Young Love Murder (37 page)

Resigned to my fate, I open the door and ask my unwelcome visitor, “What the hell are you doing in Sydney?”

Not even looking at my face, but instead up and down my robe-shrouded body, as if fluffy is sexy, Brent asks me, “Annabelle, is that any way to greet an old flame? By the way, please tell me that you aren’t wearing anything under that robe.”

Yep, so don’t need this right now. “The only flame between me and you, Brent, is the one that I’m going to set you on fire with.”

With a chuckle, he walks past me and into the hotel room. It’s then that I notice the manila envelope he’s holding in his right hand. Okay, something’s going on. I hope Brent isn’t going to ask for another favor. They’re usually just ruses to force me into spending time with him.  

Brushing off my insult, he says, “Annabelle, my love, don’t you know that you set my blood on fire every time you’re near?”

I hold back a smile, because that would only encourage him. “Really, just your blood? I must be losing my touch. The last guy that I set on fire didn’t survive to bother me again.”

He laughs, not a bit deterred. “Knowing you, I’d totally believe it. Since I’m still alive it must mean that my love isn’t unrequited.”

His wanting the rare female who resists his charms is Brent’s thing. Bastard knows he’s good-looking with wavy, light brown hair and dark blue eyes on his pretty boy face. A lean, muscular body and confidence only add to the man I consider a plague on womankind. It’s a good thing I’m immune.

Rolling my eyes, I point to the folder in his hand. “I’m too busy right now to do you any favors, Brent.”

He waves the folder in the air. “Annabelle, love of my life, this time it’s me who will be doing the favor for
you
.”

“No thanks, I’ll pass,” I interrupt rudely.

“Anna-” Brent begins, stops, gets an intense look on his face, eyes my wet hair and asks, “Why is your shower running? Is Jackson here with you?”

Oh my god. I can feel the blush spreading over my face. “No.”

Brent has an amazed look on his face. “You’re blushing.” Then he narrows his eyes at me, asking, “Why are you blushing, Annabelle?”

I hear the shower turn off and am at a loss as what to do in this situation. I have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. But jeez, a fellow assassin who’s had the hots for me for the past two years walks into my hotel room, where my boyfriend is in the shower after doing lots of intimate things with me. Okay, just a tad embarrassing. But still, no reason to feel ashamed. 

“Well . . . ,” I begin as Gabriel steps out of the bedroom, holding a white towel in front of his crotch. 

Grinning and not yet noticing Brent, he asks, “Why’d you run out of the shower so fast, Anna? I wasn’t done with you yet.”

“Um,” I mumble dumbly. 

Brent clears his throat with a sour look on his scrunched up face. Gabriel’s head jerks in Brent’s direction. “What the fuck?” Wrapping the towel around his waist, Gabriel shoots Brent a dirty look. “Who the hell are you?”

Brent smiles wickedly. “An old flame of Annabelle’s.”

“Dammit, Brent! One date doesn’t count as an old flame!” I yell at him in an attempt to cover up how uncomfortable I am.

Still grinning, Brent replies, “It does if you do the date right. And didn’t you just agree with me that there was fire between us?”

Gabriel’s clenching his fists and his green eyes are shooting darts at Brent. With a tick in his jaw, he asks, “When exactly was this date?”

“A long time ago,” I rush to say, “Over a year ago.”

Gabriel takes a deep breath and lets it out, staring down Brent. “It couldn’t have been that great of a date if you didn’t even have sex with her.”

“Gabriel!” I just know that I’m blushing all over again. 

Brent loses the smile and glares at Gabriel in return. “How would you know whether or not we had sex?”

This situation is getting out of hand, “For-”

I’m cut off by Gabriel, who has a satisfied smirk on his face. “Because up until eight months ago, Anna was still a virgin.”

Way
out of hand! “Would-”

Brent cuts in before I can finish, “I take it you had the honors?”

Gabriel shrugs, relaxing slightly. “Not to brag, but-”

“Shut the
fuck
up, both of you!” I yell at the top of my lungs. 

Their heads swivel in my direction and I’m trying to decide which one I want to knock out first. Keeping a reign on my temper, I take a few steps towards Brent and snatch the envelope angrily out of his hand then walk to the table, slap it down and open it to spread its contents across the glass. 

“What’s this?” I glance up at Brent, who’s taken a seat at the table across from me.

“The favor,” he replies with both eyebrows lifted. 

Gabriel comes up behind me and whispers in my ear, “Who is this guy, Anna?”

You know what? I could handle this situation a little better fully clothed. I eye Brent and command, “Stay.” Then I grab Gabriel’s hand and pull him behind me to the bedroom. 

As soon as the door is shut behind us, he asks hopefully, only half joking, “Do we need to kill him?”

I almost laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. “Maybe later, let’s get dressed first.”

Two minutes later and less naked, with my hand on the doorknob, Gabriel stops me. Wrapping me up in his arms, he moves my long hair out of the way and kisses me on the side of my neck. “Do you love me, Anna?”

“You know it.” Leaning my head back against his chest, I soak in this moment of contentment. 

“Tell me about him,” Gabriel prods. Already saw this coming. 

“Well,” I begin slowly, “He’s sort of a co-worker.”

“Ex-boyfriend?”

“Definitely not. One date doesn’t equal a boyfriend.”

“Do you still have feelings for him?” Gabriel’s sounds calm, trying to act mature about it, but the wrong answer would set him off.

“I never had feelings for him to begin with.” Totally true, the date was a let’s see type of deal. All I saw was that Brent and I were better off as friends.

“Is he going to try to kill us?”

“It’s unlikely,” I tease Gabriel.

“What’s he doing here?” The feeling of Gabriel’s body losing some of its tension relaxes mine also.

“We’re about to find out.” With that, I turn the knob, ready to deal with my
friend
, Brent. 

Brent scowls at us as we reenter and near the glass table he’s sitting at. “Does Jackson know about him?” He nods his head toward Gabriel.

“Jackson?” Gabriel asks slowly. A heartbeat later, I see the comprehension on his face. “The other kid in the picture, Jackson Blanc, I hadn’t really thought about that name since I found Anna.” He seems to be talking more to himself than to us.

“Yeah, her brother,” Brent explains. At the surprise on Gabriel’s face, Brent smiles triumphantly. “You didn’t know she has a brother? After knowing her for over eight months? She must not be too serious about you.” Then Brent’s gaze falls on me. “Did you know that Jackson’s in Sydney, Annabelle?”

“Holy shit!” Gabriel shouts. “The fake Russian is your brother!” I can tell Gabriel is struggling to hide his hurt when he asks me, “Why didn’t you tell me he was your brother? That he isn’t dead like your parents?”

I’m feeling that rare guilt. “Because he doesn’t trust you, Gabriel. Because it wasn’t my place to tell you who he is.”

“Are you two breaking up?” Brent cuts in gleefully. 

“Not a chance,” Gabriel growls out. 

“When you need a shoulder to cry on, Annabelle love, you know who to call.” Brent winks at me, trying to upset Gabriel more.

“Enough!” I point down at the papers and pictures strewn across the table. “What’s this all about, Brent?”

“You’re next assignment,” Brent calmly informs me. 

“Why are you delivering the information to me, Brent? Have you been demoted to messenger boy?” I ask insultingly, still pissed at him.

“Nope, I like to think of it as more of a promotion. You and I are partners on this one, love.” Brent leans back in his chair with his arms crossed over his blue thermal shirt and a smug look on his face. 

Gabriel

I’m thinking it’s a good thing I’m with Anna on this assignment. This Brent guy wants my girlfriend, has for a long time. He was probably planning on using this assignment to work in his favor. He probably had all sorts of situations planned out that ended in intimate encounters with
my girlfriend
.

Yes, it’s definitely a very good thing that I’m here. 

An hour after his arrival, I’m rubbing my eyes from both exhaustion and horror. The instinct to grab Anna and load her onto my family’s plane out of Australia is strong. The thought of her going anywhere near the targets is frightening. 

“So anyways,” Brent continues with his current spiel, “I think it would be best if your boyfriend were to fly back to wherever he came from. We don’t need an amateur tagging along.”

“I’m staying,” I say determinedly. 

Now that the assignment has been thoroughly discussed, douche-wad Brent seems to want to revert back to pissing me off. He increases my annoyance by saying, “What are you doing with this kid, Annabelle?”

“I’m the same age as Anna,” I reply. “How old are you anyways?”

Brent gives me his best I’m-a-deadly-assassin look. I really don’t give a flying fuck. “If I told you, kid, then I’d have to kill you.”

“He’s twenty-two,” Anna tells me. 

I look him over again. He’s about my size in height and build, light brown hair, blue eyes. His clothes are expensive but made to copy an inexpensive style. I don’t like the way he looks at Anna. It’s also a good thing I have a gun of my own, I may need to use it on him. 

“Well,” Anna sighs, “May as well invite Jackson to the party, since you let the brother out of the bag, Brent.”

Brent gives me an evil grin. “Sounds like a good idea to me. He’ll be an accomplice to help me bury your boyfriend’s body.”

Anna groans. 

I glare at Brent. “I have a gun.”

Brent has the nerve to pat me on the back and say condescendingly, “Good for you. You’re a big boy now.” Then he whips out a cell phone, dialing eagerly. “I’ll call Jackson.”

That’s it. That is fucking it. I stand up, grab Anna by the waist and, while dragging her to the bedroom, say over my shoulder to Brent, “If you can answer the door when her brother gets here, we’d appreciate it. Don’t bother us for the next hour, two if Anna’s as insatiable as usual. You may want to turn on the television to drown out the noise!” I push a laughing Anna into the bedroom and slam the door behind us.  

Chapter 28

Gabriel

So, Anna wasn’t completely feeling my rowdy sex idea, but the time spent in the bedroom wasn’t a total waste of my time. I’m able to truthfully sport a satisfied smirk on my face when we leave the bedroom and join Brent back in the living room area of the suite. And maybe I oh-so-accidentally put my white t-shirt back on inside out.