Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(19)

“Oh, there’s nothing personal involved here,” Lucy said. “As I just explained to Tony, it’s a business arrangement. I’ve agreed to help Mr. Jones with an investigation.”

Emeline stared at her, anxiety in her eyes. “You’re going to go back underground?”

“First thing in the morning,” Lucy said.

Tony frowned. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Did the doctors say it was okay for you to return to your weather work?” Emeline asked. She sounded deeply concerned.

“I didn’t ask the doctors,” Lucy said.

Emeline looked more anxious than ever. “But—”

Gabriel decided it was time to intervene. “I need a first-class channeler to help with a security matter down in the Ghost City. Fortunately, Ms. Bell is available.”

“Yes, of course,” Emeline said quickly. “It’s just that after what happened—”

“Mr. Jones and I will be leaving early in the morning, so we won’t be staying long tonight,” Lucy said. “But I couldn’t miss this opportunity to congratulate both of you.”

“That’s great,” Tony said. He snagged two crystal flutes off a passing tray. “Champagne?”

“Absolutely,” Lucy said. She took one of the glasses and hoisted it in a small toast. “To Tony and Emeline.”

Gabriel took the glass, echoed the toast, and drank a little champagne. He set the glass down and looked at Lucy.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked.

She stared at him as if she had never heard of dancing, but she recovered quickly and set her glass down as well. “Sure.”

He guided her toward the dance floor and took her into his arms. She felt good, warm and soft; curved in all the right places. She smelled good, too. The whisper of her aura sang to his senses, just as it had the night he had found her in the Underworld. It was so satisfying to have her close again, even if only for the length of a dance. It felt right.

He had spent a lot of time thinking about her during the past eight weeks. Sometimes he had wondered if his imagination combined with the fact that he had been living a sex-free life ever since Angela had dumped him had led him to conjure a fantasy woman. But as soon as he had seen her in the Storm Zone tour bus he had known that the real Lucy was a thousand times more compelling than any woman his imagination could have created.

The band was playing a slow, intimate number. Gabriel tightened his hold and drew her closer. He tried to suppress the question that had been burning in his thoughts ever since Lucy had told him that her ex was marrying one of her friends. But in the end he could not resist.

“Are you okay with what’s happening here tonight?” he asked. “Your ex and your friend—?”

She didn’t answer for a moment. She glanced across the ballroom to where Tony and Emeline stood greeting their guests.

“Yes,” she said finally. “I’m fine, actually. Coming here tonight was a good idea. Tony and I were friends. We had fun together. He’s a nice person. But what we had was a flirtation, not a deep, abiding love. That’s why I had to show up this evening.”

“I understand.”

“Ever been married?”

Damn. He should have known better than to bring up the subject of previous relationships.

“Once,” he admitted. “An MC. It didn’t end well.”

“Statistically speaking, they usually don’t end well,” Lucy said.

“After it was over I decided to postpone any kind of marriage, MC or Covenant, until after I had my own Guild territory. I needed to focus on my job. Personal relationships get messy and complicated. I didn’t want to let myself get distracted.”

“I assume your need to focus on your career was what caused your MC to crash and burn?”

“It didn’t exactly crash and burn. There was nothing spectacular or dramatic about the ending. I came home from a mission one day and Angela was gone. She had moved out and filed for a divorce. I didn’t blame her. I spent too much time away from home. She got bored.”

“She moved out and you moved up the career ladder.”

“Like I said, not exactly a crash-and-burn ending.”

“Why the Guild?”

The simple question stopped him cold. Not because he didn’t know the answer. He did. He just did not want to have to put it into words. But Lucy was one of the few people who had a right to know. He was responsible for upending her life. She deserved the truth.

“I joined the Guild when I was eighteen,” he said. “Right out of high school. My parents were furious. They insisted I was making a huge mistake. I come from a long line of successful scientists, researchers, doctors, and educators. Everyone in our family goes to college and studies a respectable profession.”

“And the Guilds have always had an image problem.”

“Not always. Back at the start, the Guild men were considered heroes. They saved the city-states from Vincent Lee Vance and his followers.”

“Yeah, well, that happened a hundred years ago,” Lucy said. “Old news, as far as most people are concerned. The only reason the Guilds are still powerful is because you can’t do business without the kind of highly specialized Underworld security the Guilds provide.”

Anger sparked through him. “There were some bad outfits and some bad actors, but things are changing. We can’t afford to take the risk of disbanding the Guilds, not now. Every new discovery in the Underworld brings the possibility of unleashing some previously unknown catastrophic force. Who knows what the Aliens left behind? There’s a real possibility they had to abandon their colonies here on Harmony because they came up against something even they couldn’t handle.”