GUILTY (Gabe's Trials)

Sanctuary

"How long?" My eyes widened immediately, my head turning in his direction. He was talking again for the first time since we'd left the airport. From the corner of my eye I could see Mathew shrugging from the driver's seat, his hand then reaching for his fiance's.

"Twenty minutes or so? It's really not up to me, man." My murderer nodded thoughtfuly, his eyes still refusing to meet mine. But then, I didn't really blame him for being so cold to me. I'd made it perfectly clear that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore, so he was just granting me my wish. Then why the fuck did it bother me so much?

Turning my face away from him on a sigh, I allowed my eyes to look out the window, the spectacular view I was faced with almost taking my breath away. It was quite a while since we'd left the airport and the green fields of crops behind, the city lights now surrounding us, the Adige river finally coming into sight. I didn't think the airport was so far away from the actual city at first, but then the sun started to set, making me realise just how long it took us to finally reach the streets of Verona. My eyes closed briefly, my teeth biting into my lip. I knew I couldn't have postponed making my demand any longer. Briefly clearing my throat, I turned my attention back to the three people in the car.

"I'd like to pay for my room." Finally watching me, Gabriel frowned, small, adorable wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. The times he happened to show his real age were so rare that I couldn't help but smile.

"You'd like to pay? For your room?" I quickly and decidedly nodded my head at him in spite of the fact that I knew he was expecting me to elaborate -the confussion written all over his face, clear proof of that. What was there to elaborate though? It just didn't feel right for him to pay for everything. "No." And there it was. I wasn't even surprised to hear his answer. Thank God I still had some fight in me, though.

"Gabriel, I'm only asking for you to let me pay for my fucking room once we get to the hotel. I'm sure you can do that much for me after practically dragging me to Italy." His big, brown eyes finally found my blues, amusament clouding them. 

"Hotel?" His lips quircked up a little, the smug look on his face making me frown this time. "You don't need to pay for anything. We're not gonna stay at a hotel." Looking down at his watch, Gabriel's lips formed a straight line again, his hand reaching for the driver's seat and giving Mathew a little pat on the back. The man simply nodded, the car picking up speed and sending my body back into the plush seat. Yet, I was not ready to let it go quite yet. If we weren't going to stay at a hotel, then where the fuck were we going to stay?

"Where?" My voice was harsh and clipped, my eyes staying fixed on Gabriel. I needed a fucking answer and I knew that pushing for it was the only way to make the bastard talk. Glancing back at me, my murderer gave me a cocky smile. "Where are we going, Gabriel?" I had no idea what shocked him more -the fact that I had just yelled at him or the fact that I had actually used his name while doing it.

"If you must know, we're gonna stay at my parents'. The house is big enough to hold all of us and more." His parents? We were going to be staying at his parents' house? "Not to mention the fact that the mansion is placed on a pretty little hill and surrounded by miles of olive trees and guards. It's probably the safest place in all Italy, so I've never even considered taking you to a hotel instead of there." A silent laugh went past my lips. I should've known that the fucker was going to try and find a way to hold me captive. He'd done it so many other times before, for fuck's sake. When was I going to learn my lesson? 

Dropping my head in dismay, my eyes travelled down to my feet, taking in my Valentinos and then started going up, finding the deep tear that ran down the length of my thigh. Panic suddenly chocked me, the air in my lungs getting stuck in my throat.