Page 60 of The Billionaire's Angel

The hell Iwould.

I wasn't foolish enough to follow him down the hall. I didn't have a weapon, and I wasn't trained in self-defense or any of the other things the security guards and Gage undoubtedly knew how todo.

But Amelia was right across the hall, and the alarm would have woken her up. I had to get over there and make sure she stayed in her room because, while I might have been wise enough to stay put, Amelia was daring enough notto.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to resist her curiosity for long, I quickly changed into the clothes I'd been wearing that day, glad I hadn't stuffed them into the hamper. Gage had dragged me into my room only seconds after Amelia had gone to sleep, stripping me efficiently at the side of the bed before drawing me under the covers and keeping me awake forhours.

My cheeks warmed at the memory. I shook it off and buttoned my shirt. Shoving my feet into slip-on sneakers, I went to the bedroom door and cracked it an inch, peering into thehall.

At the far end, by the library and Aiden's office, I saw lights and movement, heard voices through the din of the alarm. The hall itself was empty. I crossed to Amelia's door, arriving just as she was drawing it open and preparing to slipout.

“Don't even think about it,” I said, sliding my arm around her shoulders and turning her back into her bedroom. She came with me easilyenough.

“What's happening?” She asked. “Is everyone allright?”

“I don't know,” I said, as soothingly as I could, given my own nerves. I led her to the oversize armchairs in the sitting area of her bedroom and urged her down. “I'll make you sometea.”

“I don't want any tea. I want to know what's going on,” she said querulously, sounding her age for the first time since I'd knownher.

She might not have wanted tea, but the normalcy of it would soothe her. I went to the bookcase on the other side of the room where Amelia had an electric kettle, two mugs, and a box oftea.

As I heated water and chose a teabag filled with soothing herbs and flowers, I reflected that if I'd had an electric kettle and tea in my room, I wouldn't have had to wander to the kitchen in the middle of the night and probably never would have gotten to know Gage. At least not the way I did, alone and in the dark ofnight.

Even without our secret meetings, I was pretty sure we would have ended up where we were eventually. There was something that drew us together, something primal. Living at Winters House, there was no shortage of attractive men around. I wasn't blind, I could appreciate their good looks, but they weren't Gage. They weren'tmine.

The alarm finally cut off, the sudden silence oppressive. Amelia looked to the door and then to me. “Can we open it? I want to hear what's goingon.”

I dropped tea bags into mugs of hot water and carried them to the armchairs, placing them on the table between them before I sat opposite Amelia. “No,” I said, gently. “I locked the door, and we’re not opening it until Gage or Aiden tells usto.”

“I don't like being shut up in here,” shecomplained.

“I don't like it either,” I admitted, bobbing my teabag up and down in my mug, watching the hibiscus flowers stain the water red. “But we don't know if it's safe out there, and we don't want to get in theirway.”

“You’re right; I'm just terrible atwaiting.”

“Tell me something I don't know,” I muttered into my tea, my lips curving at Amelia'slaugh.

It was an eternity before a light knock sounded on Amelia's bedroom door, followed by the handle turning and releasing. At the door, I heard Gage's low rumble, tight with a thread of tension as he said, “Sophie, tell me you’re inthere. “

“I'm here,” I said as I hurried to unlock the door. “Is everyone allright?”

I opened the door to see Gage on the other side, in one piece and seemingly unharmed. Reassured that he was okay, I relaxed a little. His gun was nowhere to be seen, but I didn't doubt he had it onhim.

“Everyone is fine. Aiden wants us in the diningroom.”

“Why did the alarm go off? Was someone in the house?” Amelia asked from behindme.

Gage shook his head as he ushered us out of the room. Not in denial, I realized, when he said, “In the diningroom.”

“But—” Amelia protested. Gage wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of herhead.

“Sweetheart, I know the suspense is killing you, but just give it a minute, and we’ll tell you everything. Lise is freaked out, and this will be easier if we're alltogether.”

I slowed as we passed the library, glancing over my shoulder to see two men in dark clothes at one of the windows taping thick plastic over the empty space where the window glass had been. Before I could come to a stop and look more closely, Gage caught my hand in his and tugged me along to the diningroom.

Aiden waited just outside the door, his arms around Annalise, speaking in her ear in low, soothing tones. Whatever he was saying, it wasn't working. Her blue eyes were wide with shock, her face pale, handsshaking.

As we sat around one end of the table, Gage leaned into me and asked, under his breath, “Youokay?”