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The brothers turned back to me. “This is Ridley,” said Zaq.
Gabriel scraped a cool look over me. It was unnerving how much like his father he was, right down to the peaked black brows. The only difference was that his eyes were green instead of espresso.
Zaq beckoned me closer with an encouraging smile. “Come meet my brother.”
I walked forward and shook the hand Gabriel extended to me. “It’s good to meet you,” he said.
“And you,” I returned.
He released my hand and turned back to Zaq. “Why do you think I’m here, asshole? You think you get to have all the fun? I’m going to Paris with you.”
Zaq broke into a grin. “Great.”
They started talking at once, catching up on everything that had happened in the last month, teasing each other in the way brothers who are also good friends do.
Not that I would know; I had no firsthand knowledge of siblings or how they interacted. But I’d seen movies.
I fell back, a hand on my switchblade, and glanced around the tarmac. Zaq had said that everyone flying with us had been thoroughly vetted, but I couldn’t forget that Jessa had gotten on Gabriel’s staff—and that Crow was still out there somewhere.
The hit might have been called off, but I was still officially a rogue. She wouldn’t allow me to get away so easily. And if she could take out Zaq and his brother, she’d consider it a bonus.
But we boarded the flight without any problems, taking off fifteen minutes later. Zaq and Gabriel spent the first couple of hours talking, and then we bedded down, me and Zaq in the bedroom at the rear of the plane and Gabriel on a couch that had been made into a bed.
Zaq cuddled me close. “I love you. And you do deserve me. Just like I deserve you. But love isn’t about deserving, it just…is.”
I kissed his jaw. Wanting to say I love you back. But somehow, I couldn’t push the words out.
He sighed but didn’t say anything, just tucked me into his shoulder and closed his eyes.
In Paris, we stayed at a trendy little hotel that catered to vampires. Karoly’s PA had booked a suite for the three of us under my alias. Zaq was still pretending to be my thrall, while Gabriel had assumed the identity of a bodyguard. If it hadn’t been so serious, I would’ve enjoyed the fact that I’d acquired an entourage comprised of not one, but two, syndicate princes, even if we were the only ones who knew it.
We rested until mid-afternoon, then Zaq and I did yoga together on mats provided by the hotel. I wanted to be loose and ready for whatever went down. By then, Gabriel was awake. We heard him murmuring on the phone to Camila, telling her that he loved her and he’d be home as soon as possible.
“My big bro’s got it bad.” Zaq grinned at me from where he sat cross-legged on his yoga mat.
He was doing a lot of that—grinning. I’d known he was under pressure, but it was a revelation to see how different he was now. Sociable, easygoing, the kind of man who gets things done, but in his own time.
“Yeah,” I said.
He leaned over and nuzzled my neck. “Like I’ve got it for you. So bad.”
I didn’t say anything, but I clamped my arms around him. Tears pricked my eyes.
Emotion churned in me. Love for Zaq. Hatred for Philippe Moreau.
“Hey.” He enfolded me in his arms. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and stuffed my emotions down. I couldn’t allow myself to feel. Not yet.
“It’s okay to cry,” he said against my temple. “You’ve had a rough few days.”
I set my jaw. “Not. Until. He’s. Ashes.”
We ate an early dinner that I barely tasted, then sat around the living room of our suite, sharpening our blades and talking strategy. Gabriel offered suggestions, but deferred to us, saying he was along as backup.
Zaq and I agreed to attack at the same time from different angles
“Although,” Zaq said, “a part of me wants to chain him in one of his fucking cells and leave him until he shrivels into a dehydrated husk.”
