job was to check on you.”
“Come on.” No way did Gabe buy that. From the way Andy shook his head, it didn’t look like he did either.
“Follow and watch. That was the entirety of my orders.”
Except that he had the green light to extricate Natalie or take her down if he saw anything to suggest she was breaking the agreement. That’s how these things worked, no matter what Rick tried to sell. The way he lied about it without blinking worried Gabe. They all possessed the skill but didn’t turn it loose on family. Rick didn’t operate with that caveat. He treated everyone with the same level of detachment.
Gabe knew he should let it drop. They’d talk with Bast and sort it all out. Until then, the best way to handle Rick was quick, in and out. But the tension whipping around inside him called for a bigger response. He’d let so much slide. Heard every new piece of information from Rick and tamped as much of the outward hostility down inside as possible. All for Brandon’s sake.
But he wasn’t here now, so Gabe let the leash on his anger slip. “You get a good show following us?”
Natalie froze, and Andy made a strangled sound.
“It was either me or someone who would pull the trigger without warning if the mission directive changed.” Rick kept on justifying and explaining. Telling his side in a packaged way that sounded like truth but came off as one more piece of blowhard bullshit.
“You’re saying you would have disobeyed the direction from your client?” Andy shook his head. “No way.”
Rick continued to stand there with his arms stiff at his sides and his posture perfect. More robotic than human. “I would have warned Gabe.”
No fucking way. Gabe knew from experience the absolute last thing Rick would do was give a warning before screwing him over.
“Convenient.” Gabe didn’t even try to mumble. He nearly shouted the word.
“I’m talking about one thing.” Rick’s voice turned deadly cold. “You’re trying to make this about another.”
Tension choked the room. They kept glancing at one another, as if waiting for the explosion to come. Gabe decided to diffuse. It amounted to more denial, but he didn’t give a shit. “Fine, Natalie is probably safe. We’ll wait for word from Bast, who is my client, before she goes anywhere.”
“Is she leaving?” Rick asked.
The words sliced through Gabe even when someone else said them. He’d just stopped worrying every second about her cutting out on him. Now Rick raised the issue again.
“She?” The fury rumbled in Natalie’s voice.
Gabe didn’t like Rick’s dismissive tone either, but now wasn’t the time for this battle. “Not your concern, but if that’s all then—”
“You know it’s not.”
Andy got up and put a hand on Rick’s arm. “Let Gabe finish this job.”
Not moving, not ever breaking eye contact with Gabe, Rick leveled his final shot. “I’m going to the campus tomorrow and taking Brandon to dinner.”
The words knocked the wind right out of Gabe. Had a mix of fear and fury vibrating through him. He wanted to double over, come out punching—something. But he refused to give Rick the satisfaction of knowing this threat landed.
This wasn’t about his ego. This was about Brandon and putting him in a position sure to rip him apart. “You promised you wouldn’t go directly to him.”
Rick shook his head. “You are waiting too long to make a decision about the DNA test or even broach the possibility of a paternity issue with Brandon.”
“The test results won’t change if Brandon gets older.” Gabe hated to even reference them. Give them any credence, but that fact should resonate on some level. Or it would if Rick’s plans were really about Brandon and not about Rick’s ego.
Natalie started to say something but Rick talked right over her. “Under that scenario I lose more time with him.”
Rage swamped Gabe. Started at his feet and swept over him until the heat thundered in his veins. “And you don’t give a shit what I lose.”
“Look at this from my side.”
Every comment ignited more fury until Gabe could barely see. The room shrank until it was just the two of them locked in this fight. He took a warning step. Got right up in Rick’s face, ready to unload with more than words if necessary. “You mean the side where you slept with my girlfriend, lied about it, watched me struggle to raise Brandon—”
“I helped.” Rick’s yell bounced off the soaring ceilings.
A silence followed the shout. A tense