Gabriel and I weren’t the only ones stuck on this roller coaster. Ricky was just better at hiding it and more comfortable being the guy in charge of cheering everyone else up. As I stepped into the room, the floor creaked, and he was on his feet, ready for trouble. Then he saw me.

“Tonight didn’t go so well?”

He frowned, as if not sure what I meant. Then he shook his head. “Nah, it was fine. Routine shit. How are you holding up?”

“Managing. I’m more worried about you right now. You were a long way away when I came down, and it looked like you’d settled in for a night of that.”

He made a face. “Just thinking about some stuff.”

He came to me and one hand went around my waist, the other to the back of my neck. He pulled me in for a sweet and gentle kiss. When it broke, he stayed there, his hand against the back of my neck, his face an inch from mine. His eyes closed and he gave a shuddering sigh. Then he kissed me again, something else there this time, a caution that spoke as much of uncertainty as tenderness.

“What’s wrong?” I said when the kiss ended.

He hesitated, then took my hand and tugged me over to the sofa. We settled in together, me on his lap, turned to face him.

He cupped my chin, pulling me in for another slow kiss. Then he held me there, so close I could see nothing except his eyes.

“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you,” he said. “Never.”

“Okay . . .”

“I’ve made a mistake, Liv. A huge one. At the time . . . At the time, it seemed like exactly the right thing to do. The only thing to do. I was so worried about you, and all I wanted was for you to be safe.”

“What happened?”

“I was . . .” He inhaled. “It was after—”

A throat clearing cut him short. Gabriel stood in the doorway, still in his dress shirt, tie off, pen in hand.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” he said. “I was working in the kitchen hoping to speak to you.”

“We’re going back to my place,” I said. “You two can talk in the morning.”

“It can’t wait,” Gabriel said. “Ricky?”

I started to protest, but Ricky cut me short with a squeeze of my hand.

“He’s right,” he said. “Go on back to bed.”

“But—”

“You’re tired. I’m out of sorts and keeping you up. We’ll talk later.”

“You’ll come get me?”

“I will.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

About twenty minutes later, Ricky slipped into the bedroom. I started to rise. He held out a hand to stop me.

“Gabriel wants us to stay here,” he whispered. “Something about an encounter you had earlier? Is there a problem?”