Chapter 6 - The Unused Solarium
When Gabriel returned to the Cold Spring estate late that night, the mansion was peaceful and quiet.
He walked up the grand staircase to the second-floor west wing, his footsteps silent against the thick runners.
The door to the newly prepared guest suite was slightly ajar, casting a warm sliver of golden lamplight across the dark corridor.
Gabriel paused outside, looking through the narrow opening.
Maya was sitting on the edge of an immense king-sized bed, wearing a borrowed white terrycloth robe, gently stroking Leo's hair as the boy slept soundly.
In the adjoining room, Khloe was curled up with a massive stuffed brown bear Maria had retrieved from the attic storage, fast asleep with a serene smile on her face.
Maya looked up, noticing Gabriel’s silhouette in the doorway.
She stood up quietly, slipping out into the hallway and closing the door softly behind her.
"Mr. Russo," she whispered, her hazel eyes searching his face in the dim light. "Did... did you find Jimmy?"
"The debt is cleared, Mrs. Collins," Gabriel answered smoothly, leaning against the wooden wainscoting.
"Richard's name has been erased from every ledger in New York. You and your children are completely free."
Maya stared at him, her mouth parting as the magnitude of his words sank into her soul.
She had spent two years drowning in terror, waking up every morning wondering if her children would be taken from her.
Now, with a few quiet sentences, this dangerous, terrifying man had wiped away the darkness with a single stroke.
"How... how can I ever repay you?" Maya whispered, tears of overwhelming gratitude spilling silently down her cheeks.
"I make twenty dollars an hour. It would take me a lifetime to pay back what you spent tonight."
"You already paid me, Maya," Gabriel said gently, using her first name for the very first time.
"Your daughter gave me the only true birthday gift I have received in twenty years."
Maya let out a breathless, tearful laugh, shaking her head. "It was just a cheap store-bought cupcake with blue frosting."
"It was kindness without an invoice attached," Gabriel replied, his voice softening into raw honesty.
"In my world, nobody gives you anything unless they want your territory, your money, or your life."
"Your daughter looked at a dangerous man with a gun and thought he looked lonely."
Maya looked into Gabriel’s eyes, seeing past the terrifying reputation, past the hundreds of soldiers and the fortified walls.
Beneath the kingpin's armor was a man who had built an impenetrable fortress around himself, only to realize he had locked out everything worth living for.
"She was right, wasn't she?" Maya asked softly, taking a half-step closer.
Gabriel didn't answer with words.
May you like
He simply looked down at the woman who had dared to shield her children with her own life, feeling the cold ice around his heart crack just a little bit more.
"Get some sleep, Maya," Gabriel whispered. "Tomorrow, we need to discuss a permanent arrangement."
