Page 147 of The Spy
In ten minutes, I was in the chopper being dropped off on the rooftop of a building that Rogues owned in Mayfair. Five minutes later, I was jogging into my own building, giving my doorman, Harry, a nod. When I charged up to my flat, I found Chris standing guard outside. It didn't matter what position you had in Rogues, we all had combat training, which meant Chris was decent at hand-to-hand and proficient enough with weapons to become a Rogue. "You don't have to guard him anymore. Saff's already sending men."
He nodded. "She called. She just said I had to stay until you were here, you know?"
"Jesus Christ, medically, is he okay?"
Chris nodded. "Yeah. The idiot just needs rest. But he was very determined."
"How the hell did he even break in here? I have alarms. And a deadbolt."
"He sprayed something into your lock, got out some tools, and opened it easily. Oh, and then he reset your alarm."
"For fuck's sake. How does he know how to do that?"
Chris smirked and shrugged. "In my experience, ma'am, when a man really wants to do something, he does it."
"Fine, dismissed."
I marched into my flat, then stopped short. Gabe was sprawled on my couch and there were flowers everywhere. Petals were strewn about in my living room with a trail leading down to my bedroom. There was champagne chilling with two flutes. And there was music playing Sade in the background. God, I fucking loved Sade. Mostly because my mum played her all the time before… Well, before my life went to shit.
And Gabe was fast asleep on the couch.
The idiot. I stepped closer. Next thing I knew, he had a gun pointed at me. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Tabs."
I held my hands up. When he lowered the gun, I dropped my hands, sliding the knife that I'd automatically placed between my fingers back into its sheath so he wouldn't see it.
He laughed at me. "Fast hands."
"Yup."
"I'm glad you're not an intruder. I would hate to have to shoot you."
"Well, I'd love to shoot you."
He cocked his head. "What's wrong?"
I shrugged my arms. "Breaking and entering, littering by flower petal, oh, and terrifying the fuck out of everybody. What are you doing here, Gabe?"
He grinned. "This is my attempt at romance."
"What?"
"Yeah, romance."
"Romance? You made it clear that you couldn't be with me."
"Yeah, but I was an idiot." He tried to stand, and I rushed to his side to help him. But instead of me helping him up, he pulled me down. And somehow I landed on his lap. "Oh, that's better."
"I'm not a nursemaid. If you need one, I'll call Chris back in here."
"Well, can’t you play nursemaid? I was trying to shuffle around, tossing petals. I almost passed out."
"You belong in the bed."
He waved a dismissive hand. "No, I just need to be prone, so this is good. And being next to you is even better."
"I do not understand what's going on, Gabe."
"I'm declaring my love. That's what this is. I’m telling you I was an idiot and I shouldn't have ever walked away."
