Gabe: The Alvarez Security Series (30 page)

Entering his apartment, he noticed it was quiet. The kitchen light was off and there was no noise coming from the bedrooms.

He gently opened Ross’ door to check on him and saw that he was fast asleep. Closing the door, he turned to his bedroom. Turning the knob, he wondered if Jennifer would be asleep also. The lights were off except for one lamp by the bed. His eyes had no difficulty finding what was in the middle of the bed. Jennifer was lying on the bed, her blonde curls spread over his pillows. Her blue eyes sparkled from her pixie face and her smile pierced him. And she was naked.
Fuckin’ perfection.

He stood there for a second, not believing the vision in front of him until she lifted her arms in the air, beckoning him to come to her.
She’s not giving me shit about what I’ve gotta do in my job. She’s just giving me her. All of her.
He stripped in record time and joined her on the bed. She reached down to grasp him, but he stilled her hand. “No baby, tonight it’s about you.”

And he continued to show her exactly what he felt about her. Worshiping her body, loving her soul. Giving everything he had to give without once thinking of taking for himself.

Kneeling between her knees, he spread her legs apart and dove in for a taste. He slowly licked her wet folds before moving his tongue expertly around her clit and sucking it into his mouth.

She began lifting her hips, trying to press her pussy closer to him, but he put his hand on her abdomen.

“Lie still, baby.” He heard her mewl in protest, but he just grinned.

Plunging his tongue deeper, he reached up with his hand and fondled her breast, tweaking the nipple as she tried to lie still. The pressure built until she thought she would explode.

Gabe watched her in the throes of ecstasy as he kept his head between her legs. She cried out his name as she burst into a million pieces, her body shaking with the force of the orgasm. Panting as though she had finished a race, she lay on the bed, boneless. She felt the bed shift as he came up over her body, keeping his weight off of her as his muscular arms flexed with the strain.

Suddenly needing his cock deep inside of her, she spread her legs wide, welcoming him into her body. Her slick pussy grabbed at him as she became accustomed to his girth.

He pounded into her, watching her breasts bounce with each thrust. She threw her hands above her head and grabbed the headboard. Leaning down to grasp a nipple in his mouth, he sucked deeply then used his teeth to gently bite the swollen tip. That was all it took for her to go over the edge once more.

She felt her inner muscles grab at him as he continued to pound deep inside. Suddenly he pulled out and her eyes flew open as she wondered why he stopped.

Flipping her over, he ordered, “On your knees, baby.” She immediately rose up on all fours and he entered her from behind. Gabe slammed into her wet pussy, the force moving her forward. He grabbed her hips, holding her tightly, hoping he was not leaving bruises on her perfect skin. Feeling his balls tighten, he knew his release was imminent so he reached around and tweaked her clit once again. With just the right pressure, he brought her to orgasm again just as he felt his own rip from his body. He pulsated inside until every drop was gone, knowing without a doubt that she was the only woman for him.

Both breathing in great gulps of air, they lay entwined for several minutes as their heartbeats slowed in unison.

As Jennifer lay sated, she knew that she’d made the right decision. As his arms surrounded her once more, holding her tightly to his chest, she knew she had nothing to worry about. He gave her everything. More than she could ever want or need.

Sleep claimed her quickly as they lay tangled together. Used to sleeping naked, he now slept with his boxers on just as Jennifer always put on one of his t-shirts, since Ross could come into the bedroom at any time. Gabe lay there for a few minutes, tucking her tiny body into his massive one. Smiling, he thought of how his life had changed so much in the past few months. His huge, masculine apartment now had some books and video games scattered in the living room, peanut butter in his kitchen cabinets, hair care products and makeup in his bathroom, and a wonderful little boy and a beautiful, caring woman graced his life.
Jesus, I am one lucky fuck.
Pulling her in tighter, he soon joined her in slumber.

Several hours later his cell rang. Grabbing it quickly, he answered with a “Yeah, talk.”

Jennifer raised up on her elbows, pushing the mass of curls from her face. She watched as his face grew hard while he just listened, saying nothing.

“Gotcha. I’ll tell Tony. We’ve got them covered. Yeah. Both of them.” With that, he disconnected and tossed his phone on the nightstand. Sitting up, he sucked in a huge breath, rubbing his hand over his face. Feeling a small hand on his arm, he looked over at the woman staring up at him, concern in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered as though trying to keep the news from being bad if she were very quiet.

“The man picked up for assaulting you was let out on bail. Not surprising. But his body was just found down at the river. He’d been shot first.”

Her lips made an ‘O’, but no sound came out. After a few seconds, she whispered again. “Maybe he was just…”

“Babe, his hands were tied behind his back. Execution style.”

This time when her mouth formed an ‘O’, it was accompanied by wide eyes, searching his for a reason.

He twisted his body around so that he was facing her and pulled her into his lap. Taking his large hands, he tried to cradle her with one on her back and the other on her face. “We know that you were not a random assault. They were there for you. The false call, the way the fucker shut up in questioning, and now an execution.”

She head-planted into his chest, a sick feeling rising from her stomach into her throat. He slid his hand from her cheek to the back of her head, holding her against his heartbeat.

“Baby, I’m on this. We’re on this. We’ve got you covered. You and Ross.”

At that, her head jerked up, eyes wide again, this time in panic. “Ross? Oh my God, Gabe. Ross? He’s in danger?”

“Baby, listen to me.”

But she was too far gone. Trying to scramble from the bed, she found herself tackled by a large, masculine body trapping her underneath him.

“You have to let me go. I’ve got to get Ross away from here. I’ve got to…oh God…I’ve got to…”

“Baby, calm down. Look at me. Jennifer, look at me,” he gently ordered.

Her wild eyes locked onto his. Searching. Hoping.

“Baby, you’re not going anywhere and you’re not taking Ross anywhere. You are safe in this building. It’s secure and I can protect you here.”

“But we can’t stay here forever.”

“Ross can miss a couple of days of school and—”

“Don’t you dare suggest I miss more work,” she argued.

Sucking in a deep breath to calm himself, he rolled off of her taking her with him. Sitting up against the headboard, he pulled her across his lap so she was straddling him. “Gonna put a man on you and Ross until this mess is cleared up.”

“A man?”

“Yeah, either me or someone from Tony’s will be with you and Ross. Take him back and forth to school, and someone to take you as well. No more public transportation for either of you.”

She nodded slowly, then looked back into his face. “How can Tony do that? Afford that, I mean?”

“Baby, you’re mine. Ross is mine. I take care of what’s mine. And my brothers? We take care of each other. We’ve got this.”

Sliding down into the bed, he gently pulled her down with him. Let’s sleep for now. In the morning, I’ll talk to Vinny and Tony and we’ll set up what we need to do.”

She acquiesced, but sleep did not return. For either of them.

*

The next afternoon
found Jennifer and Ross accompanying Gabe into Alvarez Security. After settling Ross in the safe room and answering his non-stop questions about everything he was seeing, Jennifer and Gabe went into one of the large conference rooms. Shane and Matt had joined the assembly. Lily hugged her and then they all sat down. Gabe’s arm was thrown casually across the back of her chair, but everyone knew she fell under his, and their, protection.

All eyes turned toward her, but she just stared dumbly at them. “I know…I know you all want me to have some kind of answer or reason for this, but I—”

“No Jennifer,” Tony spoke up. “We just want to pull together as much intel as we can so we know who we’re fighting.”

Shane spoke first, saying, “The man you identified as assaulting you clammed up in the station. Wouldn’t say anything and we knew he’d get out on bail. He had no priors and no record. A fisherman out late last night saw him in the water. When he was fished out, he had been shot in the head at close range, with his hands tied behind his back. Definitely an execution.”

Matt took over, “We’ve identified him and while there is little on him, his mother did say that her son had been dressing nicely and telling her that he had a good job. She assumed he was in business, but there’s no record or taxes. His face was partially blown off—”

At this Jennifer gasped and Gabe glared at him.

“Sorry, honey. We took his driver’s license photo to a couple of people who have been complaining of extortion and have a positive identification that he and a partner have shown up at business or buildings.”

“Extortion? I don’t really know what that means, other than like in the Godfather movie,” Jennifer said honestly.

Shane nodded, “It’s the same thing. Someone wants something and doesn’t want to have to pay for it. Or they want someone to pay them for something they shouldn’t have to pay for. So they send in enforcers.” Seeing her forehead crinkle in confusion, he continued, “Thugs. Someone to threaten if they don’t get their way.”

“Okaaay,” she said slowly, nodding in understanding. “But I still don’t see how that affects me.”

“Some of the old buildings in your area have been sold for next to nothing and then flipped into nice buildings that are then sold or rented for a huge profit. You’ve already said that someone’s been interested in the building you’re in.”

“Yes, but I don’t own it. A Mr. Stuart Mason owns the building. I’ve talked on the phone with him a few times and he assures me that he has no intention of selling.”

“Maybe if your program is scared out of the building, Mr. Mason will have to sell because he’ll need some money if no rent or grant money is coming in.”

Lily piped up then, saying, “I’ve continued to try to run down the interested parties in her building. Mr. Michael Gibbons of Gibbons’s Realty has looked into several buildings in the area for clients. His business itself appears completely legitimate. He handles real estate for many clients, generally the high-end ones who have millions to spend on big houses or condos. He also handles the real estate needs for a lot of the businesses in the city.”

“I met him at the event the other evening. He was there with his wife. They seemed friendly with the Senator and his wife as well.”

“Just because he’s legit doesn’t make his business partners or associates legit,” Tony noted.

“Exactly,” Matt agreed. Turning to Lily, he said, “Can you keep digging? On his clients, associates, anything to tie into the extortion.”

“On it,” Lily said with a smile and a wink.

Gabe’s hand slid from the back of Jennifer’s chair to her shoulder, massaging the tightness. She turned to look into his confident face. “Told you babe. We’ve got this,” he said.

“Ross—” she started.

Tony interrupted, “We’ve got him covered too. Vinny or Gabe will drop him off at school and then we’ll make sure someone picks him up at school every day. We just need you to notify the school that someone with an Alvarez Security identification will be there to pick him up.”

She nodded, “Okay. I can do that. I…just don’t know what to tell him.”

The table was silent for a moment as they group pondered. None of them were parents, but Jobe spoke up. “Honesty’s always best. Kids know when things aren’t good or aren’t right. Don’t scare him but don’t keep him in the dark.”

She looked over at Jobe’s handsome face, seeing wisdom beyond his years. “I think you’re right.” Turing to Gabe, she said, “Will you be with me when I tell him?”

His eyes warmed as he lost himself momentarily in the depths of her crystal blue ones. “Yeah baby. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, than right by your side.”

Vinny smiled at his brother’s good fortune in finding such a woman as Jennifer, then sobered. “Besides a security detail for the two of them and Lily and BJ digging into Michael Gibbons’ clients, what else?”

Shane said, “We’re investigating the extortion end of things. If you can look into anything involving Jennifer’s work or the center that’d be good.”

Tony added, “Gonna do some digging into this Monty character.”

At that Jennifer looked up and said, “Oh I have someone who’s helping me with that.”

The group looked at her and she noticed Tony’s eyes cut sharply to her. “I have a friend that’s at the capitol building a lot. The lawyer she works for has several clients who work there and Monty’s used to her. She’s going to do some digging for me.”