Page 34 of Salvation

Luke’s call probably just saved me from punching Gabrial in his perfect face.

I snap into the phone, “Hey. Sorry, my phone must be in my office. I just walked back in from the deli. Did you get anything from the photos or envelope?”

I hear Luke sigh. “No, they couldn’t find any prints other than you and Maia. Whoever sent it is very smart. They know what they’re doing.

“And what the hell do you mean you just walked back in from the deli? You received a damn threat delivered to the shelter today, Hope! And you thought it was a good idea to walk to the fucking deli for a sandwich with a threat around that we don’t know who it is?”

Great. Now Luke is on my ass, too.

I open my mouth to retort, but I look up and see everyone is looking at me, eager to be filled in. I shake my head no and say, “Nothing. No prints other than Maia and me. Whoever did it didn’t leave anything behind.”

Gabrial cusses profoundly and holds out his hand. My brows rise and I exclaim, “No, absolutely not.”

Luke says, “No what?”

Shaking my head again, I mutter, “No, Luke. Not you. Gabrial is here and he wants me to hand him the phone.”

Luke says, “He is? He does?” He cusses under his breath before saying roughly, “Well, give it to him.”

Blinking in disbelief, I hold the receiver away from my face, looking at it like it suddenly grew a head before pressing it back to my ear. “What? You want me to put Gabrial on the phone!?”

Luke says with exasperation, “Am I speaking Chinese!? Yes, put him on the phone!”

At the same time, Gabrial snatches the phone from me and says, “Give me the damn phone, Hope.”

I glare at him and throw my hands up in the air. “I’m in the fucking Twilight Zone right now.” Pointing at Maia I mutter, “I’m going to my office. When he’s off the phone, he can leave.” I glare at Davey, too. “You can go, too. You don’t need to be here.”

Gabrial is listening to something Luke is saying, but he shakes his head at Davey and glares at me, “He’s not leaving. He’s staying.”

With a roll of my eyes, I flip him off before stomping off to my office, leaving them all in the lobby.

Are you kidding me? This is MY fucking shelter and I’m a grown ass woman.

Two men just ordered me around like they have the right to control my damn life.

Yet here I am stomping off to my damn office and leaving my employee up there along with my whatever Gabrial is. And he’s on the phone with Luke!

Gabrial and Luke are on the phone with each other while Max… and my new bodyguard, Davey, listen in.

How the fuck did this happen?

My head is spinning as I flop into my office chair. Laying it on my folded arms on my desk, I just listen to the soft sounds of the music coming through my radio and try to relax.

The “sushi music” as I call it, soothes my ragged nerves. Finally, I hear the door chime as I imagine Gabrial and Max leave.

Soft footsteps come down the hall, but I don’t raise my head as Maia approaches. Something is set down next to me. Lifting my head, I open my eyes to see what it is.

A cup of coffee is in front of me, and Maia is standing in front of my desk, wringing her hands together and looking at her shoes.

I instantly feel bad about the way I just treated her. She’s been through a lot, and she really is a damn good secretary/assistant and a really sweet girl. Smiling, I reach out and cup my hands around the steaming mug.

She looks up and bites her lip, showing her nervousness. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep or betray your trust, Hope. I hope you can forgive me. I can’t bear the thought that you’re disappointed with me.”

I’m instantly on my feet and rounding my desk. Her eyes go wide in apprehension, and I see her body tense as if she’s awaiting a blow. Realizing that I’m scaring her, I stop a few feet away and calmly say, “Oh, Maia, you didn’t disappoint me. Never think that. You couldn’t disappoint me. I was just pissy from Gabrial and his high handedness. And then Luke came at me again and chastised me like a damn child.” I wave my hands and roll my eyes. “I don’t know why I’m surprised, but it just pissed me off that Gabrial was telling me that for the foreseeable future I’ll have a shadow… and my arguments were just waved off. And then Luke lecturing me, to boot…”

Smirking, she says, “Not many people would argue with Mr. DeLucca like that. And Luke, too…

“They both care about you. A lot.”

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