Page 113 of Guarded Knight

“Here’s the deal,” Rio asserts. “Kevin wouldn’t be arrested on the evidence I have now. We don’t have evidence of intent to commit fraud. Not yet. And if he spooks before we get it, he could run, he could… try to get rid of those with knowledge.” He glances at me earnestly.

How could Kevin have done this? I had a gut feeling from day one that Kevin was shady but I needed the job and loved the cause. I can’t believe he would stalk me, find his way into my house… and those photos? If he wanted to scare me, it worked.

Hell, I agreed to move here. And I’ve definitely been off my game.

Now that I think of it, it makes sense. Kevin could have gotten my key out of any coat check or snuck it out when I was at day-long conferences and had a copy made. Did Belinda help him? Or someone else? But how did he get into the apartment here?

I sit up straight. “Do you think he wants to actually… hurt me?”

Gabriel grabs my hand. “Doesn’t matter what he wants. He doesn’t get it.”

His entire body is wound tight like a wire ready to snap. “Rio, did you find anything else at all? Any other connections to Lara’s name online? I know this is a hot lead with a massive motive, but we need to cover it all.”

“No, but I’ll have one of my guys in San Francisco widen the net once he finishes his current project. Keep Lara close,hermano. In the meantime, I have plenty of information on Belinda, who could be in the shadows, too. Some of the things he pulled off would be easier with a partner.”

Freya shifts beside me, and guilt punches through the fog. Kevin didn’t just use me, he used her heart. Whatever this costs me, she’s the one who has to live with that betrayal. I reach over and squeeze her hand under the table.

“Freya, you said you searched on your private tablet. Right?”

She nods.

“Rio, could there be any way Kevin would know Freya knows, too?”

“Unlikely. I suggest you both act as normal as possible for the next few days.”

“That’s going to be fun,” Freya says sarcastically. “We have the gala in a couple days.”

Freya leans forward, arms folded on the table. “Surely, Lara shouldn’t go to the gala. Maybe we should just quit?”

Rio sits back and places his fingertips together. “You need to play nice and give GhostEye some extra time to gather evidence. You run; he might run. You’re both free to do what you want, but that would be my advice. We have a chance to take down a mighty fine asshole. I know that’s my catnip, but it’s also a just cause. You ladies worked hard to raise these funds for people who needed it.” He seethes, as if it’s as personal to him as it is to us. “He stole from innocent children and families. He needs to be locked up.”

“You’re right,” I murmur, “but giving him more time isn’t what I had in mind.”

Gabriel leans in, his hand brushing my thigh under the table, grounding me. “We won’t let it get that far. You’re not his victim, Lara. You’re his reckoning.”

The heat of his hand on my thigh is a silent reminder that I’m not in this alone. He believes in me. He’s not just saving me; he’s backing me to be one of the bad bitches who takes this guy down.

Right now, though, it’s all such a shock. Staying cool in front of my criminal boss and donors. The danger of knowing I have to pretend around a man who watched me in my sleep. The way my heart feels like it’s ticking louder than the clock. “I feel like bait again.”

Gabriel turns to face me fully. His jaw is locked tight, like it takes everything in him not to slam his fist through the wall. There’s war going on behind his eyes.

He is as rough as he is absolute. “You’re not the bait this time, Lara. You’re the hunter.”

Something breaks loose in my chest.

Power.

Those around me have always sheltered me with love, whisking me away from every minefield I might be about to enter. This is someone standing beside me while I aim the damn weapon.

There’s something primal in the way Gabriel speaks. “Make him underestimate you. Show him you’re rattled. You do this and he’ll think he’s gotten to you. It’ll buy time to lock him up for good.”

I stare up at him, my pulse thudding so hard it hurts. He’s not trying to clip my wings. He’s the wind beneath them.

But the same force that lifts me could break me if I fall.

Because the danger I’m walking into on Thursday isn’t the only one I’m afraid of.

The other danger is the one sitting right beside me. The way Gabriel looks at me like he’s already decided we’re more than I’ve ever let myself hope. And if I have to stay here, if I live through this, there will be time to figure out what that really means. Time I’m not sure I’m ready for, even as I ache for it.