Page 48 of Maneater (The Mavens #1)

THIRTY-TWO

JOSIE

I’m a mess when I get to our room, barely able to fight back the tears rimming my eyes until I open the door.

When I do, Rory stands from where she was sitting at the desk, notes sprawled around her, and waits until the door slams behind me.

I lean against it, my body unable to hold myself up any longer, and let the first tear finally fall.

“Oh, honey,” Rory whispers in her sweet, soft voice that she doesn’t use often before moving to me and pulling me into her arms. “That bad?”

“He doesn’t trust me,” I cry into her shoulder. “And of course, he shouldn’t, but I want him to. I want him just to trust me and let me solve this, and then I can tell him everything. But he’s so fucking stubborn, and, of course, I get it because I wouldn’t believe me either, but…fuck!”

Slowly, she guides me to the bed, and I sit on the edge next to her, taking in a few deep breaths to calm myself before I spill everything about the rest of my afternoon and, most importantly, the look Rowan gave me before I walked away.

Ten minutes later, I’ve finished telling Rory everything: what I saw while the paramedics helped out the woman, what happened when the police came to file a report, how the employees reacted, the seeming confirmation of Daniel and Tanya hooking up, and most importantly, what happened with Rowan.

“You need to call Gabriel,” Rory says, her face soft but serious.

“I know we talked about this, about you starting something with him, but it’s getting messy, and it could break our cover.

He’s beginning to get suspicious.” I nod, knowing she’s right.

“I’m not saying you can’t…whatever with him.

But if it impacts the job…” She sighs. “People are getting hurt, Josie. It’s one thing when it’s silly stuff, like bubbles in a pool or deliveries missed—things that only hurt the guest experience or the bottom line.

But now we’re facing multiple cases where someone was going to be hurt. ”

I nod, knowing she’s right.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper, my eyes watering. I don’t know the last time I cried: it’s not my thing, and being raised as a tomboy in a house of brothers and a single dad meant crying usually resulted in teasing.

But that ache in my throat isn’t only because of that, and I know it.

“Call Gabriel,” she says softly. “I’m going to go to the pool, sit out, and see if I can see anything. Meet me at dinner in”—she looks at her watch—“an hour?”

I nod and stare at my phone and the name on the screen while she gathers her things and heads out the door. Finally, I take in a deep breath and hit call.

It rings twice before the mysterious man answers.

“Montgomery,” the familiar deep voice says, and despite my nerves, I settle.

Gabriel feels like an old friend, someone I can trust with my whole being, and I know it’s because in this job, I have to.

But it also feels like I can be honest with him, something I’m sure is a curated veil, since so much of this job relies on trusting the people we work with.

“Hey, Gabriel,” I say with a low sigh.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Typically, on assignments, Rory is the one to call Gabriel. I’m usually out playing my games and winning people over while Rory does her behind-the-scenes work, making it easier for her to be the first line of contact.

“Something happened,” I admit quietly.

“Mm-hmm,” he says.

Gabriel is like a dad who is never mad, just disappointed, which makes it all the worse when you have to admit something shitty to him. I never want to let him down, and a mishap like this feels like just that. I’ve never even gotten close to breaking my cover on an assignment.

Until Rowan.

“We stumbled upon a sabotage while we were planting a bug and ran to fix it. It was a danger to guests, and we couldn’t let it play out on its own, so Rory and I made the executive decision to step in.”

“Okay,” he says, clearly following but giving me the room needed to expand. I take a move before continuing.

“The reason we were able to stop it before someone got severely hurt is that I stole one of the universal keys.” The silence hangs, and I explain further. “I snagged it while…” A blush burns over me, head to toe, and I’m glad this isn’t a video call. “Getting intimate with Rowan.”

“The VP of Operations, whom you knew from your past,” Gabriel says, a statement rather than a question.

I nod, though he can’t see it, before speaking. “Yes. And I’m happy I had it because it kept the guest safe, but also…”

Once again, he fills in the blanks. “It created some questions.”

“He asked me to stay while he handled things, and after everything was cleared up with the police, he brought me to his office to ask me some questions. He…he knows something is off. Knows we’re not here for vacation.

He has for a while, but he’s let it slide because I think he thought it was just something silly or inconsequential.

However, when someone got hurt, I was holding the key, literally.

He said he doesn’t trust me. I wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, and he said he doesn’t trust me and told me to leave.

” The memory hurts just as bad as the reality, but the vision of his betrayed face is almost the mo st painful.

“I just…” My voice cracks. “I just don’t know what to do. I think…”

“You’re getting too close,” he guesses before I have to say it out loud, which I suppose is a relief.

“I didn’t mean to,” I whisper my confession. “It just happened. He’s a good guy, and I like him, and it’s just…it felt unavoidable. Something that was always going to happen, always inevitable.”

“He’s the one who has bumped into you on dates, correct? The one who sat with you while you were out with Stephen Jones?”

I nod, though he can’t see me. We tell Gabriel everything that happens on a mission, both for safety and job security, so Rowan has made his way into a few of my final reports at this point.

“Maybe…” I start, thinking about the idea that’s been sitting on my heart for a few days now as I continue to get myself more and more tied up in this mission.

The more I blurred the lines and dipped my toes into gray areas, the more I wondered…

“Maybe I’m not the right one for this job,” I say low.

“Maybe you should call in backup, see if?—”

“He’s really getting under your skin, isn’t he?” Gabriel asks with a laugh that cuts me off, and I freeze.

“What? Rowan? No.”

“He’s far enough that you’re questioning yourself. Far enough that you’re pushing aside the steadfast values you typically hold, for better or worse.”

My stomach churns with his words that I know are true.

“There are two things I think you should know: one, your client has informed me that recently, Mr. Fisher also told her about your relationship—” Relationship feels like such a big, scary word in this context.

“He was concerned that she would be against it since you were, in theory, a guest. She was not and encouraged him to pursue the relationship.” I knew this, at least, from what Rowan told me.

“She did not tell him your role in the Mavens or why you were at the property.”

A mix of unease and relief washes through me.

“Two, with that intel, Annette and I both agreed it might be for the best if you tell Mr. Fisher about your role. From what I understand, Aurora is still unable to access the internal communications system for the resort, as well as some of the saved cloud data, which could give her a significant advantage. Pooling resources could be the best plan of action.”

A mix of apprehension and relief washes through me. This would have been great to have known, say, four hours ago. Still, that means outing Rory, and I’m not the most comfortable with that.

“But—”

“I would like you to discuss the decision with Aurora first, of course, since you’d be revealing her as well, but I believe she’ll be okay with it as well.”

I sit on this for a moment before taking in a deep breath. “Gabriel, I need you to know, this job is important to me. I would never, ever get involved with someone while on assignment,” I say, feeling the need to defend myself. “This is…”

“It’s different. I know. And the fact that you have kept me up to date every step of the way is why we don’t have a problem.”

“But what if…” I hesitate, unsure of what to say or whether to say anything. “What if…”

“What if it becomes more?” he asks, answering my question. I don’t respond, but he knows my answer anyway. “Then it becomes more, Josie.”

“But…this job…” Is secret. Is important to me. Is a part of me . “This job would get complicated if I’m with someone, wouldn’t it?”

“This job is not supposed to be your life. It’s supposed to be part of your life.”

“It’s not my life.”

“When was your last date?” he asks.

“That is incredibly personal,” I say, aghast.

“I have sat on work calls where you and Aurora or Demetria or Alanna tell me the ins and outs of your menstrual cycle.”

I roll my eyes, partially at everyone’s full, legal names being used.

“Because certain jobs are more effective at different times of the month! My boobs are insane when I’m ovulating, and Demi becomes a demon when she’s about to get her period.

She can’t win over a shark when she’s PMSing, and we all know that. It’s?—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, basic biology. I’m just saying. I’ve also heard you and Aurora talking about whether you spit or swallow.”

I try not to react, but the mere mention of swallowing reminds me of this afternoon with Rowan.

I really am fucked, aren’t I?

“So, I think asking about your last date before this mission is valid,” he continues.

I sigh, then think, unable to remember the last time I was on a date that wasn’t for work. Three years? Four?

“Well...” I start, brow furrowing both because I can’t remember and because I don’t know what it has to do with anything. “No? But that’s because this job makes that complicated. I can’t tell anyone?—”

“That has never been a rule.”

“Excuse me? We have very clear instructions?—”

“Your contract says you cannot tell anyone without consulting me. But you can, in fact, tell people you care about, people you trust. I do require that they sign an NDA, which, for some people, is a deal breaker, but I would never expect you women to be single forever.” This throws me completely, but he keeps speaking.

“But I would also assume that a man like Rowan Fisher would not only understand but appreciate an NDA.”

I let out a small laugh, acknowledging that fact.

“This job shows you a lot of the shittiest parts of people, men especially,” I say, my true reason for avoiding relationships.

I can’t see Gabriel, but I swear to God I can hear him shrug.

“That’s kind of the risk of life, isn’t it? Gotta find someone you like enough to commit to, then trust they won’t fuck you over. With a gut like yours, I know you’ll always make a good choice.”

“So, what you’re telling me is I should go find him and tell him everything and hope he’s still into me after?”

Gabriel chuckles then.

“I’m telling you to trust your gut, Josephine.

You have a great one; it’s why I hired you.

You only trust it when you’re on a job. Try trusting it off the job.

If you didn’t trust him, didn’t think he would respect you and your career, you wouldn’t have even gotten close to this far into something with him.

You wouldn’t be upset at the possibility that he wouldn’t believe you’re telling him the truth.

You wouldn’t be as tangled up as you are.

” I lift a lip in a sneer that he can’t see, but he laughs as if he can. “You know I’m right.”

“What if he doesn’t want to hear it?” I ask in a nervous whisper.

“That’s the first step, right? Try?”

“Right now?” I ask, nervous, and Gabriel laughs. The man laughs.

“I mean, considering you just left him, maybe give it some time. Sleep on it, decide how you’ll phrase things, and talk to Rory. But soon. Don’t let it simmer.”

I scrunch my nose and then ask my next question, feeling now like I’m talking to a parent who is giving his teenage daughter advice rather than my boss. “What do I… What do I say?”

He lets out a soft, kind sigh. “That’s all up to you, Maven. If you’re comfortable with it, you can tell him whatever you’d like—at the end of the assignment, he’ll be made aware of the company, anyway.”

I sigh, then nod. “Okay. Thanks, Gabriel. So I’m not fired?”

“No, you’re not fired, Maven.”

“Okay. Thanks, Gabriel.

“Anytime, Josephine.”

Then the phone clicks off. As I hang up, somehow both more conflicted and more confident, I wonder if Gabriel is secretly a romantic at heart.