“How are you feelin
g?” he asked. Genuine concern was in his tone and his face.
Holy shit. It was surreal. She was in Gabriel Larousse’s dining room. And the man cooked. Who would have guessed? Didn’t men like him usually have somebody doing the cooking for them?
“I-I’m fine.” Cat swallowed hard. “Thirsty, though.”
“I’ll get you some water.” Gabriel grabbed a bottle of Evian from the fridge and poured it into a crystal glass. “The doctor said you have to drink a lot of liquid. To flush out the Rohypnol from your system.”
“Rohypnol?”
“They found traces of flunitrazepam in your blood. Are you aware you were drugged?”
“That fucker. Oliver Duval’s bartender.”
Gabriel gave her the glass. She drank it down in several large gulps. Her throat was parched. Gabriel refilled the glass.
“Thank you,” she said. She drank some more. Cool water soothed her thirst.
Gabriel went back to his cooking. He lowered the heat and put the glass lid on the sizzling pan. “What were you doing in a place like Chantale’s?”
“Following a lead. How did I end up here?”
“My man witnessed the incident. He foiled the kidnapping attempt and alerted me.”
Cat glanced at the plastic wristband. “You took me to the hospital?”
“ER. I had to make sure what exactly had been done to you. You had a light seizure. I was afraid you’d been overdosed.”
“That bartender. I don’t know how he did it. He opened the can right in front of me.”
“You are really naïve, you know that? Slipping a pill into a soda can isn’t as hard as you think in the hands of a professional.”
“Give me a break. I’m a rookie, remember? How come you didn’t leave me at the hospital?”
“Safety reasons.”
Cat lifted an eyebrow, shooting him a withering look.
“Okay. I want to avoid publicity.”
She harrumphed. “You said your man saw me being kidnapped? You had someone following me around?”
“I had you on personal detail.”
“Stalking, you mean? Why? I knew it. You’re hiding something.”
Gabriel only smiled. He turned off the stove and took off the lid. With a wooden spatula, he tasted whatever he was cooking and nodded in approval. He grabbed two white plates from the cabinet and scooped the contents of the pan onto the plates, then brought them to the table. It was chicken scaloppini in a buttery cream sauce. It looked mouth-watering. “I figured you would be hungry when you woke.” He strode back to the kitchen and fumbled in the drawer for some eating utensils, then offered her a fork. When Cat didn’t make any attempt to take it, he sighed and said, “Don’t worry. I didn’t poison my cooking. If I wanted to try something sinister, I wouldn’t have bothered taking you to the ER and the whole nine yards. Dig in.”
Cat snatched it. She cut into the chicken with the fork and shovelled a piece into her mouth. Oh, God. It was delicious. The chicken temporarily distracted her from her suspicion. “Where did you learn to cook like this? This is really good.”
Gabriel looked pleased with the compliment. “I’m glad you like it.” He pulled out a chair and joined her in eating.
“Where are my clothes, by the way? Are they at the hospital?”
“My housekeeper is washing them.”
“What about my shoes and purse?”