Page 48 of Gabe

“Keep your weight on your legs even,” I reminded Sebastian when I noticed him leaning slightly to one side. “You need to train your leg to move properly. If you get in the habit of favoring one leg over the other, then your leg will learn that motion and you’ll have to retrain yourself later.”

Sebastian grit his teeth so it looked like he was snarling at me. “If I don’t rely more on my good leg then I can’t stand for long.” His voice came out growly and labored, betraying the effort it took the man to stand.

I crossed my arms and stared him down with the most unimpressed look I could manage. “Then you don’t stand for very long. I’d rather you stand for one minute properly than five minutes lopsided.”

Luckily, we’d tested the bars several times before trusting them to support Sebastian, even going so far as to have Gabe, Newt, and myself all hanging on them at once. If they weren’t so secure, they probably would have collapsed from how hard Sebastian’s arms shook as he struggled to hold himself up. At least seventy-five percent of his weight was being supported by his arms, yet even that was a challenge for his leg.

It had only been a few days since we returned from the hospital, yet it seemed Sebastian had expected to be able to immediately start walking again. The fact that he couldn’t do so was obviously frustrating the man, but we had to be patient. Healing such a devastating injury took time, and it was going to be an even longer journey if Sebastian was already fed up. He needed to stay positive and keep working slowly, but for a man of action, such gradual progress was unbearable.

At Sebastian’s current strength, he could only work for about an hour before he needed a break. I let Newt tend to him by fetching him water and a snack and massaging the muscles in his leg to keep them from cramping up.

Meanwhile, I sought out Gabe, who was hiding in our bedroom. He was on the phone talking to someone with a serious look on his face, so I closed the door quickly behind me.

“I know you’re worried,” he was saying as I sat next to him. “I’ve looked into it and have some leads to follow. When I’ve got more concrete information, I’ll let you know.”

I placed my hand on his knee in a silent question.

He blocked the phone with his hand and spoke so quietly that he was basically just mouthing the words. “Miss Bell.”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to say more, but his attention suddenly snapped back to his phone. “What do you mean?” Whatever Tansie Bell said was too quiet for me to hear, but a shadow fell over Gabe’s face. “No, don’t. If you see anything else, don’t engage on your own. Send me what you have, and I’ll look into it.”

The rest of the conversation mostly consisted of half sentences from Gabe that I couldn’t follow. All I could tell was that he seemed to be talking Miss Bell out of doing something.

I waited for the conversation to end before I asked what was going on, but it turned out I didn’t need to. The minute Gabe hung up the phone, he let out a harsh sigh and then told me everything on his own.

Apparently, Miss Bell had been patrolling the streets of Baton Rouge, searching for any sign of her son, and she’d just caught another glimpse of the boy.

Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose like he was getting a headache. “It’s lucky that the boy disappeared inside a locked building before she could approach, otherwise she would have made a target out of herself just like us. Although this does confirm our suspicions. The area where the boy was seen is near where the Senator’s charity fundraising event is going to be held. We definitely need to attend the event, though I have no idea what the boy is doing there in the first place.”

I absently rubbed my hand along Gabe’s arm in a show of support. Under his shirtsleeve, I could feel the raised edges of his scars like tiger stripes. In the chaos of everything happening, I’d never asked about them. My curiosity was piqued but there were bigger things to worry about.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said, even as I never stopped my hand movements. “First, we need to prepare for this charity event. When is it again?”

Gabe told me the date and I ran through a calendar in my mind. We had some time before the event, but not enough.

“Sebastian is insisting on coming, but I don’t know if he’ll be healed enough by then.”

I hadn’t even finished my sentence before Gabe was shaking his head. “If he’s not healed enough, then he should stay here where he is safe. We don’t need another liability to look after.”

Groaning, I flopped back on the bed. “I know, but try telling him that. Especially, since Newt is insisting on coming to the event as well, and I don’t think we can afford to turn him down. The two of us alone may not be enough to cover the entire event and keep an eye on everything. There’s no way we’ll convince Sebastian to stay behind if Newt comes.”

The mattress shifted as Gabe leaned over to plant a hand on either side of my shoulders, so he was kneeling over me.

“Maybe we can find a compromise that’ll keep him happy.”

My laughter came out as more of a snort. “Compromise? You? Since when do you even know that word?”

“Perhaps you’ve been rubbing off on me.”

I had a joke all lined up about “rubbing off,” but I never got the chance to say it.

Gabe kissed me hard enough to press my head back into the mattress. I responded by pulling him closer and wrapping my arms around his neck. He slid his hands over me, pushing my shirt up and my pants down to reveal as much skin as possible.

I tried to do the same, but our position didn’t allow us to undress very well. Aside from opening a few buttons, we remained mostly clothed.

I’d never been with a man who liked kissing as much as Gabe did. All of my previous partners treated it as a necessary step on the way to what they actually wanted, like putting coins into a vending machine. If they put enough intimacy in, then they eventually got sex in exchange.

It never really bothered me until I met Gabe, but now that I knew what it was like being with a man who actually enjoyed the intimate side of sex, I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

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