“Are you calling me crazy?”
“No! You’re being... I don’t know, but Gabe, I have supported you for years!”
“Exactly, and you like to do that. It makes you feel good.” He spat out the words from across the room.
“Yeah, because I love you. And people who love you take care of you. You’re letting your brother or dad get into your head, Gabe.” She turned from the door, walked over to the corner, and snatched up his guitar from the stand. “I gave you this, remember? I have encouraged you to do something other than the army.”
“Yeah, because you don’t want me to be in it.”
“Because it didn’t seem like it was any longer healthy for you!” Ivy yelled. This man made her want to jump out of her skin.
Gabe turned the guitar over in his hands, his fingers plucking the strings gently. “You could admit that you don’t want me to go.”
“I have! I’ve told younotto go, and I just told you I heard a conversation saying the guys on this medical supply drop-off aren’t going to make it back.”
Gabe shook his head, putting the guitar back on the stand. “I’m going down to the gym. I need a run before I hit the sack.”
He grabbed his keys off the hook, shoved his feet into runners and closed the door. Ivy marched into the kitchen and splashed water on her face.
She wanted to call her mom. Her mom was always cheerful and happy, and Ivy felt like the air was thick with gloominess.
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she tried to think. She needed to make him see reason and not go on that job. But his mind was set on leaving.
She texted Logan again, hoping he’d call her. Of all the Bandit Brothers, he was the easiest to talk to.
Glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, Ivy swallowed. Gabe was rolling out at four am. She only had hours to stop him, and she wasn’t sure the plan in her head would work, but she had to try.
She was good at what she did. Really, damn good. Going over to her desk, she quickly scanned her social media, taking all the photos she had posted of her and Gabe and then copying them to a folder. She checked Cole’s feeds for any pictures of him and Gabe. Then she activated a social media account Gabe had once but never used. She uploaded all the pictures.
It’d work if people didn’t look too closely at the dates.
She saw that Gabe had a bunch of friend requests, and she quickly accepted all of them.
In their bedroom, she changed into a silver shirt and a leather skirt. She quickly did her make-up, and then from their toy box, she took out a pair of fuzzy black handcuffs. Taking a moment, she changed the settings to make sure her family won’t see this post on their feeds.
Shaking, she kneeled on the bed. Closing her eyes, Ivy steadied her nerves.
She held up the handcuffs and snapped a selfie. A minute later, she had posted the picture all over social media, tagging Gabe.
The caption under the photo read,“Looking forward to a night with my Dom @GabeArthur before he starts an exciting new job with Ribbon of Aid.”
Done.
She was counting on the fact that Ribbon of Aid didn’t want attention on them, and because they asked the guys to scrub their social media, they’d be checking before go time tomorrow.
She broke out in a sweat, her stomach sinking. Gabe was going to be pissed at her. But he’d get over it, and then maybe Axis Management could look into Ribbon of Aid, and he’ll realize she did this to protect him.
She loved him so much and wanted her Dom to be safe. He always made her feel loved and cared for, and this is how she cared for him by stopping him from going on a deadly job.
Ivy scrubbed her face, set her phone to do not disturb and climbed into bed, waiting for Gabe to come home.
CHAPTER SEVEN – GABE
Givinghisbagonelast check, Gabe zipped it and set it by the door. He wiped down the counters, emptied Ivy’s forgotten coffee from last night, and then took out her favourite mug, leaving it on the counter against her ready-to-go French press. It was two-thirty in the morning. He was eager, pumped up. He didn’t like leaving Ivy like this, with last night’s argument fresh, but he wrote her a note, and he’d call her as soon as he could.
He was lucky to have her to put up with him. Grabbing his bag, his hand was on the door as his phone buzzed.
“Hello?”
