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long-awaited meal.
“Were you in on the plot to kill Maddox Crawford?”
“Did you set fire to the brownstone yourself? Or did Bond?”
“Did Bond and Crawford fight a deadly brawl over you?”
“Are you in love with Gabriel Bond?”
Her panic ratcheted up, threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t breathe or think with all of them in her face, hollering personal questions at a rudely impatient clip, as if the public had a right to know about her sex life and her feelings.
The tabloid journalists continued to hover. More cameras flashed in her face, their lights blinding her. Once more, Everly tried to backpedal, but the horde had closed ranks, creating an even tighter cage around her. She felt like a trapped animal. She couldn’t breathe.
Suddenly, strong arms encircled and lifted her.
“Get back or I’ll have the cops arrest all of you,” a deep voice shouted behind her. Dax.
He’d come out of nowhere, but Everly sagged against him in relief. She could handle herself in a one-on-one fight, but this was a mob. She was willing to do almost anything to escape this terrible harassment. She’d believed she would be safe here, but apparently that was another lie Gabriel Bond had told her to keep her compliant.
“Are you having an affair with Ms. Parker, too, Spencer?”
“Back off,” Dax roared, throwing a few elbows.
Finally, the vultures moved, parting reluctantly for his powerful body and insistent shoves. The doorman held the portal wide, and Dax hauled her into the dark lobby seconds later. As soon as the doorman pulled the opening closed, the overwhelming buzz of the reporters’ shouts receded.
Dax spun her around and studied her upturned face with a frown. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
Gathering herself, Everly straightened her hopelessly wrinkled skirt with shaking hands and told herself to use her head for once. She still faced the same problems she’d had before blindly walking into that mob. Dax might have been nice earlier, but he was Gabriel’s friend. He would always side with his pal. For all she knew, he’d helped put together the report on her.
“Leaving,” she answered finally, satisfied with the confident note in her voice. “You can’t keep me here against my will.”
Dax sent her a long sigh. “What the hell did Gabe do now?”
“Everly!”
She turned at the sound of Gabriel barking at her across the lobby. In that moment, she hated him with every cell in her body, and she still couldn’t help but think he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever known. When he stalked her way, her heart ached all over again.
She decided to talk to Dax. He looked like he would be infinitely more reasonable. Even though he would side with Gabriel, he wouldn’t break the law to do so. She hoped.
“I want to leave here.”
Gabriel huddled in beside her. The instinct to move away pressed down on her. She refused to give him the satisfaction. Instead, she focused on Dax. “I want nothing to do with that man. If I can get out of this building, I already have a ride out of the city.”
It was a little bit of a lie, but she didn’t care. Gabriel had apparently told her many. What did her one hurt? She could easily take a bus if Scott couldn’t drive her that far. She would head to her aunt’s house in Connecticut. Let the press try to find her in the ’burbs. She wouldn’t leave the house. In fact, she could hide for weeks, maybe months. Her widowed aunt would be thankful for the company. Then Everly would move somewhere else. The West Coast sounded good.
“What did you do to make her run?” Dax demanded, sounding pissed off. His eyes went to the folder in her hand and he cursed. “I told you that was a mistake. Why the hell does she have that report?”
“Connor left it on the dining room table and then she overheard a conversation I had with Sara,” Gabriel began. “My sister was upset, so I told her what she wanted to hear. She’s already come close to losing the baby.”
So Gabriel meant to play it that way? Really? She wasn’t buying a word. Sometimes the best way to win an argument was not to engage. If she meant so little to him, then she needed to treat him similarly. People only fought for something if they cared, and Everly wouldn’t allow Gabriel to think she did.
“I want to leave. If you don’t allow me to do so, then I’ll call the police and explain that you’re holding me against my will.”
Dax gestured toward the door. “There’s the exit. Good luck.”
“Everly, you can’t go out there. They’ll tear you apart. Come upstairs with me, baby. Please give me a chance to explain. What you heard wasn’t the truth. I was trying to keep Sara calm. She’s in a bad place emotionally. And I can explain that report, too. Please come with me.”
She turned away and considered the door. She’d been shocked and overwhelmed when she’d first stepped out there. Maybe she could handle it now that she knew what to expect.
“I won’t save you this time,” Dax explained. “If you get stuck, you’ll have to get yourself out.”
So she knew where he stood. “That’s very gentlemanly of you.”
“I’m not a gentleman when people I care about are getting hurt. You aren’t thinking straight.” Dax shot Gabriel a dark glare. “Neither one of you is.”
The elevator doors swooshed opened. Roman and Connor stepped out.
Roman heaved a big sigh as he spotted them. “Thank fuck you caught her before she darted outside.”
Dax shook his head. “Nope. I was too late to prevent that. I was getting a cup of coffee—that’s now cold, I’m sure—because I thought my responsibility was simply to keep people out. No one mentioned that we’d have to keep them in, too.”
Connor frowned at her. “What were you thinking? Have you forgotten that barely twelve hours ago someone tried to kill you?”
She would never forget last night’s terror. She would likely go to her grave remembering her relief at taking her first smoke-free breath, and how good it had felt afterward to sleep in Gabriel’s arms. Too bad that amazing feeling would always be entwined with this morning’s humiliation. “Somehow I think I’ll be safer the farther I get from Mr. Bond. This is about him. Not me.”
“I disagree, Ms. Parker. And this is a conversation better conducted in the penthouse. So, if you’ll come with us . . .” Roman gestured to the elevator.
She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere except away from here and Mr. Bond. If you won’t help me, I’ll take my chances with the reporters.”
She turned away from them all. The last thing she wanted to endure was a lecture from these four men. They didn’t have anything close to her best interests at heart.
Someone caught her elbow. Everly glanced over her shoulder to see Gabriel with his hand on her and determination stamped across his face as he started to haul her back.
She had to stop treating him like her boyfriend. It was long past time to shut all the girly love shit down.
“Get your hand off me.” She forced every word out between clenched teeth.
“You can’t go out there. It’s dangerous,” he insisted.
“Last warning. Let go.”
“Everly, listen to me, baby . . .”
No, she was done listening. Instead, she plowed a fist right to his gut. Her street-smart dad had taught her how to defend herself. The time to be her father’s daughter again instead of Gabriel Bond’s stupid sex toy had definitely come.
Gabriel groaned and staggered back, clutching his stomach.
“Touch me again, and I’ll make it hurt worse,” she threatened.
Dax chuckled, looking almost impressed. “That must have stung, buddy. She’s had training.”
“Don’t let her leave,” Gabriel eked out as he hunched over.
“If Dax tries to stop me, I’ll give him the same treatment,” Everly shot back, then sent Spencer a warning glance.
Dax frowned. “Come on, Parker. Be reasonable.”
Roman held a hand ou
t as though placating the lion he found in his midst. “Let’s talk this out. There are things you don’t know, Everly. You really are in danger.”
“As your friend there so recently found out, I can handle myself.” Besides throwing a mean right hook, she had a permit to carry concealed. She hadn’t carried since Maddox’s funeral, but as soon as she got out of here, she would grab her Beretta and defend herself if necessary.
“Come upstairs and listen to what Gabe has to say. If you still want to leave after hearing him out, I’ll escort you out of the building undetected and get you where you need to go,” Roman vowed.
“She can’t leave,” Gabriel argued, still clutching his sore stomach.
