Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“Not…safe.”
“You are. I’ll keep watch.”
“But…”
“I said I would watch your back. I failed once. It won’t happen again.”
Justin wanted to ask what he meant. Was he talking about failing Justin or someone else? He hadn’t failed tonight. He’d protected Justin. The bullet was just a stupid thing that happened. But he couldn’t hold on to the thought. Sleep was dragging him under, pushing his ragged thoughts further out to sea. Later. He’d ask Gabriel what the hell he meant later.…
Chapter 5
Gabriel jerked awake, sitting up straight in his chair, hands tightly clasping his arms. He froze, his breath trapped in his lungs as he blinked, looking around the room. Nothing had changed. The thin light leaking around the blackout curtains skimmed over Justin’s sleeping form just a few feet away from him on the bed. His soft, steady breathing was the only sound in the room.
Roughly rubbing both of his hands over his face, Gabriel swallowed a groan. A noise in the next room must have woken him. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, at least not for so long.
From the sleepless flight in from Geneva following his last job to the previous day’s unexpected adventure, he hadn’t caught much sleep in the past forty-eight hours, and it was starting to wear on him. Of course, a few hours of sleep in an uncomfortable chair certainly wasn’t going to be much help. But it would have to do for now.
Dropping his hands to his lap, Gabriel pushed to his feet and walked silently over to the bed to stare at Justin. The man hadn’t moved during the night from where he’d initially fallen asleep. Gabriel had woken once to draw the comforter over Justin after he’d pulled on a T-shirt, but Justin hadn’t stirred.
Now lost in sleep, Justin’s face looked softer, younger. A wrinkle between his heavy brows drew his attention, and Gabriel had to fight back the urge to smooth it with his thumb, to ease away the lingering concern that chased Justin even in his dreams.
The man was walking temptation. Every smile, every smartass comment, every roll of his eyes was somehow a siren call, luring Gabriel in even closer. It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t even Gabriel’s type.
Well, the sexiness was definitely his type, but he usually didn’t go for men who were bigger than him. And definitely not men who had any kind of chance of subduing him. Gabriel always needed to be the one in control.
Except, when he looked at Justin, he found himself wondering what it might be like to just let go. Only for a moment. To put himself in Justin’s strong, capable hands. His brain would finally turn off, and he could simply feel.
Normally he was quite good at shutting all his emotions down and disconnecting so he could efficiently do his job. But with Justin it would be so different. It wouldn’t be the chilling blankness. With Justin, he expected it to be all heat, uncoiling tension, and pleasure.
As it was, Gabriel had struggled far too much while searching for the bullet to turn off his emotions. Luckily, Justin had been too out of it to notice the slight tremble in his fingers or the added sharpness to his tone. The bullet had lodged itself just below the skin and nestled against some oblique muscles. The annoying assassin was going to be sore and bruised, but he’d been incredibly lucky the bullet hadn’t done more damage.
Yet, even knowing that, Gabriel couldn’t stop cursing himself. He shouldn’t have agreed to Justin’s plan. He should have taken the three followers out the moment they’d stepped from the car and then ripped the leader apart for information. All of it done before any of those bastards could fire a shot.
He couldn’t make mistakes like that again.
Still mentally chastising himself, Gabriel he turned toward the bathroom. He needed to move past the incident in the parking lot. More importantly, he needed to get past the temptation. Justin might look like a late-twentysomething with a teasing, goofy charm, but there was no forgetting that the man was likely ex-military, a highly trained killer, and a master at pretending to be anything he needed to be to get close to his target. The person he knew wasn’t real. It was stupid to be drawn in.
The mirror reflected a worn figure Gabriel hardly recognized. The circles under his eyes were darker and his cheeks seemed leaner, while the five o’clock shadow lining his jaw was thicker than usual, giving him an almost crazed look.
Unless it was specifically for a job, he was always very careful about his appearance. He took pride in being polished and pulled together at all times. But this man staring back at him—it was like facing the horrific visage of Dorian Grey’s painting after years of careless debauchery.