Page 108 of Guarded Knight

Gabriel meets Xander’s gaze, steady and unflinching. “Yes, I do. Always have. You know that.”

No denial. No apology. My heart does a swan dive. He’s never admitted feelings for me to anyone but me. It makes it so real. But there’s also no turning back.

Xander looks at me, then back to Gabriel. We both know him well. He’s not any more ready for that conversation than we are. Not here anyway. We can’t go into it in front of the girls. Even worse than Xander, I would hate for them to think that Auntie Lara and Grumpzilla were together only for it to fall apart. They’d be heartbroken.

Xander scratches his forehead for a moment, staring at the table, and when he returns to the conversation, it’s about the stalker again. “So, what now?”

Gabriel glances down at his coffee, then back up. “Now,” he offers me a brief kindred moment, “…now we will go after the moles.”

“Jesus…” Xan sips his coffee, “I’m starting to need a glossary for this conversation.”

Gabriel reassures him. “You know I have it covered. I have the sheep covered…”

Why do I have to be a goddamn sheep?

“… And we have GhostEye helping now. Rio has assigned some manpower. I’m not messing around, Young. I want this over as much as you do.’’

Xander nods, and his gaze flicks between us again. “And after that? You going to keep the sheep here? In Echo Valley?”

Gabriel and I don’t answer because we don’t have one.

Xander leans forward, elbows on the table. “Figure it out.”

That one hits. I feel it more than I hear it.

Then Poppy pipes up, oblivious. “If we pass the cactus test, can we get two dogs?”

Gabriel smiles. Just barely. “Goldfish next,niña.”

Xander doesn’t circle back round. Not yet. He just drinks his thick coffee while the girls argue about whether their test plant should have glitter in the pot.

I don’t even try to join in. Not when I know what’s coming next.

Because this isn’t the kind of thing Xander lets go. There’s going to be a conversation back at the ranch when the girls beg to see the horses. It’ll be one I’m not invited to.

Gabriel’s going to get pulled aside forthe warning. The “don’t hurt my sister” speech. The all-knowing big brother stare down. And the worst part?

I won’t get to hear what’s said, and Gabriel and I have no idea where we stand. How can Gabriel defend us without knowing what he’s fighting for? Does he even want anus?

I wish we could keep this thing between Gabriel and me for a little longer. Just until I know what we are. Before anyone else gets to have an opinion. But that window’s officially closed. And no matter how cool Xander is pretending to be right now, I know him.

Casual is unacceptable when it comes to me.

It’s not that I think Gabriel can’t handle it; he can. But I’m not sureIcan. Not if Xander starts picking apart the parts of G I haven’t even figured out how to love yet. I haven’t seen what he spoke about, not yet. I don’t know how dark he gets. I only saw him the one time in the apartment, and he did… disappear.

Trauma turns some people into ghosts.

Like the one Gabriel became to us all for years.

I can’t stand the tension.

But Gabriel’s cell breaks it. He shifts and takes it out of his pocket and stares at the screen.

“What is it?” I ask, already bracing.

He turns the screen toward me.

A text from Rio with some big news.