“Micah is at Rockford Manor,” he points out.
“Using my friend as leverage to get your way?” I shake my head. “Don’t sound so desperate.”
“Iamdesperate.” He leans closer. “Saint, please, they’ll be watching all your haunts, tracking your movements, looking for weaknesses.”
His hand rises between us, almost touching my chest before dropping back to his side. “The safest approach is to go to Rockford Manor.”
I watch him talk, cataloging the minute shifts in his expression. The slight tightening around his eyes. The careful modulation of his breathing. His hand desperately clutching my arm. Everything about him screams Alpha in control, but his body tells a different story.
He’s terrified beneath the calm. Not for himself, but for me.
I let him finish his entire argument without interruption, and when he pauses, I lean forward. “What, are you the only one who gets to paint a target on your back?”
Gabriel’s surprise shifts to understanding. “That’s different.”
“Is it?” My eyebrows lift. “You went to Diaz’s house knowing you were baiting a trap. You put your name and face out there, knowing Tony would respond. Was that an unnecessary risk?”
“That was a calculated strategy.”
“And this isn’t?” I hold his eyes. “Foundation is my ground, Gabe. My responsibility. My risk to manage.”
His mouth opens and closes. For perhaps the first time since I’ve known him, Gabriel Rockford searches for words and comes up empty.
“I’m not denying the danger,” I continue. “I’mrejecting putting us both at risk. You’re too high-profile.”
“They want you alive,” he says. “Do you understand what that means?”
I do understand. Alive means interrogation. Alive means leverage. Alive means pain without the mercy of death.
“All the more reason for you to keep your distance.” My voice remains steady despite the cold dread pooling in my gut. “If they’re watching me, they’re watching who’s close to me.”
Gabriel grips the counter beside me. “I won’t let you confront this alone.”
“I’m not alone.” I tilt my head toward Rowan, who pretends not to eavesdrop from three stools down. “I have people who can blend in better than you ever could.”
People who aren’t Rockfordsgoes unsaid between us. People whose presence won’t escalate an already volatile situation.
Gabriel’s jaw works, his internal conflict visible in the tightening of tendons along his neck.
“One night,” he says, the agreement coming with reluctance. “You get one night. But I’ll have people positioned?—”
“No.” I cut him off. “No Rockford security. Noconspicuous black sedans circling the block. Nothing that signals a connection to your family.”
His nostrils flare, frustration breaking through his careful control. “That’s not acceptable.”
“It’s non-negotiable.” I hold firm, refusing to bend under his concern. “Your family’s protection puts a target on my back as much as Tony’s bounty does.”
Ghost appears at the end of the bar, wiping down glasses. “The Blues can cover Foundation tonight. We have people Tony’s network won’t recognize.”
Gabriel’s hands clench into fists. “Your people aren’t equipped to handle Tony’s enforcers.”
A cool smile touches Ghost’s lips, there and gone so fast I might have imagined it. “You’d be surprised what our people are equipped to handle, Mr. Rockford.”
The tension between us stretches thin, neither of us willing to yield ground.
“Eight hours,” Gabriel says, each word squeezed out through clenched teeth. “You get eight hours at Foundation. After your shift, you go to the manor, where you can be protected with everyone else.”
I can see how much the compromise costs him, but I can’t give him this. “I won’t let you lock me up for my own protection, Gabe. I’m not your mate.”
