Kidnapped by the Billionaire(43)

He really wasn't going to like this.

Briefly Honor debated not telling him because it was sure as hell going  to sign Elijah's death warrant. Then again, Elijah could handle himself,  clearly.

"The usual kind," she said at last.

Alex sighed and walked over to one of the chairs near the fireplace,  throwing himself down on it. "Just let me get comfortable before you go  postal, Gabe. I wouldn't mind watching the boot being on the other foot  for a change."

Gabriel ignored him. "Fuck that. I'm going to get her back. Now."

"No," Honor said firmly and closed her fist in the fabric of his  T-shirt, holding him still. "Violet wants to help Elijah. She wants  whoever he's going after dead as well, and you need to let her do it."  She held Gabriel's dark eyes with her own. "This is her recompense for  everything her father did. You have to let her have that."

Gabriel's expression twisted and he abruptly pulled away from her, turning and stalking toward the closed door of the study.

Honor watched him, knowing him. Knowing he wasn't going to walk through it.

And sure enough he came to a stop in front of it, staring at the dark  wood. Then he lifted a fist and slammed it into the paneling. "Fuck," he  said viciously.

"We were always going to let him go, Gabe," Alex commented from his position on the chair. "This is what we planned, remember?"

Ah, so there was something going on. "What plan?" Honor glanced around  at the others, then narrowed her gaze at Gabriel. "What are you talking  about?"

"We wanted to let him escape on his own," Gabriel said roughly after a  moment. "Zac put his least-experienced guy on the door for form's sake,  but basically we needed him to leave."

"Why?"

It was Zac who spoke. "Because we think he's already organized a meeting  with whoever it is he's after. Eva can find out the name we need, but  obviously the details of this meeting-if there is one-are trickier to  discover. So our plan was to let you bring Violet here and he'd take  her-"

"That was your plan," Gabriel interrupted curtly.

"And it's a fucking good one, you agreed," Zac continued, all calm.  "Anyway, I put a tracking device in the hem of the sweater you loaned  her. We can track her, which means we can track this meeting Hunt's  organized."         

     



 

Honor blinked, trying to take it all in. "When did you do that to my sweater?"

"Still means Hunt's got her." Gabriel said to Zac, ignoring her  question. The expression on his face had cleared, but there was anger  burning in his dark eyes.

"She is a strong woman." Katya, over by the fireplace near Alex's chair, sounded decisive. "Don't underestimate her."

Gabriel threw her a scowl. "You don't know her."

"Neither do you," Alex reminded him. "You saw the way she leaped in  front of him in spite of all the hardware pointing in her direction.  That wasn't what we'd expected."

Gabriel straightened out the fingers of the hand he'd punched the door  with and gave them a shake. "He probably brainwashed her."

Honor sighed. "That's what I thought too, but I don't think it's like that. Actually, reminds me a bit of you and me."

Gabriel scowl deepened. "In that case, he's a dead man."

"Oh quit with the macho bullshit," Eva muttered. "Point is, Elijah did  what he was supposed to do and escaped. Violet's with him of her own  choice, and if Honor thinks that's legit then so do I. He'd not going to  hurt her, right?"

Honor gave the other woman an approving look. She'd come to respect the  hell out of Eva King. "Uh no. I definitely think that's not in the  cards. But I wouldn't have minded a heads-up about the plan though."

"Gabe thought it best if you didn't know," Eva said. "Elijah's a smart  bastard, and we didn't want him picking up on things he wasn't supposed  to."

Well, that was true. Remembering that sharp black gaze that seemed to  see right inside her, Honor could see the wisdom of their decision. Even  thinking about it made her shiver. Made her also wonder just what the  hell Violet thought she was doing.

"Okay, fair enough," Honor said aloud. "But you realize that tracker will only work if she keeps the sweater."

Zac folded his arms. "Oh, I think she'll keep the sweater. She didn't have any other clothes, did she?"

"No," Honor admitted, thinking about the coffee-stained clothing she'd left in Gabriel's laundry. "She didn't."

Gabriel thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Okay, so now  we're all caught up, the plan is to find the name of the asshole Elijah  is trying to take down. And we track Violet, see what's up with this  meeting. Then we go get her. Agreed?"

"What about Elijah?" Honor looked up into his dark eyes, knowing the answer already.

Gabriel smiled. "Then I fucking kill him."



Elijah pushed open the door of the apartment, resetting the code on the  security system even though it was pointless. If Eva King could hack  into it at a moment's notice then there wasn't much point even having a  coded lock. Then again, the imperative to keep the place locked down had  gone now that Violet was here of her own free will.

Coming back to the apartment was probably a stupid idea, especially now  that Woolf and his friends knew the location. He had a few other  bolt-holes scattered around Manhattan he could fall back on, but none of  them had the remains of the life he'd had with Marie stored there and  he couldn't just abandon that. He may have gotten rid of the grief, but  the same urge that had made him gather that small store of belongings  after she'd died and keep them safe had him heading back to it now.

He closed the door after Violet and locked it reflexively.

She stared at him as he did so, making him pause. Did she think he was  going to keep her captive again? "You made your choice," he said flatly.  "Are you regretting it?"

"No."

"So what's the problem?"

She studied him for a long moment. "Are you going to give me the code?"

A simple question with a not so simple answer.

Part of him wanted to say no, she couldn't have it because he just  couldn't risk her leaving, not now, not at this stage. And yet, another  part of him wanted to give it to her because back there, in Zac  Rutherford's hallway, she'd taken his hand. She'd told Honor she'd  trusted him.

Of course, her trust or otherwise was irrelevant to him  …  wasn't it?

Bullshit. You liked that she trusted you. You wanted her to. And now you want to give her something in return.

The space between them suddenly shimmered, becoming thick with something  he didn't quite understand. But he could still feel the warmth of her  fingers twined with his, her grip firm, certain. And he could still see  the desolation in her blue-green eyes. She was hiding it, but it was  there. She'd been dealt a blow and if he wasn't careful, it could be  mortal.         

     



 

"Yes," he heard himself say. "I'll write it down for you." He turned to  the console table beside the door, grabbed a pen and paper from a small  drawer at the side of it, and quickly scribbled down the code.

Then he held it out.

Violet's gaze flickered to the paper then back up again, and then one  corner of her lovely mouth curved in a small, but unmistakable, smile.

And that tight feeling was back in his chest again, like he'd been given a gift he hadn't realized was precious until now.

She took the paper and folded it up without looking at it, tucking it  into the pocket of her jeans, and he abruptly turned away, because he  had shit to do right now and watching Violet Fitzgerald smile was not  part of that.

His cheek ached as did the gunshot wound in his shoulder, but he ignored  both injuries like he ignored that tightness in his chest. He'd get  painkillers for the first two and as for the last  …  well, that wasn't  anything a bit of refocusing on his goal wouldn't cure.

Turning in the direction of the dining table, he spotted his phone  sitting on top of it and went over to get it. He had a couple of overdue  calls to make.

"Elijah."

He paused, glancing back at her. "Yes?"

"Have you got a phone I could borrow?" She had her arms crossed over her  chest, her hands tucked beneath her armpits as if she was cold. "I need  to call my mom."

There wasn't any reason not to let her use one now, and he had the  burner phone he'd bought earlier, the one he'd been contacting Jericho  on. It was sitting next to his own personal phone on the table, so he  picked it up and held it out to her. "Use this. And if you're cold, I  can put the heat up."

A look of surprise crossed her face as she came over to take the phone.  "Oh  …  uh  …  no, it's okay. I'm fine." Another of those tiny smiles. "But  thanks for the offer."

Christ, why had he said that? It only made that fucking feeling in his chest get worse.