Page 24 of Savage Reckoning

This meets with a chorus of murmuring as the meeting breaks up. I get to my feet to leave.

“Meggie?”

I haven’t heard that name since before that fateful day in my quarters. It belongs in another time, a time when I was loved, in love. Happy. Today it hits me like a punch to the gut.

“Don’t call me that,” I snap.

Gabriel holds up his hands in a mock surrender gesture. “Sorry. But do you have a moment?”

“Not really.” I turn on my heel and follow Casey and Jed out into the hallway. I half expect him to come after me, but he doesn’t, which leaves me free to make my escape back to the sanctuary of my temporary consulting room upstairs.

The women remain in rude good health, so there really is nothing for me to stay for. I’m probably more use at the Richmond so I pack up my bag, say goodbye to Ruth and Arina, and head back down to my car.

The sight of Gabriel Sawyer slouching against the bonnet stops me in my tracks. I grit my teeth and march up to him.

“Will you move, please?”

“Where are you going?”

“Does that concern you?” I open the boot and drop my bag in.

“I was hoping to scrounge a lift.”

“Go to hell.”

“I was thinking more the Richmond. That is where you’re going, isn’t it?”

I glare at him. “How do you know that?”

“Ruth mentioned it. Shall I drive?”

“No. Now get out of my way.”

He doesn’t move. “You told Jack you had no problem with me.”

“I lied. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” I unlock the driver’s door. “I have patients who need me.”

“And I need to meet with Aaron Savage, get his account of the crash. Jack thought it would make sense for us to drive up there together, but I could always tell him that you didn’t agree and I need a separate car.”

“You need a separate universe as far as I’m concerned. Just stay out of my way.” Even as I spit my venom at him, I know it won’t wash. My feelings are still raw. It hurts to be around him, and it would suit me never to lay eyes on Gabriel again. But business is business, and if he truly does need to speak with Aaron then it makes sense to travel together. I’m a team player above all else. We all are. I’m going to have to suck it up.

He grins at me. He knows. He fucking knows.

“Let me drive?” He holds out his hand for the keys. “You can get some rest.”

“Fucking hell!” I drop them into his palm. “Don’t even talk to me. Right?” At least I can pretend to be asleep for the next few hours.

The immortal and uncannily apt words of Whitesnake, who don’t seem to know where they’re going any more than I do, fill the car, soothing my frazzled nerves. The lyrics actually speak to me, help to harden my resolve to resist this man whatever it takes.

We always shared a love of heavy rock, so it’s no surprise that his choice of road trip music matches mine. Even before we left Caernbro Ghyll he’d linked his phone to the media system and chosen a playlist. So far I’ve had no complaints.

Meat Loaf, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, we’ve had a medley of pounding rock anthems, and it suits my mood well enough. Gritty, resilient, maybe a tad bloody-minded. It would be so easy to succumb to his sexy charm all over again, to get sucked in, chewed up, and eventually spat out. Just like before.

Not me. Not again. Not ever.

Gabe’s attempts at conversation dry up after the first half hour. I steadfastly ignore his attempts to draw me out, his enquiries after my aunt, my current practice as a Mafia medic, my aspirations for the future. None of it is remotely his concern, and he’s only pretending to be interested in me. I recline my seat and close my eyes and leave him to talk to himself. The arrogant bastard probably thinks he gets a better conversation that way in any case.

My self-imposed isolation is shattered by his sudden exclamation of “What the fuck?” followed by the slamming on of the brakes. The car shudders to a grinding halt.

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