"Walking across the street during rush hour is dangerous, but I do that every damn day to get to work. Back off, Assistant Director. If you wanted to be involved in this operation—and my life—you shouldn't have pushed me away."
"That is beside the point in this situation."
"No, it's not," she said quietly. "I have no desire—and no need—to be baby-sat. Especially when that person isn't courageous enough to get over the past and get on with his life."
With that, she turned around and walked into the building.
Seven
Gabriel swore softly as Sam walked away. No one looking at her slender figure right now would guess at the steel and determination hidden within her slight frame.
Or the depth of sheer, damn foolhardiness.
There was a huge difference between acting as bait and walking into a situation seriously underprepared. No matter what she or Stephan thought, she couldn't handle this sort of job alone. There were just too many angles they could neither guess at nor cover.
As for her last jibe, where the hell did she get off telling him he's cruising through life when she was basically doing the same thing? God, at least he had a family… He stopped the thought. That was hardly fair. And she couldn't be blamed for her reluctance to have backup when her past was a blur. She'd been abandoned as a teenager and, for all intents and purposes, had grown into adulthood alone.
She'd spent half her life having few friends and depending on no one but herself. It wasn't entirely surprising that she was rejecting his offer of help now.
What was surprising was the fact that she still wanted to see him socially, even after all he'd done to her.
He blew out a breath, and then he spun on his heel and hitched the collar of his jacket up in an attempt to stop the rain dripping down his neck as he walked across the road. He'd spotted Alain as he'd followed Sam from O'Hearn's office earlier, and the big man had been their distant shadow ever since. He was glad Sam hadn't spotted Alain. Undoubtedly, that would have made the situation worse.
Lightning split the wet darkness, a blinding, ragged streak whose power seemed to echo right through him. He frowned.
When he'd stepped out into the storm earlier, he'd felt the energy in the night. It was a sensation similar to walking underneath high-voltage power lines—the crackle of electricity was very audible, and static had caressed his hair and skin. If he had been standing under high-voltage lines, and if he were stupid enough to climb the pylons, he could have touched all that power, feel it running through him. And die in the process.
The storm had felt like that. Power that was enticing and dangerous. Power he could reach out and touch if he wanted to. Power that would kill him if he tried.
He glanced at his hands. There were no burn marks, despite the fact he'd shoved them into the middle of the lightning strike.
Neither he nor Sam had been hurt, and that in itself was a miracle.
Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just another sign that Karl was on the right track. She'd used the storms before, and she was certainly no stranger to the power of them running through her. Maybe touching her had somehow protected him.
Or maybe, as Karl had stated, she and he had a bond in which the storms were a major component—one they couldn't yet understand, and maybe never would.
For someone who didn't want bonds of any kind, he seemed to be gaining more than his fair share. And there wasn't much he could do to stop it. Ignoring the bond—and trying to push her away—certainly hadn't worked so far.
Actually, he pretty much suspected that despite her words to the contrary, he'd only made her more determined to explore what might lie between them.
And he wasn't actually sure how he felt about that.
He didn't want bonds of any kind. He'd been telling himself that for half his life. Yet, part of him now hungered for it.
Hungered for the closeness his brother and sisters had.
Maybe the lightning had affected him. Short circuited a brain wire or two.
He hurried inside the small café where Alain had propped.
His brother-in-law sat at a table to the left of the entrance, out of immediate sight but with a full view of the road and Wetherton's building. Gabriel took off his coat and shook it out as he walked over. Droplets of moisture scattered over the nearby chairs and tables, but since the café was almost empty, it didn't really matter.
"Ordered you a coffee," Alain said, sliding one of two steaming cups across the table.
"Thanks." Gabriel slung the coat over the spare chair and sat down. "You saw what happened?"
Alain nodded. "It was pretty damn scary, too." He glanced down, his gaze skimming Gabriel's hands. "You don't appear to be suffering any side effects from the strike. How did Sam fair?"