“The owner and chairman of Harding Holdings … the premier investment firm in North America.” As Gabe finished Skylar’s sentence, he held out his hand to the balding, distinguished-looking man in front of him.
Skye looked briefly discomfited but recovered quickly and added, “Jackson, this is Gabriel Maddox. He’s in real estate.”
Jackson Harding hadn’t become one of the wealthiest men in the world by being unobservant. His expression indicated that he sensed the underlying tension between Gabe and Skye. Fortunately, he was too much of a gentleman to comment on it. He shook Gabe’s hand. “I read an interesting article about your company in the Times this morning.”
Gabe shrugged. “A fluff piece, which was a nice change of pace.”
Jackson’s thin lips moved into a sympathetic grimace. “Yeah, I’ve been there, too. I looked at some online pieces that weren’t as kind.”
“Hard to get to number one without pissing some people off.”
“I know what you mean. Perhaps we could have lunch one day soon.”
“I’d like that, sir.”
Jackson smiled and glanced over at Skye, who, Gabe was glad to see, had finally closed her gaping mouth, pretty though it was. Harding didn’t need to see Skye’s astonishment.
“Skylar, it’s good to see you … but what’s with the bruises?” Harding shot a dark look at Gabe.
Skye’s laughter tinkled like a wind chime. She put her hand on Jackson’s sleeve … a light, brief touch of reassurance. “Silly, really. I mean, I go to Argentina to ski, which you know what a horrible skier I am, right? Well, this time I didn’t even get to the slopes to fall down and embarrass myself. I jumped off the lift, skidded, and fell face-first.”
While Jackson laughed as she had meant for him to, Gabe felt such an immense sense of pride in her he couldn’t do anything but stare. After what she’d gone through … Hell, she should be a basket case. But other than the slight paleness to her skin and that one lasting bruise she hadn’t been able to completely cover, she looked as composed as if she’d really returned from a relaxing vacation. Skylar James had backbone to spare.
“Perhaps a beach vacation might be more fitting for you.”
Another soft laugh and then she said, “Jackson, will you excuse us? I see Senator Mills and I wanted to introduce Gabe to him.”
“Of course.” He held out a card to Gabe. “Give me a call next week and let’s set up a lunch meeting. I’d like to discuss some business opportunities.”
Gabe took the card, murmured something meaningless, and moved on. If things went the way he wanted, he’d have pinpointed the bastard by then and would be hundreds of miles away from this city … away from Skye. He refused to acknowledge the bleakness of that thought. He had come here for only two purposes: one was to find the bastard responsible for Kendra’s disappearance and rescue the girl, the other to keep an eye on Skye. Once the first was accomplished, he’d no longer be needed for the second.
That was the way it had to be. It was what he wanted. And at some point soon, preferably in this lifetime, he’d start believing that.
“Skylar? I didn’t expect to see you tonight … though I am delighted that you finally left your apartment.”
Jeremiah James’s voice was one he’d just as soon not hear ever again. Gabe turned to the silver-haired man glaring accusingly at him. Damned if he was going to put up with this man’s arrogance tonight.
Gabe gave the man a look that had caused lesser men to shrivel. But Jeremiah James was tougher than most. Moving closer so no one would overhear him, Gabe said, “If you got a problem with me being here, I suggest you leave.”
James jerked back. Most likely he’d never been talked to that way. About time someone told him what an arrogant prick he was.
Skye’s soft voice penetrated the cloud of anger fogging his brain. “Gabe, now isn’t the time. Dad was just surprised to see me. I’ve not been out much since I returned from my trip.” She looked pointedly at her father, “Isn’t that right, Dad?”
“Yes, it is, but I can’t say I like your attitude, Mr. Maddox.”
Gabe snorted. “James, I don’t give a fu—”
“Both of you, stop it.” Skye’s furious whisper cut off Gabe’s response. “There are at least ten people staring at us, wondering what’s going on. I refuse to be a headline tomorrow just because you two can’t behave civilly to each other.”
James looked vaguely ashamed. “I’m sorry, Skylar. You’re right. I was just surprised to see you. How are you feeling?”
“I’m better, Dad.”
“Why aren’t you resting? You still look pale … you’ve been through so much.”
“I have rested, Dad. Besides, I told you, Kendra is missing. There’s evidence that someone in—”
Gabe touched her elbow in warning. Jeremiah James didn’t need to know the details of this case. “Skye, I don’t believe your father is interested in our efforts to find your friend.”
James puffed out his chest. “I’m interested in anything that concerns my daughter.”
Skye’s face flickered with acknowledgment of his warning. The creep they were looking for was probably someone James knew. The less he knew, the better.
“I know you’re interested, Dad. But Gabe and I need to work on this. Once Kendra’s found, I’ll explain everything.”
“Are you still angry with me, baby? About the—”
“Of course I’m still angry. Did you expect I’d just forget what you did?”
“I’m sorry. I did it for—”
“If you say you did it for my own good again, I’ll shout this place down and then everyone will definitely have something to talk about over breakfast in the morning.” She darted a look around at the dozens of people milling about. Several were making no attempt to pretend they weren’t trying to eavesdrop. “We’re still attracting too much attention. When this is over, you and I are going to have a heart-to-heart about your interference. Until then, let’s just pretend everything’s okay.”
James shot a hard glance at Gabe. “Who is Mr. Maddox supposed to be? Your new love interest?”
“You got something to say about that, James?”
“Gabe, stop it.” When she moved closer to Gabe, an unspoken message that they were indeed pretending to be lovers, Gabe put his arm around her shoulders. The warm, creamy skin beneath his hand was almost his undoing. He’d done his best not to touch her bare skin, and now all he could think about was how much he wanted to run this hands up and down her entire body, explore every curve, rediscover new territory. That elevator stunt she’d pulled to distract him had worked, though not in the way she might have expected. Fire thrummed through his veins and Skye was the only one who would be able to extinguish the blaze.
Gabe clamped down on his teeth. With his claustrophobia, dislike of large crowds, wearing a damn monkey suit, and Jeremiah James’s arrogant sneer, having a hard-on in the middle of a mass of people should be impossible. Trust Skye to be the one to make him forget everything but how much he wanted to be inside her.
“Isn’t that right, Gabe?”
He jerked himself out of his fantasy. Hell. He was on a job.
“Sorry, I missed that.”
Skye gave him an odd look. “I was explaining to Dad that we’re telling everyone that we met at a ski resort while I was vacationing in Argentina.”
“Yeah. I assume you saw the article about me in the Times this morning.”
James’s eyes narrowed with disapproval as he nodded.
Skye said, “I was going to ask you about that. I didn’t know anything about it until Jackson mentioned it. How did you manage that?”
Gabe lifted a shoulder. “LCR has some influence.”
“Enough that they’d print something blatantly untrue?” James’s mouth twisted in a self-righteous smirk.
Gabe couldn’t hold back a dry laugh. “Yeah, like everything that’s printed these days is the truth. I’ve seen complimentary articles about you, Jam
es, so I know they lie.”
Huffing out an exasperated breath, Skye grabbed on to Gabe’s arm and began to pull him away from her father.
“If all you can do is snark and snarl at each other like rabid dogs, let’s go mingle. That’s the reason we came, isn’t it?”
Hell, she was right. This job was his priority. His antipathy for Jeremiah James should not even come into play.
Soft music, glittering lights, fake laughter, and the chattering of too many voices clamoring for attention created a cacophony of too much sound, too much confusion. Suddenly the tightness in Gabe’s chest pressed deeper. He took several long, even breaths and plastered an innocuously pleasant look on his face. Taking Skye’s hand, he let her lead him through the mass of brightly dressed people and introduce him to several more of New York’s elite. He’d had tough assignments before. This was just one more.
Skylar moved from one introduction to the other with her mind only half aware of what she was doing. The meeting with her father had actually gone better than she’d anticipated. It hadn’t been pleasant, but no blood had been spilled and no one had ended up on the floor, so she was counting it as a win.
Besides, her mind was still in shock mode as her body continued to reel from the elevator incident. She had instigated the small seduction scene to take Gabe’s mind off his claustrophobia. And he had turned it around on her. The body that she’d put on deep freeze for eight years had melted. Like an iceberg on an open fire grill, she’d been like liquid in his arms the moment his mouth touched hers.
Despite the circumstances of why he was here. Despite the fact that she knew he didn’t love her and yes, dammit, despite the fact that she was still hurt from what she considered abandonment on his part, she wanted him with a desperation she barely recognized. Gabe had once been a gentle, giving lover. The new Gabe was neither gentle nor, she suspected, giving, but his rough, sensual kiss had given birth to a wildness inside her. A wildness she wanted to explore … but only with Gabe.
“Skylar?”
She whirled around at the sound of the familiar masculine voice. The tall, elegant man in front of her usually had an air of amused boredom. But not tonight.
“Should we have this discussion here or somewhere in private?”
Oh hell, he was angry. She so did not need this. “Ben, I told you—”
Grasping her arm, he pulled her toward him. “I know what you said on the phone, but I still want an—”
Gabe’s dark head pushed between them. He kept a smile on his face, which impressed her since she could feel rage roaring through him. “Either you remove your hand from her or I’ll remove it for you.”
Too used to getting his own way, Benjamin Bradford was not easily intimidated. Unfortunately. He shot Gabe an arrogant, challenging look. “Are you threatening me?”
“Let’s just say you and I are about to get acquainted in a way you’re going to really dislike.”
The smile had dropped from Gabe’s face and a cold, menacing mask stared down at Ben. If Skylar didn’t know Gabe so well, she would’ve been terrified. He looked murderous. Benjamin must have realized the same thing, because he pulled his hand away from Skylar and stepped back.
Breathing out a shaky relieved sigh, she said, “Ben, I’d like you to meet Gabriel Maddox. Gabe, this is Benjamin Bradford … my friend.” She raised a challenging brow with her last words. Damned if she’d allow Ben to indicate anything different to Gabe.
Ben was smart enough to realize he had seriously pissed off the couple in front of him and he’d better either move away or make amends. Being a well-brought-up gentleman with an Ivy League education, he chose the latter. “My apologies. I saw Skylar and allowed my emotions to get the best of me.” He held out his hand to Gabe. “Mr. Maddox, I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness.”
Gabe looked down at his hand and then, with deliberate slowness, took it and grasped it hard. Ben’s face twitched, indicating Gabe was giving him an unspoken message. Gabe’s words weren’t much nicer. “Apologize to Skylar and I’ll consider it. However, you ever lay a hand on her like that again, your head will be up your ass. Got it?”
Eyeing the man in front of him as if he were a dangerous, unknown species, Benjamin nodded. “Of course.” He turned to Skylar. “I’m sorry, love. I forgot myself. Forgive me?”
Never able to stay angry with him long, she gave his arm an affectionate pat. “You’re forgiven. Now, do you still want to talk?”
With an uneasy glance at Gabe, he said, “Perhaps we could talk later.”
“Why don’t you come for breakfast in the morning. Say eight-thirty?”
He nodded and backed away. “That would be fine.”
As Ben disappeared into the crowd, Skylar was thankful that other than a few of the nosiest guests, most everyone was too polite to keep staring at them. She turned to Gabe, but before she could say anything, he grumbled, “What the hell do you see in him?”
She’d told him several times that there was nothing going on between her and Ben. Now, in the middle of a crowd that included some of the biggest busybodies of New York society, was not the time to remind him again. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she took his hand and headed toward one of her favorite people. “Let me introduce you to one of my father’s best friends. He’s also my godfather.”
She reached the portly, smiling man who stood waiting for her. Though he was a few years younger than her father, she’d known him since she was a baby. He held out his arms and she went into them for a big hug. The familiar scent of his aftershave tickled her nose. He’d worn that scent for years and it always made her sneeze. Which it did again.
She giggled. “Uncle Bill, you know that stuff always makes me sneeze.”
He blushed. “I know, sweetie, but Betsy gives it to me every Christmas. I can’t disappoint her by not wearing it.”
Smiling, she shook her head. “Someday someone’s going to nominate you for the Father of the Year award.”
Beaming at the compliment, he said, “I hope so.” Then he looked up at Gabe, who stood towering over both of them, watching their display with interest. “And who’s this new young man?”
Skylar smiled up at her husband. “Gabe, I’d like you to meet one of the nicest men you’ll ever meet and one of my most favorite people in the world.”
“High praise indeed.” Gabe held out his hand. “Gabe Maddox, good to meet you, sir.”
His eyes alight with interest, the older man held out his hand to Gabe. “William Harrington III, but you can call me Bill.”
sixteen
Gabe watched Skye sink back into the leather seat of the limousine with a huge sigh. It was almost three in the morning. She had to be exhausted. And though she might be a bit paler than she’d been, she really looked no different than when they’d left her apartment seven hours ago.
He shifted his big shoulders inside the jacket. And damned if he wasn’t almost as tired as if he’d worked a double shift at the mines. He’d done that on occasion in his younger days and still remembered the bone-deep exhaustion.
“Have a good time?” Cole Mathison’s deep drawl shook him from memories he’d just as soon not revisit.
Skylar flashed a relaxed sleepy smile at Gabe and said, “I think it depends upon who you ask.”
“You had fun?” Gabe couldn’t keep the disbelief from his voice. All they’d done all night was either sit and talk or roam around and talk about who had gone where for the summer, who had been seen at some artsy film festival in Paris last week, or even worse, what the fall fashions looked like. It all amounted to a bunch of nothing in his estimation.
“Gabe caused quite a stir.”
He jerked at that news. “I did?”
“Didn’t you see all those women staring at you?”
Yeah, he had. They’d made him damned uncomfortable, as if he were a piece of meat. Not wanting to admit how out of place and uncomfortable he felt, he said, “I’m sure if anyone was staring, they were looking at you.
”
A smile played around her mouth as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. Skye had always been able to see through him. Even though it had been eight years since they’d been together and it had been just a brief period even then, she saw beneath his bravado. It had been one of the reasons he’d fallen for her so fast. She had seen him for who he was and it hadn’t bothered her in the least.
Gabe closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, where a slight tension headache was forming. He needed to get his mind off the past. He might not have died as she thought he had, but they needed to treat the situation as if he had. They had no future together, and bringing the past into the here and now would only create a hope that couldn’t be realized.
“Headache?” Skye’s soft sympathetic question brought his eyes open.
“No.”
Skye rolled her eyes and shook her head at his denial.
Hell, what was the point in pretending with a woman who could see right through him? He needed to get back to the real reason he’d just put himself through seven hours of torture.
“You come up with any leads, Cole?”
“Yeah. Several. I’ll go over them with you and then contact Noah for some background work. How about you?”
Gabe glanced at Skye, and as usual, she knew what he was thinking. “Don’t be hesitant to talk about any of these people to me. Some of them may be my friends, but I know people aren’t always what they seem.”
He acknowledged her words with a nod. “There were three in particular.” He took a breath. Despite what she’d said, he knew she wouldn’t like what he was about to say. “Benjamin Bradford, Samuel Pickens, and William Harrington III.”
As he had expected, he heard a gasp. However, all she said was “I’m surprised that out of all the men you met tonight, there were only three who interested you.”
Gabe shrugged. Explaining how he was able to get a feeling about people wasn’t something he could describe. When he didn’t go with his gut, he always ended up regretting it.
“I’d say out of the hundred or so men I met, ninety-nine of them are keeping secrets they’d rather the rest of the world not know about. However, the men I mentioned were the only ones that I felt could actually be hiding something of this magnitude.”
No Chance Page 20
