Previous: The Gun Show

Seeley tilted his head. Definitely the wrong button. That was more than he was expecting. Then again, it did tell him a lot about her. She was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if she fell for anyone. Afraid of losing people around her. She'd already lost her family. He knew how it worked. He'd been on the receiving end.

To sum up, shot, many, many, many times, so many he's lost count, multiple tours of duty where he lost men he considered to be his brothers, left for dead in the hull of a ship designated for target practice where he had to fight through many traps and distractions to escape, his friends and loved ones constantly targets for serial killers, buried alive, assassinated, actually dead, although he came back from that one… And most of all…

He was fucking tortured to within an inch of his life. She couldn't see the scars. She had run before he could tell her. He was still alive after all of that, he wouldn't leave her if she would just let him in. He was tough, stubborn. Some might even call him a son of a bitch, but that would just get them a punch to the jaw.

He looked at his watch. Note the time. Come back another day and try again. He picked up the bill from the table and tucked it into his inside jacket pocket, determined to return it to her when he saw her next. He glanced over to Nate and Katie, almost giving a half shrug, then made his way over. “Guess I screwed the pooch there.”

He wasn't going to forget her. No matter what she said, he couldn't forget her. Not after that kiss.

Katie blinked. “Nooo. You're going to walk out of here. You're going to get the -hell- out of my cafe. And you're going to catch up to her and you are going to -apologize-. And then, you're going to try to take care of her and Make. It. Right.”

She was stern. This was different than Public Katie. This was 'Go get your fucking girl, Seeley' Katie. He was the big brother she never had. But he was not her Master.

Gabi had only made it about a half block before she slid in a small alley and sank to the ground, sobbing.

Seeley frowned. She never swore. What the fuck did he do wrong to have her like this?

“Language!” Still the big brother. “Ugh.” He pinched his nose and left his scone and coffee on the table, turning and striding out of the store, turning to follow Gabi in the direction he saw her disappear in. He took off in a medium jog, used to keeping that sort of pace even in his suit. He couldn't see her, so he checked the windows of the stores as he passed, the alleyways, the cr-shit… That was her.

He skidded to a halt and turned, entering the alley moving quickly over to her and sinking to his knees next to her. He wasn't sure what he needed to do, there was his little sister telling him to go and get his girl, and right in front of him was that girl, fighting back her tears where he'd screwed up.

He… Wait… What do you do for someone who's crying? He should know this, normally he would just… But what about… She's different. How will she…

Fuck it. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his body, hand behind her back rising to hold her head. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch a raw nerve.” He didn't know what to say to her to help. “I…” For someone 'normal' he would have known what to do.

“Scream at me, yell at me, shout at me, hit me, fight me, tell me to go…” This one would hurt… “Fuck myself. Before you do any of that, tell me you're OK.” Yeah, that wasn't going to work. But it was all he could think of. He didn't even ask her to do any of those things.

Katie huffed and gave a nod of approval after he left. “Far away looks mean 'proceed with caution, it bothers me'.” She said. But she didn't have to explain that to her Master.

Gabi was sobbing and she was trying to hold herself and it wasn't working. And then she was being held. Comforted. “Damn you.” She cried, her head buried on his shoulder. “Damn you for making me think, for one minute, I could have everything I ever wanted. Damn your burning eyes and your goofy, adorable smile. Damn you for slapping me in the face with the thing I want and fear the most. Damn you standing there looking all handsome and endearing. Damn you for holding me and damn you, Seeley, for making me want you to never let go. Damn you for scaring the everliving shit out of me.” She cried….so why was she clinging to him?

Seeley just held onto her while she cried at the world. It was his fault she was in this state. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, then she told him everything he needed to hear. Well, almost everything. Enough for now, at least.

Three words caught his attention. Never let go. Why did that strike a nerve for him? Why the hell did he want to do exactly what she asked, to protect her, to hold her? She was scared, but of exactly what? Him? Getting hurt? Love? Pick one?

She wasn't trying to pull away, she was letting him continue to hold her, clinging to him, even. “We wouldn't be who we are without our fears, Mi-” Use her first name. “Gabriella. Some we never get over. Like…” Don't admit it don't admit it don't admit it “Clowns” Well, fuck.

“I hate clowns. They're terrifying. But…I'd rather…face…a clown…than fall in love…” She choked out, no longer actively sobbing but still not pulling away. Her name.

She liked her name in his voice. “I'm so scared. What if I do something wrong? What if I accidentally make Big Ange think I'm a threat?” She didn't realize he might not know what the hell she was talking about.

“Seeley…what are you doing to me? We just met. This is insane. This…doesnt exist. It's a unicorn. It can't happen.” She whispered, her face still buried against his shoulder. He smelled good. Comforting.

Home.
No.
Run.
Run.
She tensed.

And stayed put.

He cocked his head to one side, listening to the words she fought to say. She didn't know he'd shot a clown head on an ice cream truck. She might find out about that later.

“Who's Big Ange?” He wracked his brain for who that could be. “Oh. Carlucci. Waaaait a second…” She'd continued, so he held onto that thought for the moment.

“I'm… Not… Doing anything? Just comforting you.” A firm grasp around her shoulder, his hand up to cup her head and stroke her hair softly. He knew what he was doing. He just didn't know.

“Unicorn? Mythology?” He wasn't quite following her, she was rambliCLICKng. She'd fallen. Hard. For him, apparently. “Only if you don't let it.” He raised the arm that was around her to cup her chin, to turn her head so he could look at her, make her look at him. “I will…” What, what will you do Seeley? You don't know her. What are you going to do? “Never let go.”

He'd fallen. Hard.

Gabi hiccuped and nodded. “I…little Ange is one of my best friends. He's not…involved in anything. He's gay. So that's kind of a sin in the Family. We were at this club a week before my parents died. And Johnny Vitale's brothers jumped little Ange. I saw red and I tore them off him. I pistol whipped them. Over and over. Fiore nearly died. But…Big Ange came to visit my father, and he wanted to talk to me. Asked me how my classes were…” She paused and paled. “Anyways he said he came to thank me for being a good friend to his son. And then he paid for my lawyer and the charges were dropped.”

She felt like such a fool when he asked what she meant. She was an idiot of course it didn't happen. He was touching her chin.

Look at me, Gabriella.

She looked.

“What?!” She gasped.

It had taken him a few moments, but it had clicked when she'd continued babbling as to who Big Ange was. He'd seen her record, noted she was charged and released, then filed it away for future use after the case. He never believed he'd meet her, let alone fall for her.

She was telling him how it happened from the other side of the veil. The Carluccis and the Carmichaels. No, wait, what? It sounded so fucking 'Romeo and Juliet', it couldn't be true? She'd been lucky. She was the last one. Because of Little Ange. That pause. Her face draining of color. There was something she was hiding. He knew it!

What did he just say? Why did she have that deer in the headlights look? Frozen in fear? He'd done it again, hadn't he? Why wasn't she fighting to get away? Why wasn't she screaming at him to let go? Why was she just there, staring at him?

“You asked. I answered. It seemed the right thing to do.” He kept his hand on her jaw as he spoke. He was still trying to figure out what the right thing to say was. He remembered her calling him sir. Three times. Something nagging. Nagging. Make it right. Get your fucking girl. What was it Nate said? “I will never let you go.” More confident. Katie had called her “your fucking girl”, what exactly had she meant by that? Katie was his… That meant… Oh… Fuuuuuuuuu… Wait a second, not the right word to use… Shiiiiiit. He was doing it without realizing.

He was trying to comfort her as if he were her Master. He had no experience, only the books he'd read, and right here, right now, he was doing it.

His eyes smouldered, his lip quirked up, and there it was. The look she had melted to.

Never let go.

She had stopped speaking but her brain had kept working. Big Ange had asked about her class schedule, laughed when she told him. The Don had turned to her father then.

You got a smart kid, Anthony. Riella is gonna go far.
Yes, sir.

They were dead a week later. She held his gaze. Trying to decide if he was truly interested in her or the information people assumed she held in her head. Could she sink Big Ange? Probably not but that piece of information might have tied him better to something that would stick.

That look.
Seeley no…
Smolder.
Grin.

He still held her jaw.
“Don't hurt me….” She whimpered.
If only she knew….