10. The Truth about Halston #2
Halston chuckled, then her smile fell away. Staring intently into his eyes, the energy turned frenzied. Like earlier, her breath hitched.
“I’m ready,” Halston said, “but I don’t want to insult my friends.”
Gabriel dropped a light kiss on her forehead. “I think they’ll get over it.”
“I need to put my wig on.”
“Why?”
“I’m Barbi, unless I’m at work.”
“Who are you there?”
She paused, her gaze breaking for a few seconds. He stayed silent hoping she’d confide in him.
“At the embassy, I’m Minka Kotov.”
He placed his fingers on her chin, tipped her gently toward him. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“I feel so vulnerable,” she whispered. “I don’t want to give you any control over me.”
“You’re giving me information, not control.”
“Information isn’t just knowledge,” she murmured, “it’s power.”
He dropped a light kiss on her lips. “We killed a Bratva, covered up the evidence by taking his body to the crematorium.”
“I killed him,” she corrected him.
“I’ve got a long-standing war with them in Italy. The problem followed me here, so I eliminated it.”
“We’re both guilty.”
He shot her a smile. “Guilty as sin.”
“My life has become more complicated than I ever thought possible.”
“Welcome to my world.” He glanced at the group, still huddled together, still talking about who was staying, who was going where, and who was driving.
“I can’t take all the damn talking,” Gabriel said. “I’m a man of—”
“Action,” Halston said, finishing his sentence.
“Exactly,” he replied. After a beat, he said, “Are you coming with or staying behind?”
Mischief danced in her eyes. “Let’s go.”
Together, they returned to the group as Sin and Carrera were saying their goodbyes.
“Evangeline,” Carrera said, “thanks for driving Slash home.”
“I haven’t seen your grandmother in a while,” Evangeline said. “It’ll be good to catch up with Elsa.”
After the foursome exited, Halston said to their hosts, “Thank you so much for including me, but I’m taking off too.”
Everyone shifted to Gabriel.
“I want to make sure Halston gets home safely,” he replied.
Greystone chuffed out a laugh.
Teddy shook his head. “Grey, cut him a break. He’s being sincere.”
Halston cracked her knuckles. “If he’s not, he’ll end up dead.”
The group laughed.
“I think you’ve finally met your match, G,” Sydney said.
Gabriel combed his fingers through his hair. “Looks that way.”
Instead of rejoicing in the moment, anxiety gripped his throat.
Gabriel ran toward danger, even reveled in it.
But this? Halston was more than sex. Way more.
He could feel it in his soul. His vengeful, empty soul.
Halston Devereux, the woman with many identities and a complicated life, was his equal in many ways, his superior in others.
This shouldn’t be happening. He was all about moving in the shadows, taking out his rivals, growing his businesses and his family’s legacy—Cosa Nostra. Getting close to someone was never a part of the plan.
Halston grabbed her large tote, retreated into the nearby powder room.
The pull to be near her had him following, while frustration burned a heated path through his bones.
Never before had he been so intrigued by another.
Just as exciting as it was to watch her become Halston, he was equally mesmerized at her return to Barbi.
He stood in the doorway. She glanced in the mirror at him, their gazes lingering an extra second.
On went the wig, then the contacts and black-rimmed glasses. She shrugged into the oversized sweatshirt hoodie, zipped it up.
She turned. “I’m Barbi.”
“Got it.”
Her voice had jumped an octave. She didn’t stand as straight, didn’t throw her shoulders back either. She’d dropped her chin, looked up through her lashes. Gone was the fiery brunette with the husky voice and the confident gaze. Evangeline was right. Halston was a true chameleon.
She stepped close. “Where’s your car?”
“Sin picked me up.”
A flash of playfulness flitted over her face. “Looks like I’m your driver again.”
“Lucky you,” he said.
As he stared into her eyes, the need to kiss her took hold.
“Do it,” she whispered.
He dipped down, pressed his lips to hers. Their chemistry was explosive, but she ended the kiss before he pushed her into the bathroom, locked, the door, and unleashed his inner crazy.
She squeezed past, returned to the kitchen to say her goodbyes.
Gabriel joined them. “I’ll grab my clothes.”
“You can’t take them,” Sydney pushed back. “They’re covered in blood. I’ll burn ‘em.”
Teddy’s eyebrows crowded his forehead. “Where are you gonna do that, babe? We live in a neighborhood.”
“CJ will do it,” she replied.
Gabriel kissed each of Sydney’s cheeks. “Grazie.”
“Of course,” Sydney replied.
Gabriel said goodbye to Teddy. “You got damn lucky with Sydney.”
Teddy pulled him in for a hug. “Don’t I know it.”
When Gabriel turned toward Greystone, he extended his hand and Greystone shook it, then pulled him in for a hug.
“Why do we always butt heads?” Greystone asked.
Gabriel smiled. “In a word… Dad. But I think we like it. It’s what we do, what we’ve always done.”
“I don’t like it,” Greystone replied.
“Then stop doing it,” Gabriel said.
“I will if you will.”
“He can’t,” Teddy chimed in. “He likes being the black sheep. He’s been the Agitator our whole lives.”
“He’s right,” Gabriel said. “I’m having too much fun pissing you guys off.”
Greystone laughed. “I guess you gotta be you.”
“I’ll close the garage door,” Sydney said.
Halston thanked them again before they disappeared into the pitch-black garage.
“Do you want me to drive?” Gabriel asked.
“I got this,” Sydney replied before she stowed her tote behind the back seat.
Into the car they went, Sydney tapped the button on the garage wall. Halston backed out and waited until the garage door had closed before she drove away.
Despite the cold air, they both cracked open their windows.
The street was dark, save for their headlights. As she drove out of the quiet neighborhood, Gabriel took in the sights. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out in a total blackout.
“I love the dark,” Halston said. “Most people are afraid of it, but I feel like I have the advantage.”
“Same,” he replied.
The traffic lights were out, so she slowed as she approached a major intersection. A car flew by, barely missing a van snailing its way through.
“People are idiots,” Gabriel said.
“Or drunk,” she replied.
“Where are we going?”
In the dark car, she glanced over. “Not your place, that’s for sure.”
“I took your advice and moved out.”
“Look at you doing the smart thing. Gotta be a first, huh?”
He chuckled. “No. The first smart thing was my groveling after you stopped me from drinking the poison.”
She pretend-stabbed her heart. “Not the hookup?”
“Sex is sex.”
Again, she glanced over at him, this time her brows were pinched together. “You are not buying yourself any points, but since you’re a nobody with benefits, I don’t care.”
“Look who’s throwing shade.”
She smiled.
He liked her profile. Even in the dark, her straight, white teeth shone bright.
A sharp nose that had character. Her lips were well proportioned to her face.
Lately, every woman he met had super-sized her lips.
That look did not work for him. Even though her eye color was well-hidden, he knew the truth beneath her disguise…
those light-blue orbs were a glimpse into her soul.
The real Halston Devereux.
“A nobody with benefits.” He curled his hand around her muscular thigh and squeezed. “How do I become a someone?”
She crossed the bridge into DC, slowed at the intersection before driving through. “You have to earn that, Gabriel Santini.”
“The gauntlet has been thrown,” he said, “I accept the challenge.”
She said nothing more as she drove toward Dupont Circle. At Hotel Dillinger, she drove around back, parked in a reserved spot near the loading dock. After cutting the engine, she turned toward him.
He cupped her cheek with his hand, kissed her. “Ti mangerò vivo.” I’m going to eat you alive.
On a sexy groan, she pressed her tongue into his mouth. The kiss turned wild, but he slowed them down.
“Pazienza, bellezza mia.” Patience, my beauty.
They exited the car. She pulled her tote, but he took it from her, shouldered it.
“Are you staying here?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Not the embassy compound?”
She wrapped her arms around him, pushed onto her toes, and pressed her warm lips against his ear. “Minka lives in a shithole, but Evangeline put Barbi here.”
Her breathy whisper made his junk move.
The hotel generators bathed the area in barely-there light as they made their way toward the front entrance. Three men exited a nearby bar, two of them staggered onto the sidewalk.
As he and Halston passed them, one of the men grabbed Halston’s arm.
She whirled around, kneed him in the groin.
He doubled over, groaning loudly. “Oh, fuuuuuuck.”
“Yo bitch, what the hell did you do that for?” asked the third, the one who hadn’t stumbled from the bar.
She and Gabriel exchanged glances. At the same time, they turned.
“I’d walk, if I were you,” Gabriel bit out.
The guy laughed. “Do the math, dick brain. Three of us and you got a girl.”
Halston marched over to him, fisted his shirt collar. “I’m a woman. You want to get kneed in the groin too?”
One of the drunk guys pulled a dagger. “Let him go or I slice you.”
Gabriel pulled his CANiK, but Halston grabbed the thug’s wrist and twisted him around—without letting go of the first guy’s shirt—and clunked their heads together. Both men yelped in pain as she clasped Gabriel’s hand and started running.
They raced toward the hotel, flying by a couple who’d stopped to share a kiss. Gabriel glanced back but the drunks weren’t there. When they approached the hotel entrance, he slowed, then stopped.
Breathing hard, she started laughing. “That was fun.”
“My family calls me insane,” Gabriel said catching his breath. “What the hell was that?”
The sheer joy on her face made him smile.
“Sydney’s right, I have met my match,” he said.