GUILTY (Gabe's Trials)

A few good men

"What's with these?" I asked once Gabriel's man straightened his back, free of his burden. A smirk pulled at my lips the moment he refused to answer to me, his eyes refusing to meet mine. My darling murderer must have known that Mathew had talked to me -disobeying his direct orders- and now he was punishing both of us -but mostly me- by replacing him with Tom. "Did he ask you not to talk to me?" A long moment of silence followed my question before I spoke again. "Where's Mathew, Tom? Why isn't he the one to visit me?" The man slightly shook his head.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about that." A triumfant smile pulled at my lips as I reached for a mascarpone, blueberry muffin with a dollop of white chocolate frosting on top of it. 

"What's with these?" I asked again, poiting my chin at the platter of muffins. "Or are you not at liberty to talk about that either?" A slightly annoyed scowl was all I got before witnessing his face turn blank again.

"Mr Rowton told Mr Shaffer you're not eating. He was worried so he asked me to bring you these." I was so shocked that I'd actually made him utter two entire sentences that the meaning of his words slipped my mind for a moment.  

"I think one muffin would've been enough though. He could not actually expect me to eat a whole platter of them." A smile lit up his eyes without also gracing his lips though.

"I doubt that, ma'am. I guess he simply didn't know which kind of cake you prefered." My brow furrowed, realisation hitting home. He couldn't have possibly known which kind of cake I liked. We've never talked about such ordinary things before. 

"Do we have any news on Ginger?" I asked while sitting on the edge of the bed, hoping for a change of subject.

"I have no knowledge of that, ma'am." I shortly nodded my head at him while taking the muffin to my mouth and biting into it, the white chocolate frosting ending up smearing the top of my nose. I quickly wiped it up with the back of my hand, looking up at the man quietly watching me. 

"When is he planning to stop keeping me locked up in here?" The gentle smile that pulled at the man's lips for a moment gave him away. He didn't think that was gonna happen too soon. 

"I have no knowledge of that either, ma'am." Looking at my bare feet, I wiggled my toes a little. 

"Thank you, Tom!" His features softened ever so slightly, Gabriel's employee briefly nodding his head before starting for the door and reaching for the knob. I needed to know something though, so I stopped him. "You seem like a good men, Tom. Why do you work for him?" His body went rigid, the knuckles of the hand with which he was holding the knob turning white.

"Mr Shaffer's a good man too, ma'am. I... I was different before I met him. But then he found me and took me in. He turned me into the man I am today." Turning aound briefly, the man smiled. "So if I seem like a good man, Ms Groves, that's because he made me this way. And that's why I work for him. Because I couldn't have asked for a better job or for a better boss." The door opened, allowing Tom to step out of the room, silence then enveloping me. I was left sitting at the edge of the bed with a muffin in my hand, the man's words replaying in my mind.

$$$

I heard him before I saw him, his harsh voice making me cringe. Gabriel was generally a scary son of a bastard. Angry Gabriel was way beyond scary.

"Just give her whatever the fuck she wants and be done with it. I have no time for her games." My teeth captured my lower lip, my mind already in turmoil. Who was she? What games? What was my murderer up to? As if sensing me watch him, Gabriel's gentle gaze landed on my face, making my heart pick up speed. "Three is good. Just make her sign the damn papers." Hanging up the phone, Gabriel carelessly dropped it onto one of the bedside tables, his eyes then finding mine. There was not one hint of anger in him anymore, his lips forming that secret smile I loved so much. "You need to stop trying to question my men each time I send them to you." My eyes performed a full rotation into their sockets, my tongue darting out to moisten my lips.