Scandal Never Sleeps (The Perfect Gentlemen 1)

“I’ll be back soon.” He kissed her gently as though slightly afraid to deepen the contact, despite all their intimacies.

She wanted to kiss him back, wanted to promise him everything would be fine, but all she could manage was a nod.

Everly wanted to say a lot more, but Connor entered, glancing at his watch with impatience.

With a nod, he and Gabriel left. She hoped Connor had some food in the place because she was a little afraid Dax would let her starve.

“I’m ordering pizza. You like mushrooms?” Dax’s big body took up most of the entryway.

“If you slap some pepperoni on it, too.”

An hour and one pepperoni and mushroom with extra sauce later, she pulled up the three photos she’d managed to download and turned the screen toward Dax. She’d used the system Connor had left for her to remote dial the laptop in her safe. It was connected to the small network of computers she kept for her use. Now that she’d accessed her system, she could see the pictures. She kind of wished she’d left the SD card in its slot. She might have been able to find a way to view the others without downloading them.

He frowned down. “And someone sent these to you. Any chance Deep Throat was referring to them?”

She had to shrug. “I don’t know. It’s not exactly information, is it? I hate to think there’s more than one creepy stalker following my every move, but I don’t see how it fits. Deep Throat is a conspiracy theorist. He was talking about Mad’s death being bigger than we realize. So why would he send pictures of me and Maddox?”

“No idea. This looks like it was taken from the building across from yours.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “The building across from mine has roof access so I assume that’s where the photographer was.”

“He had a nice telephoto lens on that thing.” Dax stared at the screen. “And you said there are more of these?”

“Yes,” she replied, but something Dax had said made her stop. “I’m having trouble with my laptop. I’ve had issues for about a week. Something’s wrong with my hard drive so my storage capacity is screwed up. I need to strip the thing down, but every time I try someone attempts to kill me. Sorry, it’s been a rough few days. The camera I received didn’t have a telephoto lens. It’s one of those little digital things.”

He shook his head. “This was taken with a telephoto lens. No question.”

Everly’s cell trilled. She looked down, hoping it was Gabriel.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Gabriel’s name that popped up on her screen but Scott’s. He usually called her at least once a day and twice on the weekends.

“I need to take this.” She rose from her plush chair.

Dax nodded her way. “I’m going to look through these if you’re okay with it.”

“Sure.” She wouldn’t have been yesterday, but she was rapidly coming to like Gabriel’s friends. She’d had a nice dinner with Dax. The navy captain had regaled her with hilarious stories about his childhood and some of the trouble he and Gabe and the rest of the gang had gotten into. Sitting and talking to Dax had made her realize that, for all their wealth and privilege, they had been little boys alone in the world. Now, they were men. Like any other man, Gabriel could leave her. He could walk away, the same way her mother had. Any man could do that, but Gabriel might be the one man worth risking her heart over.

Everly dashed from the living room into the kitchen and swiped her thumb across the screen. “Hey, Scott. How are you?”

“Are you okay, Everly? I’m a little scared.” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

“I’m fine. What’s going on?” She headed back to the living room.

“I looked through those records you asked me to. Did you know that for a couple of years there was a secondary sponsor for the foundation fundraiser?”

There were always secondary sponsors. There was a whole list of corporations who donated money to the foundation. “Of course.”

“Everly, I talked to Tavia a few minutes ago and we’re both scared for you. She didn’t bring it up at the time, but after what happened to Valerie . . . I don’t want him to hurt you. Please, you have to get to safety.”

He was being awfully dramatic. “What are you talking about?”

“Gabriel Bond is in this up to his eyebrows. Bond Aeronautics handled the catering two years ago, and I found some e-mails between Valerie and Gabe Bond. They were lovers, running some kind of scam together and embezzling from Crawford. You have to meet me at my apartment so I can show you the evidence.”

A little chill swept through her.

Gabriel involved with Valerie? She’d been an attractive woman, and he’d never once given the impression that he knew her. On the other hand, Valerie might not have been smart enough to plot and execute a plane crash, but Gabriel certainly was. In fact, that was right up his alley.

But if they’d been in some sort of scam together, why would he have brought the receipts for the foundation galas to her attention? Why would he have saved her from Valerie’s homicidal madness? If they were involved, Everly couldn’t picture him allowing Val to be arrested if he had any suspicion she’d die in jail.

“I don’t know, Scott. I probably shouldn’t. Maybe I can get away tomorrow.”

“You have to come now,” he argued. “Bond could hurt you. He’s the one behind this. You realize that, right? God, Everly . . . Valerie wasn’t my pal or anything, but I think he set her up to take the fall for everything. Get away while you can.” He hesitated, and his voice dropped again. “Tell me you’re not with him right now.”

That was an easy one. “No. He’s gone.”

“Then leave. Right now. Come to my apartment, and we’ll figure out what to do, how to keep you safe.”

Indecision twisted in her gut. Maybe Scott had read everything wrong, misunderstood, but she hated to worry him. Besides, if she didn’t say yes, he’d only keep calling. “All right. I’ll grab my bags and I’ll be there in an hour.”

“So you’ll be here by eight?” Scott asked, insistence in his tone. “Promise?”

Her grip on the phone tightened. “Yes.”

“All right. I’ll be waiting. He’s a criminal mastermind who doesn’t balk at murder. Be careful.”

She hung up the phone with a stunned frown and paced.

What was going on? Who the hell could she trust? She only had two choices: Gabriel or Scott.

Her friend was prone to a bit of drama and embellishment, but calling Gabriel a criminal mastermind? That didn’t sound like the man she was falling for at all. And Scott had been so insistent that she come to see him right now. If he really thought she was in danger, why didn’t he come to rescue her? Or even ask where she was?

On the other hand, was Gabriel telling her that he loved her his ultimate lie simply to control her? Was she a sitting duck in Connor’s apartment?

Trying to bury emotion and sift through facts, she trekked the hall and stopped in the living room where the laptop screen illuminated Dax’s harsh features.

“I have a question.”

He didn’t look at her, but kept his eyes on the screen. “Shoot.”

“Did Gabriel know Val?”

“Who?” Dax reached for his soda.

“Valerie. You know, the would-be murderess who died in lockup a couple of hours ago? Any chance Gabri

el knew her before this week and had been doing her?”