22. Alex
22
ALEX
As Katherine reaches the front door, I lean past her, bracing a hand against the thick wood panel so she can’t open it yet. My chest is tight and aching. All my instincts scream for me to keep her safe. To protect her at all costs.
“I don’t like this.”
She turns in the circle of my arms, her gaze raking me from shoulder to wrist.
I should step away and give her space. I have no right to crowd her. Cage her in.
But I want to.
“My plan?” she asks.
Why does she assume the problem is with her? Her ideas? I hate that she doubts herself. Her worth.
I brace my other hand against the door, trapping her. With a tiny sigh, she leans back, but I can tell by her body language that she’s not trying to get away. She’s relaxing.
See. This is exactly why I want to be by her side. So she can relax and enjoy herself. And so I won’t be playing worst-case scenarios over and over in my head.
“No. That you’re going to be out there by yourself, and I can’t watch your back,” I admit.
But she’s a woman on a mission. Breathtaking in her intensity and utterly charming when she turns on that smile.
“It’ll be fine. You trust your guy, right?”
Roman? Hell yes.
There aren’t many people I trust to watch my back, but he’s one of them.
I hand-selected him. He’s cool under pressure and doesn’t attract attention.
I nod. But I still don’t like the idea of her going without me. I wasn’t joking when I said she had a target on her back.
Katherine places a soothing hand against my chest. “Then I trust him. I’ll be with Ford, and your guy won’t be far away. Besides, no one knows I’m here.”
And I like it that way. The greedy part of me wants to keep her here, away from the spotlight, away from the chaos. Where she’s safe.
She pats my chest. “And try to stop feeling guilty. None of this is our fault.” She waves a finger around.
“Isn’t that the point?” Gabe asks, sauntering into my peripheral. Katherine’s gaze flicks his way. “You’re trying to attract attention?”
She closes her eyes, and I feel the tremble wrack her body. I drop the arm closest to him and shoot him a what-the-fuck look. He shrugs.
“I just want people to know you did not kidnap me,” she says, sounding urgent.
She’s tempting me to do just that. If she keeps touching me so innocently. All gentle, like I’m her savior and she’s mine. I might just toss her over my shoulder and call the helicopter back. We’ll find a truly remote island where no one will think to look for us.
“There are other ways?—”
Her chin snaps up, and those blue eyes pin me with a defiant look so fiery it takes my breath away. I bite off the words and study her expression.
She needs me to trust her. To let her stand on her own two feet and do this her way. At least try it.
I can give her the one thing so many others obviously haven’t. Faith.
“Right. We’ll try it your way.”
“You’ll come back after?” Gabe asks, hedging closer, and she glances up at him.
Her eyes narrow the tiniest bit, and I see that she’s figuring him out. Beginning to see the scared little boy under the grown man veneer.
There’s no reason for her to come back to us. Not really. She could take her dress and those fancy, fuck-me heels and disappear for the rest of the weekend. Hang out with her brother. Hide out here in the Hamptons. Call for a car to take her back to the city.
There’s nothing holding her to us. My stomach rolls with unease.
Me . I want her to come back to me .
“I’ll be home after lunch. You’re my ride back to the city. You’d better not head back without me.”
Her teasing tone soothes him, and his shoulders drop a fraction. The wristlet purse at the end of her arm rings and she fishes out her phone, then frowns.
I’m on instant alert.
“It’s Vic at the front desk.”
From our apartment building?
Katherine hits the speakerphone button.
“Hi, Vic. Is everything okay?”
“Good morning, Miss Montgomery.” He sounds on edge but firm. “Your mother’s here demanding to see you. I’m afraid she doesn’t believe me when I tell her I can’t just let her up to your apartment without your permission.”
With each word, Katherine becomes an ice princess right before our eyes. Her easy, fluid movements halt, her spine straightens, and her shoulders pull down and back as her chin lifts. A chill radiates around her, and her hand drops from my chest.
Last night, she was a deer caught in headlights, trembling in my lap when her mother called .
This is a very different reaction.
This is battle armor. Clinking into place one piece at a time.
Every protective instinct inside me rises, and I reach for the phone. She ducks under my arm and turns toward a window that flanks the front door. Beneath the sweater, her chest rises and falls with a deep breath. Then she licks her lips.
“Vic, would you mind putting her on the phone, please?”
“Absolutely, Miss?—”
There’s what sounds like a scuffle, and then, “Katherine!” a woman shrieks, sounding completely unhinged. “What on earth?—”
“I’m going to stop you right there, Mother. Whatever you have to say, you can forget it. You signed me up for the auction, and I went. If you’re not happy with the result, that’s no fault of mine. Now, leave, or I’ll have Vic call the police.” There’s a beat of pause, and I’m not sure who’s more surprised: her, her mother, or me.
Katherine turns her head just a fraction as if remembering she has an audience. “And Mother, don’t even think about dragging Gabriel’s name through the mud. I know where you hide your secrets.”
Her voice rings through the foyer, powerful and just this side of vicious. Then, without giving her mother a chance to reply, she jabs the disconnect button and stows her phone.
A delicious chill races up my spine. A glance over at Gabe shows he’s equally impressed by the way she threw down against her own mother. His jaw hangs open, and his gaze darts from her to me and back like he can’t quite believe his ears.
He’s not hearing things. The way she put herself between him and her mother rather gives me a warm, soft feeling around my heart.
Without looking our way, she says, “I’ll see you after lunch.”
Then she’s out the door, marching down the driveway toward Roman’s SUV. Runway models have nothing on her.
I grab my phone and hit Roman’s number, watching him connect the call.
He glances up at the house, his dark eyes hidden behind stylish sunglasses.
“Guard her with your life.”
“Will do.”
He disconnects the call just as she reaches him, and he opens the rear door. Once she’s safely inside, he gets behind the wheel, and they’re off.
My heart thunders inside my ribcage. I shouldn’t have let her go. Her mom sounds whack. This feels wrong.
Since when do I pay attention to feelings?
Since now .
I should be with her. Protecting her. Soaking in her smiles.
My pulse drowns out the silence, and I stare after her, phone groaning in my grip.
Gabe puts a hand on my shoulder. “What do we do now?”
I turn conflicted eyes his way, and he regards me with curiosity and steadfastness. The two things that made him a titan in the tech world. As much as I value my friendship, this thing between Katherine and me feels. . . essential. Inescapable.
Her words ring in my ears. I know where you keep your secrets.
Would she really go up against her mother over Gabe? Does she like him that much? All the verbal sparring is what? Foreplay?
I need to find out. And just because I trust her to handle things her way doesn’t mean I have to stay put.
His brows lift.
“Get in the car.” I jerk open the front door and wave him through.
“You’ve got it bad,” he says, trailing me to the other SUV.
Our footsteps crunch through the pea gravel.
“Like you don’t.” I’ve noticed the change in him in the last twenty-four hours. I never thought he’d fall for anyone but his mistress, Technology, but I think he’s tumbling for Katherine .
He stops and calls out, “She hates me.”
I pause because I love him, but I’m tired of that lie he tells himself. Especially considering what she just said to her mother. It’s time he took off the blinders. Which is hard. I get it. I’m running hot and cold myself. There’s a large part of me that wants to take Katherine back to the city, stick four guys at her door, and ignore how much I crave her.
That part doesn’t want to feel love and loss again.
But there’s another part, small, quiet, hopeful. And that part makes me turn around and close the five steps to my best friend.
“She hates you so much she let you kiss her?”
His eyes widen. “She told you?”
I give my head a slow shake. “You just did.”
But I knew. She was squirmy in my lap. Conflicted. And when we kissed, she tasted like dark roast and cream cheese. Why am I not angry? Losing my shit at him?
“Fuck.” He half turns away. He’s fighting the same battle I am. An internal war between friendship and desire for this woman. It’s twisted. “What are we going to do?”
This is the Gabe I first met. Cocky one moment, unsure the next. So eager to make his place in the world and get away from his past. Latching onto his future with both hands. But also hesitant, sort of like a newborn foal .
I stride around the front of the SUV to buy myself time.
Our gazes lock across the big vehicle’s hood. I’ve known him for over half my life. The idea of us both being interested in the same woman never crossed my mind.
“Date her and let her pick,” I say and hit the unlock button. It’s the logical solution. But it burns like hell.
Gabe glares at me, his eyes a stormy blue. I turn to the driver’s side door. If he expects me to just step aside, he doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does.