The Ex Assignment (Rogue Protectors Book 1)

by Victoria Paige

For a second, Declan just stared at him.

  Theo erupted in laughter. “Dude. That look on your face.” He clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, your badassery can take a hit.”

  “Not sure about that. Puppy dog eyes aren’t a good look on a badass.” He folded his arms over his chest and puffed up to somehow make up for that image—imagined or not. “I’ve already asked her—said she’d think about it.”

  A look of sympathy crossed the teen’s face. “What do you need? Plan a public proposal? A grand gesture?”

  Declan felt the blood drain from his face. “Uh, no. If you don’t want Gabby to castrate us both, that’s off the table.” He paused briefly before continuing. “I need a name for a top jeweler in LA. Maybe Emma knows someone? I sure as hell haven’t kept up with the times or what’s acceptable.”

  “Ah, the ring.” Theo’s face brightened and somehow blood returned to his head and Declan’s cheeks flushed. It was embarrassing to ask a teenager for his opinion, but Declan was at a loss. Nick Carter just informed them that Revenant Films’ publicity machine was about to make a formal press release of Theo’s parentage and Declan would be damned before he asked his son’s manager on what to do. But he didn’t want to fuck up that announcement. He was all in, and though he and Gabby shunned whatever the press made of their relationship all those years ago, they had Theo to consider now.

  “Yep.”

  “You mean you proposed without a ring?” Theo teased.

  He scowled at the teenager who appeared to be on the verge of laughing again. This talk wasn’t helping with his dilemma of getting his stubborn woman to remarry him.

  “Why are you guys taking so long?” Gabby called from above them.

  “Nothin’” Theo responded and smirked, patting Declan on the back. “Don’t worry—Dad. I got this.”

  Great, a teenager to the rescue.

  Two days later

  Gabby opened the door to her partner who’d come from the gym, freshly showered and wearing a fitted exercise shirt and track pants and bearing a brown envelope from Nadia.

  “Christ, Kelso,” she chuckled as she let him inside and accepted the packet. Having both been suspended left them with plenty of free time and he chose to spend it in the gym. “Have you doubled in size since I last saw you?”

  He flexed his bicep. “You think so?”

  “Ugh, you need to stop before you become a total meathead,” she commented when she noted the veins on his arms popping out.

  “Ouch!” he mocked. “My training partner has been slacking. I don’t have a girlfriend and I have no job. What do you suggest I do?”

  She winced. “Sorry. That was insensitive.”

  “Hey.” He punched her shoulder. “Just kidding. Don’t tell me motherhood has divested you of any humor. Or maybe”—he smirked—“you’re having too much sex.”

  Gabby’s cheeks grew warm. She was used to locker-room talk, but rarely was it directed at her, and having it hit so close to home? It was hard to hide her reaction.

  A dark brow raised. “Something tells me Woodward is getting good and laid.”

  “Shut up,” she grumbled, moving into the kitchen. “You want a protein shake?”

  Kelso hooted. “She’s blushing and changing the subject.”

  “Make up your mind. Do you want one or not?”

  “Sure, as long as you don’t poison me or dump cayenne flakes in there as payback.”

  Guys in Division could be brutal with their pranks—sprinkling itch powder in someone’s underwear. Gabby rolled her eyes. “I’ll make one for me too.”

  “Man, you’re less fun nowadays. What gives, Woodward?”

  “Less fun? Try more mature?” She winked as she turned away so she could feed Kelso. After making the shakes, she divided the mixture between two tumblers—remembering how Declan drank out of the container this morning until she reprimanded him—and handed one to Kelso.

  Funny how everything reminded her of Declan and she already missed him. She just saw him this morning for Chrissakes. She was too old to feel like a giddy schoolgirl who’d finally landed her crush as a boyfriend. She disguised her smile by taking a sip from her glass.

  “Damn, someone’s got that mysterious smile and dreamy eyes.”

  “Bite me.” She plopped on the barstool.

  “Hey. Nothing wrong with that.” He grinned and his eyes warmed. “Thrilled to see you happy, partner.”

  “We need to find you a woman.”

  “Please don’t,” he groaned. “Don’t turn into one of those sickeningly happy people in a couple who can’t wait to pair off their single friends.”

  “Ha!” Gabby chortled. “Never.” Their eyes met and then a somberness cut through the levity. Time to address the elephant in the room. She cleared her throat. “It still hurts, you know? Surrendering the badge and service weapon.” She hitched her shoulders. “Even if it’s temporary … it’s like I’m missing a limb.”

  “Yeah, it blows.” Kelso nodded his understanding. “You regret it? Going off script with the LAPD?”

  “Never. You?”

  “Nope,” Kelso answered without hesitation. “I knew what I was getting into when Garrison recruited us. I’m your partner through thick and thin, Gab.”

  “And suspension, apparently.”

  They both laughed and clicked their tumblers together in a toast to solidarity. In that regard, Gabby’s chest loosened a bit. There was a guilt in getting Kelso suspended alongside her, but if she learned anything in the past few weeks, it was not hanging on to that guilt. It was why she asked Kelso to come over. That, and apparently Nadia was hitting the gym as well nowadays and she was their link to gossip within Division.

  “Just don’t forget me when the new counterterrorism task force takes off,” Kelso said. “Heard Chen wants in, but everyone thinks you should be top dog, given that Ortega was responsible for the fentanyl attacks.”

  “You were as much a part of stopping Ortega as I was. Revenant Films is working in conjunction with the LAPD public relations to time the announcement of Theo’s parentage and Claudette’s nefarious role in the whole thing.”

  “Heard that’s gonna be a three-part series in the newspaper.”

  “Heaven help us.”

  “Probably a true-to-life miniseries in the works?”

  “Declan’s gonna shit a brick if that happens,” Gabby snorted. “Probably shouldn’t overwhelm my guy so he doesn’t hightail it out of LA again.”

  As the words left her mouth, a realization hit her. She could joke about that now without anxiety. She was truly secure in Declan’s love, having experienced the depth of his commitment as they battled through the ordeal with Ortega. They came out on the other side stronger. Except …

  The apartment door rattled as keys were inserted and the door opened. The man who’d occupied her thoughts walked in, his face immediately darkening at the sight of Kelso.

  Yes, things were great except for Declan’s possessiveness and bursts of jealousy. His scowl at Kelso surprised Gabby right now since she was sure Declan knew her partner posed no threat to their relationship.

  “I thought Theo was with you,” Gabby said as Declan prowled toward them like a jungle cat.

  “He was, but said he’d hang out with the film crew since it was the last shooting day.”

  “You didn’t go with them?”

  “No. I thought it was an opportunity to be alone with you.” He stared pointedly at the man beside her.

  “Declan!” Gabby exclaimed, mortified.

  Kelso drained his protein shake and got up. “Ah, I know when I’m not wanted.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gabby sputtered. “There’s no excuse for his rudeness.”

  Her partner raised his arms in supplication. “No arguments here, but go easy on him. No harm. No foul.” Kelso gave a wry smile as he passed Declan who acknowledged him by inching up his chin.

  Gabby waited until the door closed before she lit into him. “What is wrong with
you?”

  He pulled her off the stool into his embrace and lowered his head to kiss her. “Hello to you too, Angel.”

  Infuriated, she avoided his kiss and his lips landed on her cheek, then she tilted up her chin and glared at him. “Don’t try to act all sweet and innocent now, Declan Roarke. You did that on purpose.”

  He sighed and leaned away. “Is it so wrong that I wanted to be alone with my woman?”

  “By giving my friends the evil eye that more or less tells them to scram?”

  “He was messing up my plan.” The way Declan was looking at her, with a mixture of frustration and heat, sent her heart pounding double time. And her annoyance with him fled, replaced by tingling anticipation.

  “What plan?” she managed to squeak.

  Declan swore under his breath and let her go, hands landing on his hips as he glanced away briefly before returning his eyes to hers. “Asking you to dress up. Take a ride with me to Griffith Park and then to dinner at this fancy place Theo suggested.”

  There was a boulder in her throat but she managed to whisper. “Why Griffith Park, Dec?”

  “You know, Gab,” he rasped. “I wanted to do right by you, by Theo.”

  “And this whole dinner at a fancy place?” her brow arched. “We never cared about that.”

  He stared at the floor. “Yeah.”

  Her heart was still beating rapidly, but it was also close to bursting with the love she had for this man. She closed the distance between them and cupped his jaw, raising it a little so their gazes locked.

  “Ask me again, Declan,” she whispered.

  “Gabby?” His eyes searched hers, and a slow grin spread through his handsome face. She did not expect him to drop to one knee, his torso flexing sideways as he reached for something in his front left pocket.

  Then he looked up at her, green irises bright with all the love that radiated off him, holding up a beautiful solitaire diamond that reflected white fire. “Will you marry me, Angel?”

  “Yes.”

  Three hours later

  Declan awoke with a start and flung an arm beside him, finding the bed empty. The sun was setting, casting its golden rays through the slatted wood blinds. After Gabby had said yes to his proposal, he scooped up his woman and marched her straight to the bedroom where they made love for hours in between talking about their future. Wrapped around each other, they discussed how to navigate Theo’s celebrity without losing their own identity. They even discussed the possibility of another baby. Having missed the joys and trials of raising a kid, they toyed with the idea with much giddy excitement, but they also agreed it would happen when they were ready. Their focus was on each other, how they were going to live, and the compromises they needed to make given how their roles could become more challenging at work. It was when they started talking about where to find a house to live together, and suggesting different places to scout in LA that they finally fell asleep.

  So proposing again in Griffith Park and following up with dinner didn’t go as planned, but things rarely did when it came to Gabby.

  His angel.

  She wasn’t one for grand gestures.

  She wanted a steadfast love that would last without the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. So did Declan.

  He smiled as he swung his legs from the bed and went in search of his fiancée. He found her in the living room, wearing his tee, its hem hitting sexily mid-thigh. She was staring at something on the mantelpiece.

  His chest tightened and his eyes grew warm as he finally saw what it was.

  Picture frames. She was putting pictures of their family on the shelf above the fireplace.

  “What do you think?” she asked, not realizing the turmoil of emotions going through him. “Nadia did a good job with the prints. I told her not to mess with those fake filters but wow, what she did with our hike in Runyon Canyon was phenomenal.”

  Declan stepped up beside her, his eyes riveted on the row of simple frames. One was a picture of them visiting Theo on the set. It included Emma, who was on crutches. The girl was a trooper, showing up so soon for filming, but the writers had to scramble to rewrite her part.

  The next photograph was of their hike at Runyon Canyon—one of their trio, and another of just him and Gabby. The fourth photograph was of him and Theo sparring at the gym. And last was the move-in day photo Declan took of Gabby and Theo.

  “Well,” Gabby prodded as she cut a glance at him. “Hey, are you crying?”

  “Something in my eye.” Declan cleared his throat. “They look great, babe.” He exhaled a shaky breath, but she didn’t notice the hitch in his breathing as she continued chattering and shuffling through other pictures, holding one out and then another for his perusal. He nodded like a robot, his heart and mind completely hijacked by the single thought that he’d found her.

  The girl he’d left behind had finally broken free from the chains of the past and had come home.

  Epilogue

  3 months later

  Her gown was a simple ivory sheathe with elegant lines. No tiara or veil would sit on her head. Her inner girly-girl always wanted big curls and cascading tresses, but she never figured out how to do it herself or had the patience to learn. A wedding seemed to be a perfect enough reason for a hairstylist-to-the-stars to do it.

  Her wedding.

  Gabby stared at her reflection in the gilded oval mirror adorning the wall of the Beverly Hills mansion she’d inherited from Peter. A couple of weeks ago, she and Theo opened the contents of the safety deposit box her father mentioned in his will. They both suspected what was in that box and had been correct.

  The original copy of Theo’s DNA report that Peter ran after his divorce. Along with it was a list of people he knew were involved in the baby swap. The doctor Ortega had murdered and, of course, Claudette. He also had details of his run-ins with Ortega which she already knew from going through the crime lord’s properties. With Raul Ortega gone, the control of the criminal enterprise had shifted in LA, but she would worry about that after she returned to work in a few weeks.

  For now, getting married to the love of her life was her priority.

  The door opened again, and Nadia walked in. As maid-of-honor, she did the last-minute run-around duties for Gabby. Following her were Emma and Kelso.

  Her partner was walking her down the aisle.

  “They’re ready for you,” Nadia said.

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  The stunned expression on Kelso’s face was certainly reassuring. Her fingers were freezing, palms clammy; she needed all the encouragement she could get. She hadn’t been this nervous since her first patrol duty out of the academy.

  “Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor,” Kelso said slowly, an appraising gaze inspecting her from head to toe. “Damn, Woodward, you clean up good.”

  “Thanks!” She gave a nervous smile.

  “You’re the most gorgeous bride I’ve ever seen,” Nadia gushed, and Emma echoed her sentiment. The girls had seen her earlier and they’d been endlessly complimentary.

  “You missed your damned calling, partner,” Kelso continued. “If you weren’t such a kickass detective, I’d say Hollywood is missing out.”

  “Don’t give her ideas,” Nadia admonished.

  The door opened again, and the wedding planner stuck her head in. “The entourage is forming. We need to go.”

  “Give me a minute,” Gabby replied and turned to Kelso. “Thanks for doing this.”

  Despite reconciling her feelings for Peter, she would never forget the man who’d stood in as her father and mentor.

  Her partner knew what she meant. “The captain would have wanted to be here.”

  “I miss him,” she whispered as a bittersweet ache settled on her chest.

  “Hey! No crying or you’ll ruin your make-up, delay the wedding, and Declan will kill us,” Nadia warned even as her own eyes filled. “Judging from my encounter with him a few minutes ago, he’s ready for this to be over.�
��

  Poor Declan. The press was camped out at the gates, and since he rode with Theo who loved grandstanding for the fans, they did a mini photo op at the entrance.

  “He just wants to be married to you,” Kelso said softly, offering his arm. “Ready, partner?”

  She linked her arm to his. “Ready.”

  A celebrity outdoor wedding in Los Angeles was a no-no unless you wanted the whole ceremony to be drowned out by helicopter noise, or the chairs and arrangements to be tumbled by the rotor wash, not to mention guests with permanently scrunched up faces—not ideal for photographs.

  Thankfully, Gabby’s Beverly Hills mansion had a ballroom, albeit a tiny one. It could accommodate two-hundred fifty guests, which was tiny by Hollywood standards. But Gabby and Theo were Hollywood royalty after all. After the revelation three months ago, the public was riveted on the story of their little family—book, movie, and series proposals hounded them and showed no signs of abating just yet. The bride-to-be wanted to honor Peter by replacing the memories in this place with happier ones. The beginning of their future together.

  “You okay?”

  Declan turned his attention to Theo.

  “Yeah. You?” They were both wearing Tom Ford suits because, according to Theo, that was what James Bond wore. Declan couldn’t give a fuck about emulating the British spy, he was more concerned about fit and comfort, and he was damned glad the suit wasn’t suffocating.

  “Just peachy,” Theo replied.

  They both shared a chuckle. He picked up his mother’s expression whenever she was annoyed, but for the kid it was one way to annoy his mom—affectionately, of course.

  “You’re gonna be a celebrity soon, Dad. Just a warning,” he said. “Told you not to trim your beard. Now everyone will be wanting us to do a father and son movie.”

  “Fuck that. Not a chance.”

  A clearing of a throat drew their attention to the minister, and reminded them of their surroundings.

  Theo jabbed him with an elbow and they both turned to the ballroom door where the entourage was making their procession down the aisle. On any other day, his son would have made a smartass reply to the wedding officiant, but he was on his best behavior except that little scene he offered at the gates.