Still, there were things she hadn’t told him. Some of the more painful experiences were just too hard to verbalize. She would tell him someday, she knew. Perhaps talking about them would help her heal. So yes, she would tell him. Just not yet.
“What would you say to a snowball fight?”
Turning away from the window she’d been gazing out of, she practically shouted, “Really? Seriously? We can go out?”
“Forecast says blue skies and sun. No more snow, at least for the foreseeable future. Temps are in the thirties, so you’ll need to bundle up.”
With her mind on the new adventure ahead, all caution scattered like ashes in the wind. She had never played in the snow, never once had a snowball fight. This was one of the items on her list.
“I’ll be back in a flash.”
“No hurry. I don’t think the snow will melt anytime soon.”
The instant she disappeared from the room, any amusement vanished with it. Jonah swore softly. He had to get out of here, away from her, as soon as possible. After twelve days of doing nothing but talking with her, learning about her, he had a boatload of information and knew one immutable fact—he was more attracted to her than he’d been to any woman, ever. That knowledge, more than anything, made him want to howl with fury. Teri’s killer was still out there breathing. Instead of finding him and meting out justice, Jonah was isolated with a beautiful temptress whom he couldn’t stop thinking about.
He was not only attracted to her, he was starting to like her. She was different from any woman he’d ever met. Her interests were eclectic, her enthusiasm for the ordinary was contagious. How long had it been since he’d sat down, read and enjoyed an entire book? Since he had shown her the library, he had rediscovered the simple pleasure of getting lost in a good book.
Very few things interested him anymore whereas Gabby was interested in everything. Each day was a new adventure for her, something exciting to be enjoyed and shared. What he looked at as mundane and boring, she viewed as delightful and different.
In the last few years, Jonah’s view of the world had taken a sour turn. He knew this. Even without his family telling him, he recognized the signs. But Gabby, with her amazing attitude, was making him see things with a different perspective. Her sheer joy of living made him realize how empty his life had become.
Despite his need to get away from her, he was actually glad he’d been given the opportunity to help her. People like Gabby were a rarity, and she deserved to have a chance at happiness. And if he ever got the chance to meet Luis Mendoza, he’d make sure the bastard paid for what he’d put his granddaughter through.
“I’m ready.”
She wore gloves, boots, and a thick coat with a hood that obscured all but her bright smile. Anyone else would have looked ridiculous. Gabby, with her contagious excitement, was the exception.
The next few hours belonged to Gabby, and he wanted her to have the perfect day. Determined that her first experience of playing in the snow would be one she’d remember forever, Jonah put his dark thoughts aside. There would be plenty of time for those later.
The beauty stole her breath. Everywhere the eye could see was a brilliant, blinding white. The only color was the darkness of the giant trees, and many of them were almost bowed over, laden with inches of snow. A winter wonderland lay before her, and she was right in its midst.
Jonah had apparently done some major shoveling before he’d offered her the chance to go outside. The sidewalk was clear and had been salted. He’d even cleared a path around the grounds so they could walk some distance without getting bogged down.
“Wow, now I know where you go when you disappear for hours.”
Wearing a dark blue coat and gloves, Jonah wasn’t nearly as bundled up as she was, and oh heavens, he was attractive. Those mesmerizing eyes that seemed to pierce through to her soul were gleaming with a light she hadn’t seen in them before. He actually looked as though he was enjoying himself. There was darkness in Jonah, but for today at least, he seemed to have put his worries aside.
“Keeps me busy.”
“You’re probably bored here.”
An almost infinitesimal smile twitched at his mouth. “You’re the least-boring person I know.”
“Wow, a compliment from Jonah Slater?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
She wouldn’t, but she would hold it close to her heart.
They reached the end of the short trail and stopped. Gabby whirled slowly. The cold, crisp air almost burned her lungs but also made her feel gloriously alive. Distant mountains surrounded them, their peaks seeming to reach past heaven. Their sheer beauty and magnificence left her breathless.
“I’ve never seen anything more breathtakingly stunning.”
“You’ve been to some of the most beautiful places in the world.”
“Not really. I’ve been to countries that had some of the most beautiful places in the world. I rarely got to visit them. If my grandfather didn’t think they would benefit him in some way, I didn’t go.”
“I noticed you go to a lot of museums and art shows.”
“Yes. Those are the things that interest him. And even though the locations are chosen for me, I know I’m lucky to have the opportunity to see them. I’ve seen some of the most priceless and beautiful art in the world.”
“But nothing like this?”
“No,” she agreed. “Nothing like this.”
“You have seen snow before. Right?”
“Of course. I just never have had the chance to play in it.”
A hawk squealed overhead, and she lifted her eyes to watch it glide. She was so enthralled at the sight, she didn’t notice that Jonah had left her side until something hard and cold hit her in the back.
At first, she was startled, and then when she realized what had hit her, she stooped and created her own snowball. Carefully packing it into a perfectly round weapon, she stood and was immediately bombarded. Snowball after snowball came at her like missiles.
Dodging and weaving, she could barely escape them, much less throw her own. “Hey!” she protested. “Not fair.”
His grin unrepentant, he hurled another one. “All’s fair in love and snowball fights.”
Recognizing that she’d soon be buried if she didn’t get into the spirit of things, Gabby grabbed another handful of snow. In between recovering from the ones she couldn’t evade, she created her own arsenal.
“Are you just going to stockpile yours?”
He barely got the words out before she began her assault. Flinging the balls of snow like a major leaguer, she pummeled her opponent.
A deep roar of laughter erupted from Jonah, and instead of continuing to throw snowballs, he concentrated on avoiding her attack.
“You’ve been holding out on me,” he yelled between dodges. “You’re a pro.”
She stopped to give him her best proud grin. “I hit what I aim for.”
Deliriously happy, she picked up the last snowball. Determined to make it count, she targeted his chest. It landed with a hard splat and exploded outward.
Apparently caught off guard by the force of her throw, Jonah lost his footing and fell backward, landing with a resounding thud on the packed snow.
“Jonah? Are you okay?”
When he didn’t move or make a sound, Gabby’s heart went into her throat. Running forward, she cursed her precision. Raiza had taught her to hit what she aimed for, but the lesson had been for guns and knives, not snowballs. Had she hurt him?
She skidded to a stop beside him and went to her knees. His eyes were closed, and he looked almost peaceful. How on earth had she knocked him out?
Leaning forward, she cupped her hands over his face and tapped lightly. “Jonah? Are you okay?”
Quick as a flash, he grabbed her forearms and twisted her around until she was lying flat on her back. Looking up at his grinning, arrogant face, she burst into uncontrollable giggles.
“What’s so funny?”
“My snowball must have been awfully powerful to bring down something so big.”
“You do pack a wallop, especially for an inexperienced snowball thrower.”
She gave him a cheeky grin. “I never said I hadn’t thrown other things before. I’ve just never thrown a snowball.”
“Then let me tell you, you could be a champion thrower of snowballs.”
“Thank you, Jonah.”
“For what?”
“For this. I have so many wishes and dreams, and you just made one come true.”
The smile dropped from his face, and his gaze focused on her mouth. Suddenly nervous, Gabby licked her lips.
Jonah leaned closer, his breath warming her cold cheeks. “You’re an amazing person, Gabriella Mendoza.”
“Jonah?” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
It was a plea, a command, a hope and a dream. And with a groan that sounded both tortured and angry, Jonah complied. His mouth touched hers gently, and then when she opened her lips, he took hers boldly, expertly. His tongue swept deep into her mouth, tangling and dueling with her own.
Gabby grabbed his shoulders and held on tight, reveling in his taste and the extraordinary experience of being in this man’s arms. Never had anything felt so right…so perfect.
The kiss ended much too soon. He raised his head, and she saw the regret immediately. It was in his eyes, in the grim set to his mouth. He shot to his feet and held out his hand, his expression once more cool and impersonal.
Gabby refused to feel the same. It didn’t matter that he wished he hadn’t kissed her. It had been a perfect ending to a perfect moment in time. She’d had much too few of them to have an ounce of regret.
“Thank you for a wonderful day, Jonah.”
He gave a curt nod, acknowledging her gratitude.
They trudged back to the house in silence, Jonah with his regret and Gabby with her delight in the experience. No one could take her happiness away, not even the man who so obviously wished he was anywhere but here.
Chapter Fifteen
Gut-twisting outrage tore through him. Jonah could only stare at his sister-in-law as the horror of what she just told him penetrated his brain. How the hell could something like this happen?
He’d been headed up to bed, practically patting himself on the back for another successful day of gathering intel and pushing aside any kind of tender feelings he had for his charge. Yesterday’s kiss had never been mentioned and wouldn’t. It had been an anomaly and one he was determined not to repeat. Gabriella, no matter how charming and beautiful, was his charge, his job, and nothing more.
And now this call had come through destroying all of his carefully built defenses.
He and Kathleen had gotten into the habit of talking with each other every morning before Gabby came down for breakfast. Usually, it was to review what he’d learned the day before.
In less than two weeks, Gabriella had given them information that would have taken years to gather on their own. Once this information came to light, a massive shitstorm was going to come down on dozens of scumbags.
But Kathleen had news now…news that couldn’t wait for their morning call.
On a scale from one to ten, with ten being the very worst news possible, this came in at a stone-solid eleven.
Jonah said again, “You’re sure?”
Tears glittered in Kathleen’s compassionate eyes. “Yes, we’re sure.”
“There’s no way that this could just be speculative…something that they might do in the future? Could the notes have been misconstrued, read the wrong way?”
“I read them myself, Jonah. There’s no other way to interpret the information.”
Jonah rubbed the sudden dull throb at his temple. When he’d asked Kathleen to have someone hack into Antonia Rojas’s patient files to find out why Gabby had been drugged at her doctor’s appointment, he hadn’t had a clue what the reason might be. But this… Holy shit, who the hell would’ve even considered this?
“But who…what…why?”
“I think we can both speculate with some degree of accuracy on the answers to all those questions.”
“The last time we talked, you said that Rojas’s firewall seemed impenetrable. That her computer security was extremely sophisticated. That it could take weeks for Charlie to be able to hack into the records.”
“Another strange thing. And in a way, it makes me believe this even more. Charlie’s been working day and night trying to break in, and then just a few hours ago, there it was. Clear as day. Almost as if the information was put there deliberately. She said it looked as though the entry had been made today.”
“Could this be a trick, a trap of some sort? Could Mendoza have set this up so he could follow a trail that might lead to the person who took his granddaughter?”
“I asked Charlie the same thing. She said she didn’t think so. And even if it were a trap, there’s no way anyone could trace her. Charlie’s the best there is…I believe her.”
As one of Grey Justice’s top investigators and cyberexperts, Jonah had seen the expertise of Charlotte Nolan, aka Charlie, firsthand. She was the best.
“I agree, she is. So the question is, do we believe what she uncovered?”
“I don’t think we have a choice but to assume it’s credible. At the very least, whether it’s true or not, this is something Gabby needs to know, Jonah. ASAP.”
She was right about that. This information couldn’t be ignored or swept under a rug. But holy, holy hell. This was going to devastate Gabby.
“I’m wondering if her cousin did this for her as a favor.”
He gaped at his sister-in-law. “A favor?”
Kathleen gave a rapid shake of her head. “Not the procedure, of course. But revealing the information might be Antonia’s way of helping Gabby the only way she knows how.”
Jonah had a lot of thoughts about Antonia Rojas. None of them good. “If the woman actually did this to Gabby, she deserves to be behind bars.”
“What Antonia did was wrong and horrendous, but from what we know about Mendoza, the man may not have given her a choice. He is beyond ruthless.”
How messed up was it that the more he learned about the Mendozas, the better his own screwed-up family looked?
Jonah didn’t question whether Luis Mendoza could actually be so cruel or selfish. Having seen this type of narcissism and lack of morality in his own father, nothing surprised him. To achieve a goal he was pursuing, Mathias Slater would’ve done the very same thing without the slightest twinge of conscience.
But what was Mendoza’s reasoning? What could be so important that he would do something of this magnitude? What could be so imperative that he had approved something so vile and wrong, so damn invasive, for his own granddaughter?
“Do you want me to tell her?” Kathleen asked.
That would be the easy way out. Let Kathleen deal with the heart-wrenching news of this monumental betrayal. He told himself it would be better coming from a woman, especially one Gabby knew and trusted. But how the hell could he even assign the word better to this? There was no easy way to tell her. Nothing, no matter who told her, could make this better.
“I’ll tell her. She’ll want facts.”
“I’ll send you her cousin’s notes.” Her expression one of sympathy, she asked, “Will you tell her tonight?”
He thought about how happy she’d looked a couple of hours ago, right before she’d gone up to bed for the night. Being able to write down her hopes and dreams instead of holding them in her head had given her a serenity and optimism that showed clearly in her face. She had almost filled up one notebook. He’d found two others for her to use. Soon, she’d have a library filled with everything she wanted to do in her life. And dammit, he wanted her to be able to live out every one of her dreams. But this… Shit, shit, shit. This news would destroy all of that peace. All of her hopefulness would disintegrate.
As much as he hated to d
eliver the killing blow, he refused to wait. Putting off telling her would be wrong and self-serving. Even waiting until tomorrow morning wouldn’t be right.
“Yeah. I’ll tell her tonight.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jonah stood beside Gabby’s bed. He had knocked and when she hadn’t answered, he’d eased the door open. Finding her asleep wasn’t unexpected. She’d played in the snow for hours. After yesterday’s debacle, he hadn’t dared joined her. Thankfully, that hadn’t seemed to mar her enjoyment. She had built her own snowwoman and had even created several smaller figures she’d described as snow pets. He had watched her from the window, mesmerized by the almost childlike pleasure she took in something so simple.
After dinner, she’d said she was going to her room to write in her notebook. Apparently, she had settled in to write after slipping into light blue flannel pajamas and fallen asleep in the process. The notebook lay by her side.
He re-evaluated his earlier decision. To wake her would be criminal. He would destroy what might possibly be her last peaceful sleep to relay information that would demolish that peace. Tomorrow would be soon enough to break her heart.
He bent down, intending to put the notebook on the nightstand so she wouldn’t inadvertently knock it onto the floor. Moonlight reflected into the room, revealing the words she’d written. Without the least amount of guilt, Jonah glanced over her notes. And as he read, the hard shell around his heart cracked even further.
It was a bucket list of sorts, but unlike any he’d ever seen. These were things most people did on a daily basis, many of them mundane. To Gabby, who’d rarely gotten the chance to do anything for herself or by herself, they were goals to achieve, new joys to experience.
He smiled at the first item on the list. She wanted a puppy. Why would Luis Mendoza not allow his granddaughter to have something that to him should be small and insignificant but to a young girl could mean the world? Was he that heartless?
Too Far Gone: A Grey Justice Novel Page 10