Diavolo Ch. 05

Michael was busy tapping something into his phone.

She frowned at him. "And what about paying the utilities? Will I be responsible for that as well and how do I pay if I am?"

"One sec," Michael said tapping more onto the phones screen. He stuck the tip of his tongue out as if in deep concentration, before scowling at the phone as it blipped. He nodded and looked back at Abigail. "How much do you want?"

She blinked up at him in surprise. "How much? W-well I don't know. Shouldn't there be a contract or something?"

Michael shrugged. "That can be arranged, but he still needs to know how much you want and then, I guess, some sort of bank account number where he can deposit the funds."

"Oh," Abigail said, still feeling bewildered. "Um...I'm not sure how much would be appropriate to ask. I'm not sure what the entirety of my responsibilities would entail—"

She trailed off when Michael began to rub his temples as if getting a headache.

"Listen," he began, "let's just ask him for five grand a week to start."

Abigail gasped, "What? Oh, but that sounds like too much."

Michael was already tapping the message in and sending it.

"Wait," she pleaded.

The phone dinged right away.

Abigail held her breath as Michael grinned.

"Okay. So that's all set. If you want a contract you'll have to wait for one to be drawn up. In the meanwhile..." He dangled the keys before her again, one hand on his hip, waiting.

It was too good to be true, but there were the keys, inches from her face. Abigail grinned, looking around again. She'd loved the kitchen, and the fireplaces were just breathtaking. The sound of the ocean and gulls outside was mesmerizing. It wouldn't be her home, but it felt so peaceful. It might be a good way to start. Maybe she could find something similar later on. The piano upstairs called to her and that cello. She didn't know how to play the cello but the sound of one always provoked tears. Yes. She was a sentiment idiot, and this house was beyond anything she ever imagined having all to herself, even if it did belong to someone else—and she'd get paid a ridiculous amount of money to keep it clean and organized.

Clasping her hands together, she grinned at Michael. "Yes. I accept."

Michael's grin spread ear to ear as she finally extended her hand for him to drop the keys into. "Great. Now let's go tell Erica the good news. I'm sure she'll be happy having you next door."

*******

There was no one home to see her off. Her mother had gone with Aunt Paulina to some weekend spa in Arizona, Mikayla was probably out shopping, and Daniel most likely was at his offices in Irvine.

She repacked her suitcase with her few belongings and hit the road. Almost at her destination, her phone rang. Frowning, she wondered who would call her when no one knew her number yet. Up ahead was an Albertson's supermarket. Already having planned on purchasing a few food items to stock the kitchen for herself, she pulled into the parking lot after making a u-turn since the place was in a shopping plaza to her left.

Pulling into a spot near the entrance, she frowned at her phone when it began to chime again. Retrieving it from her purse, she answered tentatively, "hello?"

"What were you doing?" Gabriel's voice purred over the line.

Abigail almost dropped the small phone in her surprise.

"G-Gabriel?"

"Yes, Gabriel. Where you expecting someone else?"

Abigail frowned, her ire awakening once again. "How did you get my number?"

There was silence for a moment. "Does it bother you that I call you?" he asked in a quiet voice. "I'm all alone here."

She smirked when she heard Angelo protest nearby as Gabriel shushed him.

"You didn't answer my question."

Michael called my phone with yours, so I just saved the number. Baby, are you coming back? I'm lonely."

Her heart clenched at his sad tone. Oh-lord, how could he affect her this way?

"I need to get some groceries," she replied. "I'll just be a while." Already calculating how long it would take her to get a few things and head to the house on Bayside, she knew she'd have to forgo cooking anything. A sandwich would have to do, and a quick shower and change, then head up to the hospital. "Maybe an hour and a half?"

"Did you like the house?"

Abigail paused at the hopeful sound in his tone.

"Yes. It's absolutely beautiful. Michael wouldn't say who the owner is. That's kind of scary. You guys aren't setting me up in some gangster's hideaway, are you?"

His rich throaty laughter gave her the good kind of chills. She gripped her phone and closed her eyes, just letting that deep masculine laughter seep into her very marrow.

"No, he's not a gangster, just a bit of a recluse who likes his privacy."

"I totally get that," she replied wistfully.

"You sound tired."

"Only a little."

Again, he was quiet. "Baby, you don't have to come over tonight if you're tired."

Her heart plummeted. "I don't mind," she blurted before she could stop herself.

He chuckled again, making goose bumps pimple her entire body and her heart trip along the bones of her ribcage. "Fine. Can't wait to see you, Abby." She was panting now at the seductive tone of his deep gravely voice. "Can't wait to kiss you."

All she could manage was a whimper. It didn't matter because he cut off the communication.

Behind her, a car tooted their horn, making Abigail jump. She exited her car with an apologetic grin and told the elderly lady she wasn't vacating the parking spot. Poor woman must've thought she was leaving on the account she hadn't switched off her car and kept her foot on the brake.

The old woman gave her the finger, to Abigail's shock and drove away screeching her tires.

Abigail pouted. How rude!

*******

Gabriel was anxious to leave the hospital now. Abigail was staying at his house on Bayside Drive. He'd bought it on a whim just before they'd started their tour, but never went back after his grandmother's heart attack earlier that year. Gram's had been doing great so far and now that he had Abby home, he needed to get back on his feet fast.

Abigail was special. Unlike most girls he met, he was sure she was the one for him, but he needed to proceed with utmost care so as not to frighten her away. His career might put her off, but he'd work at making it all up to her by trying to provide as normal a home life as possible.

Gabriel blinked in surprise at the direction of his thoughts. Was he actually thinking of taking the big step with Abigail?

A real relationship...marriage?

Nervous sweat broke out on his forehead.

He needed to get to know her first. He didn't want to make the same mistake Michael had.

Erica seemed sweet if a little quirky on the outside, but the guys from the band knew the truth about Erica.

She suffered from a bipolar disorder and put poor Michael through hell constantly. She hated when the toured or played anywhere, and her jealousy knew no bounds. Her constant use of drugs to keep her balanced more often than not kept her strung out and useless, and her irresponsibility at keeping up with her birth control had caused her more than once to disappear on Mike to take care of the occasional problems that arose from their sporadic intimacy. Most days Mike took care of his own needs or succumbed to the wiles of a groupie to later drown his guilt in booze at Gabriel's house. Gabe was sick of it, but Michael refused to part with the girl, saying she needed him and he couldn't abandon her.

So, no one said anything anymore to either of them, as long as Mike and Erica's problems didn't affect anything to do with the band.

Most times it didn't.

Gabriel doubted Abigail would be the same way.

There was still the problem that someone had definitely tried to kill him. He barely remembered what happened that night. The memory of the dinner and the argument later in Paulina's home office were hazy at best. He'd finally remembered kissing Abigail before riding off and then...nothing. He couldn't remember a fucking thing. The cops had interviewed him about the accident, and even Diamond had drilled him incessantly about it, but he didn't remember.

The doctor had told him that he eventually might remember, but that it would not be unusual for that memory to never resurface.

He didn't want to put Abigail in danger if some crazed fan was after him. Of course, it could very well have been anyone in the Montenegro household. Paulina certainly had the money to put out a contract on him. Mikayla was pissed off enough to have tried to run him off the road. The hateful looks she'd given him earlier attested to that. Maybe it had been Abigail's own mother. The woman gave him venomous looks all night during the dinner at the house.

As for his brother? Daniel's acceptance of him felt strange somehow. He treated Gabriel like some poor cast off mongrel that needed rescuing. The man had talked incessantly about how wonderful signing a contract with North Star would be.

Michael and Gabriel had already decided to stay with Universal Records. Why change a good thing when you had it?

Abigail strolling in had him snapping to attention, worrying thoughts shoved to the back of his mind.

She wore a dark blue maxi dress with a little white crocheted vest over it. Her feet peeped out from beneath the long hem of the dress in little silver strappy sandals.

He smiled when he saw the familiar knot at the back of her neck, thinking how much fun it was going to be to unravel her gorgeous hair out of its tight restrictive bun by the end of the night.

"Baby," he growled, "come here."

Abigail walked up to the side of the bed, her big blue eyes blinking rapidly, something she did when she was nervous.

Gabriel grinned, liking that he affected her enough to put her on edge. He sat upright in his bed and leaned over as his hand cupped the back of her skull, drawing her forward.

Her eyes widened and he heard her sharp intake of breath. The pulse of her throat fluttered wildly and a beautiful rose flush bled up from her breasts to her hairline.

Gabriel angled his mouth over hers. Sweeping his lips over the dulcet softness of Abigail's plump lips.

Her lashes fluttered closed and she sighed, mouth opening slightly in invitation. He closed his eyes too, and nipped at her lower lips. Blood flooded his groin when he felt her tongue touch his top lip shyly. He sucked in her upper lip and bit it gently before sweeping his tongue into her mouth to stroke her palate and tongue lazily.

After kissing her senseless for a little more than a full minute, he released her.

Her cheeks were reddened from his beard and lips swollen from his kiss. A more beautiful sight he'd never seen.

Her bun was halfway undone. This time she'd stuck too many pins in it.

No matter. He pulled her back in to taste the alluring expanse of her throat.

She tasted divine. He ran his tongue after nipping her shoulder up the side of her graceful neck to bite her earlobe.

She shivered against him, her hands braced against his chest.

When he felt her wince and try to break free, he released her reluctantly.

She was panting, her pupils wide, eyelids at half mast. He'd be willing to bet she was wet as fuck between her creamy thighs.

His cock jerked, tenting the sheet. She noticed and gasped with a squeak.

He shrugged and gave her an apologetic pout. "Haven't had sex in a long while, baby. Can't control that reaction, but you know it's not like I can actually perform right now." He gestured to his leg and then grinned at her, "unless, of course, if you mount me."

Abigail scowled at him and he chuckled.

"Don't get mad, baby. I'm sorry I'm being such sleaze bag, but I'm going a little stir crazy locked up in here, bored out of my mind."

"Well I don't enjoy being your entertainment, Mr. Raven."

He caressed her cheek, smile fading. "Baby, you're so much more than entertainment, I swear." He patted the bed. "Come here. Sit here. Let's talk."

She looked unsure, but he tugged gently on her hand until she complied.

"When you were still seeing Daniel, what plans did you have for yourself? Were you just going to marry him and be a stay at home wife, have kids, or did you ever want a career?"

She blinked at him, clearly surprised with his question, but licked her lips and answered him. "I always wanted to work with children. At the convent we would visit orphanages. The nuns would make clothes and bring them books and toys. I loved that so much.

Gabriel felt awed. He smiled at her. "Mike and I sometimes visit this youth center not far from here. We give a few music workshops for the kids there. Last year we donated a bunch of instruments for them. You can't believe how fast that gets them off the streets when they have something they get passionate about."

Abigail's mouth was ajar, eyes wide.

"Oh, Gabriel, that is such a wonderful thing you're doing."

He felt his face get hot and shrugged. "It's just that I never had a male figure around when I was growing up and since I'm not the jock type, I wanted to give other kids like I was something they could get into besides sports."

"Music is so important for children. It actually stimulates the mind in a way that improves all other subjects of learning."

Gabriel grinned. "So it makes a person smarter?"

"I've heard it said, yes."

Gabriel chuckled. "Well, I don't think it worked very well for Ang. He's about as smart as a brick."

Abigail shook her head, but laughed too.

"And he's so damn conceited too."

Well, he is very handsome."

Gabriel frowned. "Do you like Ang?"

Her laughing stopped abruptly as her eyes grew owlish. He had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from cracking up at her dismayed look.

"Oh, Gabe. I didn't mean—"

"Easy, babe. I'm just teasing you." He cleared his throat. "But I guess you can say I'm a bit on the jealous side." He gripped her hand and stared deep into her eye. "What's mine is mine. I don't share, and I can be a bit of a cave man about it too." He shrugged. "Guess it's my Spanish heritage."

"Oh," Abigail gulped.

"Would you be willing to have a caveman for a boyfriend?"

Her brows shot up, her mouth doing that sweet fish out of water gaping. God he just wanted to drag her beneath him and brand her completely, inside and out.

"I'd never hurt you, Abby. I swear. I don't believe in raising a hand to a woman. A man that does that should be strung up and whipped into oblivion. I do tend to be a bit overbearing and bossy, but, baby, I know you can handle all of me and more. Come on, Abby. Tell me you want to be mine."

He kissed her fingers, knuckles and back of her hand, holding her gaze with his.

She was trembling, breath coming in rapid little pants from her sweet mouth.

"Gabriel—"

"Yes, baby."

Her lashes batted quickly. Her tongue swiped across her upper lip. Gabriel licked the pad of her thumb before nipping it. She actually moaned, soft and shy.

"It's just that...the people, and...the whole being in the spotlight constantly..."

"I told you, it's not always like that. Unless they can get dirt on us, they leave us alone. I'm not the wild type and neither are you. We'll be a boring normal couple to them. They follow people like Angelo, Rafe, and sometimes Mike. Ariel and me aren't interesting enough."

She looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

Gabriel resumed licking her cute fingers. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Her blush intensified. "I've never really had a real boyfriend, just Daniel..."

Ice ran through his veins at the mention of his half brother.

"We never even kissed, Gabriel."

That had him grinning with immense pleasure. He was also aware of what she trying to tell him.

"Abigail, I'm not going to pressure you into having sex with me. When it happens it'll be because we both want it."

Abigail shook her head. "I'm sorry, but my beliefs are that sex is for marriage only."

Gabriel's heart stuttered in his chest. "Okay. We'll just take this one step at a time." He wasn't giving up.

She nodded, eyes wide as she regarded him.

Would she hate him if he seduced her into it? If things worked out, he would marry her without hesitation, but he didn't want the frustration of wanting to bed her to boggle his mind into marrying her prematurely.

"Exactly how far will you let me go without actual penetration?"

Her face went red now and her lips hardened into a firm line. She didn't like talking about sex.

"Look, Sweetheart, we're two adults here. If we're going to be a couple we need to be open and honest with each other. I have to admit I'm not a virgin. Haven't been one since I was fifteen—"

She gasped, "so young? But you were just barely a boy."

Gabriel grinned at her scandalized expression. "I was corrupted by an older woman."

She surprised him by cupping his cheeks and kissing his forehead. "That's absolutely horrible, Gabriel. How could such a thing be amusing for you? Who was it? Maybe it's not too late to report her."

Gabriel gripped her wrists and shook his head. "Whoa, slow down. There will be no reports, okay? I was just as responsible for what happened way back then. We're getting off topic here, Abs. What I was trying to tell you is that we need to communicate openly as a couple. I don't want any barriers between us."

She tried to look away, but he gripped her chin with his fingers tips.

"Don't be shy with me, Abby. I want to gain your trust, but can't do it if you block me out."

She shivered and her eyes welled.

Alarm shot through him. "Has anyone ever hurt you, baby?" The thought of some scumbag having forced her, taken her against her will sent him into a killing rage.

"I'm just scared, is all," she whispered.

The fire raging through his blood cooled somewhat. "Are you scared of me?"

She bit her lower lip. "Maybe just a little. I don't want to get hurt if all this blows over for you—"

"Abigail, I swear, I'm in this one hundred percent. I'm not out to just mess around with you and then drop you when I've had my fill. I really want us to get to know each other and see where it goes."

"But you want sex without commitment," her eyes were accusing.

"Abigail, like I said, I'm not a virgin. I've had a few women in the past fifteen years, but I can wait for you...when you're ready. I just need to know how far you'll let me go and how far I can push those boundaries."

Her eyes widened. "Push boundaries?"

Gabriel smiled at her. "Baby, right now, I'm going to tell you I'm no saint. I won't ever force you into anything, but I won't say I won't try to shmooze you into it. I'm being honest here, Abby. Please don't hate me for it. I want to be honest."

She nodded. "O-okay. I'm going to be honest too. I'm only human also, but I'd feel terribly guilty if I committed carnal sin with you. So think about that."

Ouch.

"To me carnal sin would be in indulging in the pleasures of the flesh without any real sentiments behind them."

Abigail nodded warily.

"So since We already have some feelings for each other—"

"We don't know each other well enough for it to be anything more than lust," she blurted, her face flaming.

He looked into her eyes. "Abby, there's more than lust in what I feel for you. Intense like is more like it."

Her cheeks grew redder and her free hand went up to cup it as she swallowed. "I need for more than intense like to let you..."

Fuck. She couldn't get that word out through her sweet lips, or anything remotely similar. It was going to be fun teaching her to say fuck. Under the sheet, his cock throbbed.

"Let's see where this takes us, Abs. We'll take it slow. No pressure."

"A tube top and shorts."

Gabriel frowned. "What?"

"A tube top and shorts. Whatever a tube top and shorts covers should be off limits to your hands," she blurted.