Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (34 page)

Just as she whispered something to Robert, she turned and almost ran into him. The moment was absolutely perfect. She gasped sharply, and when she blinked and looked up at his face, all he could do was stare at her and utter the words he’d been repeating over and over in his head since the moment he’d realized he was actually going to meet his mother.

“Hello,” he said softly. “My name is Gabriel. I am your son, and I just have one question for you. Did you leave me with him because you didn’t want me, or did you truly not know that I was alive?”

Then something unexpected happened. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she dropped. Luckily Gabriel possessed naturally quick reflexes, and his arm swiftly wrapped around her waist.

“Mom!” Carter exclaimed fearfully.

As he gripped her, he felt what he was sure was a bandage on her side. She had been hurt.

Numerous men darted forward to come to her aid, calling her name, but Gabriel halted them all by scooping his mother up in his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, but she was still out. He looked over to his sister. “Come, Carter. I want you there when I talk to our mother. She will wake soon.”

Carter nodded and followed him as she began toward the large mansion. “Who has been caring for my mother?” he asked, walking toward the men standing in front of the house.

“I have,” a man answered. He was about an inch or two taller than Gabriel, with inky black hair and cold, sky blue eyes full of concern for Anastacia. When he came forward, he looked as if he wanted to take his mother from his arms.

That was another no-no when dealing with Gabriel; another not so appealing thing he’d inherited from his father. He was fiercely possessive. He’d only just laid eyes on her, but she was his mother and she was hurting. He didn’t need anyone else to take care of her when he could. She was obviously over stressed; some alone time with him and Carter would do her some good. They could get to know each other.

“Sir, will you kindly tell Carter which room our mother is occupying?” Gabriel asked the concerned blue-eyed man just as another taller man came forward.

“How about you let me take her,” the taller man that resembled Carter’s husband said. “She needs rest. Once she wakes you can talk to her.”

Gabriel turned a blank look to the man. “Who are you?” he asked, his tone dripping with annoyance.

Carter quickly walked forward and took the taller man’s arm. “He’s my father-in-law.” She looked up to the man. “Daddy Angelo, this is my twin-brother Gabriel. Gabriel, this is—”

“Someone I have no interest in meeting, Carter.”

Carter gasped, “Gabe.” She wordlessly chided him for his rudeness as a deep frown appeared on her face.

Gabriel sighed. “Forgive my rudeness. I am still … adjusting. I’m walking past you now. If you’ll excuse me. Come with me, Carter, please.”

Carter kissed the older gentleman on the cheek. “Trust me, Daddy Angelo.” She motioned for Gabriel to follow her. “We will be out soon. Spook Steele, be nice!”

~*~

“Are you nervous?” Carter asked.

Gabriel shrugged. “I suppose so. I still can’t believe she passed out.”

Carter chuckled. “I can’t believe a lot of things right now.” She pointed at their now sleeping mother. “This woman right here looks nothing like the well put together, strict, hard-shelled woman that I remember from just a week ago.”

“What’s different?” Gabriel asked with a curious smile.

“Well, first off, I had no idea she owned a pair of flannel pajamas. Her hair his hilariously tangled, and she’s wearing my bunny slippers.”

“It’s because I wanted to feel closer to you …”

Anastacia’s voice caught them off guard, and they both jumped as their head snapped in her direction.

“Mom!” they exclaimed simultaneously.

When she locked eyes with him, Gabriel caught himself immediately, feeling his face heat in embarrassment.
Why the hell did I call her Mom?
I just met the woman for heaven’s sake. Now she probably thinks I’m a freak
.

Looking away from her, he whispered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t apologize, Gabriel.” She balanced on her hands and pushed herself up to a sitting position. “There is no need. You will call me your mother because that is what I am. I am your mother.”

Gabriel felt tears fill his eyes when she said the words to him. She was his mother. “So he lied? You didn’t abandon me?”

She shook her head as tears fell from her eyes. “I would never, Gabriel. I swear to you.”

“So you thought I was …”

“Yes,” she cried, nodding her head. She inhaled a shaky breath before being able to continue. “I was unconscious when I delivered you and your sister. She and I were both in bad condition. After we left the hospital, Silas handed us off to Robert. The moment I woke up after giving birth the doctor told me that you had died. I was only seven months along, so I–I … I believed them.” She reached forward and took his hand. “I swear to you, honey, had I known that Silas had taken you, I would have done anything to get you back. I thought you were dead, he told me you didn’t survive the attack.”

“What attack?” he asked in confusion. “I didn’t know you were attacked.”

“Silas attacked Mom, Gabriel,” Carter explained softly. “While she was pregnant with us.”

“It is the truth,” Anastacia said. “I left him when I was nearly five months pregnant—”

“Wait, what?” Carter interrupted their mother with a look of confusion. “Mom, what are you talking about? I thought you barely knew him. I thought he was obsessed with you.”

Now Anastacia looked away from them both, seeming to pull herself together. When she turned back to them, her lip was trembling. “Umm …” she whispered nervously, running her hands over her thighs. “Carterina, I—”

“You lied.” Carter’s tone was both wounded and heartbroken. “B–but you promised, Mom. Why would you lie to me? You said that we would build trust—”

“And I meant that, baby, I really did. You just have to let me explain.”

Reaching over, Gabriel took Carter’s hand and they looked at each other. After a moment, they silently agreed to hear their mother out. They both took her hands and listened to her as she began to speak.

“Carterina … Gabriel. I met your father when I was at one of the lowest points in my life. But before I tell you about it, I want to tell you both that you two were not the result of some fly-by-night affair. You were made from love.” She swallowed as tears continued to stream from her eyes. “There was a time when I was … head over heels in love with your father. I would have done anything for him. Two weeks after we met, he and I exchanged vows. I didn’t become pregnant with the two of you until months into our marriage. I met him on my twenty-first birthday.”

Both Carter and Gabriel listened closely as they learned of one of the most disastrous relationships in the history of mankind.
Catastrophic!
They were stunned silent by the events that had occurred during their parents’ marriage. Anastacia told them in detail how some of their worst arguments happened, she told them of his control over her, and of her embarrassment for going back to him … She told them the truth. The cold, hard, painful truth, even though it was more than obvious that it was extremely difficult for her. By the time she finished, they were all crying.

“I just want you both to know that no matter what happened during your father’s and my relationship, I will never regret marrying him.”

They both shook their head. “Mom, you don’t have to say that,” Gabriel stated. The woman deserved to regret whatever the hell she wanted to.

She squeezed their hands. “Yes I do, honey. I say it because I mean it. I’d endure everything, all of it again, if only to have this moment. I know the road to this was hard, my babies, I know. If I could change it, and make it better for you both, you have to believe me when I tell you that I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“We know, Mommy,” Carter said, giving their mother a soft smile. “We know that.”

“Good,” she sighed. “I’m so glad. You two are my heart. I’ve loved you both since the moment I felt you moving inside of my womb. I wanted you even before I knew I carried you. You both are a part of me, and I am so sorry that the decision I made hurt you. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be there … be your mother when you needed me the most.”

“We need you now, Mom,” Gabriel said, moving closer to his mother. “Honestly, I no longer care about the past.”

“Neither do I,” Carter agreed, moving closer as well. “I think we should let it go, and move forward from here.”

“I agree,” Gabriel affirmed. “Mom, Carter and I still need our mother. We still want you in our lives. I don’t want to spend all of our time sad and angry about the past, we can’t change that. I want this.” He squeezed their hands gently as his voice shook with emotion. “I want you, and my sister. I want to know that from this day forward we’re going to be a family. I just want to know that I … that I’ll never be alone again. Mom, he kept me in a secluded basement in a castle for eight years. I don’t ever want to go back to that—”

Anastacia quickly rose up on her knees and pulled him into her arms. Gabriel wrapped his free arm around his mother and held on to her tightly, never releasing his sister’s hand.

“I promise you, my beautiful baby boy, you will never go back to that place.”

Being in the arms of his mother was an indescribable feeling. She was right. Gabriel would die before he ever let Silas keep him away from his mother or sister again. He loved them both. It was instantaneous; it had happened the moment he’d laid eyes on them, and he welcomed it. He welcomed the instant love, he welcomed the chance he took giving them his heart so freely if this was the payoff. He had a mother and sister that loved him. He finally had a real family.

~*~

They all sat in a circle atop the bed as Gabriel glanced from his mother to sister, mustering up the courage to begin his story.

“Go ahead, Gabe,” Carter encouraged. “You know about us. Now it’s time for us to get to know you.”

“Go ahead, honey,” his mother said with a warm smile. “You know we’ll love you regardless.”

Gabriel sighed, the words giving him the courage he needed to begin.

“I lived in London,” he said softly, “with an older woman named Nanette for the first eight years of my life. I had a happy childhood, and I actually looked forward to the visits I got from Silas. I loved him as my father very much. Every time he’d come, we would play and he would talk about his time visiting his brother’s daughter, who I now know was Carter. The good time lasted until I was eight. My Nanette became ill, but her illness wasn’t terminal. With proper treatment, she would have been able to survive. For a year she was treated, and soon she began to feel better. For a little while she became so ill that she was unable to keep any food down. As a result of her inability to eat, she lost a lot of weight, causing her to look weak and a little frail. But in time I thought she would get better.” He sighed sadly as the memories of his dear Nanette flooded his thoughts. “It happened on Silas’s birthday. Every year he would come celebrate his birthday at our house in London. When he arrived that night, he took one look at her and told her that she was no longer fit to care for me. She begged him to just give her a little bit of time, she was recovering and getting better every day—I know this because I was caring for her—but Silas would hear none of it. He told her she was useless, pulled out a gun, and shot her at the table where we were eating the birthday dinner she and I had made for him.”

Carter and Anastacia were speechless.

Gabriel continued. “It was the most traumatizing experience of my childhood. Silas had just sat quietly at that table and finished his meal, while I screamed and cried over her dead body. Once he finished his meal and opened his gifts, he held me until I stopped crying. He assured me that he’d done what was best for me. Needless to say, that was the day when his and my relationship went downhill.”

“What happened?” Carter asked.

Gabriel frowned and lowered his eyes. “I just sort of … closed off. I had decided I didn’t want to be Silas’s beloved son anymore, and I vowed that I’d make him pay for taking Nanette away from me.”

“Did you?” his mother asked him as she took his hand in hers.

He looked into her eyes and nodded nervously. He wasn’t particularly proud of what he’d done because it had backfired. All he wanted to do was turn a few of Silas’s family members against him, but instead he’d started a full-on war. “I did many things, as did Silas. It was what some called a silent war between father and son. As I told Carter, Silas tried to gift me with a few women for my fifteenth birthday. There was pretty much disappointment all around when I refused them. I didn’t want slaves, I wanted love. I had love, with the son of one of our maids. When Silas found out he was upset. So as punishment for my ‘twisted sexuality’ as he called it, he killed my boyfriend in the most poetic of ways. He hung him over my bed after he and I had spent the evening celebrating our anniversary. I came home from a fencing lesson and found him that way. After that occurred, I decided to do a little poetic justice of my own. I preyed on the weakest minds in his precious cult of a family and I turned them against him. Silas made this easy for me because he was never around during that time. This was after his brother had cut his face, so he spent most of his time brooding. Surprisingly it was quite easy twisting the minds of his family into my way of thinking. They were so gullible, so desperate for freedom. My plan was working until of few individuals became a little too eager to kill men and women within the Steele family that had wronged them. Chaos erupted, many people died. It was an all-out war, and I was the cause … so I guess it was what I wanted. Anyway, somehow Silas found out that it was I that led the rebellion against his ways and he came after me. When I tried to run, he beat me to a bloody pulp and put me in a basement for eight years.” Although Silas had been trying to earn Gabriel’s love back ever since, Gabriel just couldn’t find it in his heart to embrace his father again. Too much had already occurred.