Page 80 of Maneater
“You need to call Gabriel,” Rory says, her face soft but serious. “I know we talked about this, about you starting something with him, but it’s getting messy, and it could break our cover. He’s beginning to get suspicious.” I nod, knowing she’s right. “I’m not saying you can’t…whatever with him. But if it impacts the job…” She sighs. “People are getting hurt, Josie. It’s one thing when it’s silly stuff, like bubbles in a pool or deliveries missed—things that only hurt the guest experience or the bottom line. But now we’re facing multiple cases where someone was going to be hurt.”
I nod, knowing she’s right.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper, my eyes watering. I don’t know the last time I cried: it’s not my thing, and being raised as a tomboy in a house of brothers and a single dad meant crying usually resulted in teasing.
But that ache in my throat isn’t only because of that, and I know it.
“Call Gabriel,” she says softly. “I’m going to go to the pool, sit out, and see if I can see anything. Meet me at dinner in”—she looks at her watch—“an hour?”
I nod and stare at my phone and the name on the screen while she gathers her things and heads out the door. Finally, I take in a deep breath and hit call.
It rings twice before the mysterious man answers.
“Montgomery,” the familiar deep voice says, and despite my nerves, I settle. Gabriel feels like an old friend, someone I can trust with my whole being, and I know it’s because in this job, I have to. But it also feels like I can be honest with him, something I’m sure is a curated veil, since so much of this job relies on trusting the people we work with.
“Hey, Gabriel,” I say with a low sigh.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Typically, on assignments,Rory is the one to call Gabriel. I’m usually out playing my games and winning people over while Rory does her behind-the-scenes work, making it easier for her to be the first line of contact.
“Something happened,” I admit quietly.
“Mm-hmm,” he says.
Gabriel is like a dad who is never mad, just disappointed, which makes it all the worse when you have to admit something shitty to him. I never want to let him down, and a mishap like this feels like just that. I’ve never even gotten close to breaking my cover on an assignment.
Until Rowan.
“We stumbled upon a sabotage while we were planting a bug and ran to fix it. It was a danger to guests, and we couldn’t let it play out on its own, so Rory and I made the executive decision to step in.”
“Okay,” he says, clearly following but giving me the room needed to expand. I take a move before continuing.
“The reason we were able to stop it before someone got severely hurt is that I stole one of the universal keys.” The silence hangs, and I explain further. “I snagged it while…” A blush burns over me, head to toe, and I’m glad this isn’t a video call. “Getting intimate with Rowan.”
“The VP of Operations, whom you knew from your past,” Gabriel says, a statement rather than a question.
I nod, though he can’t see it, before speaking. “Yes. And I’m happy I had it because it kept the guest safe, but also…”
Once again, he fills in the blanks. “It created some questions.”
“He asked me to stay while he handled things, and after everything was cleared up with the police, he brought me to his office to ask me some questions. He…he knows something is off. Knows we’re not here for vacation. He has for a while, but he’s let it slide because I think he thought it was just something silly or inconsequential. However, when someone got hurt, I was holding the key, literally. He said he doesn’t trust me. I wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, and he said he doesn’t trust me and told me to leave.” The memory hurts just as bad as the reality, but the vision of his betrayed face is almost the most painful. “I just…” My voice cracks. “I just don’t know what to do. I think…”
“You’re getting too close,” he guesses before I have to say it out loud, which I suppose is a relief.
“I didn’t mean to,” I whisper my confession. “It just happened. He’s a good guy, and I like him, and it’s just…it felt unavoidable. Something that was always going to happen, always inevitable.”
“He’s the one who has bumped into you on dates, correct? The one who sat with you while you were out with Stephen Jones?”
I nod, though he can’t see me. We tell Gabriel everything that happens on a mission, both for safety and job security, so Rowan has made his way into a few of my final reports at this point.
“Maybe…” I start, thinking about the idea that’s been sitting on my heart for a few days now as I continue to get myself more and more tied up in this mission. The more I blurred the lines and dipped my toes into gray areas, the more I wondered… “Maybe I’m not the right one for this job,” I say low. “Maybe you should call in backup, see if?—”
“He’s really getting under your skin, isn’t he?” Gabriel asks with a laugh that cuts me off, and I freeze.
“What? Rowan? No.”
“He’s far enough that you’re questioning yourself. Far enough that you’re pushing aside the steadfast values you typically hold, for better or worse.”
My stomach churns with his words that I know are true.
