Chapter 30
ELIJAH
I step out of the shower and reach for a towel as Gabriel slips through the heavy wooden doors and into my bedroom with uninvited confidence.
His gorgeous gray eyes skim seductively over my wet, naked body.
“Come here,” he whines, as I quickly wrap the heated towel around my waist.
I’m so tired, so riddled with nerves.
He walks over to me and wraps me up in his promising arms, and I rest my head against the security of his broad shoulder, burrowing my face into the warm crease of his neck.
I used to love when we would hold each other like this, drawing out the love and lust from one another, always ending in a gratifying fuck. We were amazing together in that way; our bodies so attuned to each other’s needs—his kinky, mine affectionate.
He runs his steady fingers down the center of my spine, soothing my worry. He whispers sedative words across my wet hair as I breathe in the familiar spicy scent of his skin.
God, do I need him right now.
A sudden vibration hits my thigh, loud and insistent.
Gabriel pulls back, eyes flickering down as he fishes his phone from the pocket of his perfectly tailored slacks. Without even checking the screen, he presses the side button and silences the call, sending whoever it is straight to voicemail.
“Mi amor,” he says as he goes in search of clothes for me.
He used to love dressing me after I showered; planting flirtatious kisses everywhere across my bare skin.
He’d fall to his knees, and I would hold on to his strong shoulders as I stepped one foot at a time into my pants.
He’d then slowly raise them up over my hips, and use his marvelously indecent mouth to grip the zipper between his teeth and drag it up over my always-ready cock.
He comes back over to me, holding out a pair of black jeans, and a private moment passes between us as he also remembers.
.. He allows this desire to hang heavily between us, those gray eyes glued to mine, as we figure out the appropriateness of how we’re supposed to navigate our newly papered relationship.
“Fuck,” he says as the phone vibrates relentlessly on the bed where he tossed it. His lust-filled gray eyes settle back on mine, our shared moment now lost as he blatantly announces, “It’s Alex.”
My overstimulated mind leaps out of its forbidden thoughts as I grapple with what he just said.
“It’s your cell,” he tells me, eyes falling downcast in guilt. “And he called while you were in the shower. I told him I’d pass along the message.”
“You answered my phone?” I snarl in disbelief.
“I did,” he answers. Simple, direct. And that’s Gabriel—no fuss, always getting straight to the point, wasting no words.
And now it’s my turn.
“Fuuuck!”
I lunge for my phone, towel slipping to the floor—completely forgotten. Gabriel doesn’t move. Just stands there, his eyes dancing with mischief, tracing every inch of me, branding me without a touch.
I grab my discarded cell and fumble with the screen to answer Alex’s call.
“Alex, love—”
“Oh god! Elijah!” A voice cries, shrill and panicked. And definitely not Alex’s.
My eyes flick to the screen again. It’s definitely Alex’s number.
“Who is this?” I snap, teetering on annoyance from the bombshell Gabriel just dropped. To say I’m upset is an understatement… I’m royally pissed.
“Elijah. Oh god. This is Teya. You don’t know me, but I’m Alex’s sister. I have Alex’s phone, and I need your help!”
“Teya?” I blink, trying to keep up. “Yes, of course, I know who you are. What’s going on? Is Alex okay?”
I shoot daggers across the room at Gabriel, holding the phone firmly to my ear, trying to make sense of what Teya is saying. I’m so upset at him for sending Alex off the deep end. He knows damn well what Alex means to me. He should never have answered my phone.
“He left, Elijah,” Teya says, voice tight. “I’m not sure what set him off. But he was angry. Like I’ve never seen. He took my car, but he left his phone, so I have no way of tracking him. Have you spoken to him?”
Fuck, I had a feeling this is what happened.
“No, I haven’t,” I mutter.
I scratch the top of my head, needing something to do with my hands—because what I really want to do is punch the living shit out of Gabriel.
“Teya,” I say, voice shaky as I fight to stay calm. “Your car has GPS, sí?”
I know full well that every new high-end SUV comes with a tracker. But I ask anyway, just to be sure.
“Yes, Elijah, of course.”
I wedge the phone between my shoulder and ear, hopping into my boxers and jeans one-legged, all without the assistance of my now ex-husband. I glance up as the door clicks shut—Gabriel slipping out, wisely deciding to give me some privacy.
“Do you have the app installed on your phone? For the GPS?” I clarify.
There’s a shuffling on the other end. Papers rustling. Something heavy hits the floor. And then she’s back. “Yes, yes. I have it.”
“Good. Do you know how to use it?”
“Yes, I think so. Hold on…”
I tug a T-shirt over my still-damp skin and stretch it into place. My sneakers are within reach—I slide them on and lace them up in record time.
“Anything yet?” I ask, heart pounding.
“I don’t know, Elijah. It’s not updating. The last ping shows him on I-95 South, heading back toward the city.”
“Okay. Good enough. He’s coming this way. Maybe he’s going home?” I say it loud, hoping like hell it’s true. More likely, he’s coming to find me… or worse, Gabriel.
“Elijah, I just ordered a car service. I’m heading into the city too. I’ll keep checking the tracker—see if it picks up his location.”
I yank open my bedroom door and bolt down the hallway, past the kitchen where Gabriel is casually leaning against the counter, deep in conversation with Emilee and Ana.
I don’t even look at him. Don’t even acknowledge the girls.
I head straight for the elevator and slip inside before the doors are even halfway open.
“Sounds good,” I say, almost forgetting Teya’s still on the line. “I’m going to his place. Call me the second the tracker updates.”