No, that’s you. But in the smartest move I’d made all day, I kept my mouth shut about that particular thought. “I need to go back to the office,” I said instead.
Gabe snorted. “Good luck with that. My house is now your office. And you are now on house arrest.”
He waved at my driver and Timmy and motioned for them to follow us. They nodded obediently, pulling out behind us, and I felt as though I were an errant child being turned in by her traitorous babysitters.
Neither of us spoke for a while. Anger still rolled off Gabe. I would have to ride that out. I had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going anywhere, not anytime soon. I watched the traffic on the freeway, thinking about everything Clive had said. “I need to call my sister,” I finally said. “I’m worried…about some stuff that Clive said. I’m worried about all of us.”
Gabe gripped the wheel so hard, I thought it was going to snap off. “What did he say?”
“He admitted to working with someone else, but he didn’t say who. I didn’t let on that I knew already. He also said that he was upset that the technology he’d stolen wasn’t up-to-date. Can you believe that? The nerve.” I seethed quietly for a second. “Then he said that his buyers would figure out the technology soon.”
Gabe watched the road. “Is that all?”
“No…” I let my voice trail off as I watched the traffic.
“I’m just about out of patience, babe.”
I sighed. “He said they won’t stop. And that anybody who gets in their way will get…hurt. I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant, anyway.”
I watched Gabe’s face, which had paled. “Call your sister. Tell her I’m doubling my team at your house tonight. Did you get her a guard?”
I nodded. “She wasn’t happy about it.”
“That’s because she’s stubborn. Must be a Taylor thing,” he added under his breath.
“Gabe—” I started.
“Just call her,” he snapped.
I did, and she picked up immediately. “Lauren? Are you with Gabe? He called me about ten times. He’s really pissed at you. He said that he was going to wait for you in the parking lot—”
“I’m with him,” I said through gritted teeth. “Sorry he called you so many times.”
Gabe let out a low grunt next to me.
“Listen, remember what we talked about earlier? About being…safe? Smart?” Gabe grunted again, and I ignored him. “I need you to go right home after work and stay there, okay? Gabe’s sending over more guards tonight. You should be safe, but keep your phone with you anyway. Did Eddie introduce you to your bodyguard?”
“Yeah—Wes. He came by,” she said, sounding suspiciously nonchalant.
“Why do you sound weird?” I asked. “Was there a problem?”
“No,” Hannah said, “not at all.”
“Do you promise?” My voice sounded small to my own ears. I needed to be sure my sister would be safe.
“I promise.” She sounded as though she were her normal, perky self again. “Are you staying with Gabe? He said he was going to make you work from home tomorrow.”
“Yeah, he told me that too,” I said, annoyed. “But I’ll be in the office at some point. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I turned to find Gabe watching the road, his jaw clenched again. “You’re not going into the office tomorrow.”
My guilt was being pushed to the side by my rising irritation. “I hate to break it to you, but you can’t tell me what to do.”
He snorted. “Oh, you’ve made that very clear. So I’m not going to tell you. I’m simply going to lock you up inside of my house and not let you go anywhere.”
I couldn’t tell if he was serious. “Isn’t that sort of…stalker-ish?”