Here All Along (21 page)

Gabe grabbed a bottle of water from the bar fridge and took a long swig before flopping back on the sofa. “This is going to be good.”

“Just shut the fuck up, Gabe.” It was bad enough his mom was tearing into him. He didn’t need the smartass commentary.

“Watch your language, young man.” His mother swung her hand toward him like she was about to pop him on the cheek for cursing, but paused and flexed her fingers several times like she was trying to control her own temper. “What’s going on with you and Sarah?”

He was spared the trouble of answering thanks to the banging on the front door. Gideon sat up and craned his neck to see past his mother, hoping it was Red storming into the room.

But what he got were two burly bodyguards. “We tried to stop her, boss,” Jason said apologetically.

Another four-letter word sat poised on the tip of his tongue, but one glance at his mother smothered it. “Any idea where she went?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to answer that one, Kid.” Gabe took another drink before he continued. “A thousand bucks says she’s on her way to the airport.”

“Then let’s go after her.” Gideon rose from his chair, only to be shoved back down by his mother.

“You’re not going anywhere until you answer my questions.”

Gideon curled his fingers into his palm, only to revive the throbbing pain in his hand. He sucked in a breath through his teeth until the hurt waned enough for him to speak. “Mom, if I don’t stop her now, I’ll lose her forever.”

“Then use your head instead of chasing after her like an idiot.” Maureen turned to Jason. “You still playing with computers?”

Even though he was a six-three, two hundred and sixty–pound wall of muscle, Jason took a step back and tripped over his words when Maureen zeroed in on him. “Um, yes, some.”

“He’s still hacking, Mom, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Gideon added, coming to his bodyguard’s defense. “Jason, do you think you can keep Sarah from leaving Las Vegas?”

Maureen closed the space between them until Jason was backed up against the wall and a shade paler than before.

He looked to Gideon, beads of sweat forming along his forehead. “Um, I think I can.”

“Then get to it.” Maureen made a sharp turn on her heel and returned to Gideon.

He nodded to his bodyguards, who both hustled back to their command central.

“You shouldn’t intimidate them like that, Mom.”

“Then hire some bodyguards with balls.” She sat down next to Gabe on the sofa and crossed her legs like a proper country club wife having tea with a friend. “Now, back to Sarah.”

“You know how Red is. She’ll be back once she’s had time to cool down and come to her senses.” At least, that was the way it had always been in the past. His gut told him this time was different.

His feet twitched, and the little voice in the back of his mind nagged him for wasting valuable time, but the second he tried to stand, his mom made a sound of warning and pointed down.

“You’re not leaving this room until you come clean, young man.”

Gabe’s grin widened to a level of cockiness that made Gideon want to punch him all over again.

Maureen pulled her phone out of her purse. “I got an odd Google alert on my way from the airport saying you two were married. Care to clarify that?”

Shit!

He dug his heels into the carpet and tried to find a comfortable position in the chair. “Can I first ask why you’re here?”

“Adam and I were talking about you last night, and he was just as worried as I was about you. So this morning, I decided to fly down and check on you.”

“A little warning would’ve been appreciated.”

“I tried to call Sarah since I knew you were working, but her voice mail was full.” She tucked her phone back into her purse. “Back to this allegation that you two are married.”

He buried his face in his hands, the throbbing in his temples beginning to match the one in his hand. “Yes, Mom, we got married.”

“Would you like to see a video of the ceremony?” Gabe offered his phone to Maureen. “Nothing grand, but I’m sure these two lovebirds will always remember it fondly.”

Except the bride had no memory of it at all.

“You can show it to her later.” Gideon slid down the back of the chair and stared at the ceiling in frustration. “But yes, we got married, and now she’s so pissed off at me, I’ll probably be served with divorce papers by the end of the week.”

“Not if you take a moment and think before you act,” his mother replied. “You always were too impulsive.”

“I was thinking before I acted.”

“And were you thinking for yourself or playing along with
him
?” She tilted her head gesturing to Gabe and waited for him to respond.

He turned what he wanted to say into a bunch of grumbles and went back to slouching in the chair. He knew better than to argue with her. It would be easier just to let her tell him what he did wrong and how to fix it.

It was Gabe who finally came to his defense. “Yes, I admit we deceived her and a few other people to get what we wanted, but up until Sarah ran off, it worked. Gideon got the girl, and I got the co-star I wanted.”

“No, you didn’t.” Gideon lifted his head just enough to squint at Gabe. “You got her to do the screen test, but she won’t take the role.”

“I beg to differ. She wanted the role. Why else would she have blown that screen test out of the water?”

His stomach lurched, and he closed his eyes before he got sick. Gabe was right. If Red hadn’t wanted the role, she would’ve done something to sabotage the screen test. Or even refused to do it in the first place. “This isn’t helping me get her back.”

“Why did she run off, Gideon?” his mom asked.

The image of her face pale with betrayal, the hurt in her eyes, the tears she blinked back as she handed him her ring—they all haunted him as he replayed the seconds right before she ran away. “She accused us of manipulating her.”

“Which you did.”

“I know.” He sighed and rose from the chair, his body heavy with defeat. “And before that, she was upset that I never told her about the screen test.”

“Because you were so certain she wouldn’t be interested in the role.”

“Come on, Mom. How long have you known Sarah? How long has she sworn that she never wanted to go back to acting ever again?”

She pursed her lips for a second before turning to Gabe. “And did you get that same impression?”

“Not at all.” Gabe stretched his arm out along the back of the sofa. “Sarah was saying one thing, but deep inside, she wanted the opposite, just like she did when I asked about Gideon.”

He paused and waited for Gideon to explain. When he didn’t, he continued.

“Sarah claimed they were just friends and nothing more, but when you saw the two of them together, you knew she was lying. All she needed was a push in the right direction.”

Or a fifth of vodka.

“So you provided that push?” Maureen asked Gabe.

“Maybe just a little.” A flash of guilt washed over his face, and he tensed up, his elbows on his knees. “Listen, Kid, I know I’m partly responsible for things—”

“Partly?” Gideon crossed the room to confront him. “If you had even an ounce of respect for Red, you’d never have posted that video.”

Gabe jumped up and stood eye to eye with him, giving Gideon a good look at the bruising blossoming along his jaw. “You’re not completely innocent, so don’t try to dump this all on me.”

“Boys!” Maureen pressed one hand on each of their chests and wedged herself between them. “That’s enough. Passing the blame never solves anything.”

Raul jogged in and stopped as though he feared getting caught up in the tension in the room. “Is this a good moment to give you an update, boss?”

Gideon welcomed the distraction. He turned and retreated to his chair. “Sure.”

“Jason was able to block all her credit cards. She won’t be able to buy a plane ticket or rent a car or even get a hotel room without one.”

“Perfect.” He sat down and tried to come up with the next step in the plan now that he knew she was trapped in Vegas.

“Tell Jason thank you for me.” Maureen gave Raul a charming smile that held until the bodyguard left the room. “So now that we have some time, let’s come up with a plan to convince her to come back.”

“I foresee lots of groveling in Gideon’s future,” Gabe teased.

“Yours, too, young man,” Maureen reprimanded. “But one more thing before we move forward, Gideon.”

“What?” he asked, his voice laced with annoyance.

“You’re getting that hand X-rayed. It looks broken.”

This time, he didn’t hold back the curse.

Chapter Seventeen

“What do you mean this credit card’s declined, too?”

“I’m very sorry, Ms.-” said the clerk at the rental car counter as she glanced at Sarah’s card and then back at her, her expression grim with suspicion, “-Holtz, but I’ve tried every card you’ve given me. Perhaps you should contact your credit card company and let me take care of the next guest.”

Sarah grabbed her card and driver’s license and sulked off with her suitcase in tow. The day had gone from crappy to downright shit-tastic in a matter of hours. Gideon’s betrayal had been bad enough. She just wanted to hide behind her sunglasses, get back to LA, and move on with her life. But when she’d arrived at the airport, she had learned every one of her credit cards had been canceled.

This reeked of Gideon. Who else would have enough sway to trap her here?

She plunked down in a chair and buried her face in her hands. Her skin felt gritty from her earlier tears, and she was scared to see what her makeup looked like under the cheap sunglasses Gabe had given her earlier. Combined with the Las Vegas baseball cap, she probably looked like some down-on-her-luck gambler who was living at the airport.

Not too far from the truth.

If she had her phone, she could call someone for a ride or to send her money, but her phone was toast, thanks to its recent dunk in the swimming pool. For a second, she considered calling her mom collect, but she’d never hear the end of it if she did. Besides, her mom had never been there when she needed her anyway. The only person who had been there was Gideon.

She reached for her left ring finger without thinking, only to be reminded that the wedding ring was gone. She already missed its weight, its presence, its promise. Just hours ago, she’d been in love. And now?

I’m more screwed up than ever.

She slid down the seat and closed her eyes. The clamor of the slot machines drowned out her thoughts and numbed her senses. She had no idea how much time had passed before someone sat next to her and said, “Rough day, Red?”

She cracked open one eye to find a vaguely familiar man in a Yankees cap giving her a lopsided grin. “Gabe?”

“Took you a moment, didn’t it? I told the Kid these things work.” He peeked over the rim of his sunglasses to wink at her. “So, when’s your flight?”

The brief joy that came from seeing a friendly face faded when she remembered that he and Gideon were suddenly as thick as thieves. She curled away from him and added a hard edge to her voice. “Like you don’t know.”

“I don’t, actually. I left when Maureen took Gideon to the ER.”

“The ER?” She stiffened, her muscles tense enough to shatter if pushed further. “What happened? Is he hurt? Will he be okay?”

Gabe’s grin widened to the point of arrogance. “So you do care about him?”

Damn him. He’d tricked her. She shrugged and tried to appear disinterested, even though her heart was going a mile a minute with worry. “Just curious what the Kid has done now.”

“He broke his hand giving me this.” Gabe turned his head to the side to reveal the swollen bruise along his jaw.

She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. An odd mix of both came from her mouth before she could stop it, and she cleared her throat. “Serves you right.”

“I don’t get any pity?”

“Nope.” She crossed her arms and resumed her
I don’t give a damn
posture. “So why are you here pestering me?”

“Pestering you?” He placed his palm over his chest like she’d wounded him. “I’m here to rescue you, and this is the thanks I get?”

“What makes you think I need rescuing?”

“Besides the fact Jason reported all your credit cards as stolen?”

She bit her lip to keep from cursing. She knew Gideon was behind it.

Gabe chuckled. “I’d thought that Raul was the brains and Jason was the brawn, but it seems I was wrong. And I might have to steal Jason away from Gideon once we get back to LA.”

“Ha! Good luck with that.” Thanks to his farm-boy roots, Jason was extremely loyal. It was one of the reasons she’d hired him as Gideon’s bodyguard. The hacker skills were an added bonus.

“But back to getting you home. I’m done with shooting, and I was just here to charter a flight for tomorrow back to LA.” He paused and leaned in closer. “There’s room on there for you, if you want to join me.”