Z

Harper refused Gabriel Rossi’s protection three times before she managed to stand.

The first refusal came from the sofa.

The second came while Dr. Bell taped her ribs.

The third came at the top of the Velvet Onyx’s private staircase, where she discovered two black SUVs waiting beyond the frosted glass doors.

“I’m not getting into that car.”

Gabriel buttoned his overcoat.

“You’re not taking the train.”

“I take the train every night.”

“Not tonight.”

“You can’t order me around.”

Dominic Caruso, standing several feet behind them, looked briefly toward the ceiling as though asking God to prevent him from smiling.

Gabriel did not react.

“I can order my driver to take you somewhere safe.”

“I have a home.”

“No. You have an address where the man who injured you knows where to find you.”

Harper flinched.

“That’s none of your business.”

Gabriel looked at her for a long moment.

“You collapsed in front of me.”

“That still doesn’t make it your business.”

“You’re right.”

Harper blinked.

She clearly had not expected agreement.

Gabriel opened the door.

Wind rushed through the entrance.

Snow scratched against the sidewalk beneath the streetlights.

“You can choose where you go,” he said. “Hotel. Friend’s house. Shelter. My doctor’s private clinic. You can even choose another restaurant and sit there until sunrise. But you are not going back to an apartment where a man with a history of violence is waiting.”

Harper stared at him.

“You really think people get choices that easily?”

Gabriel’s face changed slightly.

“No.”

For the first time, there was something in his voice she could not identify.

“Which is why I’m giving you one.”

Harper looked outside.

Her ribs hurt.

Her head throbbed.

Her uniform smelled faintly of bourbon.

Her phone had been buzzing inside her purse for fifteen minutes.

She already knew who it was.

Mitchell.

She had not looked at the screen.

She did now.

17 missed calls.

Six text messages.

WHERE ARE YOU?

ANSWER ME.

YOU GET OFF AT ELEVEN.

DON’T MAKE ME COME THERE.

Harper locked the screen.

Gabriel had seen enough.

He did not ask permission before holding out his hand.

“Phone.”

“No.”

“Harper.”

“No.”

His eyebrows lifted.

“That is apparently your favorite word tonight.”

“Maybe people don’t tell you no very often.”

“Almost never.”

Despite everything, a tiny laugh escaped her.

It hurt so badly she immediately pressed a hand to her ribs.

Gabriel’s amusement disappeared.

“Hospital.”

“No hospital.”

“Then Bell’s clinic.”

“I can’t afford a private clinic.”

“You’re not paying.”

Her expression hardened.

“I don’t take charity.”

Gabriel leaned slightly closer.

“Good. Neither do I.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means this is not charity.”

“What is it?”

Gabriel looked through the glass doors at the snow.

“An inconvenience.”

Harper stared at him.

Dominic coughed suspiciously.

Gabriel turned his head.

“Something funny?”

“Nothing.”

Harper looked between them.

Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

It lasted barely a second.

But Gabriel saw it.

And because he saw it, he also noticed how young she looked beneath the exhaustion.

Not weak.

Not fragile.

Just tired of carrying something no one should have been carrying alone.

Twenty minutes later, Harper sat inside the back seat of Gabriel’s SUV.

Marco drove.

Gabriel sat beside her.

She had insisted that Dominic take the second vehicle because she did not want “an audience.”

Gabriel had nearly pointed out that she was riding beside the most feared man in half of Chicago.

Instead he had simply nodded.

Harper watched the city pass outside.

Michigan Avenue lights blurred against the falling snow.

Everything looked expensive from inside Gabriel’s car.

Warm leather seats.

Dark wood trim.

Silence that cost more than her apartment.

“Where are we going?”

“Bell’s clinic.”

“And after?”

“A hotel.”

“No.”

Gabriel glanced over.

“What now?”

“I’m not staying in some five-thousand-dollar suite.”

“Fine.”

“I mean it.”

“Five hundred?”

“Gabriel.”

It was the first time she used his name.

Something strange moved through his chest.

“Three hundred.”

“This is not a negotiation.”

“It is now.”

Harper looked away.

“I need my things.”

“From the apartment?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I need clothes. My medication. Documents.”

“We’ll collect them.”

Her head turned sharply.

“We?”

“My people.”

“No.”

“Again with that word.”

“You’re not sending armed men into my apartment.”

“Why?”

“Because Mitchell will lose his mind.”

Gabriel’s eyes darkened.

“Harper, I stopped caring about Mitchell’s emotional wellbeing roughly forty minutes ago.”

“You don’t know him.”

“I know his brother.”

That silenced her.

Harper turned.

“What?”

“Connor Kane.”

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her purse.

“How?”

Gabriel looked forward.

“That’s a long story.”

“Tell me.”

“He ran an operation I shut down.”

“What kind?”

Gabriel hesitated.

Harper immediately understood the hesitation.

Her face went pale.

“Oh.”

“Mitchell may not have been involved.”

“He was.”

Gabriel turned toward her.

Harper stared at the floor.

“I heard things.”

“When?”

“Two years ago.”

“From Mitchell?”

“He was drunk.”

“What things?”

She shook her head.

Gabriel waited.

He had learned that silence worked better than pressure.

Eventually Harper whispered, “Girls. Warehouses. Men owing money.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened.

“Did he ever mention locations?”

“No.”

“Names?”

“Connor. Sometimes someone named Felix.”

Gabriel’s eyes sharpened.

Felix Ward.

A name his people had been trying to connect to Connor Kane for five years.

Harper noticed his reaction.

“That means something.”

“Yes.”

Her breathing quickened.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You should have said it sooner.”

“To who?”

Gabriel did not answer immediately.

“Police?” Harper continued. “Mitchell has two cops on his payroll. At least two. One of them came to our apartment for Christmas drinks.”

Gabriel turned.

“Name.”

“I don’t know.”

“Think.”

“I don’t know!”

She pulled away instinctively.

Pain crossed her face.

Gabriel softened his voice.

“All right.”

Harper closed her eyes.

“I tried leaving once.”

“When?”

“Fourteen months ago.”

Gabriel remained still.

“I had seven hundred dollars. A bus ticket to Indianapolis. I packed while he was working.”

“What happened?”

“He was waiting at the station.”

“How?”

Harper gave a humorless laugh.

“My phone.”

“Tracking app?”

“I didn’t know it was there.”

Gabriel’s eyes hardened.

“What happened after?”

She did not answer.

He looked at the fading bruise near her temple.

He already knew.

The clinic appeared at the end of the block.

Marco pulled into an underground entrance.

Harper suddenly grabbed Gabriel’s sleeve.

“Wait.”

He looked down at her hand.

She immediately released him.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize every time you touch something.”

Her eyes dropped.

“Yes, I do.”

Gabriel hated Mitchell Kane more with every sentence she spoke.

“What?”

“He keeps records.”

“Mitchell?”

She nodded.

“In the apartment.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know exactly. A black notebook. He locks it in the bottom desk drawer.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because if your people go there, he’ll know.”

“We can handle Mitchell.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

Harper looked directly into his eyes.

“No. You don’t understand. Mitchell doesn’t care if he survives something. He only cares who he can hurt before he goes down.”

Gabriel studied her.

“Is there someone else?”

Harper’s lips parted.

Her expression betrayed her before she spoke.

Gabriel leaned forward.

“Harper.”

Tears immediately filled her eyes.

“My sister.”

Gabriel’s blood turned cold.

“Where is she?”

“Milwaukee.”

“Does Mitchell know?”

“Yes.”

“Name.”

“Emily.”

“Last name?”

“Monroe.”

Gabriel reached for his phone.

Harper grabbed his wrist.

“No.”

He looked at her.

“If you send people to her house, she’ll panic.”

“Then you call her.”

“What do I say?”

“The truth.”

Harper laughed bitterly.

“I haven’t told her the truth in three years.”

Gabriel held the phone toward her.

“Start tonight.”

For a long time, she stared at it.

Then Harper took the phone.

Her hands were shaking.

She dialed.

A woman answered after four rings.

“Hello?”

Harper’s face crumpled.

“Emily?”

A pause.

“Harp? Whose phone is this?”

Harper closed her eyes.

Gabriel looked away to give her the smallest amount of privacy he could inside the car.

“Em, I need you to listen to me.”

“What happened?”

“I’m okay.”

“You only say that when you’re not okay.”

Harper covered her mouth.

Her shoulders shook.

Gabriel stared through the windshield.

“I need you to leave your apartment tonight,” Harper whispered.

“What?”

“Pack a bag. Go somewhere Mitchell doesn’t know.”

Silence.

Then Emily’s voice changed.

“Harper.”

“I’m serious.”

“What did he do?”

Harper opened her eyes.

She looked at Gabriel.

He did not nod.

Did not push.

He simply waited.

And after three years of lies, Harper Monroe finally spoke the truth.

“He hurts me.”

The words broke something open.

Emily began crying.

Harper did too.

Gabriel sat beside her, saying nothing.

Five minutes later, Marco was arranging security for Emily Monroe.

Seven minutes after that, Harper entered Dr. Bell’s clinic.

Nine minutes after that, Gabriel received a message from Dominic.

MITCHELL KANE JUST WALKED INTO THE VELVET ONYX.

HE’S ASKING WHERE SHE IS.

Gabriel read it once.

Then typed two words.

KEEP HIM THERE.

He looked through the clinic window.

Harper sat beneath a warm blanket while a nurse examined her arm.

For the first time that night, Gabriel smiled.

There was no humor in it.

Mitchell Kane had spent three years convincing Harper that no one would ever stand between them.

Tonight, he was about to learn how wrong he had been.