Chapter 9 - The Surrender
"Emma, wait!" Diane cried out, but Emma was already running.
She sprinted down the grand hallway, ignoring the shouts of the federal agents securing the perimeter. She burst into the main foyer, slipping on shattered glass and bullet casings.
"Gabriel!"
Gabriel looked up from where he was slumped against the wall, a paramedic already cutting away his blood-soaked shirt. When he saw her, his exhausted, pain-tightened face broke into a look of absolute, desperate relief.
"Emma," he breathed out, reaching his good arm out toward her.
Emma dropped to her knees beside him, wrapping her arms carefully around his neck, burying her face in his uninjured shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I thought you were going to die," she cried, her body shaking violently. "I watched you on the monitor. You were hit."
"It's a through-and-through," the paramedic noted quickly, wrapping a tight pressure bandage around Gabriel's bicep. "Miss, please give him space, we need to load him into the ambulance."
"I'm fine," Gabriel grunted, pulling Emma tighter against his chest, refusing to let her go. He pressed his face into her soft curls, inhaling the scent of her, grounding himself in the reality that she was safe. "You're safe. The baby is safe. That's all that matters."
A tall man in a dark FBI windbreaker walked over, looking down at Gabriel.
"Mr. Mercer," the federal agent said, his tone completely devoid of sympathy. "We have Vitiello in custody three blocks from here. He was trying to flee in a van. We have his crew. But you understand this isn't over. We found illegal weapons on your men. You're going to have to answer for this."
Gabriel looked up at the agent, his expression calm, resigned, and entirely at peace.
"Agent Harris," Gabriel said softly. "In my private safe in the study, you will find three external hard drives. They contain the financial records, bank accounts, and illegal shipping manifests of every corrupt capo, union boss, and politician in eastern Tennessee for the last ten years."
The agent blinked, completely stunned. "You're... you're turning state's evidence?"
"I am burning the old world down," Gabriel corrected, looking at Emma. "I am pleading guilty to racketeering. I will serve my time. In exchange, you grant full immunity to my wife, my legitimate construction holdings, and my security chief, Silas."
"Gabriel, no!" Emma gasped, pulling back to look at his face. "You can't go to prison. What about the baby?"
Gabriel reached up with his good hand, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"I have spent my whole life living in the shadows, Emma," Gabriel whispered, his dark eyes filled with absolute conviction. "I cannot raise a son in the dark. I have to pay my debts to the law so that when I come home to you, I come home a clean man. A man worthy of being your husband."
Emma sobbed, pressing her forehead against his. "You are worthy. You already are."
"Two years, Emma," Gabriel smiled weakly, echoing the terms of their original, foolish contract. "My lawyers will negotiate a plea deal. White-collar facility. Two years, and then I am yours forever. Legally. Safely."
They loaded Gabriel onto the stretcher. Emma held his hand the entire way to the ambulance, refusing to let go until the paramedics forced the doors shut.
May you like
As the ambulance sped away under the flashing red and blue lights, Silas stepped up beside Emma, his arm in a sling from the firefight.
"He did it for you, Miss Emma," Silas said quietly, watching the taillights fade into the rainy night. "He gave up the crown to save his queen."
