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more time. “No. She said she needed some space. We’ll find her there, I’m sure. I have a car downstairs. We can go get her right now.”
The Russian chuckled. “How quickly they turn on each other. Americans. You’re all the same. You look out for yourselves.”
Scott’s gun was aimed squarely on Gabe again. “That’s not his reputation at all.”
Shit. “Look, she’s just some chick I was banging. I don’t want to die.”
Scott’s eyes narrowed as he studied Gabe. “Really? Just some chick? She was your best friend’s sister. Even if I believed for a second you don’t have feelings for her, you cared deeply about him. I know she’s not in Brooklyn. I’ve already been there and had a look around so I know you’re lying. She’s here, isn’t she? I thought I heard the elevator earlier, but I wrote it off as paranoia. I was right. She’s here and she’s hiding.”
Panic threatened. He forced himself to stay calm and cool. “I’m alone. I told you. I came up here to get some paperwork.”
“Sure you did.” Scott strode his way, but Gabe held his ground. He stayed put even when Scott shoved the muzzle of the gun under his chin, pain jarring through his system. “Where is she?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
It didn’t matter if they blew his head off as long as Everly was safe. His brothers would protect her. It would be all right. An odd calm settled over him. Scott and his uncle wouldn’t find her.
The Russian looked down the hall. “I don’t like the silence. My boys know to answer back. Don’t kill him until I return.”
As his uncle walked away, Scott tightened his hold. “Everly, sweetheart? Are you here? Because I’ve got a gun pressed against your pretty boy’s head and I’m about to pull the trigger.”
Gabe prayed again that she couldn’t hear Scott, prayed that she was smart enough to stay hidden.
“I’m here.” Her hands came up first. He watched in horror as she slowly rose into sight over the cubicle wall. “Gabe came looking for me. I wasn’t supposed to go off on my own.”
She placed a heavy emphasis on own. Dax was nearby and he intended to make his move.
The gun at Gabe’s jaw never faltered. He would give that to the asshole. Scott—if that was even his real name—seemed well trained. “I want that diary, Everly.”
Her eyes were wide as she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I came up here to grab a hard drive. I got a message saying something important was on it. I can get it for you, but you have to let Gabriel go. He doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
What the hell was she doing? She was obviously bluffing since he knew the diary was on an SD card and not a hard drive. He wasn’t going to let her take the heat when the Russians found out they didn’t have the right information. “No. She’ll tell me where the hard drive is, then you’ll let her go.”
Of course, he wasn’t stupid. Gabe knew how it was going to work. Scott couldn’t afford to leave either one of them alive.
Even if he could wait until Connor brought the cops and it turned into a standoff, they could trade Everly for their freedom. Gabe would go with them as a hostage.
“I’m going to get that hard drive one way or another,” Scott promised. “Once I’m assured the information is on the drive, I’ll need the name of the person who sent it to you. Move. We’ll all go to your office.”
She nodded and started to move toward the end of the aisle. “Don’t hurt him. If you do, I won’t help you.”
“Everly, baby, the minute you give him what he wants, he’s going to kill me. Then he’ll kill you. Don’t do this.” Gabe was going to have to make a move before then and give her a chance to escape. The only problem was, he wasn’t sure she would take it.
She stopped as she moved out into the aisle, making herself completely vulnerable. “What you told me earlier? I should have said it back, Gabriel.”
She was killing him. “It doesn’t matter, baby.”
“I love you, too. I’m never going to leave you.” Her jaw was tight, and yet her words came out softly, as though she was trying to impart some truth to him.
He had to get them out of this. “Everly, you know what I would want.”
Scott jammed the butt of the gun against his jaw again, making pain flare. “You two shut up. Everly, if you want your boyfriend’s head on his shoulders for the next few minutes, you’ll turn around and walk toward your office. If you try anything at all, I’ll pull the trigger. Is that understood?”
She nodded and turned, moving slowly toward the bank of executive offices.
Scott had such a tight hold on him, Gabe found it hard to move. He shuffled forward. If he stumbled, would that give Everly time to flee? Or would she fight back?
If he lived, they were having a serious talk.
A horrible scream stopped them all in their tracks and suddenly Gabe found himself falling forward. He hit the ground with a hard thud, his knees buckling and pain shooting through him. No time for agony. Adrenaline poured through his body, forcing him to turn onto his back. Everly was standing over him. He turned and saw Dax. Damn. The man was good with a gun, but it turned out Dax also excelled at finding weapons in an office setting. He’d stabbed a pair of scissors into Scott’s right foot. Gabe winced as he glimpsed how deep Dax had managed to sink them.
“Son of a bitch!” Scott was on the floor, but he hadn’t dropped the gun. As Dax got to his feet, Scott aimed at him, the metal glinting in the low light.
“Run!” Dax yelled as he dove for the cubicles. “Get her the fuck out of here.”
Gunfire resounded, so close it nearly split his ears. Everly was trying to drag him. She wouldn’t leave, and Scott was going to catch them again if they didn’t flee. Dax leapt over the wall and disappeared. Scott shot again, this time Dax’s way. It was all happening at lightning quick speed. Gabe grabbed Everly’s hand.
They had come to a turning point. He loved his brother. They were a family, but the woman he loved came first.
As he ran down the corridor with her, it struck him firmly that the world had changed. He had to put her before all others. They were going to get married and have kids, and he still loved those friends who had been his whole world, but they would forever take second place to her. His childhood, that grand, carefree time when he could be selfish and the world had been his oyster, was over. He served her now. He would be her husband, and that came with other terms—lover, friend, protector.
He ached at leaving Dax, but Gabe would come back for him after he made sure she was safe. Dax was smart and had training. He wouldn’t go down easy. Neither would Everly, he knew. But Gabe simply refused to risk her.
They ran toward her office, his feet pounding against the carpet.
He gripped her hand, threading his fingers through hers so he couldn’t lose her. God, he couldn’t lose her. Just a few more moments and he could lock her in and she would be safe.
A large man rounded the corner, and there was no way to miss the gun in his hand. Gabe stopped, almost falling back. He heard Everly’s gasp and felt her stumble against him.
Too little. Too late. He’d been too late. He tried to turn, to run the other way.
Scott was standing at the other end of the hallway.
Gabe shoved Everly behind him, putting her back to the wall, but they were caught.
“Your friend is dead, asshole. You’re on your own.” Scott walked with a pronounced limp.
Everly gasped, and Gabe’s heart sank. Dax couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t.
Scott kept his aim up but nodded to the new guy. “Where are Niles and my uncle?”
The big guy replied in Russian, but Gabe would bet anything that he was saying he wasn’t sure.
