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When she met my gaze, she appeared exhausted. “Eight thirty.”
“With the traffic, we might have a narrow window, but we’ll drop Gabriel off, and then I’ll take you to work.” I yearned to pull her into my arms, promise there was no reason to be stressed, but instead, I shoved my hand in my pocket and gripped Mama’s rosary.
“We can take the subway,” she said halfheartedly.
“Nonsense. Muriella gave me full use of all the vehicles in the garage, including Daniel’s.” Holly was more than capable, but I preferred to see she and Gabriel made it anywhere they needed to go personally. She didn’t want a bodyguard. I didn’t care.
“It’s not fair to ask this of you.”
“You don’t have to. I want to do it. Besides, with everyone gone, I’ll be bored. This will keep me out of trouble.” I winked. My God, when was the last time I winked at a woman? When was the last time I’d desired to go out of my way for someone else? I honestly couldn’t remember. But these two angels made me feel when I hadn’t in a very long time. This was the least I could do.
“I’ll check with Miss Jacobs and see if I can work from home in the afternoon.” Round and round her phone went.
I reached out and stopped it. Her attention came back to me, exactly where I wanted it. “It’s only a couple of hours. Gabriel and I can hang out after school.”
“No,” she said quickly, then cleared her throat. “That’s-that’s not a great idea.”
“Why?” As much as I wanted to push the issue, this was her decision. I was more than happy to help her see me looking after her and Gabriel was the best one, but preferred she came to the conclusion on her own.
“For all the reasons I’ve mentioned before. And you have other things to do. We aren’t your responsibility.” Her protest could barely be called as such.
I took her fingers in mine. “You think I’m the one doing you a favor but quite the opposite is true.” When I gently squeezed, she leaned toward me. “I need to do something good. Something worthwhile.Thisis where I need to start.”
She wanted to say no. It was in the way her nose wrinkled and her mouth flattened.
“Okay.” She squeezed my fingers back.
Unable to stand the island between us, I strode around it until we were inches apart. With our hands still linked, I lifted hers to my lips and kissed her knuckles.
A sharp gasp escaped her, and those green eyes darkened.
“Do I need to tuck you in?” I ran my thumb over the pulse point in her wrist, excited when I felt the throb beneath her skin pick up pace.
Her phone chimed, and she jumped, the spell between us temporarily broken.
Jason is back in jail.
She snatched her phone up, but I’d already seen the text. Who was Jason? And why was my Beauty associated with anyone in jail?
She tapped furiously on the touch screen, paused, and tapped again. But there was never an indication she sent a message in response. She laid the phone back on the counter as if it were offensive.
“Problem?” I asked casually, though I felt anything but.
“You saw.” She looked down and rubbed the back of her head. “It’s for the best. He’s safer there, but it doesn’t get any easier no matter how many times it happens.”
“Gabriel’s father?” The words were more difficult to speak than they should’ve been. I wasn’t sure what it was that coursed through my veins, but it was something more acute than the rage I was used to.
Holly recoiled as if I’d struck her. “No. My brother.”
The relief I expected to follow didn’t come. While I didn’t want Gabriel’s father to be in prison, if he were, that meant he was out of my way, which was completely and utterly selfish.
“Do we need to bail him out?’ I asked carefully.
She yanked on her hair before she dropped her arm to her side. “At least in jail those people can’t get to him. And maybe he’ll sober up some.”
A deep-set frown line marred her forehead. Her stress was palpable, and I wanted to strike some sense into her brother for putting her in this position.
“What people?” The control I had on my temper was quickly unraveling. I had the distinct feeling I was all too familiar with the kind she was referring.
