Chapter Seven
♥
Alexandra woke up wrapped in only Conor’s arms. She remembered Gabe putting her to bed, remembered him climbing in beside her, but the memory ended there. She smiled and pushed up onto one elbow to stroke Conor’s face. She closed her eyes, intending to do just that, but looked over her shoulder at the closed door and didn’t. We’re in a committed ménage. Being with Conor isn’t wrong. So, why the guilt?
She bit her bottom lip, knowing if she started something, she wouldn’t want to quit. She turned back to Conor. She stroked his face softly, so softly, until he opened his eyes and met her gaze.
“What are you doing, love?”
She lowered her lips to his, taking a kiss, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth when he didn’t immediately return the kiss. She stopped and pulled her face away, just a fraction. “Please, kiss me.”
She ran her hand down his chest. Her heart was beating so hard it seemed it might tear free. “Please.”
She dropped her hand lower and found him hard.
“You want more than kisses, mo chroí.”
He was right; she’d never wanted anything more in her life. She pressed her lips to his tentatively. “Kiss. Me.”
His hand ran up her back, cupping the base of her head. He wrapped his hand in her hair and pulled her head backward, stretching her neck. She cried out softly. “Kiss me, please. Just a kiss.”
When his mouth touched her neck, he kissed her softly, and Alexandra allowed her head to fall forward. Then he claimed her mouth, kissing her with insistent need. She opened her mouth, taking his tongue and pushing back with her own.
She cupped his scrotum and squeezed.
He pulled away from the kiss.
“Alexandra.”
She squeezed a little harder.
He met her gaze. “You’re killing me. Gabe trusts you with me. He knows I won’t cross the line he’s drawn in the sand.”
“When? What line in the sand? We were alone at AODH! Jesus, you finger fucked me in my mother’s kitchen!”
“We haven’t been since, though.” He cupped her face in his hands, but she jerked away, rolled away. “We are a ménage á quatre when the four of us come together, otherwise Gabe is your fiancé.”
“Right. Because he’s fucking dominating all of us?”
“It’s not like that; he’s your―”
“Yeah, I got that—fiancé, future husband, fucking primary partner—newsflash, his relationship status can change very fast!” She left the bed enraged.
“No! Xandra, stop!”
She heard him shout after her, but it was too late. She saw Erica, Gwen, and Jesse, but she didn’t stop moving. She threw open the second bedroom door and found Gabe exactly where she’d known he would be.
Jonathon’s hands were attached to the headboard, and when he turned wide-eyed toward the door, she saw he had a ball gag firmly secured between his lips. She analyzed the scene in milliseconds, seeing a leather belt on the bed beside him and his back a bright pink from shoulder to midthigh. Gabe’s dick pressed deep into Jonathon’s ass.
I can’t. I won’t ever give Gabe that.
I can’t compete.
Ever.
Righteous anger fueled her through the disappointment of discovering exactly what Jonathon could give her fiancé that she couldn’t. “Fucking. Jonathon? But I can’t fuck who I want, when I want? You’ll keep Conor from touching me out of some kind of fucking loyalty?”
She snorted as she left the doorway.
“Alexandra, wait!”
She pivoted back around, seeing Gabe come through the doorway toward her.
She growled. “Don’t come near me. Here’s a fucking news flash. You thought I was mad at you when I was sick, and you locked me in your fucking bedroom? That. Wasn’t. Mad. You thought I was mad when I discovered the playroom? Confused, not mad.” She shook her head emphatically and pointed at herself. “This. Now. Is. Me. Mad. Is this what you wanted to find? My breaking point? Guess the fuck what? You have! Congratufuckinglations!”
She stomped across the room to the other bedroom and slammed the door, only to reopen it. “Get the fuck out of my bed. Go join your fucking Dom and lap at his fucking feet with his other boy toy!”
“He’s not my Dom,” Conor argued.
She stood tall and strong, every muscle clenched for a fight except for the finger pointing for him to get out.
“Xandra, please.”
She ground out the word, “Now!” as a growl, meeting Gabe’s eyes as he came from the bedroom he’d been in with Jonathon. He’d pulled on his slacks and a shirt. As if that helped anything. “Comfort each other in your fucking playroom. I’m. Out!”
Conor left the room, and she refused to meet his gaze as he passed. Her eyes had zeroed in on Gabe, but she couldn’t see beyond the rage. She swallowed hard, resolve firmly fixed, and pulled her gaze over to Erica, Gwen, and Jesse. “Ladies, you have two hours to help me calm the fuck down and be perfectly coiffed to face the nation on live TV. If you are up to it, please join me.”
The three didn’t bat an eye as they stood and hurried across the room.
When she exited ninety minutes later, wearing the tailored mohair-wool skirt suit and four-inch stilettos, she didn’t smile; she didn’t pose. She was all business. She crossed the room and opened the door without meeting the gazes of her three men, who were lined up, dressed and ready.
“Agent, if you would accompany me to the White House.”
She closed the door, still not meeting any of the three’s gazes.
♥ ♥ ♥
Alexandra sat in a comfortable chair, a camera directed at her. She was trying not to show the nervous wreck that she was. She embodied sophistication and confidence. Erica had given her a fresh French manicure, a difficult task since she’d been shaking with outrage. Gwen had styled her hair into a slightly less edgy feel, softening the look by adding some wave to her long bangs. Jesse had made her complexion camera-ready perfection with lotions and powders, light mascara. Why did Dr. Claassen take my anxiety pills? Seriously?
On a separate screen, she watched the president’s live broadcast. He slid in the announcement he’d chosen a science advisor between a few key points. The networks were then directed to interview her live via satellite from an undisclosed location. Smoke and mirrors.
She hated it, feeling like a dirty secret kept in the closet. The irony didn’t outpace her, but the truth was, the president feared for her life and wasn’t about to offer up any opportunity for an attack. A commentator announced, “We are joined now by Dr. Alexandra Van Zant, the newly announced senior science advisor to the president.”
“Good morning, Dr. Van Zant. Gregory Michaels, and I’d first like to say congratulations on your new position and that I’m left speechless. I don’t think a single one of us even remotely suspected your appointment to this position. So right off the bat, I have to address today’s headlines coming out of Asia about a strain of avian flu that has killed thousands and left tens of thousands hospitalized. Have you stepped in as the president’s top advisor because the threat of a pandemic reaching our shores is heightened?”
“Good morning, Gregory, and thank you. I want to assure you and our viewers, the World Health Organization currently has the latest outbreak well contained. No new cases have been reported in the past forty-eight hours, which is very promising. However, that said, we are a global society, and as such there is always a chance a disease will cross country borders. My position as the president’s advisor is to ensure if and when we do need to react, whether to the Singapore flu or any other disease threat, we are able to do so quickly.”
“What obstacles do you feel you face in this new position?”
“In all honesty? Instilling trust in the American people, since the media shot for easy ratings by using my name and reputation as a punch line when my private life was compromised.”
Gregory Michaels started to ask another question, but he was reminded by the moderator each journalist would be allowed only two questions.
Alexandra relaxed as every interviewer asked fairly benign and easily answered questions. By the fifth and final reporter, she was feeling confident.
“Dr. Van Zant, Cheryl Moritz. I want to ask, how are you in any way capable of advising the president and ensuring our nation’s safety against pandemics and biological weapon attacks when it is obvious your social calendar consumes all your time? I mean, as a woman, I have one husband, no children, and my job puts a strain on that single relationship.”
Alexandra laughed under her breath.
“I’m not sure what I said that you found to be funny. I am absolutely appalled to be sitting here interviewing you.”
“I find it amusing your question doesn’t attack my intelligence or my qualifications, but rather my ability to time-manage my career and private life. I feel you wasted one question in an attempt to set me up for additional public ridicule provoked by the media―since I’m sitting here in front of you and a live audience, which proves I can be where I need to be on time and well prepared, and because my sex life is none of your concern, just as your sex life is none of my concern.”
Ms. Moritz started to interrupt; however, Alexandra raised her index finger and spoke over her, saying, “For the record, the health, safety, and well-being of our nation’s residents and our global population is my number one priority, and it always has been. My record of accountability to the science community is a well-documented fact. As a personal favor to my president, I have put aside my own career goals to accept this position because I am the most qualified person to step up to the plate in the event of a national- or global-level crisis, and I will gladly advise the president for the full run of his term.”
“I still do not see how you are even remotely qualified.”
“And that, my dear, is why you are not currently president of the United States.”
♥ ♥ ♥
Alexandra met the president in the hallway. He patted her on the back and walked her down the long corridor. “Terrific first press conference.”
“Mr. President, I have a request.”
“Certainly. I will do what I can to honor it. What can I do for you?”
“Blacklist Cheryl Moritz from any future chances to interview or ridicule me, and perhaps ask your people to vet the journalists a bit better than this time because I refuse to be baited or berated into defending my relationships. Are we clear?”
He nodded. “Completely. Please understand her question was important this time to see just how you would respond. Trust me, if you had embarrassed yourself or my administration in any way with your answer, it would have been edited out, but you passed with flying colors.”
“It wasn’t live?”
“Five-minute delay, just in case.”
I am so glad all the men in my life trust me so fucking little. “Until Thursday, then. Good afternoon, Mr. President.”
“Actually—”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I need you to be on the next flight to Senai, Malaysia.”
She exhaled. “Singapore avian flu?”
“We fear it has spread to their island, and we need to know how to stop it before it reaches our shores.”
“I’ll report as soon as I figure it out. There is a twelve-hour time difference.” She hitched her chin at her two Secret Service agents, and they escorted her to the SUV. She’d ridden to the White House without her men’s company, and now she was riding back to the Fairmont with just her Secret Service agents. She didn’t know if she hoped they were there, or if she wanted them to be packed and gone as she’d demanded when she’d stormed out. Until the agent started to slide the key card, and she stopped his hand, not able to take a breath in, she wasn’t sure what she wanted.
“Are you all right, ma’am?”
“Panic attack. I’m scared. Can you do a room check?”
“Certainly, ma’am.”
He slid the card and entered. He was gone only a moment. “All clear, ma’am.”
Her breath went out in a rush, and she doubled over in pure agony.
“Only your men are inside.”
She dropped to her knees, hearing him call out to her, “Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you all right, ma’am?”
The door flew open. Gabe demanded, “What happened?”
“She said, ‘panic attack,’ sir, and then she dropped like a stone. Should I call an ambulance?”
“No, she’ll be fine. She left her medication in the room,” he explained as he pulled her up and lifted her into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against him, inhaling his scent, grounding on Gabe. He carried her into the bedroom and closed the door after them. He kissed her face. He kissed her lips, but she didn’t respond to him. It wasn’t that she was unaware. She didn’t want to.
He sat on the bed with her, holding her to him. “Talk to me.”
She shook her head.
“None of us can stand another week with you not speaking to us.”
She met his gaze but remained silent. Really?
“I understand you’re upset and confused by the dynamic Conor, Jonathon, and I had in play long before you arrived. We’ve known each other many years, Xandra. It’s a strong bond.”
Not making me want to speak to you.
She blew out a breath. Her heart was racing. She didn’t have a clue what she wanted. She knew she kept hearing Jessica’s fucking voice in her head. “Hold on to them. Don’t let silly fights get in the way of your great love affair. Don’t be an idiot like I was and wake up to discover there’s no way to ever apologize. There’s never again going to be incredible makeup sex.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
“Please tell me we can fix this.”
She shrugged. She started laughing and crying at the same time. “Jeremy’s dead, and Jessica’s never going to have great makeup sex again.”
He stroked her face, trying to brush away her tears. “Do you want to have makeup sex?”
“God no, I just don’t want you to die before I have a chance to make up.”
He stared at her. “We’re not going to make up today, are we?”
She shook her head. “Not tomorrow either. So go fuck your boys. They’re loyal only to you. I’m so naive, but now I see the truth of it clearly enough. You are the dominant. The day at AODH, Conor only fucked me because you told him to. Jonathon only fucked me because you told him to. I can never trust either of them to fuck me just because they want to. So, from here on, the ménage is on paper only. You are really the only one who benefits from the arrangement. You get to have a wife and not one but two fuck toys. I don’t need the emotional burden right now of becoming a public spectacle when the paparazzi learn my ménage is falling apart.”
“Alexandra, no. Don’t do this.”
She went deadly still in his arms. “You. Did. This.”
♥ ♥ ♥
Conor sat beside Alexandra on the flight back to Cincinnati an hour later. “So, we’re back to square one, are we?”
She closed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“You like me the least of Gabe’s friends?”
She glanced at him from behind lowered lids but made no comment. Jesus.
“I’ll be the first to admit I agree with you. We haven’t had enough time to get to know one another as well as we should, but I meant what I said the night I made you uncomfortable on the Netherland Plaza’s roof―”
“No! Don’t even go there,” she whispered. “I can’t believe any of your actions or words before this moment.”
He dipped his head low enough to whisper. “Would you rather I’d disappeared and never mentioned it?”
“God, no!” She started shaking.
“Tell me what you’re feeling at this moment,” he commanded.
“It feels like all the oxygen has been sucked from my lungs, and there is no air in the room.” She closed her eyes. “It’s a panic attack.”
“Is that what happened when you returned to the Fairmont earlier?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You were afraid we’d all left you?”
She panted. “Yes.”
“Look at me.” She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “In my mind I should go, give you and Gabe the space you need to work things out.”
She clutched his hand and begged, “Don’t do that; please, please don’t leave me.”
Tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall. “I cannot and will not allow myself to believe the words you’ve said to me, but my heart still wants it to be true. If you leave me, I’ll have no hope to hang on to the part of me that actually believes you ever cared. I don’t do this. I don’t let people in. I let you in and the pain of it is killing me slowly, but I’d rather a slow death in love with you than what would happen if you leave me.”
Decision made; he wasn’t going anywhere. He couldn’t. It had been so long since he’d felt anything beyond lust, and there was something so fragile about Alexandra Van Zant. It seemed a strong wind would blow her away, but she wasn’t afraid or intimidated by him. When he threatened her, she’d begged him to come at her.
The first time they’d had sex, she’d slapped him as hard as, if not harder than, he’d ever been slapped in his life, and in that moment she’d stolen his heart.
Alexandra curled into herself and started crying.
He squeezed her hand. “Shh, relax. I won’t do that to you.”
“Promise!”
“Alexandra Van Zant, I am yours. Do with my heart what you will, but know this—no power will ever drag me from your side.”
Alexandra started to hyperventilate and closed her eyes.
He rubbed her back, pushed her forward over her knees. “Slow, deep breaths, love. I’m here. I’m going nowhere.”
One of the Secret Service agents knelt and asked if there was anything she needed. Conor answered, “Less stress would be great, but that isn’t forthcoming, is it?”
The agent gave a curt head shake and returned to his seat across the aisle.
Conor turned his head to look at Gabe, knowing before their gazes met that Gabe was as stressed as Xandra; he just held himself in check better. When Alexandra sat back up, she met Conor’s gaze again. “Things can’t be the way they were. You understand that, right?”
“Things?”
“The secrets, Gabe having sex with the two of you whenever he wants but keeping me hands-off from you or Jonathon.”
Conor exhaled, not sure how that was going to change. “You really need to work this out with Gabe.”
She snorted. “That isn’t going to happen for a while. I need to know you’ll be by my side, no matter what. Even if Gabe and I don’t—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “Do not give that particular doubt a voice. I already promised: I am yours. Once you know me long enough, you will understand I am a man of my word.” He kissed her temple, and then she returned to staring out her window.
♥ ♥ ♥
Alexandra immediately started packing for her flight to Malaysia. She couldn’t start thinking about Rowan or her men problems. She had to stay on track, 100 percent focused. So after informing Karen she would be out of the country for at least seven to ten days, she sent a message to her parents, explaining she’d be out of the country and giving them Karen’s number in case of emergency or if they just wanted to see Rowan. She hoped they would; she needed Rowan to have the village of love she imagined, because the poor child sure hadn’t gotten a mom of the year.
Her mom texted back: I arranged for Karen and Rowan to come over for lunch tomorrow, and Opa is going to have her help him rake leaves.
“Rake leaves?” She imagined Rowan crawling through piles, giggling, and texted back: Perfect. Love you.
She felt Gabe watching her from the bedroom doorway. So she tossed an extra shirt into her luggage and turned to face him. “I have to go deal with an avian flu epidemic. If you are going, pack a summer suit and be prepared to be bored out of your mind. I will be in the lab twenty-four-seven until I figure out what is going on.”
“You know I’m going.”
“Suit yourself. I can only take one bodyguard this trip. I really don’t give a fuck who it is.”
She turned back to her suitcase and closed her eyes when Gabe came up behind her. He tried to turn her around, but she shook her head, refusing to be moved, even though every fiber of her being wanted to go back in time and start over with Gabe, just Gabe. Life could have been so easy, so normal. “I need to be focused.”
“We need to talk.”
“That isn’t going to happen on this trip. We’re going to be on military flights, with three layovers and roughly twenty-seven hours to get to our destination. I suggest taking a book.” She looked at his hand. “Remove your hand, please, or I will have one of my agents remove you.”
He stepped away.
“Gabe?”
He turned to face her.
“I need you to trust me.” She stepped closer and held up a vial. “This is an untested antiviral targeting about a dozen variants of Asian flu. If you are going with me and want to make sure you survive the journey, you will do everything I ask from this moment on without question, including snorting this vaccine into your sinus.”
He took the vial, twisted the cap to break the seal, and snorted as he squeezed.
“You didn’t ask what the side effects are.”
“I don’t need to. I trust you, and I know you would never purposely harm me.”
Implying I should trust you as much. Her mouth opened and closed in the time it took for him to turn away, but she had no reply.
♥ ♥ ♥
Gabe watched Alexandra work on her laptop, or maybe that was only a decoy to keep him from speaking to her. He was having a hard time focusing as an intense headache, double vision, and exhaustion consumed him. He finally fell asleep. When he awoke six hours later, she was still going strong, and he felt only vaguely better.
They disembarked in Tokyo, according to their pilot. It looked like every other military enclosure he’d ever set foot into, and there’d been plenty of those. He managed to get a couple cups of coffee.
She was on a satphone, and the conversation sounded serious. Of course he didn’t speak a word of Mandarin, so she could have as easily been ordering lunch, and he wouldn’t know the difference. When she ended the call, he handed her the coffee.
“Thank you.” She took a long swallow. “God, that’s awful.”
“I know, sorry. I thought you might appreciate the caffeine.”
She met his gaze, and he reached out to stroke her face. She took a step backward. “I can’t. We can’t. I’m still processing everything that’s happened―even though I should be putting all my mental energy into the moment’s crisis. I’m going to need time.”
Gabe took a deep breath. He knew he’d fucked up; he just wasn’t sure how to fix it. If he’d been honest from the start, would she have said yes when he asked her to marry him?
If he’d shown her the playroom sooner, would it have helped?
If he’d told her Jonathon was his submissive, would their relationship even have happened?
Alexandra asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
“I won’t lie, head and body aches. I assume that should be expected after whatever you gave me?”
Alexandra nodded, looking regretful. “The side effects can be harsh. I personally wasn’t affected, but I’ve had multiple variants of Asian flu vaccine. Some of my personnel described it as feeling like you’ve been kicked in the head by a mule for about twenty-four hours.”
“Perfect.” Gabe snorted and then, seeing he was only making her more distressed, assured her, “I’ll be fine.”
A soldier approached them. “We’re ready for you to board, Dr. Van Zant.”
She nodded. “Lead the way.”
I did the right thing waiting. I know I did. Please let her come around.
♥ ♥ ♥
Before they left the second plane upon arrival in Malaysia, she handed him a paper mask. “This will save your ass from exposure. Have you ever used one?”
He shook his head.
“It’s a NIOSH particulate respirator. Basically it purifies the air you breathe by filtering bacterial or viral particles out of the air. It’s ninety-nine percent effective if it’s fitted perfectly.”
She placed her own mask over her face and demonstrated how to adjust the fit.
“If you step outside the lab for any reason, put a fresh one on.”
She checked his fit before they disembarked, and handed him a stack of six in a sealed plastic bag. He exhaled, realizing that even though he was there to protect her, their biggest enemy was something he couldn’t see, smell, or taste. He got a glimpse of the weight she was carrying when she let down her guard for a moment, and he saw fear in her eyes.
“Be careful. Don’t let me regret bringing you with me,” she whispered, checking the fit of his paper mask a second time. With a curt nod, she exited the plane, and he followed her.
♥ ♥ ♥
If she was right about one thing, it was the boredom factor. He stood at attention outside the infectious-disease laboratory. He was relieved for short breaks by the other agent who had accompanied them. She exited at the end of day one.
“Any progress?”
“Where’s the Secret Service agent?” she asked, not meeting his gaze but rather taking in the other guards in the hall, a combination of military and laboratory security.
He answered softly, “He found a room to sleep in. I’m taking first watch. Both of us being awake around the clock is no way to keep you safe.”
Alexandra nodded and looked pointedly at the Malaysian police on guard in addition to the facility’s normal security team. She whispered, “Don’t say another word. Stay close to me.”
She made several phone calls from inside a glass-walled office, and he could tell she wasn’t happy. She was red in the face, pacing, and pointing her finger furiously at whoever was at the other end of the call.
When she came out of the office, she said only, “I’m exhausted. Let’s get out of here for a little while.”
At the lab’s exit, they both paused to fit the disposable masks over their noses and mouths. She checked his fit, and with a nod, she went through the front doors and started walking. It was nighttime, and the cover of darkness made Gabe nervous. After they’d stepped from the lab complex property, she turned and faced him. She covered her hair with a black scarf and handed a second to him.
“Can you turban your hair, or do you want me to do it?”
“I can do it.” He took the scarf and wrapped it around his head expertly. “Will you tell me why I’m doing it? And why you are ditching your Secret Service agent?”
She leaned close, whispering, “We are most likely the sole two redheads in this town. I need to cross town unnoticed. That means not drawing the attention of anyone I am not certain I can trust with my life.”
She nodded, checking his turban and approving his workmanship, and then hurried into a large crowd of people and started walking the same direction they had been going, until she ducked into a dirty alley. “Xandra, what’s going on?”
When she hit a main road, she hailed a taxi. “I’m tired. I told you. I need sleep.”
No, you didn’t.
Alexandra handed the driver an address and, during the ride, pulled out her laptop and angled the screen so he could see it. Gabe watched her open a secure line to AODH. She put the entire lab on red alert—no one except critical personnel in or out.
And then she e-mailed Karen: Keep Rowan in the lower level until you hear back from me. Trust no one.
If her intent of allowing him to watch what she was doing was to stop his questions, his anxiety was greater. She closed her laptop and pulled out her satphone.
“Hey, baby,” she whispered. “I’m still halfway around the fucking world, and I’m exhausted. I miss you desperately.”
Baby? Gabe closed his eyes, pushing down the jealousy that came with knowing she was talking to Conor. He told himself she was afraid the call was being intercepted. Why else would she be using that voice? Jesus. He was glad she never used that nauseating tone with him. “I wish you were here with me. Look, I’m just calling to say I’m not going to be at the hotel I reserved. I’ve been invited to stay with one of the lab’s executives, and it would have been rude to refuse. Anyway, service there is shit, or so I’ve been told, so I’ll let you know when I’m back at the lab.”
She closed her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek, and Gabe wondered what Conor was saying to her. “I need you to do me a favor―can you babysit tonight? And bigger favor, Karen doesn’t have time to drop Rowan off; I need you to go there. See if Jonathon wants to tag along, make it a pajama party.”
His eyes flew open. Babysit? Pajama party?
Whatever Conor said made her smile, but it was filled with sadness, as was her tone when she said, “I love you too.”
When the cab dropped them off at a remote intersection, he knew something was seriously wrong, but she hadn’t told him what. She hurried from the taxi and entered a nighttime street market; he kept pace. They crossed through quickly. “Try to keep as much of your face as you can turned from any security cameras at all times.”
She stepped into one of the shops and exchanged a few words and then handed the female vendor an envelope. “Thank you.”
He followed her to the far side of the market, where a late-model Toyota was parked, idling. She slid into the backseat without saying a word. She motioned for him to hurry up. She handed the driver an address.
“Are you seriously going to keep giving me the silent treatment?”
“Yes. There is nothing to be said.”
Gabe looked through the open window. The heat was unbearable as they drove over dusty roads. He only knew where they were when he started seeing signs to the airport. They were dropped at the entrance, and he followed her as she headed toward the executive jets hangar. He reminded her, “Our luggage is at the hotel.”
“Yes, it is. Make a list of everything you brought, and I will see your things replaced.”
“I don’t want you to buy me things; I want to know what is going on.”
“When I can explain, I will.”
“So when the agent panics because you are missing and creates an international incident?”
“He won’t.” Alexandra exhaled. “I left a coded note with one of the lab techs to hand to him when he returned to find me gone, giving us a head start to get in the air. I explained my life was threatened, but I had secured safe passage home, and to leave the country safely and quietly.”
“Was your life threatened?”
“Every human being on this fucking planet is being threatened with extinction, or did you not get that memo?”
She removed her face mask and the scarf, dumping them into a trash bin at the base of the stairs leading up to the plane. Gabe followed suit. A stewardess offered them a squirt of hand sanitizer, and she quickly covered her hands with the gel.
She waited for Gabe to sanitize before hurrying up the staircase to board the jet. He automatically reached for his weapon when he saw they weren’t the first to board. She shook her head and pressed his hand down.
An older Asian man stood, and Alexandra smiled. “Dr. Chén. Thank you for joining me.” She pointed to Gabe. “My bodyguard, Patrick Gowan.”
“Dr. Van Zant.” He bowed formally, and she mimicked the gesture. “You have grown even more beautiful.” He gestured toward a woman beside him. “Xi Xin T’ao, my bodyguard. May we get down to business?”
“Definitely.”
They buckled and leaned close, speaking softly. Alexandra took notes almost the entire trip, and neither she nor Dr. Chén looked up for the eight-hour flight. Occasionally Alexandra would look at her watch and end the vibrating alarm to signal it was time to swallow pills.
When the plane landed to refuel, neither left their seats. Then they were airborne again. The flight took an additional twelve hours. Fabulous time compared to the military flight circuit. When they landed at CVG, Alexandra bowed to the doctor again. “Thank you. Be safe.”
“You as well, Dr. Van Zant. I would tell you to keep a low profile, but I somehow doubt you would listen to me.”
“Not really my style.” She offered a slight smile, and they exited the plane. It was barely dawn in Cincinnati. Gabe wasn’t really surprised to see a private limo waiting.
“Are you going to tell me what is happening?”
“Not yet. I still have to verify a few things.” She gave him a tight, fake smile and didn’t enter the vehicle. She met the chauffeur’s gaze. “Cameras inside?”
“No, ma’am, and I assure you my safety record is A plus.”
“I’m sure it is.” She pulled out a business card, tore off her name from the top half, and handed the driver the address. “Five times your company’s fee in cash if you don’t document this trip.”
He made a call. “My appointment was delayed an hour. I’m taking a break.”
Alexandra climbed into the back. Gabe followed as she slid across the seat. She sat stiffly and remained silent for the entire ride to AODH.
Once inside the facility, she hurried through the halls and took the personal elevator in her office to the second lower level, her private command center. She sighed when she saw Jonathon and Conor but then looked around. “Karen? Rowan?”
“Karen was just laying her down for a nap.” Conor pointed to one of the closed doors then went to her side to give her a quick hug, one which she stepped away from quickly. Conor was undeterred and stayed close enough to keep his hand pressed to her low back. “Jonathon took pictures of her helping your dad rake leaves yesterday. I can’t wait for you to see them.”
A muscle ground tight in Gabe’s cheek, and he forced his face to relax. He saw right through Conor’s light conversation. Would she? He shook his head and leaned against the wall, just watching and hating that he’d been with her for days but had no clue what was going on inside her mind. When had they become so disconnected?
The voice in his head warned Conor would steal her away in a heartbeat if he could, but he dismissed it out of hand. I trust Conor. If he’s softening her up, it’s to benefit all of us.
“I can’t wait to see them. Really.” She answered, but she wasn’t looking at Conor, she was scanning the wall of televisions. “No breaking news reports?”
“No, should there be?”
She met Conor’s gaze and nodded. “Yes. Any moment, I suspect. Text me as soon as you see one.”
Alexandra turned toward the elevators and rushed toward them. Gabe grabbed her bicep as she pressed the elevator’s Call button. “I’ve been patient for days. What the fuck is going on?”
“I believe a biological attack will target the United States. I was sent away to make certain I wasn’t here when it arrives, to instill doubt in my abilities and cause a state of irrational fear, delaying whether my directions were followed.”
Gabe exhaled heavily. “You should have told me and let me help you carry the weight of this.”
“There’s nothing you could have done and I need all my thoughts concentrated on what has to be done.” She met his gaze, but it felt like he was looking into the eyes of a stranger. She’d pulled completely into herself. Still, when she stepped into the elevator he prepared to follow her. She lifted her hand and pushed him back. “You can’t go with me to the lab. I need you three to keep your eyes on every screen. Open channels to every major countries’ news outlets.”
“Alexandra, do not descend into your lab to lock us out further.”
“Christ, Padhraic! This is not about you!” She stepped backward into the elevator, but then leaned forward to whisper, “If my intel is right, negative ads designed to cause distrust of my abilities will be circulating nationally by morning. Not to be dramatic, but there are people determined to kill me, I have a government undermining my authority, and the entire planet is going to be infected with a hybrid of avian flu not seen before, in a matter of hours, as a trial run to gauge preparedness for a large scale attack!”
Jonathon gasped. “The two men who attacked you created another virus?”
Alexandra’s eyes widened and Gabe knew she hadn’t been aware both Jonathon and Conor had moved closer, but she surprised him by looking at Jonathon with a softness he didn’t understand. When she reached out and squeezed Jonathon’s hand, taking the time to explain, “I’ll know in about ninety minutes. The equipment in Malaysia sucked,” Gabe was floored. When they’d left Cincinnati she hadn’t been speaking to any of them.
She shrugged out of their reach and shook herself. She stepped deeper into the elevator and in the blink of an eye, became the cold, detached scientist she was renowned to be. “I do not have time for conversation or further distraction. Please, remain here. If you wish to make yourself useful, find out who the fuck is backing Ben Barton’s or Theodore Nash’s attempts to cause a worldwide extinction event, because my sources came up empty. Someone has to have answers, so find a better source, because if it is someone in our government, I need to warn the president.”
The elevator doors closed and she descended.