Page 6 of Hansel
I grinned. I knew the games those two liked to play. Louisa had come today wanting a taste of biker, she wanted to live on the wild side and by God she was about to.
“I'll tell her where to find you.” I slipped through the door and into the cool draught of the corridor. I didn't know where I would find Gretal, but I was going to.
It was time to find my wife.
Chapter Four
Hansel
I found her coming out of Fang's office and that surprised me. She had left with Gio. The son of a bitch head of The Family. So what the hell was she doing leaving Fang's office looking tearful? The thought rushed through my mind followed by another, one that made me clench my hands at my side.
Had something happened to her? Had that asshole forced himself on her?
“Gretal?” My eyes took her in. She looked fine - her clothes were smooth and unwrinkled, her hair still a perfect blonde curtain curling against her shoulders. It was only her face that looked drawn and pale.
“Hey.” Idly, she wiped her thumbs under her eyes like she half expected to find tears there. That small gesture made me frown even more. What the hell had gone on in Fang's office that put that look on her face? It was clearly something bad. Really bad. Gretal was a fighter. A survivor. Hell, she was the strongest person I knew. She always had been. Even when she was a victim, when she was being forced to sell her body, she had fought.
The only time I had ever seen that look on her face was when I had said the words that had ruined our marriage.
“What's wrong?” I took a hesitant step forward, not quite invading her space, although I wanted to. I was angry, furious even but I kept my voice low and steady. Flicking my eyes to the door behind her, I felt my eyebrows pinch together. I desperately wanted to know what had gone on in there. I wanted to throw open the door and see who had been behind that closed door with her. And then I wanted to beat on them until there was nothing left of their face but bloody meat.
“Nothing, Hansel.” She sighed, and it was one of the saddest sounds I had ever heard. Gretal sounded defeated.
“Don't lie to me, Gretal.” I whispered it to her, my fingers sliding across her hip. When I had cornered her in the bathroom, I had been rough with her. Forceful and dominant. My need for her had outweighed my good sense. I couldn't be like that now. I had to handle her with kid gloves. “What's wrong? Did something happen?” Again my eyes flickered towards the door. There was the sound of movement behind the wooden door. Male voices and more than one of them.
Rage engulfed me.
She must have seen the look on my face as she pressed both her hands against my chest. Something she hadn't done willingly for years. She wasn't pushing me away. If she hadn’t looked so distraught I might even have thought it was like old times.
God, I wanted her to touch me like old times.
“It's nothing, Hansel.” Sighing again, she tried to step away and my hands slid across her hips to settle in the small of her back. I pulled her towards me. And she didn’t fight it, for a second I just held her. And there was no doubt in my head that she could feel how hard my heart was thundering in my chest against her cheek. “Please just leave it.”
How could I tell her that I couldn't? When it came to her I wasn’t rational. I never had been. When we had grown up in the group home together, I had naturally fallen into the role of her protector. It was where I had gotten my name. She was Gretal, which made me Hansel. Although our relationship had never been that of brother or sister. Maybe at the beginning she had thought of me as a big brother, but to me? Even as a gangly teen I had loved her.
Finding her again, when we were in our twenties, had been like a dream come true. It didn't matter to me what she was doing. All that mattered was that she needed me to get her out. And I had.
And then I hurt her. Not just with my words, but with my actions. I had been so desperate for things to revert back to the way it used to be, I hadn't given her a chance to find the woman she really was. She hadn't been my little Gretal anymore, but I hadn't been able to let go of my dream of her.
No, she wasn't my little defenceless Gretal anymore. She had grown into a woman who was fierce and fearless.
And it suited her so much more. She was a force to be reckoned with, dedicating her life to helping women who had been through what she had. She rode hard, raised money and was the face of hope for so many women. And I was unbelievably proud of her.
“Can we go somewhere else?” She pulled away from me slightly. Her head half turned towards the door. There was the sound of footsteps coming towards us, soon the door would open and I would come face to face with the person or people who had made her look so upset. I desperately wanted to see who it was, but Gretal wanted me to go with her. Her hand tugged on mine. “Please, Hansel.”
How could I say no to her? Especially when being alone with her was all I wanted. “Yeah, we can go somewhere private.” My fingers wrapped around hers and she followed after me. Quiet and demure and very un-Gretal like. Not that I was going to say anything to spoil the moment. “But when we are alone, we are going to talk, Gretal. You're going to tell me what the hell just happened to you in Fang's office.”
I expected her to argue back. I expected her to say anything but what she did.
“Ok.”
***
“It’s weird to be back in this room.” Standing by the closed door to my room, she looked around, turning in a small circle to take it all in. “Nothing has changed.”
I stood there, as awkward and tongue tied as a teenage boy. “I've changed,” I said lamely. Even to my own ears it sounded absurd.
Her reaction didn't disappoint. Throwing back her head, she laughed. She laughed so hard a snort fell from her nose.
