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Gabe swore under his breath. Gripping his cell phone, he sank down on the chair next to his water treadmill. How could he have been so stupid? Slipping up like that, telling her he’d visit her in New York? He shouldn’t have a clue she’d be in New York. His assumption should be that she’d be home in Minneapolis, right there with her family.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He dragged a hand through his hair, trying to calm his racing heart. She hadn’t picked up on his screw-up. She couldn’t have. Because, if she had, she would have said something. Plus, she’d barely been focused. She was too freaked out about her life. And if the realization struck her later, he’d figure out some way to explain it away. She’d believe him. She trusted him. She fucking trusted him. It would be okay.
He’d almost convinced himself by the end of the day when his last recuperating dog had gone home.
He was just going through his files, adding his pets’ therapy updates, when his phone rang again. A dark premonition shot through him. What if Dani were calling to demand answers? What if she’d guessed?
The “anonymous” on his caller ID put that fear to rest and raised another.
Reluctantly, he answered. “Hello.”
“What the hell is going on there?” the familiar voice demanded. “I haven’t heard from you in two fucking days. What are you pulling off her computer? What is she saying? What is she doing? And why am I paying you if you’re not doing a goddamned thing?”
Gabe swallowed hard. “You know the situation, Mr. Carp.” Yeah. Mr. Carp, my ass. “Things have changed. You’re the one who told me about the investigators Danielle and her sister are working with. They’re good. Very good. Dani and Gia knew their phones and Facebook accounts had been hacked. Once the Forensic Instincts team heard that, the first thing they must have done was to shut down any telling communications on the twins’ computers. Which is why I’m only seeing innocuous Google searches and emails to Dani’s friends and co-workers. It’s only a matter of time before Forensic Instincts blocks the video and audio feeds, after which I won’t pick up much of anything.”
“Then find another way.” There was a level of unleashed fury in Mr. Carp’s tone that scared the shit out of Gabe. “I don’t care how. You’re sleeping with the bitch. Get her to talk to you, to spill her guts. I’ve got to know where things stand.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder. Otherwise, you’re dispensable.”
The phone line went dead and Gabe dropped his head into his hands. What had he
gotten himself into?
When Al Carp—or whatever the hell his real name was—had first approached him with this job, it had seemed like a gift from the gods, even if Carp did look more like a hitman than a businessman. With cold eyes and an ominous tone, the heavily muscled gorilla told Gabe that he knew all about his preoccupation with Danielle Murano, and that he also knew about Gabe’s side jobs in technical support for extra cash. How the gorilla had known all that had been unknown and unexplained. What was explained was that Dani was in danger—from the deadbeat who was her biological father—and that Gabe was just the man to ensure her safety.
The allure was too much to resist. Not only would Gabe get to keep tabs on and protect the woman he’d never stopped loving, but he’d be in her life every day—even if she didn’t know he was there. He’d be able to watch her, hear her, and reclaim a piece of the past. Plus, he’d be well compensated for something he would have done for free.
He was in before the gorilla finished laying out the terms.
Gabe had gone to the veterinary convention to seek out Dani and to figure out a way to upload the spyware onto her computer. The rest had been a dream come true. Discovering that what they’d had was still simmering beneath the surface and that it was mutual? That Dani wanted him as much as he wanted her?
Gabe had been blown away. It didn’t matter that Dani hadn’t even remembered that she’d been the one to end things—and at the very worst time. Gabe had planned to propose marriage the very night she’d suggested they take a time-out to grow as individuals rather than as a couple. So how could she know he’d spent six years fantasizing about what should have been? About the life and the family that should have been theirs?
He’d fallen to pieces—pieces he’d never fully reassembled.
Until their reunion.
All Gabe’s pain and bitterness had vanished the second he’d felt Dani’s body under his. She belonged to him again, and he intended to keep it that way. Just as he intended to keep her safe. He didn’t buy the deadbeat dad story, but he did buy the fact that someone was after her.
But the attack in Rockefeller Center? Threats to Dani’s life and to his? Gabe hadn’t signed up for that. He was in way over his head. And he wasn’t an idiot. He now realized that whoever Carp’s boss was wasn’t trying to protect Dani from some anonymous culprit. He was the person who was after Dani. It obviously had something to do with her twin sister. God only knew what. But Gabe was at a total loss about how to keep both Dani and himself safe.
He couldn’t tell her the truth. It wouldn’t stop the bastard. Plus, if he poured the full story out now, Dani would dump him in a heartbeat. Hell, she’d probably turn him over to the cops. But if he didn’t… where was this leading? Which way did he turn?
The walls were closing in and Gabe was starting to suffocate.
CHAPTER 25
The Brandos’ home
Todt Hill, Staten Island
It was primary results night, and Joseph was the only composed member of the group that was assembled in the Brandos’ living room. Donna was bustling around, nervously bringing in additional platters of antipasto—when no one had finished the first two platters—Lina was pacing around the room, and Neil Donato, Joseph’s campaign manager, was eyeing his cell phone, scanning his local updates, and waiting for a definitive call that would finalize this race.
“You’re going to burn a hole through that phone, Neil.” Joseph bent one knee and crossed his leg over to rest on the other. “We’ve got a wide lead. It’s almost over.”
