Heart Ache (Bound by a Touch Novels #1) (15 page)

Fury burned through Nikolai, threatening to reduce him to a pile of ash—from the inside out. If not for the flame red clouding his vision, he was sure it would have been a vivid shade of jade.

Jealousy was a bitter emotion, one that could easily consume and force a male into doing things his better judgment could normally talk him out of.

But these were not normal circumstances.

With the loss of his heartmate, he no longer had a chance for life to be normal again.

A knock startled Gabby to consciousness. The second, more insistent, rapping made her sit straight up on the couch. The clock in the corner of the muted television said 7:02 am. She rubbed at the crick in her neck, cursing the fact that she’d fallen asleep on the couch again.

Sleeping in her bed just didn’t have the appeal it did before. She knew Nikolai hadn’t really been there, but it’d sure seemed real. Not that it mattered anymore.

Nikolai had fallen off the face of the earth. She’d called—and called—and only received voicemail. She’d gone to his house but nobody was home. His office looked the same as it had prior to the disastrous wedding day—with one very painful conspicuous exclusion.

She’d even tried Vincent, who claimed he had no idea where Nikolai was. Whether or not the guy was telling the truth, Gabby couldn’t be sure. But why would he lie? What did the Vice President of Voinea Enterprises have to gain from keeping the President lost? A company maybe?

An interesting theory she didn’t have time to entertain right now.

Another knock and Gabby stood, hurrying toward the door with more than a little curiosity, and a whole lot of hope. She finger-combed her rat’s nest of hair and prayed it would be the man who’d been MIA since he’d walked out of the church—and seemingly out of her life. But the strange tingly sensation she always experienced when he was near was uncomfortably absent.

She opened the door, pulling the chain taut.

Two men wearing dark slacks, white shirts and ties stood on the other side.

“
May I help you?”

“
Miss Ryan?” the blonde asked.

“
Yes,” she croaked, then cleared her throat and wiped at her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m Gabrielle Ryan.”

They each held out a gold badge and the dark-haired one spoke next, “I’m Detective Silva and this is my partner, Detective Gallant. We’d like to talk to you about Jayson McDade.”

Goose bumps formed on her skin and a shiver shook her entire body as if ice water trickled down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed.

“
Jayson? Is he okay?”

“
May we come in?”

She closed the door and liberated the chain before opening the door again. “Please come in.”

One of the officers strode around her living room, dragging his finger over the coffee table. He picked up a picture of Jayson from the box she’d yet to tape up and return to her former fiancé.

“
When was the last time you saw Mr. McDade?”

An annoyed possessive streak ripped through her. She crossed the room and all but yanked the photo away from the prying detective.

“
Why don’t you just tell me why you’re here?”

“
Answer the question, Ms. Ryan.” The blonde officer glared at her from under narrowed brows.

She huffed an irritated breath. “The last time I saw Jayson was—” Her voice broke and tears stung her eyes. She cleared her throat. “—on our wedding day. Three days ago.”

“
You never did get married, right?” Detective Silva asked quietly.

“
No … we didn’t.” Her shoulders rolled, straightening her spine. “Please just tell me what this is about. Is Jayson okay?”

Detective Gallant snorted and Detective Silva shook his head, disapproving of his partner’s actions. “It seems that there was an accident in Hawaii. Mr. McDade fell from his balcony.”

Her mind swam with worry. “B- but he’s okay, right?”

The officers who stood in front of her blurred as tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

“
Tell me, Ms. Ryan, why did you call off the wedding?”

“
I didn’t. I just didn’t get married.”

“
Semantics, Ms. Ryan.” Detective Gallant was the bad cop in this interrogation and his insinuation would have really pissed Gabby off if guilt hadn’t been eating her alive.

“
Miss Ryan,” Detective Silva said, his voice gentle as he stepped closer to her, “we’re sorry for your loss. We need to get some information from you.”

She looked up into the kind eyes. “If he was … hurt in Hawaii, then why are you here? Talking to me?”

“
We need to—”

“
What was his mental status when you last talked to him?” Detective Gallant interrupted.

“
Fine.”

“
They think he jumped.”

“
No!” This was not happening, couldn’t be happening. Jayson was a strong man. He wasn’t suicidal. Was he? Had she really driven him to end his life because she’d called off the wedding?

Because she was in love with another man?

Her heart hammered in her chest and her stomach rolled. Guilt snaked up from her toes to the tip of her head, slithering and consuming as it constricted her. She was on the verge of falling apart—much like her life—and didn’t want an audience.

“
Listen, I’d really like some time alone. Thank you for coming by, for telling me about Jayson, but you really need to go. Now.”

The officers looked at her as though spoken in a language they didn’t understand. Detective Gallant didn’t hide his hard expression, but Detective Silva’s face smoothed and he even smiled.

“
One more question, Ms. Ryan, and we have ways of checking—”

“
If you can check, then why ask?” she snapped.

He smiled tightly. “We just want to know if you’ve been to Hawaii in the last month.”

“
No.” She crossed the room to the door and opened it as wide as it would go. “Goodbye.”

Gallant shook his head, skepticism in his narrowed eyes. Silva stuck out his hand and when Gabby just looked at it, he shoved it into his pocket.

“
We’re sorry for your loss, Ms. Ryan. Really.”

“
Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Gabby closed the door and fell against it. Her fingers moved over the handsome face smiling back from the frame and her knees wobbled under her weight. She slid down the door with the picture clutched to her chest. With guilt eating her alive, she melted to the floor in a puddle of tears.

*****

Two things in life bring people together; weddings and funerals. Those two events had brought Jayson’s family in droves. His parents were gone, and the task of organizing the funeral had fallen onto Gabby’s shoulders. She didn’t resent the responsibility. In fact she considered it a penance of sorts.

After all, it was the least she could do.

The day had been a tough one. She’d spent most of it crying, mourning. Not so much over the loss of the man she loved as the loss of a very dear friend—a friend who had loved her unconditionally.

She closed the door to her tiny apartment and went to the one place capable of bringing her comfort. Kicking her heels off and removing her fitted black suit jacket, she curled up in the chair that resembled Nikolai’s and pulled a fleece blanket over herself.

A knock interrupted the silence and she snuggled deeper into the only comfort she’d found in days.

“
Go away,” she whispered, not expecting her unwanted visitor to hear her.

More knocking. She sighed and was just about to get up when suddenly, out of thin air, a woman appeared in her living room.

Gabby scrambled to her feet and raised her fists. “Wh- what…?”

“
Oh, please.” The woman’s lips lifted into an evil smile that made her stomach churn. “Come now, Gabby. Surely you can’t be that frightened of me.”

Hell yeah, she was frightened. Who was this? She narrowed her eyes and somewhere in the back of her mind there was an echo of recognition.

“
Who…?” Her gaze darted to the locked door before returning a glare at the intruder. “How…?”

Gabby hated her stammering. Hated it. She was a confident woman who didn’t stammer. But it wasn’t every day a woman just
popped
into your living room. She cleared her throat—and her thoughts—and glowered at the woman, she now recognized as Natasha.

As an unwelcome blast from the past, Natasha stood completely composed in front of her. She was as beautiful as Gabby remembered with hair the color of honey and twinkling eyes despite the hatred that flamed in them.

A hatred she didn’t understand.

“
What are you doing here, Natasha?” Her voice was strong with the right amount of annoyance, which shocked the hell out of her because the rest of her was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her slacks and pinched her thighs through the fabric.

“
If you’ll recall, dear Gabby, you invited me in once. That invitation is what made my visit possible.” Natasha was unabashed, her brow lifted as she raised an elegant hand. “I wanted to offer my condolences.” Her nonchalant expression belied her words. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“
Tha—”

“
I can’t say that I’m surprised.” It was as though the woman actually floated across the apartment, her fingers stroking the various pictures and knick-knacks adorning the surfaces. “It was only a matter of time before he snapped.” Natasha turned as she reached the large leather chair. She smirked, recognition in her eyes.

Gabby felt her brows pull together. Confusion fogged her mind.

“
Oh, don’t tell me you
were
surprised
. He’s been completely smitten with you since day one.”

“
You knew Jayson?” She hoped her questions would keep Natasha talking long enough to figure out what the hell she wanted and how the hell she got past the locked door—and the chain that was still in place.

Beautiful, yet frighteningly eerie, laughter bubbled out of the gorgeous woman before her and a shudder snaked up her spine.

“
Sweet, sweet, naïve, Gabrielle, don’t be coy. You know what he is, what you are to him.”

Survival instincts fired like crazy, her blood raced through her veins. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, hoping to sound irritated instead of scared to death.

“
Natasha, if you’re just going to talk in riddles, then—”

“
I’m talking about Nikolai, you fool!”

Gabby wished she could have stopped the jolt of her heart. But the mention of the man who had been obnoxiously MIA caused it to lurch violently.

“
What about him?” She hadn’t figured out what the hell was going on, but she was not going to just cower. She forced her spine to straighten and locked her knees to keep herself in place.

Natasha laughed. “You, my dear, are …
special
to Nikolai.”

Gabby tilted her head and quirked a brow.

Gold eyes twinkled as the explanation continued. “Nikolai is what you
humans—
” The word crackled through the air like the vilest curse word. “—call a vampire.”

Laughter burst from her gut and continued to bubble from her toes. Tears slid down her cheeks and the laughter refused to stop, even when her sides ached.

“
A … vamp- … ire?” She used the back of her hand to stifle the giggles when Natasha glared with murder in her gaze.

“
The vampire race is far superior to yours. It would be wise to never—” She vanished. “—forget that,” she whispered from right behind Gabby.

She whirled around to come nose to nose with the seriously demented woman. “I don’t know how you’re doing that, but you need to stop right now.”

“
Your heart is hammering like a little rabbit who knows the wolf is only seconds away from pouncing.” Another round of eerie laughter echoed through the room. “Don’t worry … I won’t hurt you.”

“
If you’re not here to hurt me, then why
are
you here?”

“
To warn you.” Natasha examined the nails that were as perfectly gorgeous as the rest of her. She stalked over to the box and plucked the picture of Jayson from amongst the belongings meant to be returned to him, but never would.

Natasha stroked the photo, a wistful expression captured her features. “He really was handsome—for a human.”

Gabby’s heart beat hard and fast, building for explosion in her chest cavity. Before she could snatch the picture away and rip every blonde strand from the woman’s head, Natasha spoke again, “Your beloved was murdered.”

Gabby ignored the wave of guilt and nausea. She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sound surprised.”

“
Of course not.” Long blonde locks swung and settled. Natasha tossed the picture back into the box where it landed with a glass breaking crunch. Gabby cringed and Natasha smiled. “You’re a heartmate, darling.”

“
A wh- what?”