11. Who Can Gabriel Trust? #2
She finished, washed her hands. “I’m headed into the embassy today, so I need some sleep.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Happy New Year, Halston,” he said before kissing her.
That elicited a little smile.
Damn, she’s making me work for it. I love that.
“Happy New Year.” She kissed him back, broke away, and headed back into the suite. “Bring my phone when you’re done.”
As he cleaned himself off, he made a decision. To his surprise, there was no hesitation on his part, no angst about his choice. Back in the bedroom, he turned off her phone flashlight, crawled into the bed, pulled up the covers. She was facing away, so he snuggled close, wrapped his arm around her.
“I’ll stay, then make you breakfast before you take off for work.”
“I can grab something at the embassy.”
“Today’s a holiday.”
“Not for me, plus I was late on the ambassador’s first day, so I feel like I need to show my Russian loyalty.” Her shoulders and upper back tightened.
He started massaging her, finding her filled with knots between her shoulder blades. “Roll onto your stomach.”
She rolled over, shot him a little smile. “Gonna get me from behind?”
“I can take care of you after I relax you.” He rubbed her shoulders, pausing on the knots to work out the tension.
She breathed deep. He was lying on his side, using his right hand to rub.
“This is unexpected,” she said. “I like it.”
“You’re tight.”
“Yeah, I’m a mess, but I try to hide it.”
He leaned over, kissed her shoulder. “I like you.”
“Well, who doesn’t like to fuck?”
“No, Halston, not that. Sei bellissima, troppo bellissima per me.” You’re beautiful, too beautiful for me.
“Those lines don’t work on me, bud.”
“I’m not lying to you.” He grew quiet as he worked on an especially tight knot in her upper back.
“Wow, that hurts.”
“You’re different,” he continued, determined to speak from his heart. “You’re smart, courageous. You intrigue me. You killed a man with your bare hands. And without much effort.”
“I was trained by the best.”
“At Langley?” he asked.
“No, my brother, Wolf. He’s just as insane as you, but he’s gone rogue.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You can trust me. I won’t betray that.”
“Gabriel, we’ve got a good thing, but it’s just physical. I’m not looking for anything. My job is dangerous. I don’t want to complicate my life—”
“This is different for me,” he said cutting her off. “It’s not just physical. I want to get to know you.”
Her gaze floated over his face, but she said nothing.
He moved to the other side of the bed, so he could rub her left shoulder. Like before, she turned to face him.
“Is this part of some crazy New Year’s resolution or something?” she murmured.
“No, it’s me being vulnerable. A first.”
“You’re not going soft, are you?”
He chuffed out a laugh. “No. Never.” He kissed her cheek. “I want to get to know you, outside of the sex.”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you like me?”
Silence.
He waited while he massaged her back.
“Yes,” she replied. “I do, but I’m not dumb enough to let my emotions get in the way of my life. You’re a —what did your brothers call you—a lady eater. I’m not interested—”
“I’m not going to see anyone else. No hookups, nothing.”
Her eyes widened. “We’ll see how long that lasts, Romeo.” Her eyes fluttered closed.
He pulled her onto him, wrapped her in his arms. “Sleep, my beauty.” He kissed the top of her head.
As he lay there, he wondered if she was someone he could build a life with. That thought had never crossed his mind before. Not once.
In his arms, she felt good.
She feels like home.
HE AWOKE TO AN EMPTY BED. The bathroom light was on—the electricity had been restored—the shower was running. He grabbed his phone to check the time. It was five in the damn morning.
Who gets up this early?
His security app started pinging. Someone had set off the alarm in his Milan villa. He toggled to the cameras and smiled. His housekeeper, Pina, stood in the foyer, fumbling with the keypad and grumbling to herself. She set down her phone, punched in the code, and the alarm went quiet.
Seconds later, his phone rang. It was her.
“Ciao, Pina, tutto a posto?” he said. Hello, Pina, everything okay?
“Sì, sì. Ero al telefono con mia sorella e ho inserito il codice di casa mia, non il tuo,” Pina said. Yes, yes. I was on the phone with my sister and entered my house code, not yours.
“Hai mai rivisto quella donna? Era molto carina,” Pina continued. Did you ever see the woman again? She was very pretty.
“Quale donna?” Gabriel asked. What woman?
“Qualche settimana fa. Colui che aspetta che tu torni a tarda notte.” A few weeks ago. The one who waited for you to come back late at night.
Gabriel ended the call, then checked past surveillance for the woman. At first, he found nothing, but after scrolling back farther, he found the footage. He started it up and watched as a masked intruder entered, turned off his security system, then rifled through his house.
What the fucking fuck.
When she opened his safe, his blood boiled, the anger sending him pushing out of bed.
He raked his hand through his hair as the intruder cracked open his safe, continued her search, but didn’t touch the cash.
Then, she returned to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine, went back upstairs and onto his balcony.
There, she removed her ski mask and took a damn break.
As his frustration morphed into full-on anger, she got up, hurried into the hallway. Then, she bolted into the closet, exiting a moment later in one of his robes.
No fucking way.
His anger had him seeing stars, the rage tearing through him like a tornado.
The intruder trotted down the stairs, chatted calmly with Pina, then went back upstairs. Moments later, she left.
The feelings he’d felt for Halston were washed away in the tidal wave that ripped through him, drowning out any romantic feelings he’d confessed mere hours ago.
Halston entered the bedroom. “It’s the first day of a New Year. Gotta make the most of it, right?”
He was staring into the eyes of the enemy. She’d been playing him the entire time. He wanted to storm out, never speak to her again.
But that wasn’t how Gabriel rolled. He needed answers, and he damn well was going to get them. Forcing a smile, he walked close, dropped a light kiss on her lips. Staring into her eyes brought the heat, but he wasn’t stupid enough to get played again.
“How’s this?” he asked. “Keep our friends close and our enemies closer.”
Her smile brightened her husky-blue eyes. “That’s been my life for my entire career.”
“Do you mind if I shower?” he asked.
“Go for it. I’m going to order breakfast. Will you stay?”
He had questions. Who sent her? Why? Had she been stalking him this entire time? Was this work related? Was she a psycho?
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re staring at me like you could take me out. I like the look… very sexy.” She opened a dresser drawer, pulled out black panties, and slipped into them.
He stood, his feet cemented to the floor while she strapped on a bra.
“I’ll stay,” he said before he vanished into the bathroom.
As he waited for the shower to heat up, he tried to piece together the puzzle that was Halston Devereux. She’d saved his life, twice. First, the poison in his drink at Lost Souls. Second, the Bratva in his rental house.
She killed him herself. But why?
He stepped into the shower, let the water sluice his body. Did Caroline and Sydney know the real Halston? The longer he stood there, the more questions he had.
There were a number of ways he could approach this problem and a total of fifteen minutes to come up with a bullet-proof plan.
HALSTON
Halston finished dressing in a dark gray pant suit and simple knit sweater. She pulled her hair into a tight bun, leaving her long bangs in place. Next, she inserted a new pair of brown contact lenses, slid on her spy glasses.
Her work phone chimed with a text. After retrieving it, she glanced down, then did a double take.
What the—
After unlocking the screen, she read the text from the unknown sender.
Eto Bob Smith. Posol Bulgrov dal mne vash nomer. YA priglashayu vas na uzhin. Segodnya vecherom ili zavtra
This is Bob Smith. Ambassador Bulgrov gave me your number. I take you to dinner. Tonight or tomorrow
Frustration swirled through her, clouding her thoughts.
The ambassador had never given out her number before, so why now?
She did not want to have dinner with anyone from Russia or connected with work, so she’d ignore the text.
While she was posing as a loyal Russian, she was drawing a hard line on this one.
“No fucking way.”
She called room service, placed a breakfast order. Not knowing Gabriel’s food preferences, she ordered too much of everything. Halston’s work phone rang. It was the ambassador.
“Good morning, Mr. Ambassador,” she answered, her Russian accent rolling off her tongue. “How are you today, sir?”
“Minka, I’m sorry to call early. You work today, yes?”
“Of course. Do you need me to run an errand for you?” She rolled her eyes.
“Do you remember Bob Smith? He was in meeting with Dmitri Petrov.”
“I got a text from him.”
“We discuss in office.” Bulgrov hung up and the line went dead.
She confirmed the call had ended before she grunted. “There’s no way I’m doing that. I don’t care what kind of bullshit pressure he puts on me.”
“Everything okay?” Gabriel asked, his velvety voice caressing her ears.