Clara nods approvingly, mirroring my stance and glare.
“I don’t think he will go for that,” Angelo replies.
“Can you at least try?”
He sighs, running a hand through his thick brown hair. “Yeah, okay. But only if this one comes with me willingly. I’ve heard she can put up quite a fight.”
Clara grins wickedly.
Angelo guides Clara out of the apartment, and ten minutes later, he returns, holding a cell phone, a pinched expression on his face. Obviously, Gabriel isn’t happy about me demanding to speak to him, which carves a toothed edge into my gratitude.
Angelo passes me the phone.
“Thank you,” I say, and bring the phone to my ear.
My heart is racing. I haven’t talked to Gabriel in nearly two months. Sure, I’ve spoken to him through the cameras, but I can never be sure that he’s actually listening. My stomach does a flip, and my mouth dries.
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I have no idea what to say.
“It’s not like you to be quiet,” comes his smooth, low voice. The sound of it sends a pleasurable shiver down my spine. It’s honey and gravel, sugar and smoke.
I recover quickly and clear my throat. “Believe me, I’m just gearing up.”
“Let’s hear it, then. I don’t have all day.”
I glance at Angelo. He gives me an encouraging thumbs-up, and I stand a little straighter. I think about all the things Gabriel has done to piss me off since kicking me out of the mansion, including what is either his inability or refusal to acknowledge the baby growing in my belly. I channel that fire now, even though my legs feel shaky.
“Your goons have just taken Clara off to another apartment,” I say. “Apparently I’m not allowed to go with her, and she’s not allowed to stay here.”
“She needs to rest,” Gabriel says.
“She can rest here.”
“We have no idea what happened to Clara while she was held captive,” Gabriel presses. “For all we know, the Cartel have turned her and ordered her to kill you in the middle of the night.”
My jaw drops. “Are you kidding? You think that my own best friend would ever hurt me?”
“She’s an addict,” he replies. “She’s unpredictable. The last thing I need is an unknown variable thrown into the mix while I’m struggling to keep the war off your doorstep.”
“I can’t believe you!” I hope he is looking through the cameras, so he can see how furious I am right now. “Your enemy kidnapped Clara and held her prisoner for days on end just to get a rise out of you. Now you’re separating her from the one person in this whole building who actually gives a shit about her. Why don’t you throw in a little waterboarding while you’re at it?”
“Alexis…”
“Don’t.” I grit my teeth, nostrils flaring. “Please just let her stay with Harry and me. It will mean a lot to our son to have another familiar face around.” I swipe my tongue over my lip. “He misses you, you know.”
Gabriel goes quiet, though I can hear the rattle of his breath against the receiver. I have hit a nerve. Good.
“Fine,” he says finally. “She can stay with you.”
“Thank you.”
The line clicks, and just like that, the conversation is over. I don’t know when or if I’ll get to speak to Gabriel again, but at least I’ve learned one thing from the conversation. He doesn’t hate me. If he truly hated me, he wouldn’t have given in. He wouldn’t have talked to me in the first place.
I hand the phone back to Angelo, feeling a little lighter than I did before. Gabriel doesn’t hate me. And if Gabriel doesn’t hate me, we might actually be able to mend the fissure keeping us apart.
I would like to think that it is the excitement of the day preventing me from falling asleep. Clara’s back, and sleeping soundly in the next room over. The doctor says she’s malnourished and dehydrated but otherwise in okay health. A few days of rest and recovery, and she should be good as new. Between getting her back, the call with Gabriel, and reuniting Harry and Clara, today has been a whirlwind.
But that’s not why I am lying awake, staring up at the dark ceiling.
Gabriel’s voice keeps playing in my mind. I hadn’t heard it for so long, I think I forgot what it sounded like, how when he speaks, each word feels like a gentle caress over my skin. Gabriel’s voice came back into my life for a moment,