GABE (Silicon Valley Billionaires 2)

He kissed my forehead. “Stay for a while.”

Feeling his arousal, I rolled my eyes. “Easy, stud. Dr. Kim said you need to take it slow.”

“I know.” He chuckled. “But you’re awfully close, and you’re awfully pretty.”

“Aw, that’s sweet—and it’s a nice try, but I’m not going against doctor’s orders.” I slid off him and moved to the other side of the bed. I didn’t want to tempt him, and the doctor said we should abstain for a few more weeks. We needed to be sure Wesley’s heart was strong enough to withstand intense physical exertion.

His heart… I shivered, thinking about how I’d almost lost him. He’d been shot right in front of me, and I’d thought he was dead…

“Hey.” Wes reached for me, pulling me closer. “I’m a little worried about you. You had another nightmare. Do you remember?”

“No.” That wasn’t entirely true—I had a vague memory of the dream, someone trying to grab me and hold me down in the dark. “Did I wake you up?”

“You did, but I don’t mind. You said some stuff, though. You were crying.”

“Oh. Huh. Sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

I kissed his cheek. “You really are the sweetest, but I have to go. The nurse should be here soon, okay?”

“Okay.” But he didn’t sound okay. “Do you want to…talk about it? The dream?”

I got up, throwing on one of Wes’s enormous T-shirts and a pair of my sweats. “Talk about something I don’t even remember, that has no bearing on reality? Nope.” I leaned down to kiss him again. “I’m going to grab us some coffee before I take a shower. Be right back.”

Wes didn’t say anything, because he didn’t have to. The look on his face said plenty—he was worried about me.

He’s being ridiculous, I thought as I headed to the kitchen. He’d been shot, suffered a head injury, and put into a medically induced coma. He’d had a minor heart attack while in said coma. I’d only been kidnapped by some assholes who held me captive in a dirty condominium—compared to what Wes had been through, I’d had it easy.

My sister, Lauren, and her fiancé, Gabe, were already in the kitchen. They were dressed and ready to go to their respective offices. Gabe was headed to Dynamica, the technology company he owned in San Jose. Lauren, of course, was heading to Paragon Laboratories, the biotechnology company she owned and where I worked as the publicity director.

Lauren’s face lit up when she saw me. “Good morning.” She wrapped me in a big hug and rocked me back and forth. She’d greeted me this same way every day since I’d come home, holding me like she’d never let go.

“Hi.” The word came out muffled against her long, blonde hair.

“Is Wes up?” Gabe asked as Lauren released me.

“Yeah. I’m just getting us some coffee.”

Gabe headed to our room. “I’ll see if he needs help.”

“Thanks.” I turned back to Lauren. “Gabe’s being so great about Wesley—seriously, I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Gabe and Lauren had asked Wes and me to stay at their enormous estate in Palo Alto for a while. After everything that had happened, we all felt safer together at the compound. We were surrounded by Gabe’s security-agent brothers, Levi and Asher Betts, a team of their top Betts Security agents, along with bodyguards from Paragon Laboratories. Levi and Ash were busy relocating their business from Boston to Silicon Valley, but they checked in often, keeping close tabs on the situation at home.

No one wanted to give Li Na Zhao—the Chinese CEO who’d been stalking Lauren’s technology for over a year, and the woman responsible for Wesley’s shooting and my kidnapping, among a multitude of other crimes—another chance to infiltrate our personal or professional lives. We’d tightened our inner circle, tripled our security and were closely watching one another’s backs.

Since Wes had come home from the hospital two weeks ago, Gabe had taken it upon himself to get him up every morning and help him to the bathroom. At six-foot-two and two hundred twenty pounds of pure muscle, my boyfriend was a big guy. Even though he’d lost some muscle mass due to his injury and the ensuing atrophy, it would’ve been impossible for me to help him get around. If I’d tried, I think it would’ve embarrassed Wes—but he and Gabe joked about it; Gabe called it his morning workout.

“Gabe loves Wes—you know that. He’s more than happy to help.” Lauren poured two cups of coffee, one black for Wes and one with extra cream for me. She watched me as I took a sip. “You look like you didn’t sleep that well.”

“I slept great,” I mumbled. “I’m going to make sure Wes is settled, and then I’ll head to the office. Okay?”

“You don’t have to come back to work yet,” Lauren told me for the hundredth time.

“I know, but I want to. I need to feel like things are getting back to normal.”

My big sister nodded, but she looked worried. “Fine, but make sure you have security with you at all times. Come and see me for lunch, okay?”