Gabe glanced around the room then allowed his gaze to rest on her startled face. If he weren’t so angry he might have laughed at the incongruous sight. Ana sat at the table surrounded by seven rough-looking men. An open bottle of whisky was between her and the man to her left, a half-filled glass at her elbow. In one hand she held her cards, in the other, an ornate cigarette holder with a lit cigarette now trembling in her shaking hands. She was dressed the way she had been when he first saw her crouched in the stable. But now her face wasn’t dirty and her boyish shirt was open at the neck displaying a teasing glimpse of pale soft flesh. Her silken hair had sprung loose from its casual braid and was hanging in a shiny curtain down her back. Her black cowboy hat was perched at a jaunty angle. In front of her was a stack of chips easily twice that of the next largest pile.
The room erupted in a roar of voices. All the men at the table shouted out some kind of a greeting.
“Damn, if it isn’t Angel,” a man with hair as red as his ruddy cheeks hollered out.
“Hell, I never thought I’d see the day,” his companion responded. He added with a disbelieving chuckle. “Angel and the Queen Bee in one room, at our table? You gotta fuckin’ be kidding.”
Tom Peters, a man Angel had met at a night long game at Dominic’s put down his cigar and grinned at Gabe. “I dunno, Angel. You might just have met your competition. Our little Queen Bee here is the best kept secret in the county.” He turned to the rest of the men at the table and crowed, “I’m tellin’ you, this is gonna be a night of poker like you’ve never seen.”
Without seeming to take a single step Gabe was behind her. In a single sweep of his arms he lifted her from her chair and stood her between Gunnar and Eagle. Her gasp was heard around the table.
In a pleasant voice, he spoke to the men all staring at him, and then at Ana.
“Sorry, gentlemen. I won’t be able to join you tonight although I am sure it would be a profitable evening. And I regret that Miss Li will be unable to stay.
Ignoring their surprised expressions, Gabe proceeded to divide up Ana’s huge stack of chips and began parceling them out to the startled men around the table.
“What… what are you doing, Gabe?” Ana’s voice was a mere squeak.
Without looking back at her, Gabe put the last two piles in front of the men next to him and replied in a silky voice. “Really, Ana. I thought you knew poker etiquette. A man doesn’t leave a competitive game without warning, and expect to take his winnings.”
He turned to her and grasped her arm, his hand an iron vise on her tender flesh.
“Gunnar, will you please bring Ana’s cigarette holder?
“Any other little props, Ana, that we should be aware of? Special cards? A money bag? An extra bottle of whisky?” he asked, giving her a scathing glance.
Ana felt the heat flood her cheeks as her anger rose. How dare he humiliate her like this? In front of these men? It had taken her two years to earn their respect and now Gabe, arrogant bully that he was, yanked it away. Her anger stiffened her spine. She tried to twist away.
“Let go of me, Gabe.”
“Be quiet, Ana.”
His tightening grip on her arm and the cold rage in his eyes buried her retort in her throat. A wave of fear crashed over her. If he didn’t have such a tight grip on her, she would have fallen, her shaking legs no longer capable of holding her upright.
He partially dragged and carried her across the room. At the doorway he turned to the shocked men at the table.
“Good evening, gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your game.”
He scooped Ana up in his arms and carried her down the stairs nodding to a startled Shorty, who shook his head in wonder. “Well, I’ll be damned. Now I think I seen everything.”
Within minutes, the group of eight men were mounted, waiting for orders from their leader. One of the men held Spirit’s reins in his hand, keeping the heaving mare next to him. Gabe strode past Spirit and threw Ana up on Wild Card. In one strong move he seated himself behind her.
She whispered, “What are you doing, Gabe? I can… ride my own horse.” She looked to Gunnar and Eagle, silently appealing for help, but both men looked away, their expressions dark with concern. When Gabe signaled, all eight men headed to the ranch, the pounding of their horses galloping hoofs testifying to their frightening speed.
Gabe held her so tightly she had trouble catching a full breath. It was like being wrapped in a thunder cloud. Never knowing when the lightning would strike.
~~~
When they reached the ranch, Gabe tossed her to the ground and jumped down beside her. One of the men came up behind them and led Wild Card away. Gunnar and Eagle dismounted and moved up next to Gabe. Davy and Emil stood at a short distance.
Ana jerked back several steps and glared at Gabe, ignoring the men behind him.
She was shaking, determined. She had to make him understand. She swallowed hard barely making it past the lump in her throat.
“You don’t understand, Gabe. I can explain.” Getting the first words out gave her courage to continue.
“I know I should have waited for you or told Davy or someone, but I—”
Gabe’s cold order cut her off. “Be quiet, Ana.”
She struggled between fear and anger, mostly not wanting to cry. She was furious that he was treating her like this in front of his men. She hated him, despised him. But the entrance to the villa seemed far away.
Gabe lit a cigarette and regarded her with a curious expression.
“I’ve never hit a woman in anger, Ana. Or for that matter killed one. But this may call for an exception.”
She jumped back willing her legs to stop shaking. Eagle put his hand on Gabe’s shoulder and said softly, “You can’t resolve this tonight, Gabe. Let her go. Morning will come soon enough.”
Gabe took a deep drag off his cigarette and nodded at Eagle through the smoke.
Jerking his head at the men behind him, his words were curt. He locked on her eyes while he spoke.
“Davy, Emil. Please accompany Ana to her chambers. Since I already broke the lock on her door you will need to position yourselves inside her chambers. Emil, you take the balcony door that Ana seems to have a number of uses for. Davy, post yourself at the door. If she so much as turns over in her bed, you have my permission to tie her to the bedpost and come and get me. I will take it from there.”
Ana couldn’t believe what he said.
She tried to speak firmly but her words came out in a disbelieving gasp.
“They… they will be inside my chambers?”
Gabe nodded.
“That’s correct. Better them than me.”
Anger flooded her at his taunting arrogance. Ana was infuriated at the way he was humiliating her. Treating her like a naughty child. She tried but couldn’t stop the angry tears that streamed down her cheeks. When Davy stepped cautiously toward her, she snapped, “Stay away from me. Don’t you dare touch me.”
Davy’s baby face flushed and she saw the distress in his eyes.
“I… we… will give you privacy, Ma’am. We—”
She shoved at his arm and included them all in her furious glare.
“Go to hell. All of you!”
She whirled away and ran through the doorway into the silent still-sleeping house.
Eyeing her retreating backside, Gunnar clapped a hand on Gabe’s shoulder and said with a dry chuckle, “As beautiful as it is, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be that little ass for the next couple of days.”
Chapter 29
The next morning, Ana waited for Master Han in the Kung Fu practice center. She had a regular lesson with her sensei every Tuesday, and there was never an acceptable excuse to miss it. She forced herself through the disciplined moves of her warm up practice, refusing to acknowledge the curious stares of the other fighters. She knew word of her escapade had traveled throughout the Villa. To her shame, she would be the talk of the kitchen as well as the barn for days to come. She kept her composure on a tight leash knowing that it wouldn’t take much to snap. More than anything she wanted to bury her head under her covers and not leave her bed for a week.
The door opened and there was a flurry of activity, and then silence. She turned to see Gabe enter. Her stomach plunged dangerously. She gasped for air, looking for somewhere to run. He held her gaze from across the room. If anything he looked angrier, colder than he had the night before.
He glanced around the room and jerked his head toward the door. Including all the fighters in his command, he said, “Please excuse us. Ana and I have a private lesson scheduled. We will need the center for the next several hours. Please leave.”
Ana watched stunned as the more than twenty fighters gathered up their equipment and paraded through the door. Gabe waited until the last one left, then reached over and locked the door.
She closed her eyes, grasping for every calming exercise she’d ever practiced. But they deserted her, as though she hadn’t spent a quarter of her life in the spiritual and physical practice of Kung Fu. No matter what animal form she tried to conjure up they eluded her as though a flood had drowned them all.
Giving up the pretense of calm, she bit her lip so hard she was sure it would bleed. She met Gabe’s gaze. “I… I have a lesson today, Gabe. Master Han will be here any minute. I….”
She stopped, knowing nothing she said would make a difference.
His voice was calm. Almost pleasant. Except for the tight lines around his mouth and eyes, she wouldn’t have known how angry he was.
“You are correct, Ana. You do have a lesson scheduled. However, Master Han will not be teaching it. I will.”
Gathering her courage and what pride she had left she raised her chin and faced him. “What do you want, Gabe? To beat me? To kick me, strike me, make me say I’m sorry for what I did?”
A glimmer of a smile crossed his face.
“All of those options seem about right, Ana. A good place to start. But you forgot the one I would most like to do is turn you over my knee and spank your bare ass so hard that you won’t be able to sit down for a week.”
She started and bit her lip harder. The pain cut through her fear. Looking over his shoulder she judged the distance to the door but knew it was hopeless. He was too big, too fast.
When she looked back at him in resignation, any semblance of his humor was now gone.
Even though she knew it was futile, she wanted to explain, tell him why she went to the poker game, and what she had learned.
“Gabe, I wanted to tell someone, to get one of your men to go with me but they all seemed so… so… busy… I didn’t want to bother them.”
His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Busy, Ana? My men were busy? Doing what? What were they doing, Ana? Oh yes, now I remember. They were protecting you and your father. From men who are intent on killing you both.”
Ana’s gut clenched. He was right but she needed to explain.
“I wanted to tell you. I would have if you were here.”
“No, Ana, you would not. Any more than you told any of my men that you were going to ride miles away from the Villa in the middle of the night — alone.”
He stopped and glared at her, letting the words sink in.
“No, instead, you snuck out of your room and threatened an already terrified servant. A man who would give his life for you and your father. You told Quitin you would send him and Jing, the woman who has cared for you since birth, back to China if he told anyone where you were going.”
He stepped closer to her, forcing her back against the wall. “I’m glad you have the decency to blush, Ana. I should spank your ass for that alone. It is unworthy of you. Just as it is unworthy of you to lie to me now.”
She squeezed her eyes closed, as much to shut off her tears as to hide from his piercing glare.
“Tell me, Ana.” His voice was calm, deceptively pleasant. Only when she opened her eyes did she see how angry he was.
“Tell me. What did you plan to do if you were stopped by the men who tried to kill your father? Hmm? Or, if one of your poker buddies turns out to be the very same man who is planting pictures of you being gang raped.”
She gasped, horrified. “I… I… didn’t see—”
“No, you didn’t see those pictures, because I didn’t want to frighten you. I wanted to protect you. That was before I knew that you don’t need my protection, do you Ana? You can take care of yourself. Correct?”
Ana knew he was deliberately taunting her, trying to frighten her. She took a deep breath and met his gaze.
“Yes, I can. I know how to protect myself.”
He stepped back and nodded.
“Good. That’s good to know, Ana.” He paused then said, “Show me.”
“Show you… show you what?”
“How you protect yourself.”
He walked into the center of the mat and motioned her toward him.
“Tell you what. I will be one of the men who plans to rape you. You show me how you will protect yourself.”
Her voice was small but it was the best she could do with the tight lump in her throat.
“It doesn’t work like that, Gabe, and you know it.”
He loomed up over her, the muscles on his chest and arms flexing, his strong thighs tightening as he closed in on her.
“No, I don’t know, Ana. I’ve never attacked a woman or raped her or tried to kill a defenseless old man. But since
you
know, show me. Convince me that you don’t need my protection.”
Ana shook her head and refused to look at him. Then, gathering her courage, she pulled from her years of Kung Fu and looked him in the eye.
“I… can’t. You are ready for me. With someone your size I need the element of surprise, to equalize our strengths.”
“That’s good, Ana. You’re right. That is about your only chance with someone as big as me. Fine, I’ll act surprised.”
When she glared at him, he whipped a bandana out of his back pocket. “Tell you what, I’ll blind myself. I won’t know where you are or when you are coming at me.” He tied the bandana snugly over his eyes and moved back.
Ana stepped aside, her own anger rising. He was trying to make a fool of her. But she did know how to protect herself. Master Han raved about her skills. She had to stop letting Gabe intimidate her. Master Han said you lose more with your mind than your body. She moved back several quiet steps feinting from one side to the other. When she felt the spirit rise she launched herself at him aiming one of her flying kicks at his knees. To her shock he caught her in mid-air before she touched him. He flipped her and threw her face first to the floor and landed his full weight on top of her.