Candy Crush (34 page)

She whimpered and Brandon flung his head
around to look at her, which allowed Alonzo the opportunity to
tackle him to the floor. She watched as Brandon struggled to get
out from under him, his eyes on her the entire time.

Emmett and Hector, meanwhile, were oblivious
to Miguel and Gabriella standing in the doorway, as they fought for
dominance in their personal little battle.

“Make another move and she dies.” Miguel’s
voice was soft, almost gentle.

Everyone froze.

Emmett’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t!” he
cried.

Miguel’s face was stony. “Actually, I would.
It was her idea, actually. Why should I marry her, when I can have
any number of willing women? Technically, I don’t even need
her.”

He pulled the gun away from Gabriella’s
temple and waved it at Brandon. “But I
do
need her, really.
You understand, don’t you?” he asked, looking directly at Brandon.
“She does that to a man, doesn’t she? She convinces you that you
can’t possibly live your life without her in it.” He paused and
Gabriella watched the emotions crawl across Brandon’s face.

“Well here’s the deal: if I can’t have her,
no one can. So she either goes with me, tonight, or she dies. You
choose.”

He pointed the gun at Brandon. Brandon
stared at Gabriella.

“Choose!” Miguel shrieked, clearly at the
end of his patience. He pressed the barrel of the gun against
Gabriella’s temple again.

“Go,” Brandon croaked.

“No!” Gabriella shrieked. “No! I’d rather
die!” She stared at Brandon, her eyes wide and wild, but he shook
his head.

“Go,” he said again, and turned away from
her.

It was at that moment that she comprehended
this man loved her. She knew it without him having to utter the
words. She knew it after having only known him for two weeks. She
knew. And now she was about to lose him. Forever.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, a
voice called out, “Housekeeping,” and the doors to both rooms burst
open, as a swarm of people poured in. Brandon dove, caught
Gabriella around the waist and pushed her down to the floor,
between the bed and the wall. Someone tackled Miguel from behind,
causing him to fall forward and lose his grip on the gun. The gun
fell to the carpet and mercifully did not go off.

Emmett turned and punched Hector and then
Alonzo, and after that, the room was just one frenzied display of
flying fists and legs. It seemed like it went on for hours, but
really, in a matter of minutes, Alonzo, Hector and Miguel were all
subdued. The gun was gone and all three men were flat on their
stomachs, secured by a large group of men who all bore a strong
resemblance to Brandon.

“You have a big family,” Emmett commented,
and then he helped Brandon to his feet. Brandon pulled Gabriella to
her feet and then pulled her into his arms, squeezing the breath
out of her in his exuberance.

“Can you untie me, please?” she gasped. “My
arms are killing me.” Someone handed Brandon a pocketknife and he
sawed through the restraints. Gabriella stretched her arms, hugged
Brandon, and then walked over and, with all the strength she could
muster, punched Miguel in the face.

Brandon whistled. “Holy hell, sweet pea.
Remind me never to get on your bad side.” And then the room erupted
into laughter.

***

A short time later, a multitude of police
officers, more than Brandon had ever seen before, entered the room
and soon, Miguel, Hector and Alonzo were handcuffed and dragged
away.

By the time they were able to head home, it
was well after midnight. Brandon, Gabriella and Emmett drove
together to Brandon’s house, and then Emmett climbed into his
rental car and left to go spend the night at Brandon’s parents’
house. Brandon didn’t have the energy to protest, plus he figured
with his parents in the house, Emmett and Courtney had to be
reasonably good. He hoped. Emmett’s earlier comment about Courtney
being his girlfriend bothered him now. Emmett had been just saying
that in an effort to divert Miguel’s attention… hadn’t he?

After they lavished Butter with enough
attention to calm her to the point where only half her body shook
uncontrollably, Brandon and Gabriella trudged upstairs, shed their
clothes and dropped into bed. They both slept for twelve hours, and
then spent several more hours making love, almost desperately at
first and then leisurely and slowly, once they finally came to the
realization they actually were still together, and the one threat
to their relationship was, in fact, no longer a viable threat.

By the time they crawled out of bed,
showered and headed downstairs to find sustenance, the voicemail
boxes on both phones and the land line were all full with messages.
Gossip of the caliber to what happened with Miguel was big news in
this small town, and everyone wanted to hear the story straight
from the source.

At four o’clock on Saturday evening, Emmett
and Courtney appeared at the back door. “Hey there,” Brandon said
when he opened the door. Courtney threw herself into his arms and
hugged him fiercely.

“Hey, I’m okay,” he said as he tried to
extract himself.

“I can’t believe what you guys went
through,” she breathed, and then she threw herself into Gabriella’s
arms. Brandon cocked an eyebrow at Emmett.

“She’s been like this ever since she heard
what happened,” Emmett commented. “So have you guys heard the
details?”

Gabriella and Brandon both shook their heads
and then turned and walked back into the kitchen. Brandon started a
pot of coffee while Gabriella rummaged in the cupboard and came up
with two packages of cookies.

“Getting reacquainted?” Emmett suggested
with a smirk.

“Sleeping, mostly,” Gabriella commented.
Neither Emmett nor Courtney looked as if they believed her. She
flushed while Brandon chuckled.

Finally, when everyone had a cup of coffee
and they were munching on cookies, Gabriella said, “So tell us what
we’ve missed.”

Emmett told them. “Miguel, Alonzo and Hector
are all in jail. The authorities are sorting out all the details,
trying to figure out who gets what and who. They may already be on
their way back to Dallas by now. Or even Mexico.”

“What about Daniel?” Gabriella asked, and
immediately winced when she realized Daniel was probably more of a
sore subject with Courtney than with Brandon.

“It’s okay,” Courtney said. “We’ve talked
about it.” She glanced at Emmett through her eyelashes, an almost
shy look. He smiled warmly in return.

“He’s in the hospital, but he’s recovering.
He woke up and told the police that Hector and Alonzo beat him up,
not you, Brandon.”

Brandon balled his fist. “I can’t believe it
was him all along. He had it set up perfectly. That’s why he was
always the first cop on the scene whenever something happened to
Gabriella. He was the one making things happen.”

“He gave them a name, and they were able to
pick up the kid they think threatened you at the mall. They want
you to go in at some point and make a positive ID,” Emmett said,
talking to Gabriella.

She nodded absently. “What will happen to
Daniel?” she asked.

Emmett shook his head. “Once he’s recovered
enough, he’ll probably go to jail. He killed that Mr. Partridge”
–

“Allegedly,” Courtney reminded him.

“
Allegedly
,” Emmett ground out.
“Anyway, he has seven years worth of crimes to answer to. He won’t
get out for a long, long time.”

“Are you okay with that?” Gabriella asked,
looking at Courtney.

Courtney shrugged. “I think he deserves it.
I hate that he’s Laney’s biological father, but he hasn’t had
anything to do with her life up to this point, so it isn’t like
she’ll miss out on anything.”

“What about the money in the cellar?”
Brandon asked. Gabriella had told him about the money earlier in
the day.

“What money?” Emmett asked, sounding
confused.

“The cellar – there’s a cellar underneath
the candy store. There’s a bunch of boxes of money down there. I
found them yesterday.” It was hard to believe it had only been
yesterday. Already, it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Emmett frowned. “I don’t know. I’m not sure
anyone else knows about it.”

“It belonged to the family that originally
owned the candy store. If I can track them down, I’ll give it to
them,” Gabriella said firmly.

“You can track them down,” Brandon said
confidently. “This is a small town. Everyone knows everyone. I bet
my parents know if anyone from the family is still in the
area.”

“Speaking of parents,” Courtney said. “We
are actually here to drag you back to our parents’ house. They want
you over for dinner, and since you wouldn’t answer any of your
phones, we were sent to pull you out of hiding.”

They all laughed and Gabriella said, “I
guess I’d better go get ready.”

“At least our sex life shouldn’t be the main
topic of conversation this time,” Brandon commented and Gabriella
punched him in the shoulder before hurrying upstairs to make
herself more presentable.

***

Much later that evening, after dinner, a lot
of wine, and plenty of reassurance that they were all fine, Brandon
and Gabriella were, once again, cuddled together in his bed. “This
feels really good,” Brandon commented and Gabriella murmured her
assent. “So, you’re free and clear to open up the candy store now,”
he said, and Gabriella heard the hesitation in his voice. She
rolled onto her side so she could face him.

“True,” she said.

“Or you could sell it. Now that the
jinx
has been alleviated, I’m sure someone would buy
it.”

“You want me to sell the candy store?”
Gabriella asked in confusion.

“No. I’m just laying out your options. Now
that Miguel has been captured, you’re free to go back to Dallas. If
you want to.”

Gabriella figured out the hesitation in his
voice. She smiled. “True. I am free to go back to Dallas.”

Brandon held his breath as she paused to
consider her next words.

“But I think I’d rather stay in Holly.”

Brandon exhaled sharply.

“And I think I’ll try to rent out the
apartment for some extra income.”

Brandon leaned forward and kissed her. “Have
I mentioned that I love you?” he murmured against her lips.

“No,” she whispered.

“Sorry, because I meant to. Yesterday,
actually. I love you.”

Gabriella put her hands on his cheeks and
pushed him away so she could look into his eyes. “Oh Brandon, I
love you too.”

EPILOGUE – THANKSGIVING DAY

Brandon stepped up to the foot of the
stairs. “Gabriella, we’re going to be late,” he called out,
impatience all but vibrating in his voice.

“I can’t decide what to wear,” she
responded.

Brandon sighed and climbed the stairs. He
walked into the bedroom and his breath caught in his throat.
Gabriella stood in the doorway of the brand new walk-in closet. Her
hands were on her hips and her hair tumbled around her shoulders in
a mass of blond waves. She wore a pink lace bra and matching
panties and a pair of nude thigh high stockings. Brandon stepped
into the room and loosened his tie. He snaked his arms around her
waist, lifted her hair and kissed her neck. When she felt her bra
unsnap, she turned around to face him.

“What are you doing? We have to get going,”
she protested.

Brandon slipped his hand between her legs
and promised, “We’ll make this one quick. I’ll make it up to you
later.”

***

Forty-five minutes later, they both had
sappy grins on their faces as they walked up to the front door of
the Main Street Pizza Parlor. Thanksgiving was a large affair in
the Sarantos family, and the only place that could hold everyone
was the Pizza Parlor. Brandon turned and lifted Gabriella’s hand,
dropping a kiss into the palm. “I have a surprise for you.”

“I certainly liked the first one,” she said
coyly.

Instead of marinara sauce, the Pizza Parlor
smelled like turkey and stuffing, sweet potatoes and most important
of all: pumpkin pie. The noise level was deafening as everyone
tried to talk over the person next to them, telling jokes,
recounting their day, talking about the kids’ latest grades in
school.

Gabriella looked around the room. She
spotted Nicole, Anthony and Anthony Junior, sitting at a table with
Nicole’s parents. Patrick was there and Gabriella was thrilled to
see him with his arm draped across the chair behind Natalie
Reager’s back. He twirled a lock of her hair and she smiled
adoringly at him. Gabriella watched as Rosalie walked up and gave
Natalie a warm hug. Clearly, she approved of Natalie and Patrick’s
relationship.

Gabriella continued her perusal of the room
and spotted Jared. His hand hovered possessively near the small of
Stephanie’s back. It still shocked Gabriella to see them together.
But they have been dating for six weeks now, and it felt
genuine.

No one was more surprised than Jared
himself. He joked that Brandon took all the fun out of chasing
women by settling down with Gabriella, so there was no competition
anymore. But Gabriella knew he was bluffing, because she could see
the love in his eyes when he looked at Stephanie. She was willing
to bet they would be married by next summer, especially if
Stephanie had anything to say about it.

Brandon’s Aunt Constance bustled up and gave
her a bone-crushing hug. “Too bad that candy store’s doing so well.
You’re a much more exciting admin than Elizabeth,” she said as she
released Gabriella and jabbed her thumb over her left shoulder.

Brandon’s cousin Elizabeth was squeezed into
a booth with her husband and four children. The youngest child had
started kindergarten in September, and just about the time
Gabriella was ready to open the candy store and thus could no
longer work for Constance, Elizabeth had been desperate to find a
job so that she could reacquaint herself with the adult world.
Despite Constance’s blustering, the two women got along
swimmingly.