Daskalakis’s eyes flashed briefly, but otherwise, his expression remained impassive, his spine as rigid as ever. “No, Commander, I most certainly do not.”
Gabe held his gaze, a silent challenge.
“Surely you do not think I, or any other member of this staff, was involved.”
“Let me tell you what I think, Mr. Daskalakis. I think there’s a hell of a lot more going on than you’re telling me. I think you know the clock is ticking and your time is running out. And I think you’re afraid of exactly what’s going to happen when it does.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gabriel
After leaving Daskalakis gaping like one of the largemouth bass he pulled from the lake, Gabe set off for the base. Either Daskalakis would choose to hear and heed Gabe’s thinly veiled warning or he wouldn’t. At that point, Gabe didn’t really care. Daskalakis was in it up to his eyeballs, and he would get whatever was coming to him.
He thought about checking in on Fred before he left, then decided to text instead, in case Virginia was still sleeping.
Gabe: Everything ok?
Her response was immediate. Yes. I gave Fred his next dose of meds.
Gabe: How did you manage that? Fred hates pills.
Virginia: But he loves a good burger.
Gabe: Where did you get a burger at seven a.m.?
Virginia: Secret stash of White Castle in my mini-fridge.
Gabe chuckled. At least she didn’t seem to be too upset with him. The hurt he’d seen in her eyes earlier was still a sharp ache in his chest.
Gabe: Heading to base. Need anything?
Virginia: No, we’re good.
Gabe: All right. I’ll check in when I get back.
Virginia: ☺
It was the smiley face that did it, made him want to run up to her room and assure her that everything was going to be all right. He hadn’t even left and he was already anxious to return.
He fired off another text, this one to his team, calling for a mandatory status update. Gabe made the hour-long drive back to the base in just under forty-five minutes.
The rest of the team was already assembled. Gabe poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a donut from the box someone had thoughtfully provided.
“Where’s your shadow?” Pixie asked, looking expectantly at the floor beside him.
Gabe filled them in on the events of the previous night, including the secret passageway in Virginia’s office.
“Oh, no!” Pixie cried, grabbing the arm of Kyle Mancini. More surprising, Mancini didn’t seem to mind. “Is he going to be all right?”
“Yes, Virginia’s keeping an eye on him.”
“I knew it,” Mancini muttered when Gabe pointed out the location of the hidden entrance on a site map.
“Did we get anything from the bug I planted in Daskalakis’s office?”
“Nothing. They left the office shortly after you did. Heard you in there loud and clear this morning, though. I think you rattled him. He called Argyros right after you left and said they had to meet.”
“Wait a minute . . .” Gabe said as a sudden realization hit. “Daskalakis called me in because he was notified by security about our abrupt departure through the front gates. How did you not know? Isn’t anyone monitoring the surveillance feeds?”
“I am,” said Dawson, looking slightly guilty. “But I’m a little behind. Something else came up.”
Dawson’s eyes flicked to Dominguez, who was staring hard at a spot on the conference table in front of her. Gabe had a pretty good idea then exactly what had “come up,” and it wasn’t business. Was everyone on this fucking team getting some?
Gabe reached deep for patience. “Everyone in this room is an adult,” he said, his voice cold, “and I don’t give a fuck how you spend your downtime, but until this mission is complete, it will be your first priority. Do I make myself clear?”
Heads bobbed in the ensuing silence.
“Good. Anything else I should know?”
Bobs turned to shakes. Gabe left the thumb drive with Pixie. Mancini joined him as he walked out the door.
“Something on your mind, Mancini?”
The man didn’t beat around the bush. “What do you know about the PA?”
Gabe knew she was kind, loved dogs, liked how he looked naked, and had a great ass. None of that was what Mancini wanted to know, nor anything he cared to share. “You got a copy of the same bio I did. Why do you ask?”
“Something doesn’t feel right about her.”
Gabe wasn’t about to discount the man’s gut instincts, especially since he’d had similar thoughts before he’d spent some time with Virginia. Saying so sounded less than objective, however, and he didn’t want Mancini or anyone else thinking he was letting his personal feelings interfere with the case, or that Virginia was manipulating him.
“You got specifics?”
“No, but Pixie and I did some digging.”
“Digging? Is that what you’re calling it?”
Mancini’s face hardened. “It’s not like that. Pixie’s . . . different.”
Gabe didn’t know what was going on between them, nor did he particularly care. He was in no position to judge, especially since he’d been having similar thoughts about Virginia. Calling out Mancini would just make him a hypocrite.
“If you say so. What did you find?”
Mancini’s expression remained dark. “There’s not a lot of information on Virginia Miller prior to the accident. Bare-bones basic info only, and even some of that’s questionable. She’s adopted, did you know that?”
No, Gabe hadn’t known that, but he didn’t see where it mattered. “So there’s not a lot of information out there about her. She led a quiet life. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It can be,” Mancini agreed, rubbing the back of his neck, “but like I said, something feels off. Has she mentioned anything to you about where she lived, went to school, anything like that?”
“She lost a lot of her memories in the accident,” Gabe told him. “She remembers only vague bits and pieces, like the fact that her father raised and trained German Shepherds.”
Mancini considered that, his brow creasing in thought. “Any idea where?”
“No, but she said all the dogs had German names, like Hans and Fritz and Gunther.”
Mancini nodded. “It’s not much, but it’s something. I’ll be out later to take a closer look at that hidden entrance. In the meantime, watch your six.”
“Always.”
Gabe tried not to let Mancini’s words rattle him. The guy was a spook. His whole life was about living in the shadows. He probably saw subterfuge and ulterior motives in everyone, even soft-hearted PAs. Maybe hooking up with someone like Pixie would be good for him.
He swung by the diner on the way back to the estate, picking up a couple of the specials. Something told him Virginia had stayed true to her promise and had remained in her room with Fred all morning.
He was right.
Fred woofed softly in response to his knock. Gabe smiled when he heard Virginia soothing him.
“Who is it?”
“Gabe. I brought lunch.”
The lock clicked and she opened the door. She was wearing those damn yoga pants again, along with an oversized shirt. Her laptop sat on the bed. The dark smudges beneath her eyes made him think she hadn’t gotten much rest, either.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she told him, looking down at the bag in his hands as she stood back and invited him in.
“I was hungry. Fred’s always hungry. I figured you were, too.”
“I am.” She accepted the bag. “I was afraid to leave him to go down to the kitchen and get something. I went into the bathroom once when I thought he was sleeping and a minute later he was crying outside the door as if I’d abandoned him.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. It’s nice to feel wanted. So, how did you make out? Did you find anything useful?”
; Chapter Thirty-Six
Virginia
Virginia watched as Gabe went down on one knee and petted Fred. He had to be as tired as she was, but she couldn’t tell by looking at him. He looked just as alert, just as capable as he always did. The only exception was the dark shadow gracing his jaw, which, in her opinion, made him even better looking. As a general rule, she wasn’t particularly fond of beards, preferring a smooth masculine jaw line, but as with so many other things, Gabe was proving to be an exception to her many rules.
Maybe, just maybe, she was proving to be an exception to his, as well. She had the feeling Gabe wasn’t the type to go out of his way to buy lunch and bring it back—not because he was unkind, but because he’d be worried it would send the wrong message.
And what kind of message was he trying to convey, she wondered? Was it his way of saying thank you for taking care of Fred? Or was it an apology for what he’d said the night before?
“I did,” he confirmed. “I’ll take Fred out to do his thing, and when I come back, we can talk.”
“That sounds ominous.” She said it teasingly, but Gabe didn’t smile. Nor did he look her in the eye. A bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
“Give us fifteen, okay?”
“Sure.”
Maybe bringing lunch wasn’t a thank you or an apology, she thought as Gabe coaxed Fred out the door. Maybe it was meant to soften the blow of whatever he was going to tell her.
Virginia took the opportunity to grab a quick shower and change into something more presentable. When they returned, Fred gave her a half-hearted wag, completely ignored the food she’d spread out on the coffee table, and went right over to the nest she’d made.
“I think the short walk tired him out,” Gabe commented.
“He’s had a rough time of it, and those pain meds are pretty powerful.”
Virginia’s private suite consisted of three rooms. Her bedroom, a bathroom, and the small living area they now found themselves in. She pulled two bottled waters from her mini fridge and gave one to him, then sat down on her small sofa and invited him to do the same. After only a moment’s hesitation, he sat down beside her.
The fluffy Belgian waffles smelled great, but her appetite was tempered by the look on Gabe’s face. Clearly, he wasn’t looking forward to saying whatever it was he had to say. Either that, or he didn’t know how to say it.
“That bad, huh?”
“That slip of paper you gave me—where did you get it?”
“In the garage. I figured if Darius sent some of his people, Gregory would send a private car out to pick them up. It was in the town car that Eduard usually drives.”
“Eduard Baros?”
She nodded. “He and his wife Anna have been around for a long time. Gregory wouldn’t trust a job like that to anyone else but Eduard.”
“You shouldn’t have gone snooping around alone, Virginia. These men are dangerous.”
He’d called her Virginia. Not Ms. Miller, but Virginia.
“I didn’t think I’d actually find anything. Besides, I had a perfectly good reason for going to the garage. I left one of the bags from my errands yesterday in the trunk of my car.”
He exhaled. “Well, your theory was sound. The paper had the flight information and arrival times of Darius’s men. It confirms that someone here knew they were coming.”
“Glad I could help. What about the intruder?”
He nodded again, those furrows between his brows deepening. “I know how he managed to get away.”
“How?”
“Through a hidden panel in your office.”
“What? You mean like the one I showed you in Chris’s study?”
He nodded, watching her closely.
“But that’s impossible! After I learned about the ones in Chris’s private area, I went over every shelf myself, wondering if my office had one, too.”
“The trigger wasn’t on a shelf. There was a hidden spring in an indentation between the stones of the hearth.”
“The hearth.” She frowned. “So, there’s a way to get from my office to the library, and that’s how he escaped?”
“Not exactly. From what I could tell, it’s not a through-way.”
“Are you saying he hid in there until we left?” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
“It’s possible, but I don’t think so. It’s more likely he used the stairs to make his way underground and get out through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the estate.”
She gaped at him. “Stairs? Labyrinth? Secret tunnels? This is like some kind of a spy novel!”
“You didn’t know?”
Her eyes met his, realization dawning. After last night, he didn’t want to come right out and accuse her of deliberately withholding knowledge without cause.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m beginning to realize that when it comes to Chris, I only see what I want to see. I guess that makes me pretty naïve, huh?”
“Seeing the good in people isn’t a bad thing,” he offered kindly.
“Maybe not, but willful ignorance is.”
Appetite gone, she got up and went to the window.
“Virginia,” Gabe said, suddenly behind her.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Gabriel
One minute, he’d been on the other side of the room. The next, he was right there behind her, wanting to . . . what? Offer reassurance? Comfort? But, as she turned and looked up at him with those pretty eyes, he wanted to give her something more than reassurance or comfort.
The air sizzled and crackled between them, thick with promise. He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t. Could have listed a dozen reasons why kissing her was a bad, bad idea. And yet, he just couldn’t help himself.
He lowered his head and closed those last few inches. Her eyes remained open, watching with rapt attention as he did. She offered no resistance. Not a hint of protest.
No, what he saw was so much more powerful: anticipation and a reflection of the desire burning hot in his blood.
His lips brushed against hers, a tentative, exploratory kiss. Only then did her eyes drift shut and a noise, a soft, feminine hum, reached his ears. Such a subtle, quiet sound, yet it fired through his body, creating arcs of sensation from the point of contact, down through his chest, and right to his groin. She stepped closer, fitting her body against his until he felt the warm press of her breasts on his chest and the tender flesh of her belly on his rigid cock.
A simple brush-by wasn’t going to cut it. He needed more.
He traced his tongue along the seam of her lips, deepening the kiss the moment she parted for him. The sweetness of berries and syrup exploded on his tongue and this time, he was the one who hummed in pleasure. The woman was pliant and delicious and it had been far too long since he’d felt or tasted anything so good.
Her arms snaked up around his neck, pulling herself upward and him downward, as if she, too, needed more. Gabe was totally on board with that. His hands moved down her back, pausing at the top of her hips to press her against the hard, aching part of him that wanted in on the action. She gasped into his mouth, then rolled her hips in what he took as approval.
Fuck, yes, that felt good. He wanted more. So much more. Visions of her naked beneath him as he lost himself inside her heat assaulted him, each more powerful than the last.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a warning bell tolled. He was rapidly approaching red line territory, the point of no return.
“Virginia,” he warned, pulling away just enough to break the kiss. Blood thundered through his veins, his heart pounded wildly in his chest. “We shouldn’t do this.”
She growled in protest, scraping her nails against his scalp as she reached for more. “I know. I don’t care.”
Then one of the hands that had been at his nape was raking down his chest, slipping between them to squeeze him through his pants, and fuck if he didn’t see stars flashing in front of his eyes.
“I want th
is. You want this.” Her teeth scraped against his jawline, then nipped at his neck. “We’re mature . . .” nip “consenting . . .” lick “adults.” She followed those words with a stronger bite.
“Fuck.”
She smirked, her eyes heavy-lidded and sultry as she slipped her hand into his pants and wrapped her fingers around him.
He could have stopped her. He was bigger. Stronger. Skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Somewhere a vague echo of protest suggested he should, but it was growing ever fainter beneath the increasingly loud chant of yes, yes, yes.
“Please, Gabe.”
It was her quiet plea that ultimately broke his resolve. Between one heartbeat and the next, his hands were on her ass and her feet were off the ground. Her legs wrapped around his hips, and they were moving toward the bed.
Desire rode him hard, but he forced it back. They weren’t kids at the mercy of their raging hormones. He was a highly trained SEAL commander with decades of discipline and experience to draw upon, and she, she was a woman who deserved to benefit from all that.
He took his time, unwrapping her like a precious gift while allowing her to do the same. They kissed, they touched, they explored, drawing upon one another to make it last. Their foreplay became a tortuous, teasing game of exquisite give and take. He’d always been a generous lover; finding a woman who was just as generous and attentive made the experience even better.
“Fuck, Virginia, I don’t have a condom.”
“I don’t either.” She sounded just as disappointed as he felt. “But I’m clean. I can’t get pregnant. And I haven’t had sex in more than ten years.”
Her words shocked and thrilled him. It hadn’t been quite as long for him, but it was damn close and he knew he was good. “Me, too.”
“Then don’t stop.”
When he finally slid into her, her cry of relief made the effort worth every agonizing second.
She gripped him tightly, sheathing him with her hot, wet heat. Her nails dug into his back, and her heels pressed into his ass as she arched to take him further.
He paused, savoring the sensation, taking the opportunity to kiss her some more. He could feel her flexing around him, doing the same. There was something to be said for experience and maturity, and a woman who knew exactly what she wanted was damn sexy.
SEAL Out of Water (Silver SEALs, #7) Page 15
