Gabriel's Mate by Folsom, Tina (read this if .txt) 📕

eyes. Framed by long dark lashes they seemed to be as dark as chocolate, yet flecks of light sparkled in them.

When she dropped her gaze lower, she focused on his lips. Full and slightly parted, they looked sensual. Before she could tear her gaze away, he turned his head back to her.

Now that she saw both sides together again, the scarred one and the perfect one, she had to admit that he didn’t look like the monster she’d made up in her mind. Clearly, the large scar had destroyed his handsome face, but it had given him something else: a face with character.

Gabriel suddenly moved and looked as if he wanted to walk toward her. She instantly raised the candlestick above her head.

He lifted his hands in defeat. “I’m not coming any closer. I don’t mean you any harm.”

“How did I get here?” Maya asked, ignoring his comment.

“You remember nothing?”

She searched her memory, but couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. So she took the bull by the horns. “You guys kidnapped me, didn’t you? What is it that you want? Money?” They could have the few hundred bucks that languished in her savings account. If they wanted more, they’d have to wait for next month’s payday. Paying off her student loans had eaten up all her savings.

The woman, Yvette, shook her head and chuckled. “This’ll take a while, Gabriel. Why don’t I leave you to it?”

“Yvette,” Gabriel snapped. “You’re not getting out of this one.

Samson assigned you to help, so you’ll help.”

Yvette’s mouth twisted into a thin line. It appeared whoever this Samson was held power over her. Maya tucked the knowledge away –

maybe she could use it to her advantage later. The more she found out about her kidnappers the better.

Maya looked back and forth between Gabriel and Yvette, contemplating what he’d meant by his words. What was she supposed to help him with? Holding her down? Tying her up? No, probably not –

they’d had that chance while she was unconscious. What the hell were they trying to do to her?

“You were attacked,” Gabriel finally started.

“I figured that one out all by myself. So, what do you want?” Maya shot back. She knew she was outnumbered, so only calm thinking could get her out of this situation.

“We aren’t the ones who attacked you,” Gabriel claimed.

Maya gave a little snort. As if she was that gullible. Maybe she was lucky and these three criminals were too thick to have come up with any decent plan. She could probably outsmart them. For sure the woman –

having gotten it all in the looks department, she’d probably gotten shortchanged on brain cells. And the biker: he might know about his ride, but did he have any other skills? She wasn’t too sure how to evaluate Gabriel – he seemed to be in charge, but –

“He’s telling the truth,” Thomas continued in Gabriel’s stead. “Two of our bodyguards found you after you were attacked. They brought you here to be taken care of.”

Maya took a step back. Bodyguards? These guys had bodyguards?

That could only mean they were Mafia, probably Russian. To be taken care of – yes, that sounded just like the Mafia. This changed everything.

She wasn’t dealing with a few hapless criminals out to make a few bucks. She was dealing with the Mafia, the Cosa Nostra, or whatever they called themselves these days.

Maya’s stomach sank to her knees. If she’d seen something they didn’t want her to see, if she’d been a witness to something, she was as good as dead. Maybe one of her patients had said something to her that implicated these guys in a crime, and they thought it was best to take her out. She read the papers. She knew what guys like these were capable of.

“I don’t recall being attacked. What did you do, drug me?”

Gabriel shook his head. “We didn’t drug you. But if you don’t remember any of it, it means the man who attacked you could have wiped your memory.”

“Wiped my memory? Please, don’t try to feed me this ludicrous crap. I’m not stupid.” She lifted her chin in a show of bravery she didn’t possess. But she wanted answers, no matter whether she liked what she heard or not. “Just tell me what you want and let’s get this over with.” If she hated one thing, it was uncertainty. Once she knew what was going on here, at least she could formulate a plan. She was good at making plans.

Yvette stepped forward and planted herself next to Gabriel. “You were attacked by a vampire.”

For a second, Maya’s heart stopped. Then she let out a breath. This was one big joke. It had to be. Nobody in their right mind, not even some criminal could come up with such an implausible explanation and expect to be believed. She looked around the room. “Okay, where’s the camera? This’ll be on YouTube, right? Who put you up to this? Was it Paulette?” Her colleague could be a total prankster. She’d have to get back at her for this practical joke.

Unfortunately, nobody was laughing. Instead, Gabriel took a step toward her. “The vampire who attacked you – he started the turning process to make you one of us. We are all vampires, but we’re here to help you.”

None of his words made any sense to her. The whole lot of them must have escaped from the psych ward. She wished she’d listened more to her psychiatry instructor on how to deal with lunatics.

Unfortunately her medical interests had driven her more toward how the body worked, rather than the mind.

“Vampires don’t exist, you creeps. You’ve been watching too many bad movies.”

“I can prove it to you,” Gabriel claimed.

“Oh, yeah? What, you’re gonna put on some fake fangs?”

He shook his head and took another step closer, too close for her liking.

Maya hurled the candlestick at him and was astonished by her own forceful move. In a move that was faster than her eye could follow, Gabriel