Always Been Mine (18 page)

She opened her mouth as if to protest, but shook her head. “I don’t know. I like how you make me feel and it scares me.” Her luminous green eyes locked on his with all honesty. “I’m trying, Gabe. Believe me, I am. Because deep down, I know you’re not going to hurt me again. But I need you to have a life outside of me.”

“What do you mean?” Gabe glared at her.

“Threat’s over, right? Ryker is dead. It’s been quiet for over six weeks.” Beatrice sighed. “We need to go through normal. You know what I mean? I don’t want you to be my bodyguard. I was never the target to begin with, you were.”

“I still don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m asking you to find something else to do besides babysit me.”

“You’ve done nothing but babysit me for a month in the hospital,” Gabe argued. “Why can’t I do the same for you?”

“That’s different and you know it,” Beatrice retorted.

“Babe, are you worried I’m going to run out of money, be the drifter boyfriend? Because I assure you, I have plenty saved up. I’m not letting you support me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That thought never crossed my mind because you’re not that kind of man.”

He sure wasn’t.
 

“I do have a plan once I’m a hundred percent sure you’re out of danger.”

Beatrice’s eyes lit up. “Oh, what? Are you going to ask Travis for a job?”

“Fuck, no,” Gabe muttered. “Protecting that body of yours is one thing, but that’s not the type of work I like to do.”

“Not—”

“Neither am I doing undercover work ever again—long term ones at least. I’ll probably contract out to security companies that work with the government, engaging in short-duration strike operations.”

Beatrice didn’t look happy. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “You wanted me to do something else.”

“There are only a few security companies I trust, BSI being one of them,” Beatrice said. “I don’t want you doing anything risky without someone I trust to have your back.”

“What do you want me to do, Beatrice?” Gabe asked in exasperation. “You don’t want me to be your bodyguard. You don’t want me to work for security companies other than BSI. Give me something here.”

“How about private investigation?”

Gabe’s brow shot up. “That could work. But there’ll be some level of undercover work and confidentiality I can’t share with you.”

“That’s fine,” Beatrice smiled smugly. “I’ll get you in contact with a friend of mine.”

Gabe didn’t trust that smile. He’d seen it one too many times whenever she was scheming with Doug. “What does your friend do?”

“He’s a divorce lawyer.”

Hell, no.
 

“I am not about to sit in a car with an overpriced camera,” Gabe pushed through gritted teeth, “just so I can spy on unfaithful spouses.”

“I’m telling you, Gabe, that market is red hot in DC.” Beatrice walked up to him and pressed her body against his. “Think about all the perverted politicians you’re going to take down.”

“You’re joking, right?” She better be. Otherwise, she didn’t know him at all.

She grinned. “It was worth a shot.”

She tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his arms around her. “You need to trust I’ll find something that you’re going to be comfortable with. I’m not saying it’ll have no level of danger. I’m not saying my whereabouts might be secret. All I’m saying is, I’ll always come back to you.”

“You can’t promise that, Gabe,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I can. I did this last time. Took me three fucking years, but I held on to the promise of you, Beatrice. The difference is, I’m not putting you through that unknown again.”

“I’m wondering, what if I had been married or with someone else?”

His grip tightened. Beatrice yelped, so he eased up. The thought of her with someone else was triggering a dark part in him. “I’d kill him.”

Beatrice laughed nervously. “No,
 
really, what would you have done?”

His eyes must have changed because she frowned at him. “Gabe?”

No. It’s Dmitry.

He pulled her close and whispered the warning in her ear. “I will kill to have you.”

Gabe released her before he frightened her more. He backed away from the room, holding her eyes. “I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

*****

What the hell just happened?

Goose bumps ran down her back. That was not Gabriel Sullivan. That was not the Gabe she knew. That voice was menacing. Her hands were suddenly clammy, and they were shaking when she folded some clothes into her suitcase.
 

I will kill to have you.

Why didn’t that sound like an empty threat? It certainly didn’t sound like mere alpha-male, chest-thumping posturing.

It was a warning issued with conviction.

Beatrice spied her wine by the nightstand and took a heavy sip. In fact, she drained it. Yet, she didn’t want to flee or retreat from him. Behind his dark gimlet eyes was a storm pulling her into its center. There was a yearning for her to be his anchor. His sanctuary?

She finished packing and rolled the suitcase to the living room. Gabe was sitting on the couch, bent forward, elbows on knees, hands linked.
 

He looked up, and Beatrice flinched. His face was hard, harsh even.
 

“Don’t,” he rasped, standing up. “I will never hurt you.”

“I know you won’t,” Beatrice replied levelly.
 

“You look frightened.”

“Frightened, no. Seeing this side of you, though, is unnerving.”

Gabe gave a short bark of mirthless laughter. “I don’t have a split personality, Beatrice.”

“I know you don’t.”

“What exactly do you see?”

“Ruthlessness.”

His expression shuttered. “Ruthlessness has always been a part of me. You know that.”

“I don’t know; it’s just . . . weird, okay?” Her knees went weak so she sat down.

Finally, his face softened and he crouched in front of her. He captured her knees between his, splaying his hands on her thighs. “You have nothing to fear from me.”

Beatrice huffed. “It’s not that. You’re just intense.”

His jaw tightened. He gripped her chin and the ruthless gleam was back in his eyes. “Yes. I’m intense when it comes to you. I’m ruthless when it comes to you. That is never going to change. Deal with it.”

Beatrice jerked her chin away. “Not helping, Gabe,” she hissed.
 

“Babe, I am who I am. In all the time we’ve been together, have I ever given you a reason to fear me?”
 

“No.” Even now she was not afraid of him, but she was afraid of what his jealousy, coupled with this cold ruthlessness, could mean to people around her. “Just . . . just control your jealousy, okay? Threatening to kill a hypothetical husband or lover is freaky enough.”

“I’ll rein it in.” His chilly smile was not reassuring and neither were the words that followed. “Just make sure your male colleagues know their place. In deference to your professional reputation, I’ll try not to act like a psycho boyfriend.”

“That’ll be appreciated.”

“Just remember—I have my limits.”

Shit.

*****

“Honey, I’m home.”

A smile played on Beatrice lips. It had been three days since Gabe finally let her go about her business without shadowing her. Not that he’d been an intrusive bodyguard at all. Despite his imposing presence, he had a way of disappearing and reappearing as needed. It freaked her out sometimes, these Houdini acts, but she knew even if she couldn’t see him, he had his eyes on her constantly.
 

Rhino greeted her at the door, and like she and Gabe had discussed, she’d been more firm with the dog, but no less affectionate. She’d admit to bending the rules a bit, and Rhino, being the clever dog, played along. It was like she and Rhino had a little secret all their own.

Rhino sat obediently this time and waited for Beatrice to give him attention.
 

“Hey, boy,” she bent down and rubbed his ears. “Where’s your master?” She straightened and called out. “Gabe?”

That was when she saw the note.

Meeting an old buddy for coffee.

Picking up groceries on the way home.

Left you a voice message.

G.

“
Damn it,” Beatrice muttered. She was drained from the last meeting today and forgot to take her phone off silent and check her messages. She did have several missed calls from different numbers and an equal amount of voice mails. She’d check them tonight or tomorrow morning. If they were urgent and business-related, Doug would get a call as well, and so far, none of the calls were from her assistant.
 

Which means . . .

She could take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood with Rhino. She quickly changed into more comfortable clothes and sneakers and was out the door with an eager German Shepherd at heel. Trotting right beside her as she broke into a slight jog, Rhino snuffled repeatedly in canine contentment.

Beatrice welcomed the shock of frigid air in her lungs replacing the stale stuffy one rendered from dry-heated office spaces. She loved taking walks in this historic neighborhood with its brick walkways and quaint Victorian row houses. If there was one place that would make her give up her DC condo, it would be a house in Old Town Alexandria.
 

A nagging sensation suddenly prickled her skin. She noticed a beat-up car slowing to crawl right beside her. There were two occupants and the way they were watching her trilled the alarms in her head. They were approaching an intersection and her uneasiness escalated. Paranoid or not, she wasn’t tempting fates.

“Come on, Rhino, let’s head back,” she muttered to him. She turned around and was startled to see a man approaching with menacing eyes intent on her. A white panel van was also slowing down.

She looked back at the first car. It had parked at the intersection and the passenger stepped out clearly waiting for her to make a move. She was trapped.

Before she could react, the man in front of her yanked down his ski mask. Rhino immediately went ape-shit and tugged in front of her, growling fiercely. Ski-mask man pulled out a gun and aimed for Rhino.
 

“No!” Beatrice screamed as Rhino lunged straight for the man’s gun hand, wrenching the leash from her hold. She heard the muted pop of the silencer, but the shot went wide as Rhino brought the man down.
 

Everything happened simultaneously. She was going for Rhino and making a run for it when the side doors of the van flew open and masked men jumped out. Beatrice didn’t waste time counting how many, her intent was getting herself and Rhino out of there.
 

Spectators were starting to gather and shout for help.

An arm banded around her waist and she was hauled off the ground, a sweet-smelling substance filled her nose. She kicked out, and heard a grunt, but she was fast losing control of her limbs and her vision was fading into black.

There was yelling, from the crowd or from her assailants, Beatrice didn’t know. She heard another muffled sound and Rhino yelping in agony. More angry shouting.

Noooo . . .

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Gabe cursed the car that pulled into a parking spot closer to his house. Thankfully, there was no vehicle behind him, so he backed up to another space a couple of cars down. Exiting his Chevy Silverado, he collected the grocery bags, bumped the door close, and bleeped the locks. Balancing the bags, he took a leisurely pace to his home.

When he turned on his street, he grew alarmed to see a crowd gathering right in front of his house and a smear of red on the pavement.

“What the fuck is going on?” Gabe demanded, shouldering past the throng. What he saw brought him to his knees. He dropped the bags.
 

Rhino was bloodied, panting hard, and whining softly.

“Buddy?” Gabe whispered, checking quickly for the source of the bleeding.

“He crawled home,” a person in the crowd said. “Some of us tried to help him, but he was growling and snapping at us.”

Gabe found the wound near the neck.
 

One of the spectators shoved a roll of gauze in front of his face. “Here. I ran home and grabbed this.” Gabe recognized his neighbor next door.

Recovering from the shock of seeing his dog bleeding out on his front stoop, the implication hit him like a ton of bricks.
 

Beatrice!

While working first aid on Rhino, Gabe asked. “Did anyone see a redhead?”

Everyone started speaking simultaneously. Frustrated, Gabe decided to finish treating Rhino before interrogating any witnesses. When he lifted him, Rhino tried to fight the movement and cried in distress.
 

“Easy, boy,” Gabe fought the heart-rending emotion of seeing his dog injured. He lifted a chin to the nearest person. “Did you see what went down?”

“Yes, I—”

“Come with me,” Gabe ordered. He wended his way through the assembly, which parted easily before him. “Tell me everything. How many? What car.”

As the details of what happened were revealed, Gabe tried to quell the rising panic in his chest. Beatrice was rendered unconscious and dumped into a white van. There were three men wearing ski-masks—one would be sporting a dog bite on his right arm. Gabe thanked the man for the information and loaded Rhino in the vehicle. Police cruisers turned into the neighborhood, but Gabe had no time to talk to them.
 

Pulling up emergency veterinary hospitals from his phone, he was relieved that there was one a couple of blocks over. Afterward he called Travis.

“Blake.”

“Travis, it’s Gabe.”

“What do you want?”

“Cut the hostility, Lieutenant,” Gabe snapped. “Beatrice was taken. They shot my dog, and I’m on my way to the emergency vet.”

There was a muffled curse before Travis said, “What can I do?”

“I need you to scope out my neighborhood. The cops just got here. Get them to back off. Find out more from witnesses if you can.” Gabe dictated his address as well as the intersection where Beatrice was nabbed. “See if you can gain access to traffic cams.”