“No, that’s it. I won’t be asking for blood or any of that. I’m going to start building a case against Kendrick. I just hope he isn’t as impossible to find as the rest of you, or we are going to have a problem. I hope everyone has a good rest of their day.” Officer Howard reaches out his hand for me to shake.
“Thank you for coming out. We want to get this taken care of as soon as possible,” I say.
He steps outside and appreciates the view of the redwood trees surrounding us. His hand falls to his hip and that was when I noticed the gun tucked in the back of his pants. “Do me a favor? Give us a chance to take care of it before you do. Last thing I need to do is arrest someone again, that I think is innocent. Okay?”
“Depends, Officer.”
“On what?”
“On how long it takes. I won’t have her living in fear for months or years. He nearly killed her, more than once, and I want him out of the way so we can live our lives. Do you get that?”
“I do, but I can’t stop every badge from coming to arrest you if things get messy.”
“We won’t be here if that time comes. We have no problem packing up and starting over again. If shit goes south, this house will be empty, and we will be nothing but a damn ghost to you, Officer. You won’t be able to find us either. You only found us because of Grayson. I’ll give you a week before I do this myself.”
“A week?” Officer Howard laughs, but not because it is funny. “You’ll be lucky to get this restraining order approved in a week.”
“Then I guess time’s-a-tickin’ isn’t it?” I slam the door in his face and crack my neck. This s beyond stressful.
“Is he gone?” Gabriella asks from the couch. She has a blanket draped over her now, cuddled up on the couch, and Heaven is next to her for some reason.
“Yeah, but why isn’t he?” I point to the parasite at the other end of the loveseat rubbing Gabriella’s feet.
“She wanted her feet rubbed. She deserves it,” Heaven says, rolling his thumbs across the arch of her foot.
“I deserve it, Sebastian.” Gabriella snickers when Heaven winks.
“Can’t believe I’m kicked out of cuddling my own girlfriend.” I fall next to Owen, and Grayson sits on the other end of the sectional.
“You’ll get over it. Let’s watch movies the rest of the night. Kick back and relax? What do you say, Gabby?” Owen asks, calling her Gabby for the first time; something I only do.
I don’t mind it. I like the guys getting comfortable like that. It means they liked her.
“Oh, I’d love that. I haven’t seen a movie in years. Just not Slenderman. I hate that movie.”
“It’s not even a good one,” Heaven adds. “It’s predictable. And my fucking thigh is itching like crazy. I can’t get my hand in the cast to itch it.” He moves around and try to dig his hand between his leg and cast, but it’s too big.
“I can probably get it,” Gabriella offers.
“You are not itching his gross leg,” I argue. “Who knows what’s down there. Do you really want to risk it? There’s probably an entirely new ecosystem, thriving.” I shiver at the thought of her scratching him and pulling out an old Cheeto or something.
“I’ll risk it,” Gabriella pushes her hand at the top of the Heaven’s cast and Heaven grips the couch cushions when she starts to scratch. “Right there?”
“Little to the left, okay, right, down, right there. Oh, God, yes! Right there. That’s the stuff.” Heaven’s eyes roll back, and his knuckles turn white. “Oh my God, I love you. I love you so much. Jesus, this feels so good.”
Gabriella stops scratching and narrows her eyes at Heaven. “You’re not … going to … you know … come?”
“I just might if you keep it up,” Heaven slurs. He sounded like he just had four shots of vodka and one of those bitch drinks he loves so much.
Gabriella yanks her hand out of the cast and points. “Only scratches, no happy endings for you, buddy!”
“Yeah!” I say pulling her back until she sits on my lap again. “Those are reserved for me.”
I want more than happy endings with Gabriella. I want an eternity of happy. One week, and it will be my job to make sure an eternity happens.
Chapter Twenty-Two
GABRIELLA