Page 93 of Always Been Mine

“You,” Beatrice whispered.

Zach’s smile was nothing like his regular megawatt smile. This time, it was laced with malice. “So, the cat’s out of the bag. Pity.” His eyes shifted to a point over her shoulder. EdShephard had probably been alerted. Beatrice was frozen; she didn’t dare take her eyes off Zach.

A scuffle erupted behind her. There was screaming and seats scraping as the crowd panicked. She still didn’t dare look away.

“See, I’m not stupid to come here by myself.” Zach’s lips curved derisively.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Beatrice finally found her voice. Her phone kept buzzing. She couldn’t take her eyes off Zach. She just didn’t trust him. She couldn’t be taken again. It would destroy her. The thought of never feeling safe, not knowing who to trust, would destroy her.

“You won’t have to,” Zach sneered. “You’ll be dead.”

He lunged forward, a hand shooting out, but Beatrice, even in her terror, was ready for him. She shoved her chair backward and managed to block a knife swipe aimed for her neck. She stood up and saw Ed engaged in a hand-to-hand with Zach’s goon. She faced off with Zach, who had indecision written all over his face as he stared beyond her again.

“I’ll see you around, pretty girl.” He backed away from her and disappeared into the back exit. It would be foolish to follow him. Beatrice stood unmoving.

Ed suddenly appeared by her side. “Jesus, you’re bleeding.”

She was cut? Before she could reach up to touch the right side of her face, Ed had her chin tilted at an angle.

“It’s a shallow cut,” Ed observed. “But fuck me, Sullivan’s going to go ape-shit.”

She had no doubt. Remembering her phone, she saw additional text messages from Gabe.

Talk to me.

Damn it. Tell me you’re okay.

And then.

Babe, please be okay.

Beatrice called him.

“Beatrice? Christ, babe, are you okay?” Gabe growled into the phone.

“I’m fine. Oh, God. Oh, God, Gabe, I can’t believe it’s Zach.” She half-sobbed into the phone, collapsing into a chair as the adrenalin withdrew from her body. It was as if a ghost had walked over her grave, and she felt chilled all over. Her life had once again flashed in front of her. It was only through her endless sparring exercises and continued training that saved her from having her carotid artery slashed.

“Ed’s with you?” Ed was on the phone, probably with Travis or Nate. Zach’s goon also disappeared.

“Yes, he is,” Beatrice said. Protection of your principal was always a priority, not chasing after an assailant. It was a primary rule of executive protection.

“I’m on my way,” Gabe said, his voice now guttural. “God, Beatrice, I love you.”

“I love you, Gabe.” She felt cold, so cold. “I need you,” she added on a whisper.

“I’ll be there soon.”

“Can’tyou go any damn faster?”

“I’m going as fast as I can, man,” Travis muttered as he wove his Escalade around DC traffic. “It’s rush hour and they’re in Georgetown.”

A skin peel with muriatic acid was probably less torturous than what Gabe was experiencing right now. He had calmed down a bit after he’d talk to Beatrice, but the sucker punch of discovering that Zach Jamison had been deceiving them all this time caused him to almost lose his shit at BSI.

He was ready to charge out the door when Travis and Nate pounced on him to calm him down. He nearly punched Travis, but the other man assured him there was no one more capable than Ed Shephard and he’d been alerted. It did littleto assuage Gabe’s panic, especially when Beatrice didn’t reply to his text message warning. But he agreed to let Travis drive while he’d been imagining several ways to deliver a slow painful death to Jamison. Finally, he had someone to direct his rage. A focus.

Parking in Georgetown was terrible. Gabe was doubly thankful now that Travis was driving. It wasn’t difficult to find the coffee shop; there was already a police cruiser double-parked in front of it.

“I’ll need to drop you off here and find parking,” Travis said as he approached the intersection a block before the establishment.

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