I had been frightened of Dino and Tweak, but angry Gabriel Anderson was like a demon ascending to earth from the depths of hell. His face was a mask of rage as he took in my appearance, and even though none of it was my fault, it was on the tip of my tongue to apologize just so he wouldn’t look like that anymore. The first time I had seen him in fifteen years he had been wearing a suit. He had been handsome then. Now he wore a black crew neck tee tucked into dark wash jeans, and I was tongue-tied. He was definitely not a kid anymore, Jesus. He strode to the center of the room and pinned Dino, who had abruptly let go of my arms when Gabe had blasted through the door, with a hard stare.

“You were supposed to be watching her.”

Wait, what now?

“G, I was watching her. She caught sight of me and bolted out the back in the middle of a set.” Dino didn’t sound apologetic at all, but he didn’t sound upset either. Just went over the events of the night like he was reading off a grocery list. Dino was a bad guy. Why was Gabe having a bad guy keep an eye on me? My head was hurting trying to come up with the answer, and as I rubbed the back of my neck to relieve some of the pain, I came across a tender spot on the base of my skull.

“Ouch! I don’t remember that.” I said as I touched the lump gingerly.

“Dino, want to tell her how she got that?” Jeannette didn’t look very happy. Actually, neither did Dino. He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Jeannette. Oooh, shame shame. There may be some bad blood here.

“Probably sometime between when I got tackled in the alley by the walking corpse and when I got tased into unconsciousness by your boy, D.” I emphasized the D, letting him know that I might not understand his and Gabe’s relationship, but I certainly remember where I met him the first time.

“Tasers don’t render people unconscious, they paralyze you.” Thanks for the fun fact, Gabe.

“No. But a taser can make your legs go out, and the street connecting with the back of your head can make you go unconscious.” I swear it was like Dino had no self-preservation. Like he was baiting Gabriel with his every word. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

“Dino, may I have a word with you outside, please?” I didn’t know it was possible to look so dangerous while saying the word please but Gabe somehow pulled it off. If it were me, I would have run away from that even tone and scowling face. Dino didn’t say anything, just followed Gabe outside. I sank back against the couch cushions as the door closed behind them and shut my eyes.

“I bet you have some questions, huh, Angel?” I cracked one eyelid open again to find Jeannette looking at me with a worried expression, a complete contrast from the first time I met her, when she thoroughly insulted me.

“A couple. One would be why are you so nice to me right now?” I mean, I had a shitton of questions, but that one was bugging me.

“I’m a bitch.”

“Yes ma’am,” I agreed. But I smiled as I said it because if a woman can admit out loud that she is a bitch, that is sort of the same thing as an apology. I closed my eyes again, resting my head on the back of the couch. Then another noise permeated the uncomfortable silence in the room. My stomach growled. Loudly. Of all the aches and pains and the horror of the evening, my empty stomach was what my body decided to focus on. Instead of ignoring the elephant in the room like she hadn’t heard anything, Jeannette jumped on the chance to make amends.

“Can I get you anything? I can raid the fridge if you’d like? Gabe eats a bunch of healthy stuff though, so it might be all protein drinks and eggs in there.” I didn’t want protein drinks. I wanted chocolate, or ice cream, or something comforting and bad for me because I had been through a damn ordeal and I deserved the blessings of sugar.

“I want candy,” I said, and opened my eyes wide, thinking of how things were when we were younger. Gabe always had a monster sweet tooth. His mom used to hide a huge stash of snacks in the cupboard above the refrigerator when we were kids. If she didn’t hide it, Gabe would destroy an entire box of Twinkies in one after school binge. He had the metabolism of a marathon runner, but would have probably been morbidly obese if his mom didn’t try to hide the snacks. We all knew where they were so I would pilfer them every time I went over to his house.

Old habits die hard, and I had an idea.

“Wanna be my new best friend?” I dangled the carrot in front of Jeannette, but she arched an eyebrow and eyed me suspiciously from behind her fashionable oval lenses.

“I thought Gabe was your best friend?”

“Correction,” I told her like I had a secret to share. “Gabe and I were best friends when we were kids. But then he was an asshole, and then he ran away, and I am still deciding whether or not to forgive him. Now I have a lot of friends, but the position of best is currently vacant, and if you would like to achieve God-like status, this is your opening.” Jeannette smiled faintly. I was over the top on purpose. It was fine to be a little funny and dramatic. It was okay to focus on this now instead of just how jarring and terrifying my evening had been.

“Look and see if there are any cupboards above the refrigerator. Just see if there is like a secret box of Twinkies or ho hos or something up there. He may be a fitness junkie but you can’t change the core of who you are. I bet we’ll find something.”

“Okay,” Jeannette said with a sigh as she strode into the kitchen. There was a loud thud outside like something slammed against the outer walls of the house.

“Ignore that,” Jeannette said as she pulled one of the stools from the breakfast bar over to the fridge.

“What the hell are they doing out there?” It sounded kind of rowdy now that I was actually paying attention.

“Probably fighting. That’s how those Neanderthals settle things, and Gabe was really upset. Dino really was supposed to watch you—holy shit score! Look at what we have.” Jeannette hadn’t just found a snack, she found a bucket of snacks. It looked like one of those clear plastic containers that bulk pretzel nuggets come in at the big warehouse stores, but it was filled three-quarters of the way with candy.

“Shit yeah,” I crowed as she brought the bucket over to me, and I pulled it to my lap with childish glee. “I knew he would have something. Gabe’s always been a little piggy.”

“You know a lot about him, right?” Jeannette asked, sitting next to me on the couch and picking through the bucket with me. She pulled out a pack of licorice that looked really good. I snagged it out of her hand and opened it before she could say anything. She wasn’t all the way forgiven yet, she owed me. I popped a string of licorice into my mouth and mumbled around the candy.

“I know a lot about who he was, not so sure about now.” I didn’t know a damn thing about him now, apparently. Except that he was maybe involved in some covert shit that I didn’t understand. I sighed and swallowed, savoring the sugar as it slid down my throat, letting my head rest on the back of the couch.

“Well, I’ve worked for him for about six years or so, even before he came to take over the Anderson Building. It’s hard for him.”

“What is?” I really had no idea what she was talking about.

“The money bunnies,” Jeannette said matter-of-factly. “They are a damn nuisance, I swear. I have completely lost track of the women that come and go, looking for Gabe, thinking that he is going to be the one to bankroll their future.” Jeannette wrinkled her nose in disgust, then reached up with one hand to adjust her glasses. “He doesn’t even date. He can’t go on a damn date. If he so much as spends any time with a woman they become instantly clingy. I’ve had strangers come into the office saying he was the father of their babies and try to extort money that way. It’s ridiculous.”

“And you thought I was one of those women?” I snorted at the idea. “As if.”

“Yeah, I did. I’m really sorry. I am.” She really sounded sorry, too.

“I can probably be persuaded to forgive you, Jeannette. It sounds like a full-time job keeping Gabe from getting shackled by a gold digger. Being rich must be a real burden.” I said the last part in a snobby voice and Jeannette giggled appropriately. I was so tired, I closed my eyes a little, just to give them a rest.

“Money wasn’t really that big of a deal when we were kids, though. I’ve known Gabe and his family since before his voice started changing.” I laughed a little, remembering what a frustrating time that had been for him. Puberty was a bitch for any gender. “The girls chased him even back then, but nobody really cared about money. Gabe was good at everything. He was a handsome jock, all right, but he was also funny and nice and always stood up for me, even when I could stand up for myself just fine. I remember when Jimmy Ducane told everyone in the freshman class he had sex with me, even though he never even made it past first base because he open mouth kissed like a fish and it was gross. Gabe got pissed off and broke his nose, except he didn’t get in trouble because he elbowed him in the face during basketball practice. He fibbed and said it was an accident when I asked him about it, but everyone knew. I knew, too.”

I was tired, and the exhaustion of the day was catching up with me, that was why my mouth was running about old times, I was sure. I was over sharing with a stranger, but I couldn’t make myself stop, because it felt good to talk about Gabe after making myself forget about him for so long.

“But you know what, Jeannette?” I asked with a jaw-cracking yawn. “I can think of a hundred other awesome things about Gabe besides money. It’s a shame some women choose to focus on that and miss out on everything else.” I slipped into the sleep of the completely exhausted and never did hear Jeanette’s response.