Gabe the darkness within.., p.1
Gabe (The Darkness Within Book 2), page 1
Gabe
Taylor K Scott
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2022 Taylor K. Scott
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the author.
Warning: The following work of fiction describes content of a sexual nature. It also describes scenes and feelings surrounding abandonment, war, addiction and PTSD. The book also refers to cheating but in no way condones it.
DEDICATION
To one of my beta readers and all round font of knowledge, T M Caruso. You’ve always been Gabe’s biggest cheerleader, so I’m dedicating him to you! Can’t wait to return all the kindness you’ve shown me over the years!
MUSICAL INFLUENCES
I’m a Bitch – Beth Brooks
Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
Freak Me – Another Level
Rain on Me – Arianna Grande and Lady Gaga
ACknowledgements
Thank you to the community of writers and readers out there who have answered questions, read my work, given me advice, and shared my work. Thank you to all of you!
To my beta readers, Tanya Caruso, Nikki Paris, and Mama Sue, who all took the time to read this book during the early stages. Just to have someone read my work and offer their opinion is always so empowering for me. I sincerely appreciate you offering me your time, support, and advice.
I must also thank my poor, suffering husband for supporting me through my obsession with writing. Not only has he had to live with my reading habit, which is becoming more and more consuming, but also has the added bonus of losing me to my own works of fiction. Know that I love you dearly, as well as our two beautiful girls, and appreciate all the encouragement you have given me.
Finally, but most importantly, thanks to everyone who has taken a chance on my novel. I hope it hasn’t disappointed, and that you might take a chance to read some of my upcoming releases. Thank you so much again.
Prologue
Sicily, Italy
Cesca
It might be early, but my eyes have well-adjusted to the dim light; I can see more than enough to reach out for the small, black, velvet box that is currently sitting inside of my hotel room safe. Pulling it out like it’s something fragile, something that might break if I so much as breathe on it, I hold it in the palm of my hand for a while. After what feels like much too long to be standing still while mid-getaway, I take a chance and glance over at the naked man still lying on top of the king-sized bed I just vacated. Gabe’s huge body is wrapped around the white cotton sheet, cuddling it as though it’s a warm body. This, together with his gentle breathing, allows me to let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he’s still safely sleeping. I wait for the guilt to creep through me, but it doesn’t. Not yet.
When I finally make my peace with what I’m about to do, I quickly pace towards my bag. It’s already sitting on the small table next to the door, just waiting for me to whip it away so I can begin my walk of shame. It’s where I finally decide to open the box and slip the diamond band onto my ring finger. It feels uncomfortable, weighty, and cold, so I flex my hand a few times to try and adjust to it being there again. It still feels tighter than Gabe did being inside of me last night. The memory of which causes me to blush with a distinct heat spreading over my cheeks.
“Morning!” The word floats across the room before I can make my silent escape. I find myself closing my eyes to it, as if the action will wipe away the reality of him having caught me.
“Going somewhere?”
My breath catches at the sound of Gabe’s deep, croaky voice. Without conscious thought, I quickly drop my arms to my sides to try and conceal the ring, and with it, my betrayal. I must look guiltier than the kid who got his hand caught inside the biscuit tin. His soft laughter that immediately follows my hasty decision to try and hide my secret, permeates through me, effectively taunting me with the knowledge that he’s already seen it.
“No need to hide it from me now, sugar,” he grins with judgment, causing my eyes to dart to the floor with the guilt that has finally caught up with me.
When I eventually find the courage to face those penetrating eyes of his, the ones that had held my gaze a number of times in the throes of passion last night, I find him casually resting the back of his head against his hands. He is clearly amused by this sudden revelation and seems to be thoroughly enjoying my discomfort, especially with his naked body and arrogant smirk unashamedly on display for anyone to gawk at.
Come on, Cesca, it was his confidence that both frustrated and captured you in the first place!
“Enjoy the rest of your holiday, Gabriel,” I finally mutter with an embarrassed quietness. We stare at one another for an awkward moment before I finally pick up my bag and turn to leave, hoping against hope he will let me do so without any other words.
“Francesca?” he calls just as I’m about to walk out the door, and without any hint of urgency. I don’t bother to turn to face him, instead, I brace myself for whatever he’s about to deal me. Something that will no doubt be full of judgment. “Congratulations!”
CHAPTER 1
London
One year later
Cesca
“Morning, babe!” Conner’s mouth is still full of his breakfast of peanut butter on toast when he offers me his usual morning greeting. It’s a habit I’ve desperately tried to break out of him, however, after six or seven years of living together, I’ve pretty much given up on that feat. It’s one of his many flaws, but he is still the beautiful man I have pined after for pretty much my entire life.
“Morning,” I yawn as I simultaneously rub my eyes, lazily sliding my feet along the wooden floorboards after only having just got out of bed. “Good workout?”
“You know it!” he replies with way too much enthusiasm before planting a kiss on top of my head. He wipes a sweaty hand over my cheek before sauntering over to the sofa to read the morning paper, something he insists on buying because of the nostalgic smell that reminds him of childhood.
“You should have joined me,” he calls out, still with his mouth full. His suggestion earns him a muffled response that pretty much tells him he must be crazy if he thinks I’m going to do any form of exercise on a Saturday morning.
While he shakes his head over my laziness, I set about making my own breakfast with a strong, hot cup of tea which I leave to brew on the side. My movements are robotic, an everyday routine that requires little thought or effort. Leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting for the bread to brown in the toaster, I watch Connor. He’s grinning mischievously at something on his mobile while rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. His cheeks have turned crimson and he’s licking his lips like he’s just been offered something awfully tempting. I know that smile; I’ve seen it far too many times before. I can pretty much guess as to what he’s looking so happy about right now.
“Who’s that?” I ask innocently while stirring my tea, pretending not to have been staring at him with suspicion.
“Huh?” he mutters, not even raising his eyes to look at me.
“On the phone,” I reply nonchalantly, “your mother?”
“Oh, no, nobody,” he eventually says before shoving it back inside of his hoody pocket. It’s as though he thinks this act alone will make me forget about his suspicious behavior and give up on my questioning altogether. “You’ve remembered we’ve got my boss’ party tonight, haven’t you?”
“Mmm-hmm,” I hum into my mug, before taking the first sip to take the edge off the headache that’s already threatening to dampen my day.
“I’m gonna have to go into the office for a few hours,” he casually says as he gets up and begins walking over to me. “You don’t mind, right?”
“Sure,” I reply, even though I know what this is code for. Worse yet, he knows that I know what this is code for. I’m not even sure why he bothers to cover it up anymore. After all, this was his arrangement. The one he’s been trying to sell me for over a year now, the one I cannot bring myself to acknowledge out loud.
Knowing I will remain silent and accepting of the matter, I soon feel his hands sliding around my waist and his face nuzzling into my neck. He nips at my earlobe, then growls with lust inside of my ear. For a moment, I pretend we’re a normal couple inside of a vanilla, loving, and safe relationship.
“When are you going to set a date?” he whispers in between nibbling at my sensitive skin. He takes his hand to my ring finger and brings it up to his mouth so he can kiss the large solitaire with which he proposed to me, just over a year ago. “Mum and Dad keep asking me,” he continues as he grins against my exposed neck. When I make no answer, he begins to pepper me with little, fluttery kisses that make me feel like I have butterflies floating around inside of my stomach.
“As does my father,” I eventually reply with a smile, then turn to wrap my hands around the back of his neck. “But you know I want Dad to give me a more senior role at work before I agree to a date. I need to know he trusts me with the business without the need for a man to stand behind me. Just another six months, ok?”
With a yelp from my lips, I’m hoisted into his arms and carried straight into our penthouse apartment bedroom. My tea is left to go cold while my fiancée gives me a quick fuck before he leaves for ‘work’.
Gabe
I fucking hate working on Saturdays. It reminds me of when Ruby and I were struggling to get our business off the ground; when a day not spent working was a novelty. It was a time of doubt, fear, and indecision over whether to keep going with our dream to build our own venture. However, a damn glitch in the newly installed system has pulled me from my bed and hauled my ass into the office. I grimace when I consider I should be wrapped around the naked woman who I had woken up with this morning. Another nameless body who was after a night of orgasmic highs without any of the emotional bullshit that comes with it. In other words, my ideal partner.
At thirty-two years old, and having never been in a relationship beyond what the woman was last night, I am called a whole host of cliché nicknames, everything from a rake to a walking STD. However, what none of my friends realize when they berate me for leading a bachelor’s life is the fact that relationships are self-destructive. Sure, you have the highs of the first kiss, the first fuck, and the first blowjob that brings you to orgasm quicker than a virgin on prom night, but after that, it gets old real fast. Soon you discover each other’s little quirks that drive the other one insane. After this point, the arguments become more frequent, the exchange of words more venomous, until one day you wake up resenting the other for sucking all the life out of you, and not in a good way. And when they try to tell me that I have no experience to make such judgments? Oh, but I do, my friends, in the form of good ol’ Ma and Pa. A couple that was so dysfunctional, they should have been used in schools to promote abstinence.
Not to sound like a whiney little bitch with first-world problems, but I can honestly say that the days without a full-blown up and down argument between Glen and Linda, were fewer than the number of nights I go to bed with the same woman. On the rare occasions when they weren’t shouting all kinds of abuse to one another in public, they would be mouthing off to themselves about each other’s sexual inadequacies. Something that no son, let alone a six-year-old one, should be privy to. Linda would often vent her frustrations about her husband while I was sitting in the back of the car. I don’t know who she was talking to when she complained about Glen’s ‘tiny cock’, but I like to think it wasn’t me.
A skeletal staff is currently milling around the office, most of whom are working on autopilot rather than actual brain cells. My presence stops them short when they catch sight of me; it’s rare to see the boss working at the weekends. Well, it is now, anyway.
When I first started up this company with my cousin, Ruby, we had worked nearly every day of the week. With my background in the army and hers in IT, we came up with the genius idea to set up our own security firm. After a few years of developing a fail-safe system, together with some celebrity endorsements, we finally made it big. So much so, I haven’t had to work a Saturday in nearly two years. Thank God!
Last year was the first time I had allowed myself to take a few weeks away with my boys to escape the drudgery of working day in, day out. I’m probably overdue my next week away, but truthfully, I’m still trying to get over that first one. A week that had me chasing a piece of skirt like a horny teenager again. Though this particular skirt wasn’t like the ones I had chased after in school. She kept me guessing the whole week and didn’t disappoint, not even with her little surprise secret at the very end.
The computer flashes up a message to tell me it’s working on a diagnosis and will take a couple of minutes to come to some sort of result. With a few minutes to spare, I take a self-indulgent moment to pull open my desk drawer and retrieve the small, black, velvet ring box she had left behind in her hotel room. A souvenir, if you will. It still smells of her perfume, and, like an idiot, I take the opportunity to inhale it every now and then. Without fail, I always end up laughing at myself for doing this, then chuck it inside to the back of the drawer. I also, without fail, tell myself that I’ll throw it away one day.
When the most annoying ring tone known to man begins chiming through on my cell, I emit a deep sigh, knowing that it’s Ruby. Going into business with someone, no matter who they are to you, while semi-living with them, is a fucking mindless idea. Don’t get me wrong, I love the girl like a sister and would do anything for her. Hell, she practically was my sister growing up, but not a lot of thirty-two-year-old guys would choose to live with their sibling either. We’ve now reached a point whereby I don’t just drop heavy hints about her moving out, I bluntly tell her to go and find somewhere else. Unfortunately, she merely laughs over my blunt suggestions, ruffles my hair, then leaves the room, often without saying anything. Occasionally, I’m politely told to ‘fuck off’, but otherwise, she refuses to acknowledge my requests for her to get a place of her own.
“Where are you?! I’m trying to organize tonight, and you’re nowhere to be seen!” she barks at me in a semi-English accent, one she’s developed since moving over here at the age of twelve. Thank God I had met Grant shortly after her leaving, otherwise, I would have had no one but my parents on that side of the pond.
“I’m at work!” I snap, rubbing my tired eyes after having stared at a screen all morning. “Did you not get the message about the glitch? Bastard thing is causing mayhem all over the place, cousin dearest!” I begin tapping out new codes to try and deal with the diagnosis that’s just flashed up at me. Something to do with the server, precisely the sort of problem my IT genius cousin should be here to deal with herself. “I’m sure you can handle your little party. I have much more important things to deal with, Ruby.”
“Hmmm,” she sighs, sounding thoroughly annoyed and not at all worried about the issue with what feeds her rather irritating habit of throwing parties every damn weekend. “Well, part of what I’m dealing with is your little bedfellow from last night. How many times have I told you not to sleep with my friends, Gabe?”
I silently curse myself, having made a firm decision not to engage with any of my cousin’s friends. Not after a bad experience that led to a girl believing we were in a fully-fledged relationship after just one night together. I didn’t realize the woman from last night was anything to Ruby other than someone who liked to engage in her infamous and frequent sexcapades. No doubt tonight will turn into one of her swingers’ parties. Her sexual appetite never seems to be fully sated, a condition I blame on her years of attending an all-girls boarding school.
“Be sure to be back by eight!” she huffs at me as though her ordering me around will make a damn bit of difference over what I do.
“Whatever,” I mumble before hanging up. I’ll be back as soon as I feel like being back. Besides, I’m sure she doesn’t need me to get her kicks. There are usually plenty of willing participants to offer her what she needs to help her act out some of her particularly kinky fantasies. I won’t turn down a warm, beautiful, and willing body, but I do not need to know what my cousin gets up to.
A momentary glance up at my door sees my newest supervisor sauntering past the glass walls before finally making his way inside of my office. He’s wearing a cocky smirk that instantly makes my back tense up with irritation. This guy was another one of Ruby’s spur-of-the-moment promotions, and only because he looks pretty and doesn’t mind her constant flirting or inappropriate touching. That’s on the rare days she actually bothers to show her face around here. She gave up putting her blood, sweat, and tears into this business the moment we hit the seven-figure mark. I can’t argue much because she was the one to put up the initial capital. However, she won’t be able to live off that forever.
