Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1)(165)

“Julia!” He caught her in his arms as she nearly fell down the stairs.

“Are you okay?”

He swung her to the ground carefully, clasping her to his chest.

“Julia?” He pushed her hair back so that he could see her. Her lips were red and swollen, there were scratches on her neck, her eyes were wild and was that…a huge bite  mark?

That animal f**king bit her!

“Are you all right? Did he…?” Gabriel dropped his eyes to her clothing, fearing what he might see. But no, her clothing wasn’t ripped, and she was still dressed, mercifully, even though her shirt was unbuttoned.

He closed his eyes and thanked God that he hadn’t arrived any later.

Who knows what he would have found.

“Come with me,” he said firmly, removing his jacket and placing it around her shoulders. He quickly buttoned up her shirt and carried her to the passenger’s seat of the Jeep, closing the door behind her.

“What happened?” he asked as he climbed in beside her. Julia was clutching her injured ankle and muttering to herself.

“Julia?” When she didn’t respond, he reached over to brush the hair out of her eyes.

She flinched toward her door.

He froze. “Julia, it’s me. It’s Gabriel. I’m going to take you to the hospital. All right?”

She gave no indication that she’d heard him. And she wasn’t shaking or crying. She’s in shock, he thought .  Gabriel pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Richard? Something happened to Julia.” He paused and looked over at her. “Her old boyfriend appeared, and he attacked her. I’m taking her to the hospital in Sunbury. Yes, you could meet us if you want to. See you there.”

Gabriel looked over at Julia, hoping she would make eye contact.

“Richard is going to meet us in Sunbury. He’s going to call a friend of his who is a doctor.”

When Julia didn’t respond, he dialed information to find the number of the Selinsgrove Fire Station. He left an urgent message for Tom, explaining what had happened and that he was taking Julia to the hospital.

It’s her god damned father’s fault. Why the f**k did he leave her by herself?

“I slapped him.” Julia’s voice, high and unnatural, broke into his thoughts.

“You what?”

“He kissed me…I slapped him. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again. I didn’t want to kiss him.”

At that terrible moment, Gabriel was grateful that he had to drive her to the hospital. Without his need to care for her, he would have turned around and finished Simon off. Permanently.

She began to say the most bizarre things. She was murmuring about him  kissing her and something about Natalie, and then something about him, Gabriel, not wanting her anymore because she’d been marked and she was going to be a lousy lay…

What the f**k did he do to her?

“Sssshhh, Beatrice. Look at me. Beatrice?”

It took a moment for the old nickname to sink in, but when it did she looked at him, her frantic eyes slowly focusing on his face.

“This isn’t your fault. Okay? It isn’t your fault that he kissed you.”

“I didn’t mean to cheat on you. I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

The tone of her voice, the panic in her eyes — Gabriel swallowed back bile.

“Julia, you didn’t cheat on me. All right? And I’m glad you hit him. He deserved it and much, much worse.” Gabriel shook his head, wondering with horror what had actually happened before his arrival.

When Richard arrived at the hospital, he found his son and Julia in the waiting room. Gabriel was stroking her hair and speaking to her softly.

It was a tender scene, but the level of intimacy between the two of them surprised him. Greatly.

While they waited for Richard’s friend to arrive, he gently examined her ankle. She yelped. Richard glanced sideways at Gabriel, who was gnawing on his knuckles in order to control his reactions.

“I don’t think your ankle is broken, but it’s certainly injured. Gabriel, why don’t you get us all a cup of tea and maybe some cookies?”

Gabriel pulled his knuckles out of his mouth. “I won’t leave her.”

“It will just take a minute. I want to speak to Julia.”

Gabriel nodded reluctantly and disappeared in the direction of the cafeteria.

Richard couldn’t help but notice her neck. The bite mark was obvious, the love bite less so. His eyes flickered to where his son had stood a moment before. The love bite was old, obviously from a day or two ago. Clearly, things between Gabriel and Julia were more intimate than he thought.

“Grace used to volunteer at this hospital. Did you know that?”

Julia nodded.

“Over the years, she served in a lot of capacities but most of her work was with victims of domestic abuse.” He sighed. “She saw a lot of sad cases, some of which involved children. Some of her cases ended in fatalities.”

He looked into Julia’s eyes. “I will tell you what Grace used to tell her patients. This is not your fault. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you didn’t do, you did not deserve this. And at this moment, I don’t know when I’ve been more proud of my son.”

She looked down at her injured ankle and remained silent.