She had to stop because what she read didn’t make a lick of sense. “No. He was looking for me. Why would he ask for me by name before we’d ever met? He gave the headhunter all my personal information—no idea where he got that—and said to hire me, regardless of my demands. I should have asked for more money.”
Gabriel stood and walked around the desk to peer over her shoulder. When he leaned in, Everly felt the heat of his body. “Open the attachment Mad sent.”
She clicked and got another shock. “It’s a complete file on me. My driver’s license, social security number, school records. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not sure, but he was definitely interested in you.” He moved away, pacing across the floor. “None of the e-mails spell out why Mad wanted to hire you?”
She skimmed the rest of the messages. “No. Maddox simply told him to get it done and that there was a bonus if he could get me on board within six weeks.”
“But he only wanted to be your friend,” Gabriel said, his disbelief evident. “Who the hell are you, Everly Parker?”
“No one,” she whispered back. “I was raised in the middle of nowhere by a cop. I went to a state college and worked almost full-time to put myself through. I got a decent job when I graduated but it’s not as if I know any classified secrets.”
“Maybe not but you know how to hack a system.”
“Anyone in my business can hack a system.” Though secretly, Everly suspected she was a bit better than most. Lots of practice had ensured that.
“Have you hacked any systems you shouldn’t have? Besides ones involving Peter Jackson trailers.”
“Not in years. I will admit I’ve hacked into some places that could get me in trouble, but that was in college. Why would Maddox care now? I never did it to hurt anyone, merely to prove to myself that I could.”
“Maybe you saw something you don’t realize is important.”
Maybe she had, but she didn’t see how any of this helped them figure out who had killed Maddox and why. If someone who worked at Crawford felt slighted that they hadn’t been promoted when her predecessor retired, sure, they could have killed him in rage. But it made far more sense for the disgruntled employee to off her and hope that Mad chose him or her to backfill the position. Besides, she’d come here with Gabriel to get some answers—and he’d begun asking all the questions. She was a little sick of feeling interrogated.
“I don’t think so,” she told him. “Let’s come back to that later. Tell me what you didn’t tell the police.”
He stopped pacing, and his face went stony and blank. “I told the police everything relevant.”
“So that’s how this is going to go?” She sighed in exasperation. “You only brought me here to figure out my role in all this. You had no intention of sharing what you know.”
“I don’t know anything.”
She stood and headed for the stairs. Destination: front door. “Then I don’t think we have anything else to say to one other. I’ll take my chances with the press.”
Everly didn’t care that there were reporters in front of her building. She would find a hotel. Or better yet, she would take a few days off and get out of the city. She had college friends scattered a few hours away. Her father’s sister lived in Connecticut. She could visit her father’s grave and figure out where to go while she decided what the hell to do with her life now.
Gabriel wrapped his arm around her middle, hauling her back against his steely body.
“Don’t go,” he whispered against her ear.
With those two low words, he transported her back to the intimacy of their weekend together. She remembered how it felt to be under him, his body working to bring them both to climax. She also remembered how safe she’d felt in his arms. When he’d held her, he’d surrounded her, kept her breathless.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about that? Damn him.
“Don’t touch me like this,” she insisted. “You’re my boss now. That’s it.”
He wrapped both arms around her, holding her tight. “When I hold you, it’s like a balm. You’re the first person to make me feel good in so fucking long. Don’t make me stop.”
It felt good to her, too. But she knew this heady sense of intimacy only lasted as long as the arousal. Later, he would push her away again, and she would be devastated. No matter how much she loved being with him, the pain wasn’t worth the momentary pleasure. She’d let him talk her into coming here because he’d promised to be honest with her.
“You have to. I’m not going through this with you again, Gabriel. If you can’t trust me, then it’s time to walk away.”
“I was at the airport that day.”
She stilled in his arms. No wonder he’d been reluctant to spill that. “You’re telling me you were at the airport when Maddox flew off?”
“Yes.” His gruff breath ruffled her hair.
“Why?”
“I had to talk to him again. I went there to try. I’d walked through the park for hours. Once I’d cooled down, I knew I couldn’t leave things the way they were between us. We’d been friends for most of our lives. I realized I had to salvage what I could and hope he would eventually seek some kind of relationship with his child.” He sighed behind her, the action pressing them closer together. “Mad would have been the first of us to be a father. That day, I couldn’t imagine him not knowing his own kid. We . . . how do I put this without sounding like a poor little rich boy?”
“I know your parents weren’t around much.” Everly couldn’t help but empathize. Even before her mother had left she’d always felt distanced from the woman and it had hurt. So even if it made her stupid, she also responded to Gabriel’s sadness. Something inside her wanted to comfort him.
She clasped his arms, which he still had wrapped around her, and allowed him to draw her closer.
“Creighton Academy was my parent most of the time. That’s where I met all my friends. Sometimes I think I spent my childhood alone until I met Mad. A lot of who I am today is because of him and his constant friendship.”
Gabriel seriously mourned Maddox. The grief hollowing his tone tore at her heart. In some ways, he hadn’t simply lost a friend, but a man he considered a brother. And he’d lost Maddox on the ugliest of terms.
“Gabriel . . .”
“Let me get this out.” The way he grabbed onto her told Everly that only sheer will kept him going. “That day I sat in the park after I’d threatened to kill him, I thought about what it meant to have kids. These five men were so instrumental in shaping my life. I couldn’t imagine a world where our families didn’t know each other. I couldn’t imagine all of us not getting together with our kids to relax, laugh, drink, and yell at them, the way our parents hadn’t yelled at us. We were supposed to be better, damn it. Our children were supposed to have a real childhood.”
Everly nudged at Gabriel. He sighed reluctantly, then eased his grip. But she didn’t leave his embrace. Instead, she turned into him, without bothering to remind herself this was a bad idea. That didn’t matter now; only the desolation in his voice did. It took her right back to the time they’d spent together at The Plaza before names and reputations had come into play. Whether it was smart or not, she cared about this man, and he was hurting. She wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for a moment, then brought her against him tightly. They shared a silent moment of succor. Gabriel seemed to draw strength from her.
Finally, he rested his chin on her head. “I thought you were going to push me away.”
“I should.” But she could feel him bringing her closer, as if he’d never let her go. In the moment, she wanted to believe whatever they had together could work.
“Don’t. Please let me have this moment.” He raised his hand to her face, cradling her cheek. The gesture bespoke affection more than sex, and felt so achingly tender. If he had dragged her to the desk and started tearing at her clothes, she would have been able to resist him. Maybe. But the sweetness of his touch utterly
disarmed her. The need to protect herself crumbled under her need to comfort him.
“It’s all right, Gabriel.”
“It isn’t. I don’t know if anything will ever be right again. I only know that, for all his faults, I miss Mad. I also know that I want you. You think we can go back to something professional, but I can’t. Because I can’t stop thinking about you. I haven’t gone five minutes without thinking of you since the moment we met.”
She hadn’t, either. Every second of her life seemed to be consumed by thoughts of Gabriel. “I think about you, too.”