“He pulled you onto one knee, put me on the other, and he told us a story about a bad guy.”
Gabriel had no memory of that. “What happened?”
“He asked us what we should do about the man,” Greystone said. “I told him everyone should be nice to each other. You said, “We win, Daddy. We are the bosses.”
“He asked you how you’d win,” Greystone said.
“And?”
“You told him we could punch him and kick him and put him in time out.” Greystone smiled. “He set me down, told you another story. I knew in that moment you were his favorite.”
“Yeah, because I’m just like him.”
“No, G, you’re not,” Greystone said. “You have a heart.”
Halston joined them and Gabriel regarded her. “But it’s painted black.”
Halston shot him a smile. “My heart is filled with love, but the blood running through my veins is ice cold.”
Greystone shifted from one to the other. “What do you think of my brother?”
She regarded Gabriel. In true Halston form, she shrugged a shoulder. “He’s all right. Why?”
“Has the Agitator found his person?” Greystone asked his brother.
Not wanting to give anything away, Gabriel remained poker-faced.
“When we were kids, I wanted to be like you,” Greystone said. “You picked fights and you won. Every. Single. Time. You made Dad proud. I watched you on the playground. I know how you think, brother.”
Gabriel slid his attention to Halston. “Then you know the answer to your question.”
“I guess I do, G,” Greystone replied.
Caroline joined them. “Grey, you’re flying tomorrow and need to be on base at oh-six hundred. Let’s get you home, Rambo.”
After Greystone and Caroline said their goodbyes, Gabriel turned to Halston. “You ready to get outta here?”
“Absolutely. Any chance I can buy you a drink?”
“Whatever Barbi wants, Barbi gets.”
That made her smile.
As Sin’s chauffeur-driven limo headed toward DC, Gabriel stared out the window, his thoughts centered on the twelve packages.
Are they connected to the power outages? How much danger is Halston in working alongside Dmitri Petrov and Yuri Bulgrov?
As the limo drove over the bridge and into the District, he regarded Halston. She was courageous, ingenious, and confident in her abilities… and he wanted her to know how much he respected her.
Is tonight the right time to tell her?
Normally one to take charge, he wanted to do something he hadn’t done before.
Follow her lead.
By the time Sin and Evangeline dropped them at Hotel Dillinger, Gabriel was ready to skip the drinks and get right down to business—dirty business. He needed to strip his woman bare and get lost in everything Halston.
Patience wasn’t his jam, but he’d agreed to a drink. And he was a man of his word. She clasped his hand, led him to the Bohemian Lounge, and found an empty four-top nestled in the back.
