Bella/Gabriel/MC

“This is disgusting. Abysmal. Absolutely absurd. I am going to tear it all down.”

Despite the threatening words, I didn’t rush into my apartment. It wasn’t the first time Belladonna had threatened bodily harm to where I lived. It was no secret that she hated it and maybe even slightly resented the fact that I was not moving into one of her perfectly designed condos.

“You will not be touching a thing in this house.”

I smiled a little to myself at the voice rivaling her own. Gabriel was of course with her. He had taken the week off at my request and Belladonna’s demand and had mainly been spending his time bouncing back and forth between the two of us. Belladonna had several different Baron related issues she needed him to look at and I simply just missed him. So it worked out all around.

“Gabriel, I know that you have more taste than this,” Belladonna protested. “We are doing dear heart a favor. Perhaps if we get the ball rolling, there will be a dawning realization over how offensive these surroundings truly are.”

“You are a snob, Bells,” Gabriel said, delivering what I knew was meant to be an insult with a monotone pitch.

“I strive to be that every day,” she answered him. “Now come help me throw this couch out the window. I would use a door but of course, dear heart still refuses to get one.”

It was then that I made my presence known. Climbing through said window.  Belladonna looked immediately irritated that I was doing so and did little to hide her thoughts on it. “You are not some bird, dear heart. Get a front door.”

Gabriel frowned next to her. “Is this all because you have some odd thing about birds?”

She didn’t even bother to answer him. In all honesty, Belladonna rarely did.

Walking up to her, I leaned in for a kiss, feeling her chilly lips on mine. She grabbed the back of my head, yanking me forward, kissing me until my heart sped up before yanking my head almost painfully to the right so she could take a small sip from my neck.

“Bella,” I gasped. “If you are hungry…”

She pulled away. A drop of my blood staining the corner of her mouth. “Gabriel and I were just speaking of how we were going to rearrange the apartment.”

Gabriel, who was standing slightly behind her, shook his head no.

“We were thinking we would do away with these sofas first. I can have two beautiful velvet setees here within the hour. Then the curtains.”

“I don’t have curtains,” I told her, rubbing at my neck. It was more of a pleasurable wound than a painful one.

“Exactly. And we of course are going to get rid of this artwork.”

Gabriel stepped forward then. “I got most of this artwork.” Gabriel had bought me beautiful pieces through the last year. Things he had found from local artists. Ones that had been able to showcase their work at the new gallery that was opening in Artisan Alley.

Despite his protest, Belladonna did not look impressed. “It shows, dear.”

As she began wandering around the room, looking for other things to critique, I stepped up to Gabriel. “Hi,” I whispered to him. Leaning forward, I kissed him softly, feeling the way his hand drifted down to sit at my hip. He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at my neck.

“I was going to arrest her for breaking into your place,” he told me in all seriousness. “But that would mean I would be going back to work and I didn’t want to break that promise to you.”

“That’s oddly sweet.”

“Thank you.”  

Lacing my hand within his own, I led Gabriel over to the kitchen table. It was one of the pieces we had picked up from the fleamarket sales up on the hill. One place that both Gabriel and Belladonna agreed that they hated, but Gabriel refused to let me go alone.

“You know she’ll be getting rid of this too.”

“She’ll be getting rid of nothing,” I told him. “If she wants to send me new furniture items, I’ll make them work in here. Or, I’ll put them down at the co-op center.”

Gabriel’s eyes ticked towards Belladonna’s form, and then back to me. “You are brave.”

I squeezed his hand. “I have to with being with the two of you.”

“Dear heart? Do you understand that your towels are practically sandpaper?” Belladonna had wandered into the bathroom.

“That you can replace,” I called back to her. I did like luxurious towels. Turning back to Gabriel, I scooted my chair closer to his. “So, tell me how your time with Bella has been. You two getting along okay?”

“Her books are abysmal,” he said, almost like he couldn’t wait to share. “The woman does not understand how to keep her paperwork in order which is insulting.”  

I laughed a little, leaning my head against Gabriel’s shoulder. Their relationship had taken an interesting turn through the last year. Rarely was it physical between the two of them unless I was involved. But there was a deep affection. A friendship that bordered occasionally on romantic. Their acts of love included menial tasks for each other, however. And they both bitched about each other's competence in those area’s like it was their favorite pastime.

“I think she’s just been busy,” I told him. “You know how Bella is. She prefers talking over bookwork.”

“No, she prefers reading her books over doing any of them. I don’t understand how one of the most powerful individuals in the market can be so negligent.” Sighing, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close.  It had taken years for him to get to the point of instigating affection. Unless, of course, one of us was in danger. “I believe we do need to fortify your window. I am not happy with how easily Belladonna broke in.”

“She has a key. She didn’t break in. She just wanted you to think she did.” Belladonna had practically demanded a key when I refused to move. She said it was so she could get to me when the rats ate my corpse one evening. She felt bad enough about it afterward that she sent me four dozen roses.

“Still. I will have several officers here tomorrow and we will make sure there are far better security measures taken here. I do not trust the people in this alley.”

“The Velvet Guard is not allowed in the alley,” I reminded him. Kimber had only lifted the ban for three people, Gabriel being one of them.

“Which, I will be having another discussion with her about. If an incident happens here, we need to be available.”

“The literal market lives here,” I teased. “I think she feels fine.

His face twisted into a frown. It was an old argument between us. He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy with my living situation.

“Alright,” Belladonna's voice came from behind us. In three easy steps, she was around the table, placing a silk scarf down on the chair so she could sit down. “I have several things coming here. Although, it would be far easier if we just moved you someplace nicer. The amount it will take to make this place livable is truly not financially responsible.”

“I like my home, Bella,” I told her. It was one of the only things I refused to move on for her.

“Yes, but are you thinking clearly?”

“Bells,” Gabriel warned.

She held up her hands. “My apologies, dear heart. This place simply makes me stressed. I might even have a gray hair. Now, what are we speaking of, and do you have a decent tea service in here? Or did Sawyer steal it at some point during his visit here.”

Gabriel stood with a sigh. “I will get it.”

“We were just talking about your bookkeeping,” I told her, watching for any indication that this was a sore subject for her. Sometimes she was grateful for Gabriel’s help. Other times, she swore he was out to kill her.

Belladonna was not one to often roll her eyes but she did at this. “Please. Is he complaining to you about that again? Really. Has he told you that he didn’t eat yesterday because he was so consumed in that bookwork?” She twisted in her chair to stare at him with a self-satisfied smirk.

He looked stricken. “You said you wouldn’t tell.”

“Then you shouldn’t complain about the bookwork.’

“Gabriel, you need to be eating better,” I admonished. “I have a few sandwiches in the refrigerator–”

“I am fine.”

“Eat,” I told him. This was not a road we were going to be heading down again and I had no problems hounding him until he had a proper meal.

With indignation that rivaled Belladonna’s own, Gabriel turned to the refrigerator and did as he was told.  

“Really. He’s like a child sometimes. Don’t forget the sugar, my pet,” she called over her shoulder.

While Gabriel got the tea service together, Belladonna began regaling me about her work. Something about several of the Barons not paying their taxes and how someone tried to sabotage the Book District. Which then made the Barons there declare war on several people.

“Are you taking care of yourself?” I asked when she was done.

“Of course I am.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. How many times had I come upon her sleeping standing up? Hiding behind one of her books so she could have some peace? How many nights had I lay with her in bed, feeling her body against mine as she released all her frustration from the day?

“Bella,” I started. “Don’t make Gabriel rat you out.”

“I slept in the same room as him last night,” she said as if this would cause my concern to vanish.  “Not in the same bed of course. He’s an abysmal sleeping partner. He’s like the dead. Lying there. Still and cold.”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “I am the one who is like the dead.”

“Both of you,” I admonished. “Stop.”

Belladonna got up with a flourish, rounding the table to take Gabriel’s spot. “I’m sorry, dear heart. I know it vexes you when Gabriel is like this.” Gabriel was setting the tea service down in front of us and she tried to give him a small smile to show that she was teasing.

As Gabriel poured our tea, I looked between the two of them. “I have a proposition.”

Belladonna sipped at her tea, raising a brow above the rim. “Oh?”

“I will let you replace one thing in this room–”

“The sofas,” she said before I could finish.

“I will let you replace one thing in this room,” i repeated, “if the two of you stay here with me tonight. So Gabriel can eat. So you can sleep. And so I can have you both here at the same time instead of this constant coming and going the three of us do.”

Gabriel wasn’t going to answer first. He never did. It was up to Belladonna to make the decision. And with the way she was looking, I had a feeling that not even a new sofa was enough to sweeten this deal.

“How about we stay at the Inn or–”

“No,” I said. “Here. You will take off your fancy clothes and let your hair down, Bella. Gabriel will cook us dinner. And I will light a fire for you.”

“So you will have me walking around naked?” she asked with a wry smirk.

“No. You can wear one of my shirts. I have oversized ones that will look more like dresses on you.”

She looked horrified at the prospect. “You wish for me to wear a T-shirt dress? Dear heart, I love you with every fiber of my being but you are asking quite a lot from me at this moment.”

“A t-shirt dress and to stay the night? Some would say those are quite normal things for a couple,” I mused. At this point, I was quite aware of Belladonna’s elitist ways. I took little offense to it. Most of the time she just needed to make it known to anyone who could hear how much she protested something before caving. Because in the end, Belladonna loved me more than any material item. She would wear a burlap sack if she thought it would make me happy. Not that she would ever admit it.

“Steak tonight,” Gabriel said from across the table. “Something high in iron so Belladonna can have her dinner later.”

I nodded. “Red wine, too,” I told him.

“I will have it delivered from Kimber’s shop. She is quite good at getting groceries here in a prompt manner.”

“I love that the two of you have decided this for me,” Belladonna drawled. Her fingers were tapping irritably against her teacup.  “I believe the two of you just want to see me in subpar clothing.”

“If you do not wear the nightshirt,” Gabriel said. “I will. It sounds rather cozy.”

I grinned broadly at Gabriel from across the table. This was why I loved him. “I think you’d look quite fetching in it.”

He nodded his head solemnly. “Thank you.”

Belladonna nearly growled in frustration, slamming her teacup down. “Fine. I will do as you ask. But you need a new bed.”

“You got me a new bed when I first moved in.”

“And I want another one.”

“New sheets and a comforter, perhaps,” Gabriel said in way of compromise. The look she shot him from across the table said he would pay for that suggestion later. 

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “But let me make something clear. You both get tonight and tonight only. After tonight, I will be returning to work. We will go back to arguing about this abysmal little apartment, and I will be sending several beautiful hand carved faucets to replace the generic ones you have here.”

“Deal,” I told her.

It was instantaneous. She reached behind her to where her hairpins were and pulled them out one by one. Then, she shook her hair out, kicking off her heels and rising.  She was stripping her dress off, letting it slip down her shoulders to reveal the expanse of her creamy back and her tattoos. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled coyly at me. 

“Will you help me pick a shirt out?” she asked me.

I had rose from my seat and was halfway across the room already

“Oh, and Gabriel? Put a steak on for me as well. Rare, please.”

“Of course, Bells.”

“And order you some of those cheese tarts you enjoy so much. My treat to you.”

I ran my hands along her sides as I approached, running my lips across her shoulder blade. “Do I get a treat, too?” I asked.

Her throaty laugh sent shivers down my spine. “Come into the bedroom and find out.”

Gabriel was humming in the kitchen as he began to prepare dinner, while I watched Belladonna walk away, her hips swaying tantalizingly.  In the end, I knew I had won. But if Belladonna looked at me now and said she was going to replace everything in my apartment, I wouldn’t resist. I would do anything for moments like this.

“Coming, dear heart?” she cooed.

“Better listen to her,” Gabriel said from the kitchen. “You know how she gets.”

I did. And oh how I was looking forward to every second of it.