Page 80 of Gideon
“Would it be possible for you to keep them away from the study?”
For some reason a smile crosses her face, and she winks at him. “I always approach the study with a certain amount of trepidation now, Oz.”
To my amazement he flushes and then rallies. “Sassy woman,” he says smilingly, and she laughs.
“You know it.” To my amazement she squeezes my arm as she walks past. “Please make sure you tell Gideon that he has the staff’s loyalties and all of our support.” She nods firmly to emphasize the point and walks off, her back ramrod straight.
Oz stares after her and shakes his head. “If women like that were in charge of the world it would be a very calm and orderly place. And for some reason she’s very fond of Gideon.”
“The bastion of havoc and bad behaviour,” I say disbelievingly and he laughs.
“Go figure.”
I walk into the room and look around. At one end of the room is a pair of French windows letting in the pungent scent of lavender, and in front of a high fireplace are a long sofa and chairs. Silas is standing in front of a huge oak cupboard opened to reveal a TV, and I jerk when he moves, and I catch sight of Gideon on the screen.
Dressed in a navy suit with white shirt and red tie, he looks pale under his tan and his lips are drawn thin.
I wander over, exchanging weak smiles with the others. “How does he seem?” I ask, my eyes glued to my lover. “Has he said anything yet?”
Silas shakes his head. “No. It’s just the usual preliminaries.”
Steven Hawksworth is rather pretentious and likes to let the audience watch the stars being set up for interviewing. They can watch them being made up, going through questions, talking to Steven and chatting and laughing.
Gideon isn’t laughing or even smiling. We watch silently as he sits looking sleek and expensive in his designer suit, his foot crossed over his knee. His expression is spare and under tight control, the only sign of agitation the tic in his jaw and the way his foot is jiggling. Steven tries to speak to him a couple of times and both times Gideon doesn’t appear to be listening to him, making the interviewer look slightly petulant.
Oz stirs. “Why does the camera keep cutting to Steven laughing and shaking his hair? It’s like aEurovision Song Contestsegment.”
“He likes the camera the way my old dog liked bacon,” I say meditatively, and Niall laughs. I turn my head and look at him in surprise as he and Silas sink into the sofa next to me. Niall smiles innocently, and my eyes narrow.
“What are you doing?”
Oz laughs. “Only known you a few days and already he knows you’re up to something. I rest my case. I said you could never be a secret agent.”
“And you could?” Niall asks crossly. “You’ve got a mouth bigger than the Channel Tunnel.”
“All the better to eat Silas with,” Oz says, winking and laughing as Silas groans and covers his face.
Niall turns to me. “Gideon rang me and Silas on the way to the studio.”
“He rangyou,”I whisper, feeling the betrayal slam into me.
He immediately holds up his hands in a panicked fashion. “No. No. Not like that. He only spoke for a few minutes. Just long enough to ask us to look out for you.”
“To look out forme?Why?”
“Because Frankie is on the war path. Gideon wanted us to have your back.”
“It might have been nice for Gideon to share those concerns with me personally,” I say acidly.
He winks. “Nah, you know him. You know that’s not his way.”
“Do I know him?” I ask helplessly.
“Yes,” he says, looking intently at me. “You do. You’re probably the only one in this room who really does. And you’ll know immediately that I was stunned because Gideon is not and has never been very sensitive to people’s feelings.”
“No!” I gasp. “Really?”
He grins suddenly, white and wide and somehow approving. Then he nudges me. “Only yours.”
