Page 108 of The Reluctant Hero

I make it to the building in record time and take the elevator up. Vanessa is on the phone when I breeze past. I open the office doors quietly to see if I can sneak in to scare Gabriel.

I poke my head in for a quick peek. The sight that greets me freezes my body as if someone has hit pause.

Gabriel props his head up with his hands covering his face. Mikael is behind him, looking concerned as one hand restson his shoulder. Ace is standing by the desk, looking helpless and grim as he watches.

There’s something so melancholy and downright broken to Gabriel’s posture that makes my heart ache in sympathy. Whatever is going on, it's hit him hard. He almost looks like he’s crying. The idea of it is paralyzing. He’s so unaffected by most things that this is a slap in the face of shock.

My mind spins fruitlessly, trying to figure out what might have happened and how to help. The first thing I come up with is a death in the family.

I close the door as silently as I can. None of them notice me and the soft sound could be covered by whatever Mikael is saying to comfort him. I continue walking backward and run into someone.

“What’s the matter?” Jake whispers in my ear, trying his idiotic best to be creepy. My heart hurts too bad to be fazed.

I turn to look at him with wide eyes, catching Cade at his side as usual. They seem amused at my panic. Maybe they don’t know yet. I can’t get a word out as I stare between them.

When Jake tries to pass me, I grab his bicep with wide eyes. He glances down at my hand, his brows furrowing, and then back to me. He cradles my knuckles with his palm to keep my hand there.

“What’s wrong?” His tone is actually serious for once. It draws Cade’s attention with a snap. His usual smirk drops in an instant.

“Don’t go in there. I think he needs a minute. Or an hour. Or to just go home.”

“Who?” Jake asks with the barest hint of confusion.

“Gabriel,” I hiss with wide eyes. “I’m not joking. Heneedsa minute. Do you guys know what happened?”

They glance at each other, and I see when comprehension breaks over them. Jake’s body language becomes tense in seconds. Cade’s expression falls into a sad kind of resignation.

Of both of them, Cade’s reaction hits me the hardest. How can such an upbeat man sink into despair that quickly? He must have a lot of practice at it. The realization amps my concern up dramatically. Please don’t let him fall apart, too.

“Shit,” Cade mutters and runs a hand through his hair.

“With everything going on, I forgot,” Jake shakes his head with a sigh.

“Forgot what? Is he ok? Areyouok?” I look back and forth between them in rising concern.

“No, he’s not. And we all get to pretend one more time that he is.” The bitter tone of Cade’s voice is surprising. I notice he wiped away my question abouthismental state with narrowed eyes.

“I can’t go in there and pretend I didn’t see that,” I tell him helplessly. “He needs something. What would help?”

“Do not doanything,Amanda,” Cade says sternly, his depression turning into anger aimed all at me. “No jokes or giving him shit today.”

“Well, duh,” I snap quietly back. “I want that tostop, not make it worse.”

“Just go in there and pretend everything is fine. Sit down, highlight, and don’t talk,” Cade insists.

I nod helplessly. Yeah, he’s being rude as hell, but I’ll do whatever it takes not to see that again.

“There’s nothing I can do? What’s going on?”

“There’s nothing any of us can do,” Jake sighs and taps my hand to get me to let go.

Cade swallows hard and glances over his shoulder at Vanessa, but she’s still on a call. He turns back to me to whisper, “This is fucking serious, Amanda. Behave today.”

I’m not that bad, am I? I rear back from him with a frown.

“Today is the anniversary of his mother getting murdered right in front of him,” Cade’s eyes narrow intently on me.

My jaw drops, and so does my heart.

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