Julia braced her bedroom door with a chair and tugged on a nearby dresser. Old framed photographs clattered against one another on top of the antique as she tried to move it, while a china doll crashed to the floor. Ignoring the pain in her now injured ankle, she hobbled to the other side of the dresser, pushing it frantically with short, desperate attempts. Simon shouted expletives at her as he wrestled with the doorknob.
Finally, she managed to place the dresser in front of the door. She only hoped she could buy herself enough time to make a phone call before Simon came bursting into her room. She limped over to the telephone that sat on her nightstand, but in her haste she knocked it to the floor.
“Shit!”
She picked up the phone and with trembling fingers, began dialing Gabriel’s cell phone. It immediately went to voice mail. As she waited for the beep, Simon’s body came hurtling against the door. Julia watched in horror as the old door sagged and began to come away from its hinges.
“Gabriel, please come to my dad’s house right away. Simon is here and he’s trying to break down the door to my room!”
Simon cursed and growled, pounding relentlessly against the door. Once he smashed his way in he’d tip the dresser over to get to her.
This is it. I’m dead, she thought.
She couldn’t imagine a scenario in which she escaped without sustaining serious bodily harm or worse. Realizing that she couldn’t wait another second, she dropped the phone and opened the window, preparing to crawl out onto the roof and possibly to jump. Just as she was trying to swing herself over the windowsill, she saw Gabriel’s Jeep screech into the driveway. He left the car running and tore across the lawn.
Gabriel shouted her name and Simon swore at him. Light, quick footfalls reverberated from the staircase followed by the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and a torrent of curses. Something heavy fell to the floor. Someone tumbled down the stairs.
Julia crept over to her nearly destroyed door, straining to hear. The noises seemed to have moved outside. When she limped back to her window, she saw Simon lying on the front lawn. He was cursing and holding his nose. She watched breathlessly as he lurched to his feet, blood pouring down his face. In the blink of an eye, blood from Simon’s nose mingled with blood from his mouth as Gabriel’s right hook split his lip, dislodging a few teeth.
“Asshole!” Simon spat out the teeth and lunged at Gabriel. Despite his obvious impairment, he was able to land a punch on Gabriel’s chest.
Gabriel reeled back, winded. Simon took another step forward, eager to capitalize on his opponent’s weakness. Gabriel recovered quickly, plowing into Simon’s stomach with his right and his left. Simon doubled over in pain and fell to his knees.
Gabriel straightened his shoulders slowly and cracked his neck to one side. He looked remarkably relaxed in his tweed jacket and Oxford shirt. He looked as if he was on his way to a faculty meeting at the university and not presently kicking the ass of a senator’s son from Philadelphia.
“Get up,” Gabriel said in a voice that made Julia’s blood cool.
Simon moaned.
“I said get up!” Gabriel stood over him like an avenging angel, beautiful and terrible and absolutely without mercy.
When Simon didn’t move, Gabriel grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his head back.
“If you even think about going near her again, I’ll kill you. The only reason you’re still alive is because it would upset Julianne to see me go to prison. And I’m not about to leave her alone after what you did to her, you sick motherfucker. If a photograph or a video of someone who even looks like her ends up on the internet or in a newspaper, I’ll come after you. I’ve gone ten rounds with a few Southies in Boston and lived to brag about it. So don’t think that I will hesitate to smash your skull in next time.”
Gabriel reared back and his left uppercut shattered Simon’s jaw. Simon slumped onto the ground and remained perfectly still. Pulling a handkerchief out of the pocket of his wool trousers, Gabriel nonchalantly wiped the blood from his hands. At that moment, Julia appeared at the front door and hobbled out to meet him.
“Julia!” He caught her in his arms as she nearly fell down the stairs. “Are you okay?”
He swung her to the ground carefully, clasping her to his chest.
“Julia?” He pushed her hair back so that he could see her. Her lips were red and swollen, there were scratches on her neck, her eyes were wild and was that…a huge bite mark?
That animal fucking bit her!
“Are you all right? Did he…?” Gabriel dropped his eyes to her clothing, fearing what he might see. But no, her clothing wasn’t ripped, and she was still dressed, mercifully, even though her shirt was unbuttoned.
He closed his eyes and thanked God that he hadn’t arrived any later. Who knows what he would have found.
“Come with me,” he said firmly, removing his jacket and placing it around her shoulders. He quickly buttoned up her shirt and carried her to the passenger’s seat of the Jeep, closing the door behind her.
“What happened?” he asked as he climbed in beside her. Julia was clutching her injured ankle and muttering to herself.
“Julia?” When she didn’t respond, he reached over to brush the hair out of her eyes.