Mine - HelenKay Dimon Page 0,55

would defend him. Now he had an idea. Had no clue what to do about it or think about her, but her loyalty meant something.

If a man could wrangle her into a relationship, she wouldn’t cheat. That might be a low bar for some men, but not him. Combine that with her resilience and sexiness and he was having a hard time thinking about anything but her.

Rick turned right before starting down the porch steps. “She’s not your type.”

True in some ways but not in others. The main difference is that with other women, Gabe had counted the days until it ended. With her he dreaded the day it would. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Come on, Gabe. I told you the truth about what happened in the past because I thought you deserved to know.”

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. This wasn’t about Natalie or work. “You told me because it was expedient to get what you wanted. Brandon.”

“I love that kid.”

The word grated across Gabe’s nerves. Before the admission and epic fight a comment like that would have filled Gabe with pride. It would signal that Brandon would always have family. Now everything Rick said came delivered with two edges, both sharp and dangerous. “So do I. Try to take him away from me and you’ll see how much.”

“You think he’ll love you any less if he finds out you’re his uncle and not his father?”

That question played over and over in Gabe’s head. Had for what felt like forever. “We will never know.”

“I need this, Gabe.” Rick blew out a long breath. “I’m not letting this subject drop.”

There it was. The constant threat that sucked the life out of everything else. “And I’m done talking. Have a nice hike.”

Gabe turned around and shut the door before Rick could say anything else. But one day, soon and before he was ready, Gabe would have to hit this horrible issue head-on. Then he’d see how much blood mattered.

FOURTEEN

Gabe shut the door, blocking out the cold wind and every memory of his brother. Inside meant Natalie. It was just the two of them, safe and warm. No new threats. No realities to face. And if Gabe guessed right, at least until Rick landed back in D.C. and delivered his report to whomever needed to hear it, very limited risk of attack.

That meant no more kissing Natalie while a warning light flashed in the back of his head to be careful. He’d told her he needed to watch the door and have a gun nearby. All true, up to a point. Now, not so much. And as soon as he burned off some of this anger toward Rick, he’d touch her. Really touch her.

She’d taken her boots off and stood up from her position kneeling on the couch where it looked like she’d been on some sort of guard duty. Her approach was cautious. She fidgeted as she rubbed her hands together. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” He would be. He just needed a few more minutes, but staring at her helped.

Damn, but she was pretty. That face, round with big eyes. A body that left him breathless and a soft southern accent that appeared and disappeared depending on her mood. That part proved to be one of his favorite things about her.

“Gabe, please.” Her head tilted to the side and her soft hair fell over her shoulder. “I can see the distress in every line of your body. Hear it in your voice.”

“I can’t pretend he’s not trying to rip my life apart.” But he could focus on something else. Something clean and light and full of energy—her.

“Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to, but why let him get away with bullshit answers and send him away?”

Now he understood. It made sense that she’d want concrete intel and promises in writing, though the ones she had didn’t appear to be all that rock solid. “Because he will make the report to the people who hired him. He’ll make it clear that they are engaging in a game of mutually assured destruction if they continue.”

She shrugged. “I’m not convinced that will be enough since they’ve known I held the leverage all along. Bast used it in the negotiations.”

“Clearly they thought that was a bluff or that they could take you out before you could use your leverage.”

“Idiots.”

“And none of that matters because by the time Rick gets back home we will be moving again.” He probably should have led with that. By this