Page 65 of Untamed Protector

We pull into the driveway, the silence broken only by the engine sputtering to a stop. He goes through the familiar motions of deactivating the alarm, unlocking the doors, and then securing the house again. As soon as we’re inside, Gabriel throws a curt “I need to catch up on some work” over his shoulder and heads to his study.

“There’s food for you in the fridge. Oh, and make yourself at home, of course. It’ll take me a while. We’ll talk in the morning,” he adds.

The door to the study shuts behind him. Not a question, not a word about the day. Just a vanishing act into the room that has been a silent barrier between us since I first arrived.

It’s almost eleven at night when I decide to text Lena. Hey, where are you?

Lena: At the hotel. Working, writing. You okay?

Me: Tomorrow, we’re going to the port to look for the car. How do we get in?

Lena: What do you want to do there? Does Gabriel know?

Me: Gabriel’s busy with another case. I barely talked to him today. I can’t wait any longer. The port’s the only place I haven’t checked yet properly. It’s daytime. What can go wrong?

Lena: A lot. What if we just get tossed in a container and dumped into the sea?

Me: Who would do that? You’ve just watched too many movies. Gabriel confirmed there’s no criminal group after me. All that fuss for nothing.

Lena: How will you ditch Gabriel?

Me: I got it covered. Make sure you’re there to pick me up at the exit barriers in the Grain Inc. parking lot around ten.

Lena: You’re going there again? Lexi, this is risky.

Me: No, I’m just making the most of the time I’ve got left. It’s my last chance. Please be there.

Lena sends back a thumbs-up emoji.

I go to the fridge and grab a bag of ice, the cold seeping into my hand. Gabriel made it pretty clear he didn’t want me in his space right now, but I’m in his house, and I can’t help but care. I know something is going on with him, so I work up the courage and knock on his door. He doesn’t answer. I open the door and walk in. It’s not the first time he’s been angry with me, so I might as well.

The room seems bigger than I thought—minimalistic, bare-bones vibes, with just a desk, couch, two armchairs, some cabinets, and a treadmill with a screen stuck to the wall in front of it. It’s so dark I can barely see Gabriel—just the faint glow of one lamp on his desk, the rest practically swallowed by shadows. He’s hunched over at his desk, a sea of pictures splayed out in front of him like an unsolved puzzle. He looks up, and a cringe flits across his face as our eyes meet.

“I told you I have work to do.” He grabs the pictures with his left hand and shoves them into a drawer.

“I came to bring you some ice. That hand doesn’t look good.”

He looks at his right hand and wiggles his fingers, his face contorting in pain.

“Yeah, I guess it hurts. Thanks. You can leave it over there,” he says, pointing to a coffee table in front of an armchair.

“Here, let me help. I got a towel, too,” I say, walking over to Gabriel.

“Lexi, I need to be alone tonight. You can do whatever you want in the rest of the house.”

“Who did you hit?” I continue, ignoring the fact that he’s almost kicking me out of his precious room with every word he says.

“Someone who had it coming. But that’s not how I got these fingers messed up. I prevented something from falling. Dominic’s sister checked up on me, so I’m okay. Go to bed.”

“You were in the hospital?” I ask in a slightly panicked voice.

“No, she came over to Dominic’s and looked at it. It doesn’t seem broken, just swollen and sore. I should be good in a few days.”

“I wish you’d trust me more. I thought things had changed between us.”

“I wish you’d listen to me more. That’s what I was hoping for once things changed between us.”

“The injury to your hand… it wasn’t about a client. You were out with Damien and Dominic. It’s about that woman who came by your office today. Who is she?”

---