16. Feeling the Heat
FEELING THE HEAT
HALSTON
At the end of the workday, Halston left the embassy, tightening her scarf to shelter her from the bitter wind.
She scheduled a rideshare, hurried to the pick-up location, and jumped into the waiting car.
After directing the driver to the hotel, she unearthed her personal phone from her handbag.
Though her fingers tingled to read the unread texts, she shoved the device into her pocket and stared out the window.
The Agency’s unpublished motto—Eyes are Everywhere—was a creed she lived by.
There could easily be cameras in the rideshare. Moments later, she keyed her way into her suite. The unexpected aroma of Italian spices made her mouth water.
“Hello?” she called out.
Gabriel sauntered out from the small kitchen, the sleeves on his black shirt rolled up. As she got closer, she couldn’t miss the grief in his eyes.
“There’s my woman.” He pulled her into his arms. His kiss left her breathless, then a peck on each cheek.
“You’re here,” she said. “I’m so happy to see you. Are you all moved in?”
“I’m here. No getting rid of me now.”
She grinned.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“I smell something amazing.”
After she removed her scarf, he helped her out of her coat.
“How’d you do today?” he asked.
She caressed his back. “First, you. Tell me about Angelo’s family. It must’ve been rough. How are you doing?”
To her surprise, he pulled her into his arms and held her. “You’re amazing.”
“Why?”
“You ask about me,” he said.
She smiled. “Of course. I care about you.”
“It was bad, even for me. I’ve been asking myself if my choices got him killed.” He paused, his gaze searching hers. “I don’t know.”
“Gabriel—”
“I should have sent him back to Italy.”
“It’s always easy to look back and make a different choice, but that will only make you feel worse. How can I help you through this?”
“You would be smart to break things off with me. I’m filled with rage, the need to avenge Angelo consumes me.”
She held him, ran her hands over his back. “I’m not smart because I’m not ending anything with you.” After several seconds, she peered into his eyes. “I’m here for you. I mean that.”
“Thank you.” He put his arm around her, brought her into the small kitchen. “I made us chicken parm.”
“Mygod, you are perfect.” She fished her phone from her bag. “Is it ready?”
“Almost.”
“I need to text my brother.”
He stirred the sauce in the pot, held out a taste. She tried it. “That’s fantastic.” She glanced around for a jar. “Which brand it is?”
His eyebrows jutted into his forehead “Brand? I made it.”
She eyed the pasta sauce simmering in the pot before regarding him. “I’m impressed.”
“Elsa taught me. I think she did it to keep me from hanging with my father. I spent a lot of time with him.”
“A mafioso and a cook.” She smiled. “And you’ve fallen in love with a spy.”
“Who said I was in love.”
She kissed him. “You did. And I am, so you have to be.”
He laughed. She was grateful she could bring him a few seconds of lightness in such a dark time.
“I’m going to take the clip out of my hair.”
He wrapped her close, kissed her. “Hurry back.”
Another mind-numbing kiss from her sexy man before she retreated into the bathroom.
There, she removed the large claw clip securing her taut bun.
Most days, that hairdo gave her a splitting headache, but today she had one for a completely different reason.
She ran her scalp massage brush through her long hair, washed her hands, and plucked out the tinted contacts before returning to the kitchen.
Gabriel was busy setting the table.
“One quick text to my brother, and I’ll help you,” she said.
“I got this,” he replied.
How’s the finger coming?
Is that a riddle?
She laughed. Gabriel glanced over.
Need ASAP
7 tomorrow morning
See you then
She set her phone down. “My brother made me a latex finger so I can get into the ambassador’s laptop.”
“Nice,” he said as he plated their dinners.
She sidled close. “That’s not all for me, is it?”
“Too much?”
She picked up the empty plate. “That can be for you.” She served herself. “This looks amazing.”
In the dining room, he sat at the head, she catty-corner.
“Thank you for this. Today was stressful.” She drank half the glass of chilled water. And that’s when she realized she was trembling.
Get it together, Devereux.
She steeled her spine, sat on her hands, and breathed deep.
He glanced over at her. “No good?”
She reached for his hand. “Say grace with me.”
He held it.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for our lives, for our new love, and for this amazing homemade meal. Please bless Angelo’s family. Help us find his killer. Amen.”
“Amen.” Gabriel crossed himself, raised his glass. “Amare.” Love
Joy filled her heart. “Amare.”
They toasted, sipped the water.
“What happened today?” he asked.
“The Russian businessman—Dmitri Petrov—the one who bullies the ambassador, told him that Bob Smith—Donskoy—was murdered at a private club by an armed militia. Petrov is asking around. Someone will probably tell him about me. He’ll pass that description to the ambassador.
Or worse, if someone snapped a pic, the gig is up. I’m not safe there—”
“Can you stop working?”
“Not before I complete my mission. I need to find out why the ambassador, Dmitri Petrov, and Natasha were looking at a map of the US. I’ve already risked a lot. I’m not giving up now.”
They ate in silence for a few.
“This is delicious,” she said after swallowing down the pasta. “Better than the restaurant.”
He smiled. “You must be in love.”
“In love.” Her smile fell away. “There’s one more thing. The ambassador knows you’re in the US.”
A flicker of anger darkened his eyes. “Tell me.”
“He told me that someone tracked Gabriel Santini to the area and that Bob Smith is looking for you. Once he finds you—”
A wicked smile filled Gabriel’s handsome face. “That won’t happen.”
“G, this is serious,” she said. “I’m supposed to get close to you and find that thumb drive.”
“Like I’ve said, there is no thumb drive.”
“Aren’t you worried? Bulgrov mentioned you by name.”
“You’re the one who should be worried,” he replied.
“Why is that?”
“Now that you’ve met me, I’ve ruined you for any other man. You’ll fall so deeply in love with me, you’ll want to work for me.”
Despite everything going on, she couldn’t help but smile. “Is that so? My god, you’re cocky.”
He stroked her arm, tingles fluttered through her. She wanted him. She needed him.
“I can see it in your eyes,” he said.
“That’s just lust. Lust doesn’t last.”
“Ask me in thirty years if I still lust you,” he said.
She stilled. That was a crazy-ass comment for him to bring up now.
“In thirty years, I will,” he said. “I will lust you for the rest of my life, Halston. What will change is my love for you. That will either grow or die, but it won’t stay constant.
Your dad’s advice was right and wrong. Most people don’t change, but some do.
Some strive for self-growth or to overcome an addiction or a demon that haunts them.
For some, their lives are a constant journey of improvement, whether it be in their own lives, or the lives of those around them. ”
“Is that you?”
“That’s both of us.”
“How do you know that about me? We haven’t known each other that long.”
“I know enough… for now.”
More silence while she digested his words and savored the meal he’d made with love.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said. “It’s the best chicken parm I’ve ever had.”
After dinner, she insisted on cleaning up.
Being with him, in this simple way, felt joyous.
In this turbulent time, she found someone she cared about.
Someone she was willing to take a risk with.
Never did she think it would be a man like Gabriel Santini.
She thought she’d been searching for stability.
Someone who would be her anchor. Someone reliable and constant.
A good man who kept her grounded, gave her a place she could call home.
Is that you, Gabriel?
He was someone who pushed himself to the extreme.
He wanted more. When he achieved it, that wasn’t enough.
Was he chasing a dream or chasing his own tail?
Was he smart enough to get out of his own way when that was needed?
She didn’t have all the answers. For now, she knew she cared about him, had fallen in love with him. For her, that was enough.
They worked until bed.
Beneath the bed linens, they came together in a powerful kiss.
Her entire being came alive. But it wasn’t just the embrace, it was the possessive way he held her, the look of desire—and love—in his eyes.
She met his intensity with her own. A driving passion to mate with him, to take him inside her.
To connect in the most intimate of ways.
Their lovemaking was wild and feral, then soft and sweet.
His touch turned her into a savage. But it was the way they moved as one that completed her.
Their connection went beyond sex. Being with him physically felt like the one place in the world where everything was right… and good… and meaningful.
She’d had sex before him, even had sex before with him. But never like this.
I can feel it. Can he?
They climaxed together, the pure ecstasy drowning the bad in a few precious seconds of absolute euphoria.
“Ti amo, Halston,” he murmured. I love you, Halston.
“I love you too,” she replied.
As they held each other, she wondered how much time they had together. Once Bulgrov learned she’d been at the sex club, that Donskoy had tied her to the St. Andrews cross, and the armed militia had killed Donskoy and taken her, her life would forever change.
A pack of vicious wolves were chomping at their heels.
As she hugged Gabriel tighter, he whispered, “I would die before I let anything happen to you.”
She wanted to believe that. She did. But how could she?
Gabriel couldn’t save Angelo… could he even save himself? He was in Petrov’s crosshairs. It was only a matter of time before they would be found out.
A shiver ran though her.