh.
CRACK!
Gael heard it first before he felt the metal links land on his back. While he was in a trance, Evan had already moved behind him and whipped the chain on his back.
Fuck. Gael grunted, clenching his teeth so hard as the pain shot up his entire back. He was kneeling on the floor now, and he struggled to keep his body up. A nasty curse wanted to slip out his lips, but he held his tongue, not wanting to worry Angela whose gaze was now back at him.
"Stop!" she cried just as Evan whipped the chain again, hitting Gael's shoulder and spine. Angela looked mortified as she watched and pleaded but to no avail.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Every time the chain connected with his back, Gael clenched his hands tighter. He wanted to snatch the fucking chain, loop it around Evan's neck and squeeze the life out of his miserable self.
But he couldn't.
Fucking hell, he couldn't.
He hadn't hated the treaty as much as he did now. Just one wrong move from him and his entire family could end. 'It's okay. I can take it,' he told himself. He could take all of it for Angela.
With sweat dripping from his forehead, Gael forced a smile on his face as he told her, "Stop crying. This is nothing. I've taken a harsher beating than this pussy whipper. Close your eyes, baby. It will be over soon. Don't tell him anything. I'm okay."
He wasn't lying—sort of. Gael had withstood torture training from one of his father's men back in Italy. Most De Luca men had. But this still hurt like hell. Not as much as a gunshot wound, but the repeated assault on his already bruised-up body sure made him want to pass out, his eyelids began closing and his breathing labored.
Angela looked at him like he was insane. He clearly was. But he didn't give a shit.
For a second, she seemed like she was about to protest, like she was about to give up. "Please, stop. I'll—"
CRACK!
Evan's loud voice boomed around them. "It will all be over, alright." He scoffed. "Depends on what comes first. His death, or you giving up."
CRACK!
Gael trembled from the pain exploding at the base of his spine.
Evan raised his hand once more, ready to crack another one.
Gael braced himself. However, he wasn't ready for what happened next.
Angela shoved the man behind her so hard and dove on top of Gael, saving him from another chain whipping. It all happened so fast, none of them expected it to take place. She cried out when the chain hit her back.
The men were stunned at what she did; the room went still and quiet.
Evan stepped back involuntarily, shock marring his expression. He wasn't above hitting Angela like he did in the past, but he was still stunned at what she just did that he could only stare.
Gael, who had briefly closed his eyes, noticed the softness on his back instead of the chain that was supposed to land. His head snapped to the side just as Angela slid off him and went limp. He caught her in his arms before her body hit the floor. He froze. It felt as if everything was in slow motion—even his thoughts took a second to catch on to what she had just done. Angela shielded him from the chain, and she got hit instead of him. Now she was panting while her face contorted in pain. "Stop… Don't hurt him…" she murmured. Her lips were pale.
Sirens wailed outside the building, startling Evan and his men. The lackeys looked at their boss, and Evan signaled them to scram. Then Evan took one last look at her before promising in a gravelly voice, "I'll be back for you, Angela."
Gael didn't bother looking up to watch them escape. His focus was entirely on the woman lying limply in his arms. Angela looked so tiny and fragile. He was afraid to hold her, especially after a chain had just whipped her.
He gently wiped her tear-streaked face and caressed her cheeks, his voice cracking when he nervously coaxed her, "Baby…wake up…"
She was breathing but so out of it that she began murmuring "I'm sorry" over and over.
Gael was at a loss. He feared that if he moved even a little, he might hurt her. "Baby, they're gone. You're okay…"
Footfalls sounded behind him, and then Rick came to his side. "Boss."
Without lifting his gaze from Angela's face, Gael gritted his teeth as he snapped at Rick, "What the fuck took you so long?"
Rick lowered his head. "I'm sorry. The police stopped us for overspeeding."
"Where's Santiago?"
"He should be on his tail now. We'll get him, Boss."
Gael didn't answer. There were no police because they couldn't possibly call them. That siren was just a tactic. Before, it was harder to look for Evan as they wouldn't know exactly where he was. However, now that he was just here, Santiago could tail him. The agreement might stop Gael from harming Evan, but there were loopholes he had already planned to thread through. And from the new piece of information he gathered about the Leos and their drug business in Esmea, Gael would gladly use this to his advantage.
Before today, Gael had already planned how to deal with Evan. After what just happened, he envisioned ending the fucker's life in his hands. But that had to wait. He had more important things to do.
Ever so carefully, Gael scooped Angela up and got to his feet. He winced at the barely bearable ache on his back.
"I'll carry her, Boss," Rick offered.
Gael walked past him and headed out of the building. "No. I'll do it.. We'll take her to a doctor."
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