Gael's Naughty Angel: A Mafia Prince Romance

Gael sneaked back into Angela's bedroom quietly and carefully slipped under the covers, grimacing as he moved because his back was killing him. He didn't want to wake her up, knowing she needed as much rest as she could so she could heal fast. The purple bruises that were still on her back made his blood boil.

She stirred and woke up anyway. "Why aren't you sleeping? Where were you?"

"Baby, it's barely 9 p.m."

"It's only nine? Why am I so…" She sighed, clutching her head. "You didn't take your pills, did you?"

He didn't answer.

"Why?" Angela arched a brow and propped up on her elbow. "You must still be in pain."

"I'm fine."

She gave him a pointed look as if she knew he was lying. "You're pale and…sweating. You're not fine."

Right. He wasn't a hundred percent fine. His back hurt like a bitch, but he wouldn't admit that.

"What's wrong, Gael? Why are you being stubborn?" She looked worried. "I thought you said taking the pills will make healing faster… You said so yourself."

Gael contemplated as if measuring his answer. Then he averted his gaze and shifted his body until he was lying on his stomach, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"I've seen Sebastian nearly OD'd in OxyContin more than once. He fell off the wagon a couple of times after a few months of trying to be clean. When he was using, he was too high to function properly." Gael dragged his gaze back to Angela, his eyes half-lidded. "I need to be functional, Angel. I can't protect you if I'm constantly drifting in and out. We have less men standing guard outside at the moment."

Understanding dawned on her, and she let out a heavy sigh. "Well, you can't protect me in that state either. Look at you… You can barely keep your eyes open."

"Maybe I'm just sleepy. I'll be good once I take a nap."

Angela grabbed a clean face towel from the nightstand and gently patted it on his face. "We both know that's not it. Can you please just take it? I promise I'll look out for you so you won't overdo it. You're doing it for me too, aren't you? I'll do the same for you. We'll watch each other's backs. Besides… You're not your brother."

Through the small slits in his eyes, he exchanged serious looks with her for a moment. Then he nodded. "Fine. I'll take it. But only tonight. I'll switch to something...less strong tomorrow."

She helped him take the pill and got him settled in bed, pulling the blanket up to his shoulder before snuggling into his side.

"I can still sleep here tonight, right?" Gael murmured in almost a whisper. "Your dad won't kick me out in the middle of the night with an ax above my head?"

Angela laughed and then abruptly winced when her side ached. "Yeah. You can sleep here tonight. I'll lock the door later just in case." She smiled.

"A locked door won't hold for an ax, babe."

She clicked her tongue. "Oh, shut up. He won't come later to kill you. I promise."

Gael chuckled and pulled her closer, laying a kiss on her lips before whispering, "Go back to sleep."

After a few moments of silence and gentle breathing between them, she murmured, "You're not going anywhere without me."

Gael didn't respond. But he guided her head against his chest, tucking her under his chin as he stroked the back of her head slowly. The repetitive caress lulled her to sleep.

***

Thursday — February 7 at 3:01 a.m.

Gael's phone rattled on top of the nightstand, and he woke with a start, immediately wincing as he reached his hand to answer the call. Angela was asleep, her back facing him, so he kept his voice low when he spoke.

"You're late. What's the situation?" was his greeting. He'd been expecting their call a few hours ago.

"We ran into some trouble," Trigger answered. "We've only regrouped just now."

Gael checked the caller I.D., seemingly baffled. He was expecting Rick to call him, and it was Rick's number. Rick and Trigger weren't in the same group. "What kind of trouble? And where's Rick?"

"Shots were fired. We grabbed Leos when he tried to escape. Eddie's gone, Boss. And Rick's hurt."

Gael gritted his teeth as he got out of bed and began pacing, gripping his hair. "Fuck." All courtesy for Angela's sleep thrown out the window. He squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about his fallen soldiers. "Rick… How bad is it?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Trigger came back. "Bullet grazed his shoulder, but he'll live. He's out cold, though. Our cars are out of commission. We've been on foot for a while."

"What's going on?" Angela's hoarse voice pulled his focus for a second. She sat up on the bed, her brows furrowed in concern as she watched him walk back and forth in his boxer briefs and wrapped-up torso. 

Gael raised a hand to keep her quiet as he continued to speak to Trigger. "What about you? Are you injured? Where are you? What the hell happened? And why are you with Rick in the first place? You're supposed to be with Morty."

"We were tailing them both. Then Filippo and Leos met up again in a warehouse outside of highway 54. One of Filippo's guys—that fucking wiry man with the white beard—saw Eddie." Trigger huffed aggressively. "It happened so fast. It was a shit storm. We got Leos, but Filippo escaped. I'm…fine—just a scratch. We're at a…barn. It smells like cow piss in here." He spat.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gael's brain kicked up gears. The two groups were meant to only keep watch from afar until he gave them the signal to grab their targets and move to the next part of the plan. This wasn't supposed to happen—not yet, at least. Not when they hadn't heard back from the Parks. He had asked Daniel for that favor last Tuesday, and Daniel said he had passed along the message, but they hadn't received a response—not even a thumbs-up emoji.

"And Morty?" Gael asked.

"We got split up. We haven't heard from him yet since the gunfire."

"Fuck!!!" His fist slammed hard against the wall. Not only was one of them missing, but they might also have lost Filippo too. Several curses left his lips, one of them directed at himself for not being there with his men.

Trigger recounted everything that happened and informed Gael that there were only four of them there at the moment, plus Evan Leos.

Delicate hands slid around Gael's biceps, and he looked down to meet Angela's worried gaze. He looped an arm around her and drew her close as he spoke to the phone again, "Don't let him escape." He didn't have to emphasize that he was talking about Leos.

"His knee is busted. He won't be able to go anywhere far if he tries."

Letting out a sigh, Gael composed himself and then said, "Send me your coordinates. I'll come to pick you up."

"You got it."

The phone call ended. And Angela searched for his face. "Something happened to your men?"

Gael untangled from Angela and walked into the closet, grabbing the first pair of jeans he saw from his pile of clothes. He shoved his legs into them and snatched a clean shirt from a hanger. "Yeah," was all he could say as his mind raced into several things all at once. The Parks had ears for suspicious things like a shoot-out. If they got word on it and found out even as little as an Italian mafia footprint in the mud, Gael was afraid they'd shoot first and ask questions later.

That's what he and Giovanni would do...in some cases. Sometimes even no questions later. How ironic would it be if the Parks did that to them? Gael could only hope he could get to his men first, wherever their location was.

"And you're going to them? Isn't that dangerous?" She bit her bottom lip, standing at the doorway.

"I can't leave my men out there. It's more dangerous if I don't get to them first."

"Who's going to—"

"The Parks. We're in their territory, remember?"

"But I thought you're going to settle things with them…"

"Yet. That hasn't happened yet. Leos is injured. If for some magical reason they find out about that and that one of us did it…" Gael scoffed, his shirt half-haphazardly buttoned. He retrieved a handgun from his bag and tucked it in his waistband at the back. Then he got another gun from the nightstand and did the same.

Angela swallowed at the sight of him armed and dangerous as he moved across the room. "Are they really going to do that? I don't think William or his family are—"

Gael snapped his head towards her, throwing a warning glare. "You don't know them like I do, Angela."

She flinched at his tone. But instead of stepping back, she marched forward and leveled with him. "Then I'm coming with you."

"The fuck you are! You're staying here!" he bit out.

Angela folded her arms under her breasts and raised her chin. "I. Am. Coming. With. You.. I'm not staying here, worrying and wondering IF I'm ever going to see you again, Gael."