Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (Hawke Family #1)(93)
Abello glares at me, his hands folded together on the table in front of him. He’s absolutely still—nothing moves, not even his chest. The man is a fucking statue. I can’t even tell if he’s breathing.
He’s been like this for five minutes, or at least it feels like five minutes. Gabe sits next to me stoically. I don’t dare turn my head to check on him. Breaking eye contact with Abello is tantamount to admitting defeat. His cold, brown eyes continue to bore into me as I fight the urge to shift in my seat under his scrutiny.
Finally, a ghost of a smile crosses his lips and he clears his throat. “I have to hand it to you, Savage. I didn’t think you had it in you. When I learned of your connection to Ms. Eriksson, I never imagined you would come out swinging in her defense. You never did have your father’s fight in you.”
I smirk and reach out to grab my glass of Scotch, taking a long sip and savoring it, giving me a chance to compose myself. “If it surprises you I would do anything to protect the woman I love, then you haven’t been paying much attention to me the last thirty years.”
He returns my smirk and leans on his forearms toward me across the table. “Oh, I know all about you, Savage, more than you could ever imagine. I just never thought you would stoop to blackmail. Your mother raised you better than that.”
“You didn’t give him much fucking choice, did you?” Gabe interjects, his voice vibrating with his effort to maintain self-control. Undoubtedly, he’s just itching to lunge across the table and strangle the life from Abello with his bare hands.
Abello laughs—a cold, empty sound that can’t camouflage the darkness and hatred in his eyes. “Everyone has choices, Mr. Anderson, or should I call you Mr. Dunne?”
Shit.
Of course Abello knows Gabe’s real identity. They were both around our house all the time when I was growing up, but hearing him actually say it is something else. It’s an unspoken threat to out Gabe. It’s the least of our worries, but it’s a very personal attack.
“Fuck you,” Gabe spits back at him, his hands balling into fists on the tabletop. I move my hand over onto his wrist in warning. This is not the time, the place, or the person, to antagonize. He will not hesitate to kill us, all three of us, unless he believes what I just got done telling him.
Abello returns his attention to me, and I release Gabe when I feel him relax slightly. “Let’s just end this now, Dom. Do we, or do we not, have an understanding?”
He grabs the manila envelope off the table. It contains a copy of Danika’s notes, our only bargaining hip. He reclines in the booth, shaking the envelope in his hand. “I’m expected to believe you, your little girlfriend, and Mr. Dunne here are going to keep your mouths shut, indefinitely?”
“We have no reason to talk, Dom, not unless any unfortunate accidents befall any of us. Like I said, we keep our mouths shut, you agree not to move against any of us, and, if you do, the original notes go to the FBI and the two other copies to the local police, and the media.”
I know there isn’t enough there to actually arrest him. Most of it is stories and speculations, but it could lead to new sources of information, and ultimately, maybe a legit prosecution. My hope is that he doesn’t want to risk that.
I’m also relying on the fact that he cares for my mother. He now knows how much Danika means to me, and by association, my family. Men like Abello don’t have loyalty to much, but family is the exception, and as far as he’s concerned, we are family.
The corner of his mouth twitches up. “You forgot the part where I somehow convince Mayor Dunne to resign and never run for public office again.”
“And that.” I grin at him as I down the rest of my Scotch. Glancing at Gabe, I find his usual stoicism has returned. That man has ice in his veins, at least that’s what I always believed.
Abello rubs his chin and examines the envelope as if he has x-ray vision and can see its contents. When I handed it over to him at the beginning of our meeting, he opened it and glanced at its contents, then shoved them back in as if he could care less. Now, he looks at it like he holds the construction plans to Fort Knox in his palms.
After a moment of contemplation, he nods and gives us another fake smile. “You have a deal, gentlemen. But, don’t push me. I’m not a man you should fuck with, and I would really hate to upset your mother, Savage.”
The veiled threat does not go unnoticed, and I bite my tongue to avoid setting him off. This was it, this was all we had, our only plan, our only chance to get out of this with Danika’s safety assured. I could fucking care less about my safety, and I know Gabe feels the same way, but neither of us could live with ourselves if we played a role in bringing her into the crossfire, again.
“Good evening, gentlemen.” He slips from the booth and is immediately surrounded by his entourage of armed goons.
I release the breath I’ve been holding for so long my chest aches, and drop my head into my hands. Gabe calls for our waiter and orders us another round of Scotch.
“No, man,” I say, turning toward him, “I need to get home to Danika.”
He smacks me on the back as the waiter sets the tumblers of amber liquid on the white fabric tablecloth. “No, you need to drink this and relax. If you go home to her all jacked up on adrenaline like you are right now, it will not end well. Trust me, I know from experience.”