9. Gabe
9
GABE
What the hell is going on in the backseat? It’s like Alex has been hypnotized or something.
He pulled Katherine into his lap, for fuck’s sake.
Why do I care so much?
The light turns green, and I turn the corner. Halfway down the block, our building is lit up like a beacon. Soft ivory, glowing in the darkness, a welcoming sight after a crazy night.
Movement along the sidewalk makes me squint. I let my foot off the accelerator.
A handful of people mull around the double doors. That’s weird.
As we get closer, I see a large video camera positioned on a guy’s shoulder.
“What the hell?” I hit the brakes. A horn blares behind me, attracting the photographer’s attention. Dammit .
“What is it?” Alex asks, instantly alert.
“We’ve got company.”
“How’d they know where we live?”
“And how’d they get here so quickly?”
And more importantly, why would the media care about a bachelorette auction?
Except I know why they care.
Katherine Montgomery truly is Manhattan royalty. She might as well have been born wearing a tiara. Her family is beyond wealthy. Making money is a game for them. And they win frequently.
And she just had two men go head to head, fighting for a date with her.
Wagering two million dollars.
That’s bound to turn even the stiffest of necks.
I ease the big vehicle forward, thankful that traffic is light at this time of night. Several of the group appear to be women, cell phones in hand.
We roll closer.
One’s wearing a skintight red dress. And through the crush, I see a telltale shock of long, silvery hair.
I curse under my breath. I know her a little too well, unfortunately. And she’s as deranged as they come. There’s no telling what story she concocted about us this time. Probably that I’m cheating on her with Katherine Montgomery. The woman has a vivid imagination.
“Give me a break,” I mutter because, at this point, a restraining order is my last option .
There’s nowhere out here to drop Alex and Katherine off without them getting swarmed. I can just imagine the pictures of Alex scooping her into his brawny arms and depositing her into the backseat of his car. The journalists will figure out I’m his car. It’s what they do.
This whole evening is turning into a nightmare.
“Just get to the parking garage,” he says.
One of Alex’s credos is to always keep moving.
I grip the wheel tighter and continue up the street. Turn another corner and circle to the back of the building. There’s an underground parking deck.
I glance in the mirrors and prepare to change lanes. He’s glancing down at Katherine with concern and a tenderness I’ve never seen before.
Why does it bother me so much that she’s sitting in his lap? She was having a panic attack, for Christ’s sake. Alex is good at calming people down. Between his training and deep voice, he has that effect on people.
A pale car swerves around us, zipping down to block the parking entrance. The side door opens, and a man pops out, holding a camera, and alarm floods my veins.
“Fuck. Hold on.”
These guys are unbelievable.
The Rover bolts forward as I step on the gas, negotiating past, and we speed down the tight alleyway .
“What’s going—” Katherine’s voice is cut off, and I glance in the rear-view mirror to see her clinging to Alex’s shoulders, staring out the back window.
We need to get somewhere secure.
“Your office?” I ask him.
“Yeah.”
“What did we step in?” I ask.
“That’s a good question.”
“Anything we need to know, Princess?”
Katherine’s gaze meets mine in the mirror.
Not waiting for her answer, Alex asks the vehicle to call his office. A voice, way too perky for this time of night, answers. “Yes, boss?” There’s a hint of humor to her voice, as if she’s used to these late-night requests.
I’m sure she is. Alex’s business is a twenty-four-seven operation at this point.
“Get the chopper ready.”
I glance back at him, trying to read his mind and anticipate his next move. Behind us, two motorcycles are closing in fast, photographers hanging off the back.
“What the hell is going on?”
“We’ll be in touch,” Alex says and disconnects. He has more experience with this than I do.
I should have considered the media before bidding.
Then again, fuck that. I don’t make it a habit to live my life according to those leaches .
“We need to get out of town,” he says, brown eyes locked with mine. “I don’t trust any hotel in this city to keep her safe right now. Not until we get our footing.”
My fingers flex into the luxurious leather-covered steering wheel, and I give a small nod. I know what he’s thinking, where his mind is going.
“Why are they following us?” comes the feminine voice I barely recognize. She’s so quiet, so... broken. Not at all like the brass-ovaried goddess I’m used to going toe to toe with.
“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” I ask because it’s obvious to me. She’s a beautiful young heiress and two men just publicly put a price tag on a date with her. It doesn’t take a biostatistician to do that math.
“Seeing us whisk you away from the auction,” Alex adds, not sounding the least apologetic, “probably made the entertainment rags froth at the mouth.”
He’s not wrong, and he’d never apologize for protecting a woman. As soon as he sensed Katherine’s distress on that stage, he went into protector mode. Even though it’d meant going up against me. And neither of us is the type to back down from a challenge.
Rescuing her from a panic attack was a completely logical step, as far as he was concerned .
“This is ridiculous.” There it is. That tinge of upper-crust disdain I’ve come to expect from her.
“You’re not wrong,” I say, cutting in front of a taxi. But the motorcycles hop the curb and gun it up the sidewalk.
Adrenaline spikes my veins like a fine cocktail. From the back, Alex mutters under his breath. Then, “back into your seat, Beauty. Make sure your belt is tight.”
After I hang a sharp left that ignites a flurry of horns and screeching tires, I glance in the rear-view mirror again. Katherine’s on the other side of the seat, and she looks more alert. Alex has his phone in hand now, probably texting his guys.
A second later, he confirms it. “Guys are at the gate to hold back the paparazzi.”
It’s a shame that scientific discovery doesn’t get this type of attention. Advancements in technology. Saving endangered species.
Not that I’m bitter.
Maybe a bit.
Okay, a lot.
By the time we pull into the parking garage, Alex has gone into full bodyguard mode. Katherine’s just the opposite—quiet and burrowing into herself. What have I gotten myself into?
He directs me to his reserved parking space.
“They can’t get down here,” Alex assures us. “ I’ve sent a team over to our building. The crowd’s growing.”
“At this time of night?” What the actual hell? The other residents will be rightly pissed. We’ll probably have a tidy little bag of doggy poo on our doorstep by morning.
“You know this city never sleeps,” Alex grumbles. Then he’s out of the car, circling around to open Katherine’s door.
“Where will we go?” I ask him, thinking the whole situation is a little too fantastical and yet, I wouldn’t mind a trip out of the city.
I never mind.
I crave it.
I guess that’s what happens when you grow up surrounded by cow pastures. You crave wide open spaces.
“I...” Katherine starts and then licks her lips. “I could go to my grandmother’s cottage.”
“Where’s that?” Alex asks.
“Newport.”
So, probably not a cottage. A freaking mansion that rich fucks have the audacity to call a cottage as if that’d make their ostentatiousness less showy.
I can’t hold back my snort.
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Alex quizzes.
“You and I both know you’re not going to let her go somewhere that’s connected to her family. Those are the first places they’ll look.”
Alex gives a ‘yeah, you’re right’ shrug.
And if we can’t go somewhere connected to her family, that cuts out about half of the country. We need somewhere private and quiet so that no one will connect with the three of us. Just until the fervor dies down. “I’ve got an idea.”
I both love and hate the idea of allowing Katherine Montgomery into my private space.
“You sure?” Alex asks, obviously reading my mind.
I glance at the beautiful woman standing next to him, close enough that she might as well be holding his hand. She’s the light to his darkness. Small with a big presence. And achingly beautiful. Yeah, this is the worst fucking idea I’ve ever had.
But I nod anyway.