The Ex Assignment (Rogue Protectors Book 1) Read online

  “There it is,” Theo muttered.

  She shot him a questioning glance.

  “I never saw you cry for Peter. You were just there at the funeral. Stoic.”

  Gabby was disconcerted at being called out on this. There was a lapse of silence as she considered it. “I guess that was my way of coping when it came to Peter,” she said slowly. “There was resentment, you know, hurts buried deep from his abandonment. That Beverly Hills mansion was like a crypt. Money and luxury were not what I needed at that time.”

  “So, you married Nick.”

  She gave a small nod. Gabby wasn’t proud of how she’d reacted. She knew Nick loved her in his own way, but he wasn’t Declan. Besides, filmmaking would always be Nick’s priority.

  “I felt like I was tossed at sea and Nick was my lifeline. I didn’t know how to cope. Losing the baby, Peter bailing. The divorce.” She didn’t know how to handle grief. Her own mother died in a car accident when she was three. She had no memories of her at all. Some of her father’s girlfriends tried to nurture her, while others treated her like a nuisance until Dead Futures made her a star. She’d been pampered all her life. Claudette was Peter’s fourth and last wife and was closer to Gabby’s age than Peter’s. Their relationship was like siblings—best friends one day, mortal enemies the next. “Peter tried to get in touch with me in the past three years. Cutting him off permanently is my one regret that I’m realizing now.”

  “Thought you simply didn’t want anything to do with me.” He gave a lopsided smile. “It’s why I deliberately misbehaved at school when Peter was out of the country so you’d be forced to see me.”

  Gabby shook her head and gave a wry smile. “You were a pain in the ass, you know that?”

  “Sorry, not sorry.”

  “Why am I not surprised?”

  They shared a brief chuckle before she turned serious again. “I’ve always thought of you as my brother regardless of blood. It was just hard to look at you, you know.”

  “That too,” he said, lifting his eyes and searching hers. “I’m surprised you didn’t kick Roarke in the nuts when you saw him again.”

  Gabby set down her mug. “Let’s get something straight. The breakdown of my marriage to your dad—”

  “Sperm donor,” Theo growled.

  “No,” she reiterated. “Claudette was right. I was the first one who stepped out on our marriage.” She closed her eyes. “With Nick.”

  Silence.

  She opened her eyes. Theo was staring at her, mouth open.

  “Dec and I were having problems and it was really bad.” Gabby pursed her lips, remembering. “Really bad.” Her brother was still staring at her and she realized she hadn’t clarified the situation. “Nothing happened between Nick and me that night. I came to my senses before it went further, but Dec’s timing was the worst. Let’s just say the damage was done. Irreparable.” She shook her head in regret. “Declan and I … we were young. I was barely nineteen and he wasn’t even twenty. We weren’t prepared for how volatile our emotions were, and we didn’t know how to handle it without hurting each other.”

  Theo gave a brief nod.

  “Anyway, I’m telling you this, because I don’t want you to miss out on having a relationship with Dec.” She grinned wryly. “You should give him a chance.” It was on the tip of her tongue to say he was a good man. She felt he was. A cop’s instinct and all, but she couldn’t equivocally say that because she knew Dec had been a mercenary.

  “Are you reconciling?”

  “God, no,” she responded instantly.

  “Then why was he in your room last night?”

  “We had something to discuss regarding what happened yesterday.” She did her best to hold his stare.

  Theo angled his head and a corner of his mouth kicked up. “Riiiight.”

  Gabby made a tsk sound at his teasing, batted him on his arm with the back of her hand and then leaned forward to pick up another piece of toast. “Are you going back to the studio tomorrow?”

  “Maybe. Need to get clearance first from the doc. Nick’s orders.”

  One thing she couldn’t fault about ex-husband number two was he liked to play by the rules. He took care of his actors.

  “Dec going with you or Levi? I might need your dad … what?” she asked when she saw the teenager grimace.

  “Referring to Roarke as my dad doesn’t sound right. I called our father Dad, you know. My dad has just been buried. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not about blood, but the person who really cared for you.”

  “I agree,” Gabby enunciated. “But—”

  Theo cut her off by raising his palm. “Stop. Taking it slow, okay?”

  “Fair enough.” She’d stuck her nose in it too much already.

  “And yeah, Dec said you might need him for some shit he started.”

  “That’d be right.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Can’t really tell you.” Gabby leaned back against the sofa and put her foot up on the table. “Maybe you should go to bed.”

  Theo looked at her. “That’s how it’s gonna be?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I ask you something personal and you try to deflect or send me to my room?”

  Her brow quirked up. “You’re not a child. Just pointing out what the doctor ordered.”

  Theo jumped to his feet and stretched, a yawn overcoming him. “Guess I am tired. See ya around, sis.”

  14

  Declan turned away from the mouth of the hallway and moved down the corridor. He stopped, leaned against the wall, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. Hearing Gabby’s side of the story about Nick was a sucker punch to the solar plexus and his mind tried to wrap around the enormity of what it meant, what he needed to face.

  To top it off, hearing how logical she was, how she’d taken his side, he couldn’t help comparing her to the spoiled young actress she was seventeen years ago.

  Somehow, he made it back to the bedroom, the tightness in the center of his chest making it difficult to breathe. The rumpled sheets on his bed recalled the sleepless night he’d had. Even reading a book couldn’t take his mind off how Gabby felt in his arms, how she tasted on his tongue. But all that took a back seat to the memory of that night years ago when she broke his heart.

  It was the night of the Serpentine Film Awards, only three months after Claire died. He’d been at the bar, using a fake ID to get alcohol because he wasn’t old enough to drink, drowning his pain in whiskey when he should have been at home donning a tux to accompany his wife to the ceremony. Gabby had been nominated for best actress.

  The awards ceremony was on the screen and he tried to ignore it. But he heard her voice.

  “Where’s the husband, Gabby?” the red carpet reporter asked her.

  “He thinks he’s coming down with the flu.” For all her accolades as one of the greatest teen actresses of her generation, Gabby couldn’t disguise the sarcasm in her voice. Declan tensed as she leaned into Nick, who tucked her arm into his. “Thank God Nick agreed to be my escort.”

  The reporter gave a fake laugh and asked them about Dead Futures.

  They both smiled and answered questions and then posed against a wall to have their requisite pictures taken. With each flash of the camera, anger mounted inside him, his own sorrows momentarily forgotten.

  Declan clenched his jaw. He should have been there with her, not that motherfucker. He signaled the bartender for another drink.

  “I’m gonna have to cut you off. This is the last one.”

  “Whatever,” Declan growled. “Just pour it.”

  But one more drink hadn’t been enough. He left the bar and went home where he could drink in peace. He sat in front of the TV, the awards show on. He ate cold pizza, washed it down with beer and, as the night wore on, discontent festered deep in his heart.

  Gabby didn’t win.

  At first Declan thought he was too drunk, and he’d heard the emcee call it out wrong, but
as another actress took to the stage and the camera split-screened to the nominees who didn’t win, his eyes were riveted on Gabby.

  She was smiling big and she was clapping. But he knew her fake smile and it broke his heart to recognize the disappointment on her face even through the filter of television.

  Through the alcohol haze, Declan had the strong urge to comfort her, and his anger took a back seat to the guilt that he let her down. Making up his mind to go to the after party, he checked the details on the invitation that was pinned on the kitchen cork board where they kept their schedules in sync. He quickly took a shower and put on slacks and a polo. He squirted eye drops to alleviate the redness of his eyes.

  He jumped into his pickup and raced to the Bel Air villa owned by Revenant Films. Declan didn’t have a problem going through as the guards recognized him. The parking valet was a different matter, his face etched in disdain as he took in the battered pickup truck. Declan had a better ride. The Maserati was a gift from Gabby right after Claire died and after Gabby had a row with Peter about withholding her earnings from the series. Money started flowing in again but as far as Declan was concerned, it was too little too late. No amount of money would bring back his sister.

  The party was in full swing, he barely acknowledged Peter who was entertaining some bigwigs in the movie business. He was taller than most of the people there and scanned the crowd for his wife, knowing her hair was up in an elegant twist and that she was wearing a white off-the-shoulder dress. But what if she changed after the awards show? Frustration gnawed inside him as he ignored the eyes that followed him, the whispered conversations behind his back. The press was going to have a field day again. In the beginning of their marriage, the tabloid headlines calling him a gold digger didn’t bother them. But when cash got tight and Gabby had to borrow money from a friend for Claire’s funeral, the headlines were scathing. Needless to say, that friend was no longer a friend, but it only deepened the rift between him and Gabby.

  But that ended now. Yes, he let his wife down, but he was here to make it right.

  Gabby—his Gabby must be disappointed. She was excited to be nominated. Another stab of guilt cut to his heart. Still reeling from Claire’s death, he hadn’t been excited with her. Why couldn’t he have pretended to feel something when she showed him the gold-embossed nomination notice?

  Regret was always an afterthought. So was guilt.

  “I thought you had the flu.” Claudette stepped into his path, running a finger down his arm. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end—she was the last person he wanted to see.

  “Have you seen Gabby?” His tone was curt.

  “Oh, lover’s quarrel?” She tilted her head and batted her eyes.

  “If you haven’t then—”

  “She’s busy.”

  “Do you or do you not know where she is?”

  Claudette sighed. “I don’t think she wants to be disturbed.”

  Something in her tone, in the way she studied her blood-red fingernails, raveled a knot of anxiety in his gut.

  “Don’t have time for this shit.” He made to move past her.

  “Last bedroom on the second floor,” she said. There was almost pity in her eyes.

  His chest went tight and he had to force himself to inhale and exhale as he took the steps two at a time.

  The second floor was mostly empty of revelers and he walked briskly to the last bedroom. There were two facing rooms, but the door to the one on the right was slightly ajar.

  He approached, heart pounding, and he pushed it open.

  The light of the hallway illuminated two bodies writhing on the bed. So involved in fucking they didn’t even know someone had entered the room.

  “Oh, Gabby, waited so long, baby.”

  “Nick …st—”

  “Let me. I’ll—”

  “Declan?” Gabby gasped when her eyes fell on him. She couldn’t see his face, but she recognized him, nonetheless.

  What followed was a blur. He remembered yanking Nick off Gabby and breaking his nose, relishing the crunch of cartilage. Rage. So much rage. He spun around to deal with his cheating wife as she hastily put her dress back to rights. He gripped her shoulders and she yelped. He wanted to crush her, strangle her.

  “Why?” He roared into her face before throwing her on the bed. “You fucking slut.” Then he glared at Nick. “You two deserve each other.”

  Anger vibrated through him as he made himself walk to the door, bile rising to his throat as fury mixed with the horror that he’d been so close to hitting Gabby.

  “Dec …” her voice croaked.

  He stopped at the door and turned slightly, not looking at her. He couldn’t stomach the evidence of her betrayal.

  “We’re done,” he told her in a flat voice. “I’ll pack your clothes and send them to the studio. Don’t you fucking come to the apartment if you know what’s good for you because ….” He hissed in a ragged breath. “I might just kill you.”

  Steeling himself against the thought that he was leaving his wife with another man, he walked out the door, out the house full of people who never thought he was good enough, and out of Gabby’s life.

  Had he judged Gabby harshly that night? Declan wondered as he realized he’d been staring sightlessly at his bed, taking a much-needed peek into the past. He walked further into the room and sank into the mattress.

  “Nick …st—”

  Did Gabby try to stop Nick? Had second thoughts? Declan never got the full story from her. But did it matter now? Pride destroyed their relationship. They both were at fault with what happened to their marriage. He realized that over the years when the Army made a man out of the boy, far away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

  Sleeping around for revenge wasn’t in the cards for him because he didn’t trust women even for a one-night stand. Even when Gabby married Nick, he didn’t go on the rebound. Instead, he gave his best to the Army and was fast-tracked for Ranger school.

  The rest was fucking history.

  There’d been women eventually. Some were faceless one-night-stands and others were short-term girlfriends. Certainly no one became close enough for him to want commitment.

  Bitterness had slowly faded away and he thought he’d put the past behind him. But seeing Gabby again turned his world upside down. This infuriated him, as well as gave him relief that he hadn’t become too jaded. That he hadn’t turned into someone like Garrison who’d throw his own mother under a bus if it was for the fucking greater good.

  So what should he do now?

  The dawn light filtered through the slats of the blinds. Sunrise was a few minutes away. There were so many things he wanted to tell Gabby. Many times since yesterday morning, he almost blurted out that Theo was their son. He didn’t want to keep it from her, yet he was at a loss on how to break it to her. Instinct was telling him now was the time before she got embroiled in finding the evidence to keep Ortega off the streets.

  They needed to talk away from this house.

  He knew just the place.

  Griffith Park was a Los Angeles landmark located right smack in the middle of the city. It’s known for the Observatory and it’s one of the best places to see the famed Hollywood sign. A little less famous was the vintage carousel built in the 1920s that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland.

  For Declan, it was the place he and Gabby went on hikes and picnics. Their relationship thrived when they shunned the places the Hollywood elite were known to haunt. He and Gabby had been happy preparing their meals at home and taking them some place to eat. She was naturally empathetic to what he needed. She let him be the man when he pursued her and didn’t throw her wealth and popularity at him.

  “So I think I know where you’re taking me,” Gabby cautiously said beside him. Declan glanced at her, giving her his mysterious smile which she pretended to hate. It still had that effect on her and she laughed nervously, and he imagined, gave him an eye roll.

  They took her Honda
and left Levi to watch over Theo even though the threat levels were reduced since Ortega had been taken into custody.

  The SUV made a turn on Crystal Springs Drive and Gabby sucked in a deep breath. “What are you doing, Declan?” There was a sadness in her tone that made him want to hit the gas so they could get to their destination sooner and have their talk.

  “Making things right.”

  “I don’t want to dig into our past again.”

  “But you already did. I heard your talk with Theo.”

  She didn’t respond for several seconds, and then, “You were eavesdropping?”

  “Yes.”

  “Unbelievable,” she huffed. “What were you doing awake anyway?”

  “Couldn’t sleep.”

  That shut her up, probably because to ask why was useless. That had always been Gabby. She didn’t ask useless questions, but he could hear her thinking. The sun was already rising on the horizon as he guided the vehicle to the parking for the merry-go-rounds. He knew it didn’t open until ten that day.

  They both got out of the vehicle and unlike the last time they’d been here, they simply walked side by side instead of wrapped up in each other’s arms.

  Gabby stopped walking and he turned to look at her.

  Tears welled in her eyes; her lips trembled. “Why bring me here, Dec?”

  “Because this was the place I asked you for forever,” he stated softly.

  “Forever was a lie,” she whispered.

  “Only because my pride got in the way.” He closed what little distance was between them and put his hands on her shoulders. “Forgive me, Angel. I don’t know if you can. I fucked up our marriage.”

  “Why are you taking all the blame?”

  Dec glanced at the merry-go-round. The sun’s rays hit its roof and illuminated the antique gold. Without saying another word, he urged her forward, an arm keeping her close to his side.

  She leaned into him, much to his relief.

  When they reached the ancient ride, he boosted her up on a marble pony as he leaned against it. There was something magical about a structure that had withstood the test of time. That was why he proposed here.