GABRIEL

Terror. Bloodshed. Abuse. Torture.

These were only a few of the things that Gabriel's wife had gone through.

Gabriel stood on his balcony, the cold and body numbing air encasing his injured body. With every breath he took, way looked like a frozen cloud appeared from his mouth, softly dispersing into the air.

He looked out into the distance and watched as his home lay tattered. Debris, discarded weapons and even a few bodies, injured and dead, lay on his doorstep, as if it was a sign.

A bad omen.

And an omen it was, for he did not know what would be of his angel.

His wife's family had been evacuated to another area, without being shown what was around them. Gabriel had ordered blindfolds to be placed over them, and for them to be escorted out a clear path so they would not notice anything whilst they walked out. He knew he should have let them see Angelica, but by the lord above, he could not live seeing them break at the sight of his wife.

Images of his wife flashed through his mind being taken out of the room they were previously in, rushing her downstairs to the medial area of the home, underground. Luckily for being a man in the Mafia, a leader, Gabriel was able to have a doctor on scene as soon as he asked. Within a small time period, an elderly man arrived at his broken doors, ready to assist Gabriel in whatever his needs were.

Without saying anything, Gabriel had pointed in the direction he needed to go, not turning around to watch as one of his men escorted him to the area his wife was in.

His muscles were tense.

Thoughts of the past ran through his head at a slow and taunting pace. Each and every small detail tormented him, slowing at each heart breaking moment, as if deliberately trying to break him down. Being tortured physically was less painful for Gabriel. His wife's screams haunted his ears, and rang away as the clock ticked.

Seconds on the balcony turned to minutes, which gradually turned to a couple of hours. The night began to set in, and as Gabriel looked down to the back garden of his home, and gazed at it longingly. He wished that this state was the state his wife was in. Frozen.

He didn't want her to die. No. He wanted to see her flower and grow into a beautiful rose, just like the ones he had in his garden. No one knew how much he admired his garden. Something his father and mother used to do together when he was a young boy. His mother used to help his father plant the most beautiful flowers and plants, filling up every corner of his parents haven.

His life was the garden, and he knew the beauty of his garden would come from the flowers within. His woman. His wife.

He felt as if he was Angelica's bad omen. If he hadn't had acted in his dominant and selfish ways, he would not have kidnapped her, and forced her into these things she never had wanted. She had been so scared of him, and of his men the morning after he had hurt her that she didn't even physically fight her way out of marrying him. She signed her life away,  shaking at the sight of the guns and intimidating males. She didn't even think about poisoning the dinner or cake she had made for him not days after. Although she had tried to run away, he pierced a panic so frightful down her spine that he ended up petrifying her into a state of submission. Even if her thoughts ran wild with eagerness to get away from him, he made sure that she knew that he would find her. He made sure that she knew who he belonged to. The reflection of the past only sickened him. How he managed to clip a bid of it's wings. How he managed to lock away a young woman's life, with all but one small key.

He hated himself for what he had done and what he had inflicted onto his wife, and never had he felt so disgusted. As a leader he always knew what was going to happen, but since he had found a weakness, what he knew was decreasing, and the worst part was what he did not know now. For he did not know if his angel was going to make it through the night.

Once again as the clock ticked away at each second, Gabriel stood on his balcony, and looked forward, until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning around slightly as he looked down at his hand, he gasped. Fully facing inside the room, he glanced down at his wife and let out a breath he was holding.

Angelica giggled and blew her husband a kiss. Her right hand grabbed Gabriel's poorly bandaged one and bought it to her fabric covered belly that was being cradled with her other hand, diamond wedding ring glinting as Gabriel shifted his eyes down.

"Pregnant?" he mouthed.

Angelica giggled again and shook her head as if Gabriel was playing around with her. Slowly lifting up the her gaze to his eyes, she looked at him lovingly, and he returned the gesture every so softly. A look he had never been able to give her, without something bad following them like a dark cloud. Gabriel looked up and noticed she was gone. Like she had never been there before. Like it was some sort of dream, teasing him with a future that could never happen. Would never happen.

How could something so pure love him after what he had done to her? What he had done to her family? What mess he had created in her life? By every god in every religion, he knew he wanted it. He craved it. He craved to be loved, just as his mother loved his father. Just as Daniel's mother loved her husband. He wished for it. A sense of belonging. Belonging in someone's arms and someone's heart.

In a split second, Gabriel had run out of his now cleaned up room, through the hallways and down the stairs, receiving a knowing look from his men. Bursting through the doors that would take him to the small medical wing under his house, he raced to see his wife and the condition she lay in. It had been too many hours without seeing his angel.

Gabriel's footsteps came to a halt as he stood outside the curtains that blocked him from his wife. She must have been injured in other places of her body, he recollected, as he had made sure the doctor who was taking over her care was informed that no man was to see her body, unless family.

A deep breath.

Another deep breath.

Gabriel wasn't ready for what he was about to see behind the curtain. He saw how horrid her visible injuries were. He saw what state his wife was in. He knew what would be of her condition, however he was still not prepared.

"Go to her Gabriel", muttered a voice behind him. A face came into his view.

Susan.

She had tears dripping down her face and her cheeks and eyes were swollen red. Gabriel said nothing and stared at the woman in front of him, not knowing how to react.

"If your angel didn't attempt to save my angel, then he would not be here. Go to her Gabriel", she softly muttered.

"I thank her. I thank her with all I have. I owe her my life. I owe it all to her. She bought me back my Greg again once, and has done it again. Go to her Gabriel. Go", she whispered. Stepping to the side, Susan walked away to her sons who were standing like guards by the door, both with some small scratches and bruises. They nodded at their boss, who nodded back to them with a lack of his usual dominance.

Gabriel took a deep breath and opened the curtain that enclosed the bed.

His knuckles turned white in anger.

His nostrils flared in aggravation.

A rumble escaped his throat in resentment towards himself.

Gabriel slowly walked to Angelica's side and collapsed in the chair by the bed, angrily slumping over her, hands in his hair. The only reason she was in that bed was become of him.

Beaten was an understatement.

Angelica's wounds had been cleaned and bandaged but still bled through the dressings. Scratches covered her body, along with harsh blotches of dark red and pinks. No doubt they would slowly turn into hues of blue and dark purple, and then an eventual green and yellow. How long they would take to heal, Gabriel did not know. How long she would take to heal, he did not know.

"I am so sorry, my love", Gabriel whispered.

A tear drop licked the waterline of his eye and dripped down his cheek.

"I am so sorry", he whispered one more time.

Two weeks later

Day in and day out, Gabriel went to go and see his wife.

He bathed her, and spoke to her. He had helped change her bandages, angering himself throughout the process as he glanced at her injuries. He had even let her family come back into the safety of his home, however no details were disclosed of the events that had occurred. Everyone was appalled at the sight of Angelica and questions were raised about Gabriel's ability to be a good husband and man, mostly by Jackson and Angelica's brothers. They asked Gabriel countless times what had happened  and he only replied with a stern response.

"I shall tell you with my wife what occurred when she wakes up and she is ready".

However Gabriel's wish of seeing her eyes once again has not been granted. Angelica remained comatose, and made no sign that she was getting better in any way. Her wounds were taking a long time to heal, and her bruises still sat on her skin, accompanied by some small white line scars, representing each moment she was harmed.

He sat once again by her side after giving her family some time with her. Her mother could not cope with her daughter being in such a state and once again left the medical room in tears, her sons trailing behind her protectively.

Gabriel gazed at her and admired her. She was still beautiful. She was still the girl he had some to fall in love with. Taking her hand, he rubbed his thumb over the soft skin and began to think about his wrongdoings once more.

"I am sorry for what I inflicted upon you, Angel. Punish me how you like. Get better and leave my life like a breeze and never come back. Escape my love, my cage and be free. I do not care. Just show me your beautiful eyes again", Gabriel quietly breathed out.

He continued to cast his attention on her face until her grew tired. Closing his eyes as her hand remained in his, he drifted off into a slumber.

She was there. He saw her, smiling at him as she softly tugged on his hand, pulling him and running down a strip of light coloured sand, glistening under the sun. He could not feel the warmth of the sun, but the warmth she had in her eyes every time she turned back to glance at him.

He could hear the soft ocean waves hitting the sand behind her. Her skin was glowing, and her body was clad with a long white dress that swayed soothingly in the breeze. She twirled under his arm, still holding his hand as she did so. Her touch was delicate like a feather.

It felt like time has disappeared and the world was letting him live his wish just once. He wanted this to last forever, but forever was selfish. Taking his gaze off Angelica, Gabriel noticed the ocean and it's change. It was as if the water was carrying white flowers to the shore line.

A few turned into dozens, which then turned into hundreds.

A feeling he didn't like set into the pit of his stomach, and as he looked at his wife, she smiled at him lovingly once more. As Gabriel began to become distracted by the happiness upon his wife's face seeing the flowers and he looked at the ocean once more.

Within a few moments, he felt the feather like feeling leave his hand, and his wife began to move away from him towards the ocean flowers.

He tried to make it to her,  he tried to scream out her name, but it was as if he couldn't be heard. He looked down and saw his legs move, and felt his hand stretch out in front of him as if to hold her hand once more, but as he looked up, his wife was already gone.

What a feeling dread and heartbreak was.

The moment Gabriel woke up, his wife was nowhere to be seen, nor her family. His house felt like it had when his parents had past away. A lonely feeling encased his body, and for the first time, Gabriel felt out of place. His slow walk to his room, after he panicked and searched high and low for Angelica was witnessed by all of his men. No one had ever witnessed this side of Gabriel.

The dominant and powerful man looked as if he had been stripped of every inch of happiness he had. He eyes made him look like a lost boy, trying to find home.

What was home for him? For Daniel? A building? A lavish mansion?

No, not at all. Home was in someone's arms. Home was belonging in someone's heart. Home was every ounce of warmth and more. Home was with Angelica.

He truly did love her. He wanted to be with her and wanted to hold her in his arms. He wanted to be forgiven for what he had done. He just wanted someone to call his own.

Gabriel walked up the stairs of his house in what appeared to be deep state of thought.

He held no anger. He held no possessiveness to go and claim back his wife. He had taken away her happiness, and in turn, she had left and taken his happiness with her.

Each step he took felt heavy, as he dragged his body to his room. Clicking open the door, he took a deep breath to try and cease the lonely feeling inside him. Taking a step into his room he shut the door behind him and froze as he looked up.

There his wife stood in all of her glory, wearing one of his shirts that reached down to above her knees. The wind that blew from the balcony into her the room weaved its way through her hair, making her wrap her arms around herself. Bandages could be seen under the fabric. The bruises that sat on her skin still lingered. However that did not deter Gabriel, for he thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He felt his legs move towards her and his hands grasp her shoulders softly. He could feel her breathe in deeply as he did so.

"I think we should go back to the beach house".

Gabriel's jaw hung open.

"What?", his deep voice whispered behind her.

Angelica took a step back and nestled herself into Gabriel's chest, grabbing one his large hands and placing it over hers. They both stood there for a while, the cold nipping at their skin, until her head cocked to the side. Gabriel knew she had a thoughtful look on her face.

She turned in his arms to face him and he looked down at her, staring at her big golden brown eyes. She looked down a little and began to smile shyly, growing warm. A blush spread across her cheeks as she whispered once more for her husband.

"I said, I think we should go back to the beach house".