Page 90 of House of Scarlett
I sit up straighter, peering through the fading sun and the orange glow of the streetlights coming to life. It’s an industrial area dotted with storefronts and a few houses that seem to be the last holdouts to all-out commercialization.
Gabriel slows in front of a blue-and-white painted concrete building with four large overhead doors labeledalignments,brakes,mufflers, andoil changes. Above the doors is a sign withquinterro’sin big blue letters.
Gabriel parks in front of themufflersdoor and shuts off the Bronco. Bump opens the back and Roux is the first one out, trotting to a patch of grass nearby to take care of her business. As she’s nosing around, I hop out of the truck and meet Gabriel in front of it.
“Home sweet home. Even if it doesn’t look like much.” He points left with a raised arm. “Q’s parents live on the other side of the scrapyard. His pop still runs it with the help of one of his sisters. That’s what’s behind the big fence between here and the white house down the street.”
“The scrapyard is fun, but dangerous. I don’t go there by myself. Only with Big Mike,” Bump says with pride in his voice.
“I’ve never been to a scrapyard, but it sounds like a great place to find cool stuff.”
“So much cool stuff. Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“All right, Bump,” Gabriel says. “You take Roux up to your place. Make sure you check her water and food.”
Bump salutes him. “Got it, Gabe. I’m going to brush her too. She’ll like that.”
Gabriel leads us all to a side door and unlocks it. “Good deal, bud. See you in the morning.”
Bump dashes up the stairs, trying to keep pace with Roux. From the top, he yells down with a snicker. “I’ll keep my TV on too. Just in case you need to be loud.”
I cover my own giggle as it tumbles involuntarily out of my mouth.
Gabriel shakes his head as Bump disappears. “That kid ...”
“He’s awesome,” I say, slipping my hand into his. “And he’s really lucky to have you.”
Gabriel’s gaze drops to our joined hands before cutting to my face. “I got him shot in the head. I’m the reason he’s like this. I don’t know if he’s lucky to have me, but I wish every fucking day that I hadn’t gotten him hurt.”
My stomach plummets to the cracked gray concrete beneath my feet. “Oh God. Gabriel.”
“I’m not a good guy, Scarlett. One day, I’m going to get my revenge for what happened to Bump. I don’t have a choice.”
I drop his hand and wrap my arms around him instead. “You may not think you’re a good guy, but I believe you’re a good man with strong principles and loyalty that runs deep.”
His chin dips for a beat before he lifts that blue gaze to mine. “I guess we’ll find out who’s right. Come on up. It’s not much, but it works.”
He leads me up the stairs covered with ancient-looking brown-and-orange carpet to a wood-paneled hallway. Noise from a TV show comes from behind the first door, and Gabriel walks past it to the last one. When he opens it, I’m expecting more of the same—old carpet and wood paneling—but I’m totally wrong.
Inside, the floors are wide planks of dark laminate wood, and the walls are slate blue. The furniture is simple—black leather sofa, dark wood coffee table. As Gabriel hangs his keys on a hook next to the door, I take in a kitchen with stainless appliances, dark wooden cabinets, and gray granite countertops.
“I was going to move out a few years back, but Bump didn’t want to be that far away from Big Mike. I wasn’t going to leave without him, so I gutted both apartments, and Q and I refinished them so they didn’t look like the hallway.”
Warmth blooms in my chest at the thought of him staying here, even when he had the money to leave, because Bump liked being close to Q’s family.
“Like I said, you’re a good man.”
Gabriel shakes his head again and takes a breath. A serious expression settles itself onto his face. “Enough about me and what I am or aren’t. We gotta talk about you.”
The warmth I’ve been feeling cools a few degrees. “What about me?”
“This troll. Your safety. Security. I’m going to call in a favor from a friend. He’s a retired boxer. Golden Gloves champ back in the day. He drives and provides security, and he’s discreet. You’re going to let him be your shadow.”
“Thank you, but you don’t need to do anything like that. This isn’t the first time that asshole has shit all over my page, and it won’t be the last. I’m not going to let him throw my life into chaos. Then he’d be winning.”
Gabriel stops a foot away from me. “Are we together?”
I blink at him. “Yeah ... I mean, I assume we are.”
