Page 88 of In Control

“Esra,” he says at last, “did you know she’s being stalked?”

My whole body tenses, my blood suddenly cold in my veins. I lift my head from my hands and stare at him. Is he serious?

“Are you sure? It’s not some twisted–”

“No. I saw the note.”

“It’s not–”

“No. No, it isn’t.”

I lean back in my seat. “This is why. You know this is why …”

“This is different, Esra. You have to let that go.”

“I can’t and it’s not.”

“It is. There’s …” he peers out the window, ‘“there’s more to the situation than she’s letting on.”

“She’s refusing to tell you.”

“No, I just have this feeling. I wondered …” his eyes return to mine, “if she told you anything.”

“We’re not talking.”

“She likes you.”

“Maybe she did. Now she hates me.”

He shakes his head. “This could be different. This could be good, if you’d let it be.”

I stand up and lean on my desk. “You just told me yourself, she has a stalker. This is foolish on so many fucking levels. I don’t understand why you and Liam can’t see that.” I crunch my hands into fists. “It’s our job to protect him, Ro. To care for him.”

“And we’re doing such a good fucking job,” he mutters.

“What does that mean?”

“You know he’s going to have to retire soon. Give up the dancing. It’s his life, and he’s going to have to give it up.”

“Why?” I say, utterly shocked.

“We’re all getting older, mate. Even Gabe.”

My head drops forward and I stare down at the pile of papers on my desk. My scribbled notes from last night rush across the page. Half of it is illegible. I must have been half asleep.

Seems I have been in every sense.

Gabriel stop dancing? I can’t imagine it. It’s been his passion all the time we’ve known him. His passion and his love. Gabriel was born to dance.

“You remember the first time we met him?” Ro asks.

“Yeah, of course I do.”

“It was at that fucking boring party Liam dragged us to because he’d heard there would be omegas coming. Some stupid dinner-dance with everyone dressed up like stuffed turkeys. He was dancing then. In the middle of the dance floor and, fuck, he was the only person who seemed alive, real … free.”

“He was also the only omega who would actually talk to us.”

Ro chuckles. “You know they say things are changing now. More omegas are actively looking for a pack. Gabe was ahead of his time. He saw the advantages of having more than one alpha.”

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