Gabriel squeezed her reassuringly, then called for Joy. “Joy, could I have a word with you before we leave?”
Sabrina looked at him, curious, then at Jimmy, who just shrugged and waited, hands in his pockets. After the kiss, he’d ignored Angelina and her cohorts as if they were completely unimportant. I suppose they are, Sabrina thought, smiling quietly.
“Sure,” Joy said, walking into the front room. Angelina and her court were already nearly out the front door. Angelina still seemed angry and glared at her as she crossed the threshold. Sabrina smiled at her cheekily, thinking of the way Gabriel and Jimmy had kissed her in front of everyone. Ha!
“Sabrina is going to have to take a leave of absence for a bit,” Gabriel continued once Joy joined them in the front room. Sabrina whipped her head around to look at him.
“Gabriel? What are you talking about?”
“Sabrina, it’s too dangerous for you to come here—” he began.
“I’m going to go insane if I have to stay cooped up in the house! Besides, you said it was probably fine!” Sabrina replied, angry now. How could he do this? And without even talking to her first! She was pissed. Joy looked at them, confused.
“I thought it would be okay this morning, but truthfully, now that I’ve had time to scout the area more, I’ve realized we’re really exposed here. I don’t take your safety for granted.” He looked at Jimmy, who nodded. “I would feel better if we stayed at home where it’s much more secluded, more defensible. And I’d feel really bad if some innocent bystander was injured when we could have prevented it simply by staying put.” Gabriel looked apologetic, and Sabrina glared at him.
“It could take longer for the shooter to come out if we just wait around at home, even Jimmy agreed with that,” she complained, but Gabriel shook his head.
“Better safe than sorry. And actually, I think that coming here today might just have goaded the shooter into showing himself. While you were setting up, I got a call from the local cops saying that they think Miltos’ car was in the grocery store parking lot. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the license plate.”
Sabrina stared at him, surprised. She didn’t remember him receiving a call while she was working, but then again, he probably had the phone on vibrate so he wouldn’t disturb Joy’s shoot.
“What’s going on? Sabrina?” Joy asked, sliding closer. “Does this have something to do with the shooting the other day?”
“Someone is trying to kill me,” Sabrina said. “There’s some crazy guy who wants to get back at my dad, and he’s trying to do that by hurting me.” Joy’s mouth dropped and Sabrina caught the older woman’s hands when she reached out. “Gabriel here is with the FBI. He’s protecting me.”
“Oh Sabrina, you should have said something! I wouldn’t have had you come in today.”
“No, no, I was going stir-crazy cooped up in that house, Joy,” Sabrina replied. “And now they want to lock me up again.” She glared at Gabriel. Sabrina knew he was right, but she was too upset to be nice to him about it.
“We’ll keep you occupied.” Jimmy walked closer and hugged Sabrina with one arm. Gabriel nodded, dropping his arm around her from the other side.
Sabrina sighed and let go of Joy’s hands. “You didn’t keep me occupied the last few weeks,” she retorted under her breath. Gabriel laughed while Joy looked from one man to the other.
“I promise, Sabrina, this time we’ll keep you happy.” Gabriel spoke the words near her ear and Sabrina shivered. Neither of the men made any obvious gestures, but Sabrina knew what they were thinking. Maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe they’ve had enough of the sexual frustration, too, she thought.
Joy winked at her, smiling as she took in their close interaction. “Sabrina, take as long as you need. You know this job will be waiting for you when you come back.”
Sabrina smiled and hugged the older woman. “Thank you, Joy. You’re really great, you know?”
Joy nodded into the hug, then let go, and Gabriel, Jimmy, and Sabrina left the studio to drive home.
Chapter 6
Later that night, the three of them gathered in the den to listen to some music, Sabrina lounging between the two men on the sofa, wondering what she could say to break the silence. After leaving Joy’s studio, they’d ordered Chinese for dinner. Gabriel checked in with his partner by phone, then performed his nightly inspection of the perimeter of the house before coming in and locking up. He said that the local police would be driving by periodically from now on, but his words didn’t really register. She still felt disgruntled about having to stay home again for the foreseeable future. She knew he was trying to protect her, but after several weeks of nothing happening, the frightening reality of the gunshots was fading in the face of the burning sexual frustration that seemed to be growing between the three of them. As they lay on the couch, none of them spoke, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how they’d both kissed her in the studio. In public! After they left, Sabrina had traced her fingers along her lips over and over, remembering the taste of them and savoring the jealousy on Angelina’s face.
The tingle of arousal lingered, but Sabrina felt too shy to start something now. She snuggled between Gabriel and Jimmy, wondering what they’d do if she kissed them. She felt her body heat up, her heart beat a little faster. She’d changed from her long skirt to comfortable sweatpants but left on her white tank top. Jimmy slumped a little onto her shoulder, while on her other side, Gabriel slouched so far down the sofa he looked like he might fall off any moment. Were they sleeping? She wasn’t sure but took the opportunity to gaze at them anyway. The blue of Gabriel’s shirt contrasted with his dark hair, and Jimmy’s plain white T-shirt looked dramatic against his tanned skin. The silver of his nipple ring peeked through the fabric. She sighed and rested her cheek against Jimmy’s head.
“Hey,” Jimmy said, startling her. “Tired?”
“Not really,” Sabrina replied.
Gabriel opened his eyes and smiled, lifting her left hand onto his thigh. The warmth of his skin radiating through his jeans felt good. Sabrina lifted her other hand and placed it against Jimmy’s thigh, stroking the soft denim. When he didn’t protest, she kneaded lightly, relishing the feel of them under her hands. She smiled and tipped her head back, hardly believing that she was doing this, touching them with nary a protest. Maybe they weren’t doing the hands-off thing anymore?
“So, do you have any questions?” Jimmy asked suddenly, a teasing light in his eyes.
Sabrina looked at him, not lifting her hands. “Questions?”
“Yeah, remember my promise?”
She blushed, thinking about the conversation that seemed so long ago now. She went to remove her hands, but Jimmy grabbed her hand as Gabriel cocked his head and stroked her fingers, preventing her from pulling away in embarrassment.
“What promise?” Gabriel asked, lifting her hand to kiss her fingertips.
She blushed harder as he placed them back on his muscled leg. Her fingers tingled and she absently stroked his thigh while she tried to get her embarrassment under control. Gabriel looked relaxed and happy. She savored the knowledge that she made him look like that until Jimmy snuggled even closer. Her eyes flew up but Jimmy was smiling at Gabriel. Then he winked and Sabrina almost laughed aloud at the look on Gabriel’s face. He smiled at Jimmy and she nearly forgot all about the question until Jimmy shifted against her, his muscular thigh flexing beneath her palm.