Gabe: The Alvarez Security Series (14 page)

Behind her, someone
overheard. And noted. And walked away. And made a call to Santo.

“Sir, she’s on her way out of the building, probably to The State Capitol again.”

“Thank you. I’ll notify them that she is coming,” came the sharp reply. “I want intervention.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll work on it on this end.”

Santo clicked off his phone. Impatient, he was growing weary of his boss’ reticence to act. Michael had heard from the building’s owner. It seemed the old geezer made an impromptu visit disguised as a homeless man and the intrepid Ms. Lambert welcomed him in. And now…Mr. Mason refused to consider any sale.

All it would take would be one visit from him to Ms. Lambert and she would not be a problem anymore. No one holds a cause dearer than their own lives or their own family.

He had been thrilled to have worked up to the honored position with Michael and had been rewarded for his loyalty. But…the older ones began to get soft in their older age. Moving away from the window of their high rise, he placed another call.

“She’s on her way. Boss wants intervention. You know what to do.”

Clicking off after his terse instructions, he went back to the window and pondered his options knowing he needed to plan carefully. Deciding that perhaps a small taste of fear might just be what the good Ms. Lambert needed, he made another phone call.

*

Grabbing her bag,
Jennifer headed out of her building and toward The State Capitol. Upon arriving, she made her way to Senator Reno’s office, hoping that he would be in and Monty would not. No such luck.

Monty looked up from his desk and stood, moving slightly to stand in front of the Senator’s door. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I was hoping to speak to Senator—”

“He’s not in,” came the abrupt reply.

“Well, then perhaps I can wai—”

“That won’t be convenient for the Senator. He won’t be back this afternoon.”

Monty had shifted slightly closer until he was standing right in front of her. Stepping back a few feet, she realized that he was maneuvering her away. Sucking in a calming breath, she looked up into his face. “Well, then I will make an appointment.”

“His calendar is very busy this week. I can fit you in next week. Tuesday? At ten o’clock.”

“Fine, that’ll be fine.”
Damn, over a week away.
Plastering a false smile on her face, she purposely stuck out her hand as she said, “Thank you so much for all of your…help.”

Monty looked down at her hand for a moment before taking it in his own. Pulling her in ever so slightly, he said, “The Senator is very busy you know. You really should not just drop in. If you can’t stay away, call before you come next time.” His voice carried a tone of warning as his hand gave hers a slight squeeze.

Pursing her lips, she jerked her hand away before turning on her heels and walking off. Halfway down the stairs she heard her name called. Turning she saw Sherrie. Trying to smile, she walked over to her.

“I would ask how you’re doing, but you seem fit to be tied,” Sherrie said. “Are you all right?”

Jennifer glanced up the stairs and saw Monty standing there staring down at her. Turning quickly, she grabbed Sherrie and said, “Oooh, that man makes me so angry.” Seeing her friend’s quizzical look, she explained her encounter with Monty.

“That’s funny, he’s always so polite when I drop papers off for my law firm.”

Jennifer said, “He never gives you a hard time?”

“No, but then I’m just dropping things off. Perhaps it’s because you actually need to see the Senator.” Seeing Jennifer’s angry face, she asked, “Come on, let’s grab that cup of coffee you promised me last time.”

That earned a smile from Jennifer and the two women headed to the coffee shop down the street.

*

Someone was still
watching. And continued to follow. And made a phone call.

“She’s going to make things difficult which may need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Keep me abreast of what she’s doing. And for fuck’s sake, stay off of her radar,” Santo ordered.

Santo then walked to Michael’s office, nodding to Eloise at her desk. “Can you ring me in?” he asked politely.

Smiling, she checked with her boss before indicating that he could go in. Michael was coming out of his private bathroom and Santo knew that Theresa had just visited. He had a bad feeling about that one, wondering how long she would be satisfied to stay out of the light. That was another poor decision Michael had made, letting her lead him by his dick.

He almost commented on his fears but held himself in check. If Michael made a mistake and had to step down from the head of the family, Santo knew he could be next in line.

“She went out with some big security guy the other night.”

Michael looked at Santo, anger replacing the satisfaction of fucking Theresa from behind as she was bent over his desk just a few minutes earlier. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Is there a way to give her a warning, without fucking ourselves over?”

“I’m working on it.”

Michael smiled, his good humor back. “I knew I could count on you.”

Santo moved out of the exclusive office, thinking of the time when it might be his.

*

At the end
of the week, Jennifer arrived home to a hive of activity. Several large, black SUVs were parked in front of the building and the residents were buzzing around. Stepping off of the bus, she made her way to the door seeing Gabe installing a camera near the door.

“Hey honey, what are you doing?” she said running up and grabbing him around the waist.

“Huh,” came the surprised reply. “Well, hello beautiful.” Gabe turned around and locked his arms around her.

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head and she looked up wanting his lips on her own. He looked like Gabe but wasn’t. Gasping, she suddenly stiffened as she jerked back, but his arms held her tight. “You…you’re…”

He threw his head back and laughed, but before she could react they heard, “Get your fuckin’ hands off my woman.”

Both turned and looked at an angry Gabe coming around the corner. She threw up her hands and pushed on Ga…someone’s chest.
Vinny! Oh my God. This is Gabe’s twin. And he was going to kiss her!

Gabe arrived at the top of the stoop and gently pulled her into his embrace. Vinny was still laughing and said, “It’s nice to see you again, Jennifer. I’m sorry darling, but when a beautiful woman comes up and grabs me for a kiss, I just can’t help myself.”

“You kissed her?” Gabe growled, taking a step toward his brother.

She quickly stepped between the two giants and said, “No, he didn’t. Well, the top of my head.”

Vinny smiled his panty-dropping smile and said, “Well hell, little one. That was the only thing I could reach.”

She giggled, knowing it was true.

“Gabe! Jennybenny!” came a yell from down the street and as they looked up, Ross came jumping off of the school bus. Running full speed he did not stop until he took a flying leap in the air toward Gabe, who caught him easily.

“Hey, big man. How’s school today?”

Ross’ face scrunched as he answered, “Same old thing every day. Except for…” he looked around cautiously, “Chrissy sat next to me in art class.”

“Good man, you’re making progress!”

“Gabe, stop encouraging him. And Ross, where are your manners, jumping up like that?” she gently reminded.

Just then, Ross looked over and saw Vinny. His eyes grew wide as he looked back and forth between the two men.

“You…you look just like Gabe,” he exclaimed. “How’d that happen?”

Gabe set Ross down on the ground and said, “Ross, this is my identical twin brother, Vinny.”

Vinny knelt down and shook Ross’ hand. “Good to meet you. I see you’ve been hanging out with Gabe here.”

“Yes, sir. We’re buds. When the weather gets warmer, he’s gonna show me how to play football. I kinda know, but I’m not very good.” Leaning in closer, he whispered loudly, “Sis tries to show me but she’s not very good either.”

The two brothers laughed as Jennifer shooed Ross inside to the kitchen to find a treat. She then looked around and asked, “What are you all doing?”

“Installing a few cameras and basic alarm system. You’ve got a great thing going here, babe, but there’s no security.”

Her eyes grew wide and she sucked in her lips. “Gabe, honey, I’ve got no money for this. I’m working as hard as I can to keep it running.”

Vinny’s mirth disappeared as he looked at the woman that had stolen his brother’s heart and smiled in approval.

“It’s on us, darlin’. Tony does a few charity cases each year. Don’t worry about it. He can take it as a tax write-off.”

Gabe wanted to kiss the worried look off of her face but planned on that later. In fact, if she was willing, he had a lot planned out later. When he had come into the center earlier to talk to Henry about the installation, Cora had cornered him. A direct-speaker, she got right to the point.

“I’m thinking that you’d like to have more time alone with Jennifer. Henry and I had already planned on taking Ross out to visit our daughter this weekend. She’s got a couple of kids his age and he really likes to visit. Now…you could come over here and have a nice date, but I gotta warn you…there’s lots of old biddies around who’d love to get in your business. So I’m thinking that you might want to take her out and well…it was easy pack a small bag for her.”

He raised his eyebrow and rubbed his hand over his face. “Ms. Cora, I appreciate that more than you can know because that tells me that you trust me. But, this has got to be at her pace. Her time.”

Cora stared at him long and hard, then nodded. “Knew I had you pegged right from the start. A good man. But let me tell you, she needs a little push. That girl’s got a heart as big as they come and if she shines that light on you, then you’ll think you’ve been burned it shines so bright. But she needs someone to care for her too, and I don’t mean just us in this building. I think you’re that man. So I trust that you won’t take advantage of her, but will take care of her needs…and I mean
all
of her needs.” With that, she handed him a small bag and turned with a wink.

Now he stood on the stoop with her in his arms. “We’re almost finished here. You head on in and say goodbye to Ross. I understand he has a little trip this weekend and I’ve got plans for us.”

She turned her head up sharply to see him smiling down at her. Licking her lips, she asked, “What have you got in mind?”

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in tightly so that she was completely engulfed in his embrace. Dropping his head down to a whisper’s breath away he said, “Nothin’ you don’t want. But everything that you do.” With that, he kissed her, then gave her a squeeze before walking back down to Vinny to complete the job.

*