His gaze locked on me, searching out my secrets.
Then my monitor chimed, a sharp, digital bleat. An access notification. We both turned, caught in the glow.
“Live access detected,” the screen read. My folder, open. Changing. Someone was in the system, right now.
I scrambled for the keyboard. Gabriel was faster, already at the terminal. His fingers flew as he traced the intrusion, eyes scanning lines of gibberish like they were poetry.
“Someone’s piggybacking off your credentials,” he said. “They’re in your sandbox.”
My mouth went dry. “Can you trace it?”
He shook his head, once. “Masked, but internal. IT or executive suite.”
Cold fear spiked in my gut, then settled into a tight, furious ball. I’d known. I’d fucking known.
I looked at Gabriel, automatically, instinctively. He didn’t look surprised. He looked…resigned.
“Is this you?” I whispered, not sure if I wanted the answer.
He didn’t flinch. “If it was, you’d never have caught it.”
I should’ve felt better. I didn’t.
With quick motions, I put on my heels.
He reached for my arm, stopped himself an inch short. “Don’t run. Not now.”
“I’m not running,” I lied. “I’m recalibrating.”
He watched me.
“I’ll handle it,” I said, smoothing my skirt with hands that shook just a little.
He straightened, the moment between us snap-frozen. “If you want my help-”
“I know where to find you,” I cut in.
He inclined his head, as if I’d passed some test. “Good night, Eliza.” With that, his arms gathered me close and I froze, instantly taken back to my dream. His lips met mine, quick, gentle, and then he left, as if it was something natural, he’d been doing forever.
My body hummed, my lips tingled, and my fingertips touched them as if to ensure everything was still fine. I wasn’t fine. He’d kissed me. Like we’d been lovers forever.
I waited until I heard the tap of his shoes down the hall before I let myself breathe.
What the fuck was going on? Clearly this was a dream. And why did I like it?
I locked the screen. The room felt empty, but not safe. Worse… I was still imagining him pinning me to the wall, but this time, knowing how it felt to have him compliment me, he whispered encouragement in my ear and my throat went dry.
There was no way I could let Gabriel bed me, but I wanted him so damn badly.
Chapter Ten
Gabriel
Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’d fucked up.
I needed to do some damage control. Fix this, frame this, something. I swung right back around and marched back to her office.
Every line of her body was barricaded; the set of her shoulders, the way her arms folded like a steel gate over her chest. But her eyes looked red.