Chapter 3.3

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

3.3

Gabe re-read the file as the color drained form his face. He knew about Cody’s coma, but he didn’t know her heart had stopped which caused the lack of oxygen to Cody’s brain that threw her into that state. He should’ve been with her. He should’ve been by her side the whole time. Pampered her.

His fucking pride. His fucking ego. He nearly got her killed. He felt cold all over.

He knew that Cody had been stressing. But he was so mad every time he saw that belly. Why the fuck should he share his woman? But he never considered what his actions would do to her. He was so in his head, he never thought about how his words would affect her. The few times he tried to be decent and good to her during the pregnancy ended horribly as he said shit that made her furious or cry. He’d rather her hate him than cry.

“I want to see her.” He needed to make it up to her. He needed to-

“No,” Bilal said leaned back in his chair with his feet up on the table. They sat in Bilal’s room which was bigger and had a few more pieces of furniture like the table and chairs.

It had been a week. A week of hot, moist, suffocating air in what he learned was Peru. The area wasn’t in the nicer places of Peru. The town had no AC or any of the luxuries he was accustomed to. The food was passable, but the area wasn’t the cleanest and advanced communication was lacking compared to many areas in the world. For a man who made billions, lived in high rises, traveled as he pleased and ate what he pleased, this was almost a nightmare. The only reason he tolerated it was because Bilal acted like it was nothing. He ate the food like it was a pleasure even though he knew the man had grown up in the same luxuries that he grew up in.

His cousin spoke the language fluently and even seem to know some of the locals. Though Gabe knew some Spanish, he wasn’t fluent. He was accustomed to translators. Now he found the disadvantage annoying.

The whole situation was intolerable. He should be with Cody… Why did he leave her? Cursing again, he stood up and paced the room.

Is this what Cody felt like? Like a caged animal when he restricted her or had her watched like Bilal watched his every move?

When the man slept, Bilal was aware of his surroundings. Gabe always felt those eyes on him even if they weren’t actually looking at him. And there were other guards in the area. They didn’t stand out or show themselves, but Gabe felt their eyes on him. As a member of the darker parts of society, he’d learned to hone his awareness so that he rarely got caught unprepared.

Once a day, he was allowed to leave the tiny hotel to go walk around the town. But he could never stay out for more than two hours before Bilal made him return. Other than practicing his martial arts in the small confines of his room or Bilal’s room, he couldn’t do anything else. He had nothing to read. No computer. No phone. He didn’t even know what was going on in the rest of the world. He only knew about the local gossip from the towns people. He’d never been so idle in his life.

He slammed his hand in the door, letting the pain keep him from losing his mind. He needed to see Cody. He needed to be there for her and make up for his fuck-up. He had nearly lost her for good. He couldn’t believe that their last encounter might have been the last time he saw her alive. Just imagining that brought fear into every part of his body.

“Can I send her a message?” He asked closing his eyes feeling the terror of losing her. She may never forgive him… No, he would pursue her until she forgave him. He would pamper her until she loved him again.

“Sure.” The other man shrugged his naked shoulders. The man’s lean corded upper body wore a black tank top. Seated on the table, feet on the chair, Bilal pulled the recorder from his jeans pocket. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

He looked down at the recorder. Then up at Bilal.

“Can I have some privacy?” Gabe asked.

Bilal chuckled, but didn’t budge.

“Please,” Gabe said through gritted teeth.

Bilal laughed harder. “I didn’t think you had that word in you. Did it hurt much to say it?”

Gabe was going to kill this cousin of his when this was all done.

“Ooo, look at those eyes. If I was scared of death I would be running right now.” He pushed record on the devise. “Make your message, cousin, before I change my mind.” Though amusement played on his lips, Gabe saw no humor in those cold eyes. But why should there be humor. They never liked each other.

Wiping the man from his mind, he focused on what was more important… Staring at the recorder he thought of Cody. Her gorgeous smile. Those green eyes that looked at him with love and sometimes lust. The heave of her breast when she bounced on top of him. The soft curl of her hair when he played with the strains. The angry look that made him hard when he pissed her off. He missed her so much his body ached. His mind craved her. The only reason he stayed away from her so long was because he feared seeing that hurt look on her face again. He knew he had fucked up.

It took him a long time to find the right words to say. And even after he finished the recording, he felt like it wasn’t good enough. But Bilal wouldn’t let him re-record.

Instead, the man gave him a magazine article that he printed from the internet at some point. The article came from a psychological journal.

That night, we lay on his bed listening to the night. Somewhere in the town, there was a baby crying. On the street, he heard men chatting. A soft breeze carried through the open window. But in Gabe’s head he thought of the article he had read. No wonder his mother was so pissed at him. He hadn’t realized he had become so depraved. He didn’t realize his offer to compromise was a type of abuse. All he knew is he didn’t want to share her. He hated the idea of that smile being directed at someone else.

But he should’ve known. Isolating her like that…would she have grown to hate him? All he could think about was not sharing her and not caring how it affected her.

Shit. He sat up and looked out the window. When did his insecurity get so bad? Was it because he was getting older? Or because more people were noticing her? Or both?

Yeah, he wasn’t getting any younger, but Cody never showed that she would leave him for anyone. However, there was always a chance. Always a possibility that a younger man would make her smile more, make her happier. Though Cody was just a small-time sport agent, she got too much media attention because the camera loved her. People loved looking at her. She had fans just because of her beauty and that fucked with his head royally.

When she visited Bailey, George, or Mitchell on the field, every football players’ head would turn to look at her and it was all Gabe could do not to find a hood and mask to cover her up.

Cody was his. And he had to restrain himself from tattooing his name all over her body.

At first, he kept Cody under lock and key for her own protection when she was younger. With De La Rosa still around, he didn’t trust that they wouldn’t try to take her back. Then there were the perverts he protected her from. The only reason he allowed Molly into her life was because his daughter was too willful. Yet, he noticed how the attention Molly gave her made Cody less fearful. So when Cody pleaded to be friends with those boys, Gabe sucked up his misgivings and allowed it. Of course, that came with conditions as well.

At the time, his need for control didn’t bother him. He controlled everything in his life. But now…that control could destroy him if she left him.

His clenched his fists. Breaking habits didn’t happen overnight. But he would do it to keep her.