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A brush on my nape was the only warning that Gabriel emerged from his study. A shiver went up my spine, a good shiver. I smiled and turned to face him.
He stared back, unsmiling. He’d showered and changed into another dark T-shirt and pants. He smelled clean, male.
“You can’t go outside,” he said. “We still don’t know who sent those vampires after you. But my guess is this is bigger than just Redbone and his nest.”
“That’s okay. I don’t want to leave Joey anyway. But—” I hesitated, biting my lip. But I had to ask. “It couldn’t have been your dad, could it? I mean, he’s the one who sent me away.”
He heaved a breath. “I’ve been asking myself that. But it’s not his style. He may not be all warm and fuzzy, but he wouldn’t have toyed with you like that. He would’ve just ordered the hit and been done with it.”
Goose bumps prickled my skin. I rubbed my arms. “Right,” I muttered.
“Iwilltalk to him,” Gabriel promised grimly. “But he’s…away right now.” Something in his face warned me not to ask questions. “Here.” He pressed a cell phone into my hand. “Here. I want you to have this. I put my phone number in it. I have to go out again, but you can use the phone to call your mom and dad if you want. It’s a burner phone—it can’t be traced.”
“Thank you.” I raised on my toes to kiss him.
“I’m sorry to just leave you here,” he added, “but I have to get back to the building to help with the cleanup. And then I have to head down to the Syndicate’s building in the Village. With my father out of town, I’m working double-duty right now.”
“Okay.” I must have looked disappointed, because he tugged on a curl that had escaped my bun.
“You’ll be fine, I promise. I’m leaving a couple of guards to watch over you two.”
“It’s not that. It’s just I thought we could spend the afternoon together.”
“Not today.” He smoothed his thumb and forefinger down the curl. “You probably won’t even see the guards; one’s in the foyer where the elevator lets out, and the other’s keeping an eye on the service staircase. It’s off the utility room.” He nodded at the kitchen. “They’ve been told that no one other than Jessa is allowed on this floor. But I thought you’d feel better if you had a phone, too. I loaded the app for my security system on it.”
Taking the phone back, he showed me how the app worked, including the panic button that would call the guards and another button to alert him. “If you need Jessa,” he said as he returned it to me, “she’ll be on the floor below in her apartment. There’s an intercom in the kitchen.”
He lifted my chin with the edge of his fist and studied me with dark, unreadable eyes. “We’ll talk tonight, okay?”
My heart jittered. Something was wrong. “About what?”
“Where we go from here, for one thing.”
Oh.I nodded. “All right.”
He gave me a hard, open-mouthed kiss, then strode out of the room.
As the elevator doors closed behind him, I felt a surge of panic. I took a deep breath and glanced down at the phone.
Gabriel was right, I felt safer having it with me. But we both knew he hadn’t just given it to me because of that.
Even more than the stiletto, it was a sign of good faith. I wasn’t a prisoner anymore.
So what was the problem?
Uneasy wings fluttered in my stomach. I shook it off to consider the phone. I wanted to call my mom and dad, but after my talk with Joey, I wasn’t sure I could deal with their questions.
Later, I thought. When I wasn’t so tired.
I curled up on the couch and fell asleep.
* * *
Iwoke up to find Joey rummaging in the kitchen for a soda. Whatever they’d drugged him with seemed to have worn off. His eyes were clear, and he had some of his old energy back. We ate a late lunch together, then went into the living room.
I sat on the couch while he moved restlessly around the room: fiddling with the sound system, picking things up and putting them down, staring out the window at the river.
I blew out a breath. “Joey, please—sit down. I know it’s hard, but Gabriel wants us to stay put for today.”
