“How about grabbing my phone for me?” He had to get her out of the room so he could put a shirt on. Getting into the shower without exposing the tattoo on his chest had been a chore in itself.
“Sure, sweetie.”
He peeked past the curtain. The minute she cleared the door into the bedroom, he was out and pulling clothes on.
Sweetie. That was something his aunt would have said to her husband when Carlos’s uncle had been alive. He’d been the only role model of a decent man in Carlos’s life. His uncle had told him once that a woman was a gift from heaven to be cherished.
Gabrielle deserved so much more than he could offer, but that didn’t change that she felt like his gift from heaven. He swallowed, hating the decisions racing toward him any day now. What was he going to do when it was time to take her back to Joe? He owed Joe and BAD for saving him from destroying any hope of living out his life a free man. He’d walked away from Durand when it became clear his father was grooming him to run the family business, built on murder and torture. He saw it all so clearly the day Helena died.
So how was he going to keep Gabrielle safe and fulfill his commitment to BAD? He’d face that decision when the time came, but he was not going to let anyone harm her.
But she was in danger the longer she stayed around him because anywhere Carlos went was an unsafe zone as long as Durand lived.
“Where’s your phone?” she called.
He stuck his head out the door and waited until she turned around to point at his duffel bag, then at his ear to remind her they might hear.
She mouthed Oh and went to the duffel. By the time she returned, he was dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt. He combed his fingers through his hair, then closed the door and turned on the faucet for the sink before he punched Korbin’s number.
Korbin answered. “Any news?”
“We confirmed that Amelia is expected back, so she hasn’t disappeared yet. What have you got?”
“A stiff back from sleeping outside with an unaccommodating partner.”
Carlos chuckled. “Couldn’t convince her you were willing to skip ahead to the R’s?”
“No, I told her-”
The phone must have been snatched out of his hand because Rae was on the line. Gabrielle watched him with a curious lift of her eyebrow and arms crossed over the tank top she wore.
With no bra.
Carlos looked up at the ceiling to keep his mind off her and no bra.
Rae’s tired and annoyed voice came through the line. “If I were disposed to do something so stupid as to have sex with Korbin, he’d be too bloody drained to do his job. I doubt he could handle what I have to offer.”
Carlos caught something that was a cross between a comment and a growl. “What did Korbin say?”
“Some nonsense about being up for the challenge. He should keep his mind on the mission, which reminds me, Gotthard wants to talk to you and Gabrielle. How’s she doing on the computers?”
“So far so good, but what she excelled at was getting us in here. She was right about the tight security clearance. They wanted to boot me, but she pulled the Tynte power card and stood her ground.” He smiled at her round-eyed expression.
Gabrielle’s cheeks pinked with embarrassment. Cute, definitely cute. She deserved the compliment, and he hoped her success here played in her favor when time came for Joe to make a decision on her future.
“No kidding?” Rae sounded just as impressed.
“I’ll touch base as soon as we know when we’re leaving.”
After hanging up, Carlos told Gabrielle to wait in the bathroom. He went out to his duffel and dug out a headset rigged with a splitter so he and Gabrielle could both talk to Gotthard.
Once he had two earpieces wired into the phone, he got Gotthard on the line.
Before they started sharing data, Gabrielle asked, “How is Mandy?”
“She’s still in a coma, but her vitals are better.” Gotthard moved on to the job at hand. “The remote access Gabrielle set up for me while she was coding the programs is working perfectly.”
Carlos looked at Gabrielle, surprised she hadn’t mentioned how much she’d done for BAD while in the IT area, but they hadn’t had the chance to discuss much since leaving there.
“Hunter and I have been chasing lineages,” Gotthard continued. “From what we can tell, Linette, Gabrielle, Amelia, and two other students currently MIA have similar markers from their ancestry. Have you ever heard of a D-ange-ruese line in your family history, Gabrielle?”
“No, but I never searched either.” She stared in thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “I meant to tell you two something. I don’t know if this is significant or not, but Amelia, Joshua, and Evelyn have student identification numbers that identify them as being physically challenged.”
“That was in their bios, but it isn’t consistent with you, Mandy, and, I assume, Linette,” Gotthard pointed out.
“True,” Gabrielle muttered. “Was there any other connection, Gotthard?”
“Only that so far each of you with this D-ange-ruese notation is either firstborn or an only child.”
“What else have you got on the teens?” Carlos asked.
“The other two not accounted for are Joshua Williams, the son of a Massachusetts congressman, and Evelyn Abrams, the daughter of an international financial broker in Israel. According to the online schedule, Amelia is due back tomorrow. Joshua was listed as visiting friends in Germany, and his passport went through the Frankfurt airport so that seems to check out. Evelyn is listed only as visiting family in Israel, and her passport was logged at the Tel Aviv airport. But Joshua and Evelyn should be checked in by tomorrow morning. All the teens, Linette, and Gabrielle have ancestries that can be traced back practically to Noah’s ark, all five are exceptional students with high IQs, and all five come from families that are above reproach. All except Mandy, who was a hellion and adopted. She doesn’t fit the MO.”
“What do you think this means?” Gabrielle stared past Carlos’s shoulder, focused, as that brain of hers processed information.
“I don’t know.” Gotthard sounded as though he hadn’t rested in days, which was probably the case. “We can’t come up with any scenario that makes sense, and that worries us the most since the Fratelli’s attack last year on the U.S. never culminated in a threat or demand. Retter found leads on the attacks on the Venezuelan oil minister, but doesn’t trust them.”
“Why not?” Carlos put his arm around Gabrielle when she shivered.
“Retter said the leads were too easy to find and follow, like they might be planted, but the local sentiment is real, and most believe someone in the U.S. is financing the attacks. This could be all about some plan to cripple the U.S. by inflating the fuel problems in America to a crisis that rivals last fall when gas prices shot through the roof and the stock market was crazy, but no scenario makes sense so far. I’m sending photos and bios on Mandy, Amelia, Joshua, and Evelyn next, but nothing on Linette just in case Gabrielle’s laptop is ever compromised. We’d have no way to warn Linette. You’ll have everything in ten minutes.”
Gabrielle thanked Gotthard before Carlos cut the connection. He wished the hope in her heart wasn’t written so plainly across her face. Gotthard probably had as slim a possibility of finding Linette online as Gabrielle and hated the false hope his teammate’s efforts spawned.
“Why don’t you see what the chef whipped up for your highness?” Carlos got a wry look for that, but she headed for the living room wearing a gray tank top and black warm-up pants, damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders.
Her lack of vanity surprised him for someone with her background. The aristocrats he’d known were more like Hunter, who spent a fortune to have every hair planned out for the day.
She was so intent on snooping through the dishes he snuck up and dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder.
She jumped and almost head-butted him.
He caught her before she knocked the food off the table. “Hungry, Miss Saxe?” Then he glanced up at the shelf where the activation light glowed on his jammer, indicating they could talk freely.
When she turned around, a chocolate-covered strawberry hovered near her mouth. She held it between two fingers, and instead of biting down she ran her tongue over the tip and sucked the chocolate on the strawberry.
He went rock hard and whispered, “If you want to eat any of that food, you’d better stop teasing me.”
A wicked gleam twinkled in her eyes.
Seeing her feminine confidence return warmed him. Her ex-husband had to be some kind of idiot to have gone looking for something more than this woman. He should have his head spun around to face backward just for undermining her femininity.
If the bastard ever got close to her again, he’d get more than his body rearranged.
“I am hungry,” she finally admitted after eating the strawberry and licking her fingers.
If she didn’t stop licking things with that tongue, he’d run out of condoms tonight. He’d only brought his standard four.
Wasn’t as if he’d expected to use them on this trip.
She laughed and pulled out of his arms. “Let’s eat or I will be…what do you say? Cranky?”
“That’s for sure.” He couldn’t believe the change from timid to relaxed. Men just never realized how easily their words and actions could break a woman’s spirit or power up her confidence. Gabrielle was brilliant, heir to a fortune, and had protected herself alone for the past decade.
But what had she been doing during that time to know so much about the Anguis? Where was she getting her information?
“Here’s yours. I’ll take a water if you don’t mind.” She handed him a plate loaded with carved beef that would probably melt in his mouth, a potato soufflé, green vegetables with almonds, bread, and a radish shaped into a flower.
He grabbed a cola and bottle of water from the minifridge, then sauntered over to the sofa. She bounced around the serving table, clearly delighted, as if she never dined so well. She pranced over to the sofa with a plate piled just as high as his and plopped down with the one-person buffet in her lap.
Then ate without hesitation.
When Gabrielle paused, she licked her fingers again. She lifted her head, eyes bright as those of an elf on a mischievous mission. Dimples winked when she smiled, and she covered her mouth shyly with one hand, hiding cheeks round with food.
But that she hadn’t been the least bit concerned over devouring a full plate in front of him tugged on his heart.
What was he going to do about Gabrielle?
He couldn’t keep her with him, but neither could he let Joe and Tee send her to Interpol. If he went against BAD, he would have no refuge left in this world because he would be hunted as a threat to the organization.
Hard decisions were as much a part of his life as breathing. He’d make this one when the time came.
AN INSISTENT BUZZ interrupted his sleep.
Vestavia came awake, instantly assessing his surroundings as he always did even in his Miami penthouse, as he was now. He read the caller ID, then lifted the phone receiver to stop the noise before it woke Josie.
“What’s going on?” He cradled the phone against his ear with one hand and used the fingers on his other to toy with Josie’s hair. She slept like an angel beside him. His contact at the école d’Ascension wouldn’t have called unless he had an emergency.
“We’ve had a small glitch here, Fra Vestavia,” his contact warned.
“As in?” Vestavia asked quietly. Josie snuggled close and burrowed into the pillow. His gaze strayed to the solid-gold pocket watch that rested on a rectangular onyx pedestal on the nightstand. A birthday gift from Josie. She’d found the antique treasure in Switzerland last year.
“Our computer systems have crashed,” his contact at the school continued. “No one on our IT staff has been able to resolve the problem so we brought in outside help.”
“Who?” Vestavia ignored Josie for a moment and stared out the window where stars winked in the black sky over the ocean.
“That’s the good news. It’s an alumni we’ve been in communication with for over a year about a custom program she’s written that will upgrade all of our systems without needing so many fingers involved.”
“So she’s cleared to visit the school?”
“Absolutely. I’ve personally reviewed her records. She was a quiet little geek of a prominent family. Actually she was one of the D-ange-ruese line, but her mother’s death was suspect so you struck her name from consideration. Her father is a respected member of the French government and rumored to be our next prime minister.”
“I’m not crazy about it,” Vestavia grumbled. His man inside the école d’Ascension was completely trustworthy, and the school had been a favorite Fratelli hunting ground for many generations due to its security and exclusivity, but this broke protocol. “Keep an eye on her and inform me immediately about anything unusual.”
“Of course.”
“What is the status of the three students?” Vestavia asked, swinging the conversation back to his utmost concern.
“Everything is in order. They are all listed as off campus with permission, except for the last one.”
“As soon as the last teenager is picked up, you’ll receive word to adjust her records to reflect a voluntary leave.”
“I had a call from one parent this week.”
Josie stirred awake and moved over to stroke Vestavia’s hard cock. He tensed, then managed to answer, “Which one?”
“Someone on staff at the Fuentes estate checked to see that Amelia’s leave was approved by the school. I assured them it was, that she’s an exceptional student, and that Amelia indicated when she left that she’d be visiting a friend in Germany. They accepted that without question.”