Chapter 7 #2
Gabe just stands there with his arms crossed over his broad chest, staring at me in a way that says he definitely doesn’t like what he sees.
I play the stare-down game with him for a minute or two while the guys move about my kitchen before letting out a frustrated sigh. Then I fill my wine glass all the way to the top.
I take a sip, then turn off the burners and give the rice a final stir before calling, “Order up!”
Everyone grabs a plate from the stack Eli set down on the counter and scoop up chicken, broccoli, and rice before filling glasses with water from the sink. They settle down at my kitchen table and dig in.
I follow along and sit down in between Manny and Eli at the small round table.
“So,” I start. “Who’s on duty tomorrow?
They all pause shoveling in their dinner, forks suspended halfway to their mouths.
It would be funny under normal circumstances but seeing as my life is almost in the toilet, I don’t have much to laugh about.
Eli and Manny shoot each other uncomfortable glances, but Gabe stares right at me, making my belly fill with bald eagles, not butterflies.
In reality, what with my life being two seconds from the California sewer system and all, I should know what’s coming.
I should brace for impact.
Unfortunately, I do not.
“I am,” Gabe answers.
It’ll be okay. I have the night to shore up my responses to him. When he darkens my door, I’ll be ready. With the proper preparation, I’m sure Gabe won’t be able to push all my buttons.
“And who’s on tonight?” I ask as I smile at Eli and Manny before looking back at Gabe.
His face is no longer blank. Now it’s full of thunder. What that could be about, I had no idea.
“Also, me.”
My brows pull into a confused frown. I don’t understand. If he’s with me at night, how will he be with me in the morning? Doesn’t he need to sleep? Maybe they run twenty-four-hour shifts like firefighters.
“Is that really necessary?” I ask, confused.
“You think security is a joke?” Gabe asks. His voice is low and vibrates with a danger I hadn’t realized I unknowingly stepped into.
“No,” I say quickly—apparently too quickly by the mutinous expression on his face. “Of course not. It’s just that I should be safe when I’m asleep, right?”
“Wrong.”
Wow, what a buzzkill. I’m totally going to need more wine…
“Umm… okay.”
“The threatening letters your father received are not a joke,” he roars, slapping his hand against my kitchen table. The cutlery and plates rattle violently.
I don’t know who he thinks he is, but my mother would rage at this poor display of table manners. But that’s not something I can worry about right now because all I can think about is how fucking small he’s made me feel... again.
“I’m not implying they are.” My voice comes out just barely above a whisper.
“Did you see them?” he pushes me. “Well? Did you?”
“N-No.”
“Do you want me to tell you what kind of depraved things are in those letters?”
“N-No—”
“Maybe I will anyway so you understand what kind of threat we’re up against.”
Eli tries to interrupt him, but it’s no use. “Gabe—”
“Maybe you need to know what disgusting things this person wants to do to your body before and after they kill you,” he snarls at me, his eyes locked on mine.
“I-I-I’m…” I stammer.
“Are you listening, fresa?”
“Gabe!” Manny roars, startling everyone around the table. “That’s enough, hermano.”
“I-I think I’m tired.” I rush to get the words past my lips. “I’m just going to go to bed. I’ll see you in the m-m-morning. Just leave the plates in the sink. I-I’ll get them later.”
If I thought he’d made me feel small earlier, I was wrong. Or maybe just not right enough, I don’t even know. All I know is that now I feel like nothing more than a discarded gum wrapper that he didn’t even bother to throw away.
I scurry upstairs, where I don’t even manage to get a reprieve.
I can hear their hushed tones while I brush my teeth.
Restlessness grips me in its talons and I can’t settle.
Grime from my work day still weighs heavily on my skin, so I crank open the taps in the shower.
I strip off my clothes, dropping them into the hamper, and then I step into the stone and glass stall of my fabulous spa shower.
The steaming water hits me and washes the day away.
But everything that’s happened crashes down on me.
The strain of the day finally takes its toll, and the emotions of it all—the danger, Gabe, competing against Bobby for control of DHR—just overwhelms me.
I sink down to the stone shower floor and draw my knees to my chest just in time for the first sob to bubble up and out of my chest.
I run out of tears sometime after the water runs cold, though the temperature doesn’t bother me at all. It allows me to feel something real, even if it’s nothing but numbness.
I somehow manage to catch my breath and push myself to standing.
I rinse off as quickly as I can, but my muscles still feel like I’ve been crawling through quicksand.
I dip my head under the spray to rinse the shampoo out of my long dark hair when a dull pounding echoes in my brain.
I’m going to have to take some ibuprofen before bed or I’ll wake up in the morning with one hell of a headache.
Weirdly, the pounding grows louder.
I pull my head out from under the water and the sound is coming from the bathroom door.
“What in the world—”
“Adrienne,” Gabe thunders. “Open this door right now.”
I quickly shut off the water and pull a towel from the rack. I barely have it around me when I open the door.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
He takes one look at me, and his angry face softens. I probably look terrible.
“You’ve been in there for over an hour,” he explains. “I was worried.”
“Well,” I begin, drawing up my courage and gesturing to myself. “As you can see, I’m fine.”
“I’m not sure you are.”
Well, that’s rude. But nothing positive will come from allowing that to continue, so I do the only thing I can and press on.
The truth is, I’m not fine and I won’t be as long as Gabe and his team are here to turn my life on its head. Although maybe that’s not entirely fair either. They’re just jerks.
It’s the asshole who apparently wants to rape and kill me who’s turned my life upside down. And let’s not forget my dad who decided to Hunger Games his retirement from professional racing. Maybe I should just give it all up and move to some remote island.
“The room at the end of the hall is the guest room,” I tell him.
“I found it.”
“I’m sure you’ll be comfortable there.”
“Yeah,” he says gently.
“I’ll… uh…” My courage is beginning to flag. “See you in the morning.”
“All right.”
Gabe looks me over in a way that speaks volumes of how much of me is really on display. It’s obvious that nothing has escaped his perusal.
I tip my chin high in a haughty, defiant way projecting to him that we would never speak of this moment of vulnerability.
He doesn’t know me.
And I don’t know him.
Despite how hot he is, I will make sure to keep it that way. The only boss of me is me, and I don’t even listen to her let alone some asshole from Texas.
He looks like he’s swallowed a bug. I get the feeling Gabe Whatever-his-last-name-is doesn’t like me at all. And the funny thing is, that stings. And it stings a lot.
Maybe I’m not amazing but I think I’m pretty great, or at least I did before my world crashed down around me.
Gabe turns on his long legs and strides from my room, shutting the door behind him.
I quickly towel off and get dressed for bed, and when I slide under my covers, sleep doesn’t come easily.
In fact, it doesn’t come at all.