I nodded vigorously and was about to tell her to stop being a complete idiot, when her phone beeped again.
“Is it him?”
She nodded.
“Then tell Langden you’re an idiot and you’re sorry, get your ass back to his place, and share your fears. If he confirms this is all casual for him, then walk if you want, or don’t and enjoy it for what it is, but he may surprise you.” I quickly called her an Uber before she could come up with an excuse to stay.
“I can understand that. I’ve met someone too, but this isn’t the time to tell you about my new guy. You need to get back.”
“How about Monday after class? I want to hear everything about him.”
I agreed and walked her to the front door. Exhaustion was kicking in, and I needed a shower and sleep. When I exited the bathroom, Gabriel was sprawled on my bed, leaning on an elbow. “Hi, beautiful.” I screeched, placing a hand over my heart.
“Jesus, are you trying to kill me?” He patted the bed invitingly. Aware I was buck naked, I sauntered over.
“If I were giving you a heart attack, this wouldn’t be my method. I’d rather fuck you to death.” I smiled and climbed into bed beside him.
“That sounds like a horrible way to go, but since I’m feeling suicidal, please demonstrate.” Once settled, he drew lazy, amazing-feeling circles on my back.
“First things first, Cheryl, what happened?” Shit, I didn’t want to own up to forgetting to lock the elevator or admit to thinking about being a naughty brat.
“I was terrified something bad had happened to you. What happened? You weren’t even answering my texts.” Deflection was a powerful tool I'd learned from my father. His largepowerful hands alternated between squeezing and rubbing my ass. I moaned as his large, powerful hands worked the tension from my body.
“I’m sorry, my good girl. There was an incident at the club, and the police were involved. Langden wasn’t there, and as head of security, I was acting manager and had to handle it. Things escalated, and I ended up at the police station, having forgotten my phone at the club. I assumed you’d be asleep, so I wasn’t concerned until Bryce called to say that someone had breached the apartment and you’d left. So, I’ll ask again: what happened?”
“Well, you said it,” I bluffed. “Someone gained access to the apartment. Perhaps you’d like to explain that. I was terrified, but followed the plan to the letter.” I was hoping that while focusing on what I did right, he’d be distracted enough to—Gabriel’s hand, which had been gently massaging my rear, suddenly gripped a handful and squeezed hard!
“Ouch!” I cried, squirming away. Then all the stress and worry overwhelmed me, and I burst into tears as Gabriel pulled me into his arms.
“I’m sorry, baby, did I hurt you?”
“No. I was just scared. I thought something bad had happened to you, Gabriel, that maybe you were dead. I was crying and upset, and now here you are, alive and well. I don’t want to feel like that again.”
He rocked me and whispered soothing words. “Now you know how I felt when I heard you didn’t lock the elevator after I left. That’s how your father’s men got into the apartment. If you hadn’t escaped, you’d be in a cage awaiting your sale into slavery to the highest bidder. Do you know how that made me feel? Do you?” He pulled back, allowing me to see the hurt in his eyes as they searched mine.
Guilt and shame washed over me. I was an idiot. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose. I thought aboutsneaking out, but I changed my mind, and I forgot to lock up. I’m sorry, please don’t be mad at me.”
But my plea was too little, too late, and fell on deaf ears. Gabriel was shaking with rage and hurt. “Are you saying the first chance you had to misbehave, you took it? I should whip your impertinent ass for lying.”
“I’m glad to hear the security measures we discussed worked perfectly.” I eyed him warily as his face shifted through a range of emotions and finally settled on regret. I didn’t like that look on my big, strong dom.
“It’s my fault. I let my guard down, and you got away with your plan. Instead of just showing you how to lock the system when I left, I should have reminded you to do it when you came back upstairs. I never should have allowed that; it’s on me. But you won’t do it again, my sneaky brat. I’ll make sure of it.”
My phone pinged.
Langden -There has been an accident, and Maddie is in the hospital. She’s okay, but I know she would like to see you.
I passed my phone to Gabriel, and he read the text.
“That’s fine. We can stop there on our way out of town.”
“Out of town? Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe. I don’t want your family knowing your whereabouts until we can shut down this operation and you’re in the clear. Bryce is meeting us with your things from my apartment. Now that it’s breached, and they’ve confirmed you were there, my place is no longer secure. Pack for cool weather; it’s rugged where we’re going.”
Rugged? What did that mean? I was a city girl and had never even been camping. I examined my closet, confirming what I already knew—I lacked appropriate attire. I grabbed my old jeans, my weekend stay-at-home jeans—well-worn and socomfortable I couldn’t throw them out. Then I remembered my ski outfits in my storage locker and asked Gabriel if he’d take me there to grab my warm sweaters and jackets.
While I was there, I found a brand-new pair of hiking boots and pulled them out of a box, smiling. “You have some serious gear, brat, but it all looks brand new.”
