“I have a plan though.
He watched me warily. "All right, I'm listening."
"I need to marry her."
Gabe's eyes went wide and his jaw went slack before he regained full composure. "What?"
"I need to marry her, or at least make it look like I'm marrying her.”
Gabe stared at me blankly for a long moment. The tiny scar on his brow somehow more prominent. "So, let me get this straight. Your bright idea after Igno and his men took Elise from you is to marrythiswoman?"
"When you say it like that, it sounds like a shit idea. But it’s a good plan.”
Gabe asked, “Do you think your name is enough to make these men back down?”
“I don’t know, but I need to try, because if this isn’t Igno and it’s someone else, the Saint name is enough. Plus, I can keep her close and find out exactly what Connor wants with her. When I questioned him about her, he didn't seem all too eager to talk except in riddles. He said, ‘You don't even know what you have.’ Wouldn't say what their connection was or why she wanted to speak to him. She sought him because she thinks he has information about her mother. But her mother vanished five years ago when Connor was still an enforcer. Even if he does know something, he probably won't be helpful to her.”
"Saint, this is out there. Even for you."
"I just want to buy her some coverage. She's the kind of woman who instead of walking will do a full sprint if she's spooked."
For a long moment, Gabe studied me. "Obviously, there will be no fraternization. If we’re doing this, keep it clean. I don’t want to answer questions from Oversight just because you want to wet your dick.”
There was no problem there. I had no intention of ever touching her again. Elise had left me scarred. Staying away was wise. “That’s not what this is.”
Liar.
Gabe nodded. "All right, fine. Make it happen. Rook stays in play though."
I halted before turning to walk away. "What?"
"Rook, he stays in play. Because after all, the great Jasper Saint would certainly have a full security detail on his new fiancée, now wouldn’t he?"
I cursed under my breath. "Son of a cunt."
Looked like I wouldn't be getting rid of Rook after all.
KAYA
"Well, say something." Saint said as he stared at me.
I stared back. There was no way. There was no fucking way. He was kidding, right? He had to be kidding because he had not just said what I thought he'd said.
I was seated on his plush sofa in the middle of his penthouse flat, and he was sitting next to me saying ridiculous things. But somehow he looked at me like I was being the crazy person.
"You’ve got to give me something, Kaya."
"Jasper Saint. Did you just say you wanted me to marry you?"
He winced. Of course he'd wince. This whole thing was ridiculous.
"Yes. For all intents and purposes, I am asking you to marry me. Sort of."
I couldn't help it, the nervous bubble of laughter just tripped out of my mouth without me even thinking. "You're insane! That’s what this is you’ve lost your ever-loving mind. Why would I say yes to marrying you? I'm not even sure I like you. Not to mention, why the hell should we be talking about marriage forty-eight hours after meeting?"
"This plan, the whole thing… Well, it’s about giving you coverage and safety. And for what it's worth, I didn’t really set out to marry you either, but after watching men chase you through a gala, trying to run you over, and consequently me as well, both of us being shot at, and then, presumably, those very same men blowing up your flat, at least this way you’d have some kind of protection."
Fuck. My home. I'd been trying very hard not to think about my flat.