Challenging Gabriel (Knight Security 2) Read Free Page B

name or describe but obviously still craved. Like a man dying of thirst in a desert.
    He’d thought he was over this woman. That all those years of silence had killed any last lingering feelings he might have had for her. A few minutes in Angel’s company, and he had turned into a ravenous caveman. Or an addict desperate for his fix.
    He didn’t want this again. Didn’t want to want Angel again. It had consumed him last time, almost killed him when she walked away, and he wasn’t about to lay himself open to that type of pain again.
    He moved to sit behind his desk as a way of putting distance between them. “I can give you the names of several other reputable security companies who might be interested in helping you with whatever your problem is.” He pulled his notepad forward and wrote down three telephone numbers before ripping off the top sheet and holding it out to her. “As I said at the beginning of our conversation, Knight Security is not interested in taking you on as a client.”
    Some of Angel’s anger returned at Gabriel’s easy dismissal of her after almost destroying her with his kiss. “You insult me, kiss me, and now you think you can just dismiss me?” she challenged. “Well, it doesn’t work like that, Gabriel. I was willing to let this go, was on the point of leaving, then you were the one who decided to kiss me as if you own me—”
    “Eight years ago, I did own you, damn it!” A fire blazed in his emerald eyes. “Every fucking inch of you was mine.”
    “I belong to myself!” she came back fiercely. “Then and now. No one owns me. Not you. Not Clive. No one. So if you—”
    “Who is Clive?”
    She looked startled. “What…?”
    Gabriel’s hands clenched into fists on top of his desk. “Who. Is. Clive.”
    Oh God…
    Only a few seconds of being back in Gabriel’s company, and she realized how big a mistake she had made coming here.
    Gabriel had been intense eight years ago, and at the time, Angel had reveled in his single-minded pursuit of her. Been flattered by it. Seduced by it. Owned by it; Gabriel was right about that. She had been his. As surely as he had been hers. Until he wasn’t. One day, Gabriel had been the center of her life, totally consuming her, and the next day, he had been gone. Leaving a vacuum and heartache in his wake that had almost broken her.
    Almost.
    Until she found a reason to carry on. To not only survive but thrive.
    She didn’t know what had made her say Clive’s name just now. Maybe because he was so much on her mind? Whatever the reason, she knew Gabriel well enough to realize he wouldn’t let the subject drop now that she’d brought it up. “Clive Sinclair’s my husband.”
    Gabriel’s teeth clenched. “Is he dead?”
    “No, of cou—” Angel frowned. “I said Clive Sinclair, Gabriel.”
    “I heard you— The billionaire?” He eyed her with sharp suspicion.
    “That’s the one,” she confirmed dryly.
    “Jesus Christ!” Gabriel looked stunned.
    As well he might. Clive owned media all over the world, including several television stations. He also owned a hotel chain and an airline, but preferred to travel in his private jet and own homes in several major cities in the world. Clive Sinclair did things his way or not at all.
    Much like the man seated behind the desk in front of her.
    Except she knew Gabriel possessed a heart behind that arrogant exterior. A heart that might not belong to her anymore, but she knew it was there nonetheless. Or, at least, it had been…
    The mistake she had made was in thinking Clive had a heart too beneath his ruthless exterior. Once they were married, she had quickly been disabused of that fact.
    “You’re married to Clive Sinclair?” Gabriel was still having trouble getting his head round the idea of his Angel being married to anyone, let alone a man as powerful and rich as Sinclair. The billionaire had to be at least twenty-five years older than her, and so powerful he could ensure his private