"Whatever," she said, shrugging her shoulders as if she were completely unfazed by him.
"You ready?" he asked, anxious to get out of there, so he could have something besides her luscious body to think about.
She turned, locking her door, and stepped around him. If he wasn't mistaken, she added a little extra swing to her hips. He eyed her backside, unable to tear his gaze away. His foot caught on one of the cobblestones, and he barely kept himself from hitting the ground.
"Watch your step," she tossed over her shoulder, giving him a saucy grin.
Growling again—he sounded like a damn animal—he picked up the pace, catching up with her just as she reached his car.
"Holy—" her words cut off as she took in his car, parked at the curb. "This car is to die for!"
He grinned, unreasonably excited that she liked Carlotta. She'd seen it last night, but in her state, and given the fact that it had been dark outside, he guessed she hadn't paid much attention to it.
He opened the door for her and watched as she slid onto the vinyl seats. In that outfit, she looked like she fit perfectly in his muscle car.
As he turned the key in the ignition, Carlotta's engine roared to life, sounding like a lion staking his territory. He felt a little like that lion right now as he took in Cate's leather-clad legs and low-cut top. She made him want to stomp around, roaring at anyone who might get too close.
"This car is freaking amazing," Cate said, turning to look at him, an excited smile lighting up her face as pleasure radiated off her in waves.
"Just wait till I show you what she can do."
He hadn't planned to take her anywhere but to the warehouse and out to the National Harbor, but taking her out to the G.W. Parkway afterwards was just added to the evening’s agenda. Hopefully by that time of night, it would be cleared out, and he could open her up.
They rode to the warehouse in companionable silence. When he pulled in and onto the freight elevator, he saw Cate's eyes light up again. She was so easily entertained. That had been one of the things he'd liked about her during their time together in Naples.
She was overjoyed by the simple things in life. A picnic on the beach. A glass of wine on the patio of a café. A walk through town. She never required expensive restaurants or fancy shows. She loved the food sold by street vendors as much as she did the fine cuisine of an upscale establishment.
Gabriel parked and waited as Cate walked around to meet him. He noticed that she was taking in every detail of the car, lightly running her fingers along the body as she passed by. He remembered her fingers dancing across his skin—the jolt of pleasure that had taken him by surprise—and he shook his head, trying to shake away the memories.
When they arrived at the conference room, the team was already there, seated around the table. He'd filled Sully in on his past relationship with Cate, assuring him that they could work together professionally despite their past. Sully had seemed unsure at first, but Gabriel had guaranteed him that it was all behind them.
He'd lied. He still wanted her just like he had five years ago. His heart still burned where she'd ripped out a piece of it. On one hand, he wanted desperately to know why—why she'd left him—why she'd betrayed him. On the other hand, he was scared to find out. Scared that all his suspicions would be confirmed—that he wasn't loveable.
Gabriel cleared his throat, realizing that everyone was waiting on him to say something.
"This is Cate Bradshaw. She's a journalist. One of the best."
* * * *
Cate's mouth hung open at Gabriel's flattering words. Besides obviously still being attracted to her, he'd seemed as if he wished he could be anywhere but near her.
"Some of you are probably aware of her excellent work. Cate, this is Zach." He pointed to a man with golden hair and bright green eyes. "Isabel, Ethan, Lucas, and Sully Castle, our boss." He pointed to each person as he introduced them.
Cate shook the hands of each of his friends and coworkers, and then sat down. "Nice to meet you all." She was struck by just how stunning each member of the team was. There wasn't a single one that couldn't grace the front of a magazine.
"Cate, tell us about what made you start an investigation into District Escort Agency," Sully said. Sully Castle was one of the largest men she'd ever met. He had to be at least six foot five, and wore his hair high and tight on the sides, with the top longer and wavy. He had piercing blue eyes and a hard stare that made Cate want to spill her guts.
Cate leaned forward, placing both hands on top of the table. "Well, I've been following a lead, for about"—she paused, looking at Gabriel—"five years." She knew that pronouncement would pique Gabriel's interest, and she was right. Those ice-blue eyes sought hers, questions hidden in their depths. She knew he'd be angry if he found out she was still investigating Tariq, but that little confession could come later.
"I'd ask what kind of lead you’ve been following, but I have a feeling you're keeping that information close to your chest," Sully said.
"If you don’t mind, I'd like to keep most of the details to myself for now." Sully nodded, but she heard Gabriel growl. She gave him a hard stare, and he raised his eyebrows in defiance.
"Anyhow, I was chasing down this lead, and one of my informants told me about the agency. He said they were using the agency as a front to traffic women. He also thought someone was using it to launder money or run guns."
"You think this agency is a cover-up?" Zach asked. He was just as beautiful as Gabriel and Sully. Tousled golden hair—not quite blond, but not quite brown, either—with light green eyes. His skin was a light bronze color, as if he'd spent many years on the beach.
"I do. And I think the person laundering money and maybe trafficking the girls has political ties," she continued.
"Not a difficult assumption, since we live in the middle of the swamp," Ethan said. Ethan might be the prettiest of all the men. He had light blond, shoulder-length hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail, with wavy tendrils framing his face. He looked as if he hadn't shaved all week, and his Southern accent probably melted the panties off women with just a few well-placed words.
"Right, but I think this guy is someone high profile. And if he is, he'd have a lot to lose and a lot to gain," she answered.
"Once we have some information, I can work up a profile of the kind of guy we're dealing with," Isabel said.
"Isabel is our profiler. She'll be able to take the details and work out what makes this guy tick," Gabriel explained.
Cate was amazed that anyone could take a few pieces of information and put together an entire report on what kind of personality and motivations a person might have.
"So why is it that you're investigating them?”
"We were hired by this girl's mother to find her," Sully said, sliding a picture of a young girl, about eighteen or nineteen, in front of her. She was thin, with long blonde hair and model-like features: high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a perfectly pointed chin.
"And you think she's an escort?" Cate asked.
"We think that someone at the service knows where she is," Gabriel said.
"So what's your plan to find her?"
"We're hoping that you might help us with that," Sully said. "Did you have another plan to uncover the identity of this man you think is trafficking women?"
Cate paused. She didn't want to tell them that she didn't have much of a plan after getting a job with the agency, but the truth was, she really didn't have a plan.
"You don't have one, do you?" Gabriel asked, his lip turning up in a sneer.
Cate's pride bristled. She was a damn good reporter. She didn't have to explain her ways to him. "I haven't needed an exact plan in any of the other stories I've broken."
"Yeah, and how'd that turn out for you in Libya?"
Cate turned on him. "That's not fair, Gabriel. I had no knowledge—"
"Yeah, I know. No knowledge of who you were dealing with. My point exactly." Gabriel turned to Sully. "I'
m not sure we should risk this. It could blow up in our faces."
Sully lifted one eyebrow and gave Gabriel his "tell me all your secrets" stare. "You brought her to us. Told us we had someone already undercover. And you're running out of time, Gabriel. Maybe if you'd had a little less fun on the side—"
"Never mind," Gabriel interrupted. Cate fumed, her hackles rising over Gabriel's defection, and also maybe a little bit because he'd turned out to be such a man-whore.
"This is my story. I will finish it regardless of if you want to help or not," she started.
Sully stood, his hands placed on the table in front of him, leaning towards her. He was an intimidating dude.
"Let's be very clear, Ms. Bradshaw. I call the shots around here. One phone call, and you'll be off this case whether you like it or not." He paused, letting his words sink in. She didn't like being told what to do, but she also had to finish this story. She nodded her agreement reluctantly.
"Good. Now we can work together. We rescue our girl, and you get your story."
A thought hit her, as something Alison and Stephanie had said about next weekend's party floated to the surface in her mind.
"There's a party this weekend. It's a—a sex party of sorts. I don't know much about it, just that there will be lots of people there in disguise. One of the rules is that your face has to be covered, and Alison said that there were other women there working that weren't escorts," she said.
"You're thinking these women might be trafficking victims?" Gabriel asked, his earlier anger forgotten, it seemed.
Cate nodded. "I think so. I'm supposed to go with Andrew." She shuddered. The thought of going to a party where people were having sex publicly sickened her. But she wasn't sure how else she was going to get the information she needed on how the agency was connected to Tariq, and on who owned the agency and was selling the girls to him.
"You are not going alone," Gabriel said, getting to his feet and pacing the floor.
"Last I checked, Gabriel, you don't get to tell me what to do!" Cate crossed her arms across her chest before remembering that her shirt was cut down to her navel. She immediately uncrossed them, noticing that all the guys, except for Lucas, had been watching.
Gabriel growled again, this time his animalistic sounds focused on the men at the table. He was seriously going to turn into a wild animal if he kept doing that. She'd lost count of how many times, just in the last hour, he'd sounded as if he were about to shift into a grizzly bear.
He stopped pacing and crouched to his knees in front of her. "Listen, you don't need to go in there alone. Something could happen, and you could be raped or worse. You'll already be in a compromising situation, and keeping up the charade without giving over the goods, so to speak, is already becoming more difficult." He took her hands in his. "Let me go with you and help. I can pose as a male escort since our faces will be covered."
"But how will you get in?" she asked him, her earlier ire softening at his touch.
"Let me handle that." He winked, and it was so much like five years ago, when he'd been sweet and kind and fun, that she sucked in a breath. Pain shot through her heart, and she was distracted by what might have been.
His gaze met hers and held it, the room around them fading away.
Throat clearing jolted her out of her trance, and she pulled her hands away. Gabriel stood up from his crouched position and then sat down in his chair next to her again.
When she met the faces of the team around the table, she could tell they were all wondering what in the world was going on with them. Well, she'd leave the privilege of sharing that information with them to Gabriel.
"Keep your eyes and ears open. Then let us know what you hear and see. We'll work together to put the puzzle pieces in place. Once we have an idea of who we're dealing with, we'll talk about what you can print, and what might need to stay classified," Sully said.
Cate didn't love being silenced on any part of the investigation, but she also understood that some things needed to remain confidential. She would abide by their terms, as long as she was able to write the bulk of the story.
"Agreed," she said.
"Keep us posted on the details of the party. Are you meeting him there?" Sully asked.
Her stomach clenched as she remembered Andrew's parting words. She shook her head. "No, he wants to pick me up at my house, but no way in hell am I letting him know where I live!"
"We can set you up with a fake residence. He doesn’t know your real name, so he won't know the difference," Gabriel said, taking her hand under the table and squeezing it to reassure her.
She was so grateful for their help, and she had no idea how she would have done this if she hadn't been set up with Gabriel that night. She'd been in tight spots before, had gone undercover before, and had had to do things she wasn't proud of. Mostly, she’d had to watch things happen when she was unable to intervene and help. But this case was scary. She was dealing with a deviant mind, one that acted out its owner’s deviant behaviors. It sickened her.
"Thank you all so much. I don't know what I would have done had you guys not already been involved in this case." Isabel smiled at her from across the table. She seemed like someone Cate would like to be friends with. It was too bad she and Gabriel would go their separate ways after this was over.
"You're welcome. Gabriel will be your partner. That means you two will need to keep up the charade that you're seeing each other," Sully said.
Cate wanted to protest, but she knew she couldn't. She and Gabriel had already had this discussion.
"Christy is already angry at him for not paying for overnights with the other escorts he's, um, you know…" Cate could feel her cheeks turning pink. She looked down, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.
Throats clearing filled the silence. She wanted so badly to look at Gabriel, to see his reaction.
"We'll make sure Christy is paid for overnights, but you two will need to make it look believable," Sully said. "It's possible that if she's worried about being shorted, she might have you followed. So, acting the part is going to be crucial. Is that going to be a problem?"
Gabriel mumbled under his breath, and Cate could feel her heart pick up its pace. She lifted her chin.
"It's not a problem with me. Gabriel?" She knew there was a look of challenge in her eyes. She'd be damned before she let him know that the thought of spending the night with him, of acting like they were together, both thrilled and terrified her.
* * * *
Gabriel saw the challenge in Cate's eyes. Damn, she was beautiful and fearless. It was that courage and strength that turned him on the most. Well, that and her sinful body. And her hair—
"No problem at all," he said, and let a predatory smile stretch across his face as he raked his gaze over her body. Cate's face flushed with color, and he knew he'd won that round. She stood.
"Thank you all again," she said, and then she walked out the door.
Gabriel started after her but was brought up short when Sully said, "Keep it professional, Gabriel. We don't need this thing screwed up because you can't keep it in your pants."
"I'm offended that you'd suggest I would do anything to compromise the team," Gabriel replied, anger lacing his words.
"I know you'd never do anything deliberately. But there's a history between you two. I'm not sure what it is, but get it resolved before it blows up in your face. Got it?"
Gabriel nodded and took off after Cate.
He found her propped against his car, her ankles crossed and her arms folded over her chest. The motion pushed her breasts together, and with the low-cut blouse, it revealed a tantalizing amount of skin. He'd just about torn every one of his team member's eyes out when she'd made that move in the conference room.
Sully was right, damn it! He needed to clear the air between them. And Sully would kick his ass if he knew that fear was the reason keeping him from talking to her about that night five years ago.
He stalked towards her, his
mind set on making her feel just as unsettled as he was. As he drew closer, he saw her eyes widen in confusion, then her chin lifted in defiance. She saw the challenge in his eyes, and she was up for the fight.
Gabriel stopped mere inches from her, and placed his hands on the car behind her, trapping her between his arms. He let his gaze wander over her coppery brown eyes, over the defined cheekbones and perfect lips. His fingers itched to touch the silky strands of her hair. And before he knew what he was doing, he'd let them, testing the softness between his fingers.
Her breathing had picked up, and her eyes zeroed in on his mouth. He knew he could kiss her right now, and she wouldn't pull away. He wanted to—oh, how he wanted to. But if he kissed her now, he wouldn't want to stop. And they had a date to go on.
Gabriel stepped back, and he swore he saw disappointment in her eyes. She wanted him, too, then. Good to know.
She pushed herself away from the car, walking to the other side to slip inside.
"I forgot my overnight bag at my house. I probably need to get that for tonight."
Gabriel just nodded. Her place was definitely out of the way, but they didn't have reservations for dinner, and it was just six o'clock. They had time.
He pulled up to the street in front of her townhome and put the car in park.
"I'll just be a minute. Where are we going tonight?"
"National Harbor."
She nodded and pushed herself out of the car, walking to her door, the sway in her hips mesmerizing him like the pocket watch of a hypnotist.
She returned a few minutes later, an overnight bag hung on her arm. Sliding back inside, she gave him a soft smile. "Ready."
He didn't respond, just put Carlotta into drive and pushed down on the gas.
The drive to National Harbor wasn't very far, but with traffic and having to skirt around the city, it still took them about twenty-five minutes. Not a word was said the entire time. It wasn't uncomfortable, necessarily, but he missed the easy banter they used to have.
Finding a parking garage, Gabriel parked the car, and they walked to the Mexican restaurant he'd chosen for dinner. The atmosphere was lively on a Sunday afternoon in late summer. The magenta walls and orange accents gave the restaurant a festive feel.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 33
