Read Gabe (The Love Family Series Book 7) for Free Online Page B

kitchen.”
    Gabe took the bottle and took another swig.
    “We’d planned a cruise. I overheard him say to whoever he was talking to that he planned to drug me and throw me overboard.”
    Gabe leaned over and rested his hands on his knees as tears from the memory gathered in her eyes. “I confronted him in the kitchen, told him I was going to get the marriage annulled and demanded to know why.”
    “And?” Gabe stood up straight, holding her gaze.
    “He grabbed me and started hitting me. He said he’d have to get rid of me some other way because he couldn’t stand one more minute around me. We struggled, and I didn’t win. He punched me in the face, knocking me to the ground.” She let out a deep breath. “I saw the downswing of the knife and turned, but it was too late. The blade pierced my side.”
    She lowered her gaze.
    “How did you get away?” Gabe asked, moving to stand in front of her. He placed his finger beneath her chin and raised her gaze to meet his. “How?”
    “He reached down to pull the knife free so he could do it again; I used the vase that had fallen on the floor in our struggle. I hit him over the head with it, and I left. I didn’t wait around to see if he woke up.”
    Gabe pulled her up and into his arms. Wrapping her in his warmth, he held her close, whispering into her hair. “You could have told me. I would have helped you. We’ll all help you.”
    She was unable to stop the sobs that ripped free from her throat. She clutched his shirt between her fingers and held on to the lifeline he offered.
    “Shh.” He stroked her hair. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
    She shook her head in his chest, unable to say it wasn’t. Nothing would be okay. She was married to a monster that wanted her dead. Nothing was ever going to be okay again.
    “Yes, it will,” he whispered in hair. “I never welsh on a promise.” He kissed her hair and held her tighter. “Unless that promise is not kissing you.”   
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
     
    The drive back to her place was in silence, his mind going in a hundred different directions and none of the scenarios had them getting through this unscathed. She’d hit her husband in self-defense. She had the wound to prove it, even if it was her husband’s word against hers. Gabe glanced over at her as she looked out the side window, her sad eyes never straying from the waves crashing on the beach. Lucy, he reminded himself. What the hell was he going to do with this new knowledge? He shook his head and turned down her road to park in front of her townhouse. He killed the engine. Neither one of them made a move to get out.
    “You’re going to run again, aren’t you?” he asked, breaking their silence.
    “I have no choice,” she whispered back, slowly turning to look at him. “Margaret’s husband is friends with Warren. He’s probably already called him. I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”
    Gabe laid his head back on the seat rest and closed his eyes. He wasn’t ready for her to leave. Not when things had yet to begin. She was a married woman, no matter how much he wished she wasn’t. He turned his head to look at her. A tear slipped down her cheek. “Will you trust me to help you?”
    “Why would you help me?”
    “Because I finally found someone worth pursuing. Do you trust me?”
    She nodded, and he turned to face her. “There are going to be some things you won’t understand. Some things that might not make sense, but trust me when I say that I’d never let anything happen to you.”
    “I trust you, Gabe.” 
    He waited for any telling thoughts that contradicted her words. Nothing.
    He opened his car door. With a pulse-pounding certainty, he resolved to help her straighten out her past. “Let’s go pack your bag. I’ve got to make some phone calls and arrangements.”
    “What are you going to do?” she asked, getting out of the car. She approached him on the sidewalk. “Where are we going to go?”
    He