Tried for Love (TSATD)

Chapter 16

Gabriel

"We were right. It wasn't Dows that killed Paul and the Cotès." Ethan stated the obvious as he sat down opposite of me on the dining table..

  It wasn't supposed to be a conversation important enough to be discussed in an office, but it seemed like the information they gathered was trustier than I had originally anticipated. Not that it mattered where we were. I trusted the staff around the house.

  Stephen had already gotten his computer ready, now turning it towards me. "This is what the cameras caught."

  The cameras from the close gas station seemed to had recorded most of the crash.. From the way Paul's car swayed and drove with an enormous speed, to the way a truck rushed by from the opposite track and hit straight in the car.

  The video repeated over and over, from a normal to a slow motion, while I made sure to study both ways in case they had missed something.. Something like the obvious.

  The breaks on Paul's car must had been cut and the driver— that hadn't been their trustworthy family friend Victor, seemed to had had trouble controlling the car because they swayed from side to side even before the truck crashed. I was certain Stephen had noticed that though.

  "We checked the identity of the attackers we caught in Leah's apartment." Ethan's words took my focus. What he said was, after all, what mattered the most at that point. "It's certain that they weren't Dows' people."

  That morning, they had informed me that Dows was in Huston when it all happened.. And I had told Leah that. But that didn't, by all means, suggest that he had sent some of his capos over to Paris to finish up what he had started all those years back. Ending the last St. Clair left standing.

The anger that rushed through me sent my blood boiling. So it was proved that it wasn't Dows, but— Hell, that made it all more difficult. How was I to protect her when I had no clue who was after her?

  "Who was it then?"

  "Stephen sent his people to take the evidence from the bodies. Hopefully we'll find a phone or something that will tell us for who those bastards work for." Jack explained.

  We had killed more than three men in Leah's old condo. We had checked for evidence on a few, and they had nothing on them.. So we had gotten rid of them. The other few however were still to be examined.

  There were big chances that whoever killed Paul and sent his people for Leah would find out that it was I, in fact, that was protecting her. All of us. And that couldn't be good.

  I didn't need any ties with anyone at that point, especially with a woman, because God knew how quickly she would be considered my weakness.. And my enemies went after my weaknesses. I couldn't allow that.

  The other part of me, however, raged with the need for the world to know Leah was one of mine now. Whoever the bastard that sent those attackers to Leah's condo was, should come after her.. And let me decide his fate. Maybe that would be our chance of figuring out his identity.. Who it was that stood behind the whole scheme.

  "How's Leah doing?" It was Ethan's words that snapped me back to reality.

  "She's holding up, I think. Something's keeping her above grief, and I damn well know it's more than just anger." Revenge, I almost said. I was almost certain the girl wanted that more than anything else in the moment.

  My explanation seemed calmed enough, though I wasn't quite sure how much longer I could hold onto my sanity. Once we would make it to New York, once I knew Leah was safe, I was going to have some of my people inspecting the whole case. The more of us were dedicated to it, the better.