“I know,” Gabe said. “And I will.”
Xander stared through him, and Gabe wondered what he was seeing. Gabe shifted under his scrutiny and stood.
Xander came around his desk and slapped Gabe on the shoulder. “You can still get in the building. We won’t delete your scans.”
“Okay.” Gabe knew he was grinning stupidly, but he didn’t care. He wanted to belong in this private security operative world Xander, and Ares had.
“Got news on your brother today.” Xander’s mouth quirked in a half-smile.
“He still breathing?” Gabe clenched and unclenched his fist, concentrating on taking slow deep breaths.
“Yes. Winston-Reid doesn’t want this in the media. But they won’t be funding any other private contractor companies.”
“So he gets away with it?” Gabe hissed out.
Xander spread his hands out, turning his palms up. “He’s broke. Turns out the star defenseman had a ton of gambling debts. I hear his fiancé left him too.”
“No shit?” Cole smiled, huge.
“Karma takes care of it sometimes,” Ares said.
“Karma always comes through,” Xander said.
“I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the fucker. I’ve cut ties with my father, too.”
“Some people don’t deserve us.” Xander slapped him on the shoulder.
“Gabe, take care of yourself. We’ll see you at the wedding?” Ares gave him a man-hug.
“I’d like to be there. May?” Gabe grinned.
Xander flashed a rare grin. “Got postponed. They keep making the damn thing bigger and bigger. But we thought it was better to wait until after Harper’s done her tour. You bring your girl.”
“If she’ll have me,” Gabe said.
“She will. Don’t be afraid to grovel. It sucks, but it pays off,” Xander said.
Ares gave his brother a light punch.
Xander shrugged. “It does.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you later,” Gabe said.
He waved to them, a lump in his throat.
In the elevator, he exhaled. Leaving Axis Management wasn’t easy. But he needed to show Ivy he was all in, and he would be there for her. And that meant living a life where she was, moving to Edmonton.
Edmonton wasn’t a bad city. His mother supposedly lived there. Maybe he’d look her up and try to reconnect.
He could find another job, doing something. Though his skill set wasn’t that great on paper, honestly. He shut out his father's voice, telling him he wasn’t good at anything, and he flicked the bracelet against his wrist. His boss had just told him he was one of the few who had entrance to this black and steel castle in the city. He was damn good at what he did.
At home, he glanced around the almost packed-up condo and sighed. He had to talk to Ivy and see what she wanted to be done with the place. For now, he was packing because that’s where this was going, and he wanted to be ahead of the game.
He put on some tunes, poured himself a beer and got to work, packing up the living room. An hour later, a knock on his door made him stall as he wrapped Ivy’s favourite vases.
The icy glare of Quinn Walsh met him.
“What the hell Gabe? You’re going to skip out and not tell me?”
