With more enemies lining up to kill him than he can count, a playboy billionaire must hire the only woman capable of keeping him alive, even if she hates his guts.
Gabriel Gerard's life is full of gorgeous women, expensive cars, and infinite wealth...
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"Olivia!" he called, torn between going after her and staying with Bri. He took a few steps into the casino, but Olivia had disappeared into the crowd. He spun around, masked faces blurring before him, but he couldn't find her. He didn't have time to search for her now. He had to get Bri and Claire out safely. Then he and Olivia could rescue Christian. And he would deal with the rest of it later.
Gabriel went back through the doorway, but Bri was gone. The only sign of her existence were their masks and the empty glasses on the floor. He turned back to the casino not knowing whom to look for or where to start. He fought the panic rising in his chest. The thought of losing Bri again was suffocating, but the thought of her father's men catching her was blood-chilling. Did Bri even know how to get to the prison? He had to find her and her cousin before anyone else did.
Then Gabriel heard Bri's muffled scream from the top of the stairs. Two Secret Service agents held her. They were trying to drag her up another flight against her will.
Drawing his sword, Gabriel ran up the stairs. He couldn't let them get her to President Alexander. The agents looked surprised to see him armed with a medieval weapon. Before the closest one could draw his firearm, Gabriel swung, severing the agent's arm from his body. Gabriel hid his surprise at how easily his sword cut through human flesh and bone. The man screamed as bright blood splattered across the landing. He fell to his knees, and without thinking, Gabriel stabbed him in the other shoulder before he could reach for his gun.
"Don't come any closer." The other agent tightened his grip on Bri, holding his pistol against her ribs. "I'll just tell her father that you killed her."
"Let her go." Gabriel advanced slowly. Sword drawn. "Or die."
"Gabe." Bri held his gaze.
"Don't." The agent's voice was shaking along with his hand as he moved the barrel of the weapon to her throat. "I'll do it."
In one motion, Gabriel raised his sword and thrust it through the man's neck. Bri gasped and stumbled away from the blood-spurting body. The agent's eyes were wide as he dropped his weapon and he fell forward into the growing puddle of his own blood. Adrenaline coursing through his body, Gabriel's hand shook as he wiped his sword clean on the handkerchief in his suit pocket and put it away. He reached down, picked up the gun, and stuffed it into the back of his waistband.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling Bri to him.
"I think so," she said smiling weakly. "What about you?"
"I'm good. I didn't have a choice. I had to kill him." He kissed her briefly. His eyes wandered over the agent's lifeless body. He would think about that later. "Let's get out of here."
"Look out!" She pointed at the first agent going for his gun. "Adsulto!"
The man yelled as his body flew back into one of the walls. His head hitting the concrete silenced him. He lay motionless on the floor.
"Great job, sweetheart." Gabriel picked up the other pistol and handed it to Bri.
"I could have done it sooner if they hadn't snuck up on me," she said lifting her gown and sliding the gun into her tall black patent boot. She caught him looking at her exposed leg and raised a dark eyebrow. "Focus, Gabe. How are we going to get out of here?"
"Our best bet right now is up into the hotel. There is too much risk in someone else in the casino recognizing you." He led the way up. "There are dozens of stairwells throughout the building as required by law after the attacks so that people could get to the fallout shelter faster. That is, if there were one."
"Great. I'll tell Claire where we are," Bri said keeping up with him easily.
"No!" He spun around. "No cell phones. Anyone could be listening."
"I wasn't going to use a cell phone," she said pushing past him. "How about telepathy?"
"What?" he asked, climbing behind her. "You and Claire are telepathic?"
"Mages can be, but it's because we are family. We have to be close enough to each other though." She stopped and held up a hand. They were several floors up into the unopened area of the hotel. The hallway was dark, silent, and empty. She closed her eyes, and the sapphire at her neck glowed. She opened them and whispered, "There. Claire knows where we are. You should try it sometime."
"Somehow having my family inside my head doesn't seem like a good idea," he said and laughed. She joined him, and he resisted the urge to pull her in for another makeout session. A low sinister laugh from the dark hallway beyond silenced them and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"He probably wouldn't talk to us anyway," Patricia Gerard's throaty voice led their eyes to her in the darkness. She was dressed in a richly embroidered indigo gown with a black velvet cloak flowing from her shoulders. Her mask was long gone, and a ruby glowed at her throat. She appeared to glide towards them in the dark. "We meet again, Miss Alexander, with you in the dark with my son. I'm sure that your father would be appalled at such behavior if he wasn't going to be so happy to see you."
"I don't give a damn about my father," Bri said, not shrinking back from the intimidating woman.
"You've made that pretty clear by the behavior you've exhibited. Your father can decide how he would like to deal with that." Patricia changed her focus to Gabriel. "What I'm concerned with is your feelings wearing off on my first-born son."
"I can think for myself, Mother." He put a protective arm around Bri and said, "But Bri, here, was just leaving."
"I don't think so, Son." His mother practically spat the last word. "You are both coming with me. The president will decide what he wants to do with you two."
"You'd hand over your own son, just like that?" Bri's voice was incredulous. "To a murderer?"
"You shouldn't talk about your own father that way, my dear," Patricia said.
"If you bring her to him, I will kill him," Gabriel said drawing his sword. "I've been an idiot for not trying to kill him this entire time. I will avenge my father's death."
"You think you can kill the Arch Mage?" His mother snorted. "You are just a warlock. You won't even be able to get your sword near him let alone kill him."
"He will with my help." Bri waved her hand and said, "Adsulto!"
Patricia easily sidestepped the attack spell but turned her furious eyes on the girl. She barely whispered something. Gabriel protectively stepped in front of Bri, but the spell materialized behind them. A thick glowing glass wall blocked any route of escape down the hallway. On the other side, a red exit sign's glow wavered in the magic. Gabriel touched it and recoiled as it burned his hand.
"Are we done playing these games, children?" Patricia asked.
"I'd rather die than let you hand Bri over to that monster." He stood between the two.
"Don't be so dramatic, Gabriel." His mother sounded bored. "I don't have time for this. I have a speech to attend. You two can watch it on TV from the presidential suite."
"I'm sorry, Mother, but I won't let you do this." He raised his sword again.
To Gabriel's dismay, Patricia pulled a longer, bigger sword from her skirts. The hilt was a snarling wolf with two giant glowing ruby eyes. She swung it deftly towards him and gave him a satisfied smile when he took a surprised step back.
"Who do you think taught your beloved Uncle Will how to fight?" his mother asked, advancing on him. "Let's hope my little brother taught you well, Son."
