The Hitman

                                                                        Chapter 3

It was almost a week later before she saw him again and it was at the grocery store of all places. She’d just picked Abigail up from school and needed to get a few things to go along with dinner when she spotted him standing at the meat counter. She was torn between turning around and leaving, and approaching him. After what had happened, she was a little afraid of him, but she knew she should really thank him for the flowers. It had been a kind gesture, letting her know he hadn’t intended her any harm, so after a few seconds of arguing with herself, her good manners won out and she pushed her cart up alongside him.

“Hello, Gabriel.”

Gabriel stiffened slightly at hearing his name and slowly turned around. This was the second time she’d had caught him off guard and that was not good. For fifteen years the Feds had been after him and hadn’t gotten close enough to even know what he looked like. Yet if he weren’t careful a housewife could bring him down. He had been following her all week without her knowing it, learning her routine, trying to find any irregularities. Gabriel quickly discovered that Rachel was a very scheduled woman. He kept telling himself he was taking his time with this because he wanted to do it right, but he was afraid he was stalling because he just didn’t want to snuff the light out of those beautiful green eyes of hers. It wasn’t like him to take so long and he found himself making excuses to George as to why the job wasn’t finished yet.

“Rachel,” he acknowledged her with a slight nod, his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment before boldly traveling down to the soft pink sleeveless dress that clung to her curves. He noticed her hair was down today; it hung down in thick waves just past her shoulders, her bangs whispered softly across her forehead. His eyes traveled further down to find that the dress ended mid-thigh, revealing long legs. Oh God, he was a sucker for long legs! Feeling the familiar tightening in his groin, his dark eyes rose up to meet hers again only to find her blushing profusely. Gabriel grinned and turned his attention to the little girl who sat in the shopping cart staring at him.

“Hello there, principessa. Who might you be?” he asked, turning on the charm.

“My mommy told me never to talk to strangers,” Abigail stated matter-of-factly.

“She did?” Gabriel replied acting surprised. “Well, you know what? She is absolutely right. So how about I introduce myself? My name is Gabriel Monteleone.”

Abigail looked to her mother for permission and when Rachel nodded her okay, Abigail smiled at Gabriel and announced quite loudly, “My name is Abigail Lacy Stone.”

Gabriel laughed and scooped up Abigail’s hand and lightly kissed the back of it. “It is an honor and a privilege to meet you, Miss Abigail Lacy Stone.”

“What’s a pri-pri-”

“Principessa,” Gabriel supplied for her. “That is Italian for princess. Do you mind if I call you that?”

Abigail’s eyes widened a little then she gave him a big smile and shook her head. “I don’t mind. You know how to talk Italian?” Gabriel laughed again, the husky tones skittering along Rachel’s skin giving her goosebumps.

“Si, principessa. I was born in Italy.” Abigail’s eyes grew large as saucers and she looked over at her mother.

“Did you hear that momma? He’s from Itly!”

“That’s It-a-ly, Abby and yes, I heard that.” Rachel smiled at her daughter’s enthusiasm.

“Momma, can we go visit Mr. Montylon in It-a-lee?”

Rachel felt her cheeks heating up again as the man in question turned his dark eyes on her again to wait for her answer. “Baby, it’s Monteleone and I… ah… I’m afraid that Italy is too far away from here, honey. Besides, he’s right here with us now, why would we need to go to Italy to see him?”

“But I want to go to It-a-lee!” Rachel flickered panicked eyes at Gabriel then back to her daughter. Great! That was all she needed, to have Abigail throw a temper tantrum in the middle of the grocery store in front of Mr. Sexy here!

“Perhaps, principessa, when you are a little older, you can come to Italy for a visit,” Gabriel offered kindly.

Abigail thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “Okay.”

Rachel mouthed a “thank you” to him and he nodded with an amused smile. “What about you, dolcezza? Would you like to visit Italy some day?”

“Maybe someday,” she answered vaguely. She wanted to ask him what ‘dolcezza’ meant, but was too chicken, afraid what the answer would be.

“Mr. Monylonee, do you like Beanie Babies?” Rachel winced at how badly Abigail was mangling his last name, but Gabriel just chuckled softly.

“Tell you what, Abigail, with your mother’s permission, maybe you can call me Gabriel?” His questioning gaze turned to Rachel.

“Sure, that’s fine, Abby, you may call him Gabriel.”

“Okay, momma,” Abigail smiled happily and turned her attention back to Gabriel. “Well? Do you like Beanie Babies, Gabriel?”

“In all honesty, principessa, I haven’t a clue what a Beanie Baby is.”

Abigail gave him a look that bordered between horrified and disappointment. Gabriel had to hide a smile. “Don’t you have kids?” she demanded.

“Abigail!” Rachel nearly fainted. She truly loved her daughter, but sometimes she could be so embarrassing.

“It’s all right, Rachel.” He grinned giving Abigail his attention. “No, Abigail, I don’t have kids.” His eyes turned back to Rachel and darkened slightly. “I’m not even married, so you’ll have to forgive me if I am somewhat ignorant of kids’ toys.”

Rachel felt the warm blush burning her cheeks. Dear God, was he coming on to her? It had been so long since she’d been single; she’d forgotten what it was like to flirt.

“Oh, okay, I guess I can forgive you then,” Abigail announced. “Maybe you can come over to my house and I can show you my collection. Momma’s a good cook and she can make dinner.”

Rachel’s eyes had widened in panic as her daughter once again put her in a precarious situation. She looked over at Gabriel who was silently laughing at her. He knew, the creep, and he was waiting to see how she’d get out of this one! Rachel glared at him, letting him know she was not amused and turned to her daughter. His smile only widened. “Abby, honey, we cannot invite Mr. Monteleone over for dinner.”

“Why not?”

“Well, because of Daddy, that’s why not. A married woman doesn’t go around inviting single men over, it doesn’t look right,” she tried to explain without getting too deep.

“But Momma, Daddy is never home anymore and Gabriel is my new friend! He has to see my Beanie Baby collection!”

Rachel sighed softly and stroked her daughter’s long hair that was a shade lighter than her own. Her gaze flickered over to Gabriel to find he wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, he looked rather pissed. Rachel took a protective step towards Abigail and turned more fully towards him putting herself between him and her daughter.

It angered Gabriel to hear Abigail talk about her Daddy never being home. He found he did not like Martin Stone at all. He had a beautiful family and the asshole didn’t even see it. But what bothered him even more was how much it really upset him at the thought of Rachel being married to this creep!

Rachel’s movement caught his attention and he watched as she placed herself between him and her daughter. He knew why, he knew that his anger was showing in his face. He had to admire her bravery. Rachel was a good mother and he hated the thought of having to kill her.

“I would never harm your daughter, Rachel.” His voice was whisper-soft. Rachel met his intense gaze head on for a moment more, then nodded her head indicating she believed him. She didn’t understand why, but she did.

“Thank you for the beautiful flowers,” she finally said, deciding a change of subject was needed.

“You’re welcome. It was the least I could do after what I did. I was a little rough with you, I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Rachel saw genuine concern in his eyes. She shook her head.

“No, you didn’t hurt me, but you did manage to scare some sense into me. But the next time you want to teach me a lesson, could you just tell me I’m an idiot without all the drama?” She smiled.

The smile returned easily to Gabriel’s face. “It’s a deal.” He looked as if he might say more, but instead he turned his attention back to Abigail. “It was a pleasure meeting you, principessa.” He bowed to her eliciting a giggle from her.

Then before Rachel could react, Gabriel caught her hand in his, turned it over and pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist. Their eyes met and held. “And it was a pleasure seeing you again, dolcezza.” Releasing her hand, he turned and left.

Rachel slowly released the breath she’d been holding as she watched him walk away. He was wearing all black and he looked sexy and sinful. She felt her mouth watering at how his black Levi’s molded to his ass as he moved down the aisle to finally disappear as turned into the next row. It was another five minutes before Rachel could trust her legs to hold herself up so she could finish her shopping.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gabriel slammed the front door to his apartment as he thoroughly cursed himself in Italian. What the hell did he think he was doing? He was allowing himself to get too close to her. He was known far and wide for being a cold-hearted bastard, yet this slip of a woman had managed to get under his skin like no one else ever had. And now he’d met her daughter, who was sweet and precocious.

Angrily, he tossed the bag of groceries onto the counter and took his jacket off, tossing it across a chair. Reaching behind him, he pulled his gun out and slammed it on the table. Like a caged tiger, he began to pace around the small apartment. The whole scene at the grocery store played back in his head and he wanted to kick himself. That little girl had charmed the socks right off him and the thought of destroying her life by killing her mother was almost too much for him. For the first time in his life, Gabriel considered not doing it, just walking away. He shook his head roughly as if to clear it.

No! He couldn’t do that! He had a reputation to uphold. It didn’t matter that this was probably his last hit. If he balked at killing a woman, it could create all kinds of problems for him. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to take care of Rachel and soon, before he lost his nerve, before it was too late and he lost more than his nerve . . . before he lost his heart.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day was Saturday. Rachel and Abigail had a standing date to go to the park on Saturday mornings and this particular Saturday was no different. Rachel watched Abigail play with some other kids on the big jungle gym, while she talked to Nancy, one of the other mothers. Her attention drawn back to the conversation, she didn’t notice as Abigail wandered off after a stray dog.

“Uh, Rachel? Isn’t that Abigail?” Nancy asked, pointing off toward an apartment complex across from the park.

Rachel turned and looked in the direction Nancy pointed and gasped loudly. “Oh my God!” Jumping up she began to run as fast as she could across the park towards her daughter who was just stepping off the curb into the street. “Abigail, no baby, don’t go in the street!”

Abigail followed the dog into the street. She thought she heard her mother calling, but she didn’t want the dog to get away. It was such a cute doggy and she wanted to take it home.

Rachel saw a large delivery truck bearing down on her daughter from up the street. She screamed her daughter’s name as tears began to flood her eyes. Even as she ran as fast as she could, she realized that she would not reach her daughter in time.

Gabriel was coming out of the apartment complex when he heard a woman screaming. Locating the source, he frowned when he saw Rachel running towards him from across the park. It didn’t make sense to him. She didn’t know that he lived here. Then his gaze dropped further down to the street below and his knees nearly buckled at what he saw. Abigail, in the middle of the street, bent over and petting a dog as a large delivery truck headed right for her.

“Cristo!” He sprinted down the steps, into the street. Snatching her up in his arms, he had to literally throw himself out of the way to keep from them both from being hit by the truck. Twisting so that he would take the hit to the pavement and not Abigail, he landed hard, the back of his left shoulder slamming into the curb, his arms wrapped tightly around the child protecting her as best as he could. Pain exploded down his left arm, but he forced himself to ignore it as he rolled onto his back and sat up. Abigail was crying and he held her against his chest, soothing her with his hand and soft words of reassurance.

Rachel ran up and grabbed Abigail from Gabriel’s arms. She collapsed to her knees rocking and holding Abigail tight. “Oh my baby,” Rachel cried stroking Abigail’s hair. Pushing Abigail back just enough to see her face, she scolded her. “Don’t you ever do that again, do you understand me?!”

“Yes, mommy,” Abigail hiccupped, tears streaming down her face. Rachel pulled her close again for another hug.

“I love you, baby. I couldn’t survive if something happened to you!” She kissed her cheek and looked over at the man who’d saved her daughters life. “Gabriel!”

Her eyes widened in surprise. He was the last person she expected to see. “What are you doing here?”

Gabriel winced at the pain that shot down his arm. He was sitting on the curb now, half twisted around so he could see Rachel and Abigail on the sidewalk. “I live in the apartments across the street over there,” he answered. Without thinking, he lifted his left hand to jerk his thumb behind him and nearly fainted at the searing pain that exploded in his shoulder and down his arm. He moaned as he swayed a bit under the pain.

Rachel’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Oh my God, you’re hurt!” She gently set Abigail away from her and stood up, moving to squat next to Gabriel.

“It’s nothing,” he growled as he tried to push away her hand.

“It is not nothing, Gabriel, now let me take a look!” He glared at her but conceded. Rachel rolled her eyes and muttered something about macho men under her breath and reached out to unbutton the front of his shirt so she could push the material off his shoulder. He was wearing a lightweight jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. “The jacket needs to come off.”

Gabriel grabbed at her hands with his right hand. “The jacket stays on,” his voice was deadly soft. His gun was tucked in the small of his back and removing his jacket would expose it and he didn’t want to explain its presence to Rachel or anyone else.

“Gabriel, I can’t check your shoulder with the jacket-”

“It stays on, damn it!” he growled. Their eyes met and even as her body thrilled at the touch of his hand holding hers, the cold hard look in his eyes caused her to shiver as a feather of fear tickled down her spine. Dangerous. The word flittered once again through her mind.

She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Okay, it stays on.”

Gabriel took a deep breath and released her hands. Rachel hesitated for a brief moment, then began unbuttoning the front of his shirt again. Her heart stuttered in her chest when she saw his bare flesh come into view. Good God almighty! she thought to herself as her fingertips brushed against hard muscle. Taking a deep breath, she eased the shirt and jacket off his left shoulder and gasped. It was swelling and the skin was a deep purple.

“Oh, Gabriel,” she managed to whisper. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what he’d done to save her daughter’s life. “We need to get you to the hospital!”

Gabriel was inspecting his shoulder, his head turned to the side gazing down at the swollen bruised flesh. “No hospital,” he answered coldly.

“But it might be broken-”

His dark eyes snapped up and Rachel flinched, recoiling back. “I said, no hospital!”

Easing the material of his shirt and jacket back down on his injured shoulder, Rachel withdrew her hands. “Have I . . .” She paused, not sure whether or not she should ask. She swallowed hard when he looked back up at her again.

“Have you what?” His voice was gravely, tinged with pain and anger.

“Have I done something to anger you?” Gabriel froze for a split second, then stood up. Rachel backed up a bit and stood with him. She glanced over to Abigail to make sure she was all right and saw that her friend Nancy had pulled her away and was attending to her. She returned her attention to Gabriel, watching him carefully button up his shirt.

Gabriel was struggling was his emotions. Adrenaline was still racing through his bloodstream and pain from his shoulder laced the edge of his control. Yet through it all, his mind was focused on one thing. The touch of her fingertips across his skin. His flesh still burned from her brief touch and he knew he needed to get away from her before he did something really stupid. Let her think he was angry with her. Putting on the act of cold anger was the only way he could protect himself. He ignored her question and started to turn away when suddenly she moved forward. Carefully, she clutched the front of his shirt in her small hands and pressed her forehead to the middle of his chest. He froze.

“You saved Abigail’s life,” she whispered softly. He heard her breath hitch, and her hands trembled against his chest. “How can I repay you?”

Unable to resist, Gabriel raised his right hand and placed it against the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her soft hair. His eyes closed as his chin dropped to the top of her head and he sighed softly. She smelled like roses. “I don’t want anything from you, Rachel. I’m just glad Abigail is safe.”

“Surely there is something I can do for you,” she continued lifting her head to look up at him. “Let me fix that dinner for you. You could come over tonight.” Gabriel started to shake his head. “Please,” she pleaded. “It doesn’t even come close to repaying you for saving my daughter’s life, but I need to do something. Please let me do this for you.”

Gabriel could see his control slipping away. Her green eyes, bright with tears and her soft pleading voice were his undoing and he caved like a house of cards being gently blown at. “All right, dolcezza,” he answered softly, stroking her hair. Maybe this will give me my chance to get this finished and get out of here, he thought to himself. “I’ll come for dinner.”

Rachel nodded, then frowned with concern. “Will you go see a doctor?” When he started to shake his head, she clutched at the front of his shirt a bit harder. “Please, Gabriel.”

He pursed his lips and growled softly. “Testarda donna! (Stubborn woman) Don’t be such a nag!” Rachel started to open her mouth, but Gabriel silenced her. “All right, dolcezza. I will have my shoulder looked at.”

Rachel frowned at his choice of words, but nodded without further comment and released the front of his shirt. “Dinner will be ready by seven.” He nodded as she stepped away from him and headed over to where Abigail stood with Nancy. He watched as Rachel bent down so Abigail could say something to her and she glanced back at him and nodded. Abigail pulled away from her mother then and walked over to him. As she drew closer, he slowly went down to his knees before her.

“Thank you,” she said shyly and kissed him on the cheek, careful not to touch his injured shoulder. Without another word, she turned and walked back to her mother and they left.

Gabriel stood carefully and continued to stand there long after they were gone. His shoulder throbbed something fierce, but he doubted it was broken. He sighed in frustration. Once again his determination had been undermined by Rachel and her daughter. Abigail’s little kiss had put unexpected warmth back into his cold heart. He was beginning to care too much for Abigail and her mother, way too much. Tonight, he thought. I’ll have to do it tonight. If he didn’t, he knew he never would. And then, he decided, he would kill Martin Stone. He didn’t care if he got the money or not.

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                                                         The Hitman - Chapter 4