I woke up before my alarm the next

I woke up before my alarm the next morning and felt better than I had in a long while. I left a note on the breakfast bar telling my dad to call me if he wanted to get together for lunch. I wasn’t sure if he had anything planned for the day. I knew Cary had a shoot in the afternoon.
During the cab ride to work, I answered a text from Shawna squeeing over her brother’s engagement to Mark. So happy for all of u, I texted back.
I’m drafting u! she shot back.
I smiled down at my phone. What’s that? Signal’s breaking up … Can’t read u …
As the cab stopped in front of the Crossfire, the sight of the Bentley at the curb gave me the usual thrill. When I hopped out, I peeked into the front seat and waved when I saw Angus sitting inside.
He stepped out, setting his chauffeur hat on his head. Like Clancy, you couldn’t tell he was carrying a sidearm by looking at him; he wore it so comfortably.
“Good morning, Miss Tramell,” he greeted me. Although he wasn’t a young man and his red hair was liberally threaded with silver, I’d never had any doubts about Angus’s ability to protect Gideon.
“Hi, Angus. It’s good to see you.”
“You’re looking lovely today.”
I glanced down at my pale yellow dress. I’d chosen it because it was bright and cheery, which was the impression I wanted my dad to have of me. “Thank you. I hope your day rocks.” I backed up toward the revolving door. “See you later!”
His pale blue eyes were kind as he tipped his hat to me.
When I got upstairs, I found Megumi looking more like her usual self. Her smile was wide and real, and her eyes had the sparkle I enjoyed seeing every morning.
I stopped by her desk. “How are you?”
“Good. Michael’s meeting me for lunch and I’m ending it. Nice and civilized.”
“That’s a killer outfit you’ve got on,” I told her, admiring the emerald green dress she wore. It was fitted and had leather piping that gave it just the right amount of edge.
She stood and showed off her knee-high boots.
“Very Kalinda Sharma,” I said. “He’s going to be scrambling to hold on to you.”
“As if,” she scoffed. “These boots were made for walking. He didn’t call me back until last night, which made it nearly four days without contact. Not totally unreasonable, but I’m ready to find a guy who’s crazy about me. A guy who thinks about me as much as I’m thinking about him and hates it when we can’t be together.”
I nodded, thinking about Gideon. “It’s worth it to hold out for one. Do you want me to give you a bailout phone call during your lunch?”
She grinned. “Nah. But thank you.”
“All right. Let me know if you change your mind.”
I headed back to my desk and dug right in to work, determined to get ahead to make up for leaving early the day before. Mark was fired up, too, segueing from work only long enough to tell me that Steven had a binder full of wedding ideas he’d been collecting for years.
“Why am I not surprised?” I said.
“I shouldn’t be.” Mark’s mouth curved with affection. “He’s kept it in his office all this time so I wouldn’t know about it.”
“Did you get a look at it?”
“He went through the whole thing with me. It took hours.”
“You’re going to have the wedding of the century,” I teased.
“Yeah.” The word held more than a little exasperation, but his expression remained so happy I couldn’t stop smiling.
My dad called just before eleven.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, in reply to my usual work greeting. “How’s your day going?”
“Great.” I leaned back in my chair and looked at the picture of him. “How’d you sleep?”
“Hard. I’m still trying to wake up.”
“Why? Go back to bed and be lazy.”
“I wanted to let you know that I’m going to take a rain check on lunch. We’ll get together tomorrow. Today, I need to talk to your mom.”
“Oh.” I knew that tone. It was the same one he used when he pulled people over, that perfect mixture of authority and disapproval. “Listen. I’m not going to step in the middle of this with you two. You’re both adults and I’m not picking sides. But I have to say that Mom wanted to tell you.”
“She should have.”
“She was alone,” I pressed on, my feet tapping restlessly on the carpet, “going through a divorce and the trial against Nathan, and dealing with my recovery. I’m sure she desperately wanted a shoulder to lean on—you know how she is. But she was drowning in guilt. I could’ve gotten her to agree to anything then, and I did.”
He was quiet on the other end of the line.
“I just want you to keep that in mind when you talk to her,” I finished.
“All right. When will you be home?”
“A little after five. Want to go to the gym? Or back to Parker’s studio?”
“Let me see how I’m feeling when you get in,” he said.
“Okay.” I forced myself to ignore how anxious I was over the upcoming conversation between my parents. “Call me if you need anything.”
We hung up and I got back to work, grateful for the distraction.
When lunch rolled around, I decided to grab something quick and bring it back to my desk to work through the hour. I braved the midday sauna outside to hit the local Duane Reade for a bag of beef jerky and a bottled health drink. I’d skipped my workouts pretty frequently since Gideon and I had gotten back together, and I figured it was time to pay a penalty for that.
I was debating the wisdom of sending Gideon an “I’m thinking of you” note when I twirled through the revolving front door of the Crossfire. Just a little something to say thanks for the flowers, which had made a tough day more bearable.
Then I saw the woman I’d prefer never to see again—Corinne Giroux. And she was talking to my man, with her palm resting intimately against his chest.
They stood off to the side, sheltered by a column outside the stream of traffic heading in and out of the security turnstiles. Corinne’s long black hair fell nearly to her waist, a glossy curtain that stood out even against her classic black dress. Both she and Gideon were in profile so I couldn’t see her eyes, but I knew they were a gorgeous aquamarine hue. She was a beautiful woman and together, they made a stunning couple. Especially right then, with both of them dressed in black, the only spot of color being Gideon’s blue tie. My favorite one.
Abruptly, Gideon’s head turned and found me, as if he’d felt me watching him. The instant our gazes met, I felt that soul-deep recognition pierce through me, that primitive awareness I’d only ever felt with him. Elementally, something inside me knew he was mine. Had known it from the moment I first laid eyes on him.
And some other woman had her hands on him.
My brows rose in a silent WTF? At that moment, Corinne followed his gaze. She didn’t look happy to see me paused in the middle of the massive lobby, staring at them.
She was lucky I didn’t go up to her and yank her away from him by her hair.
Then she cupped his jaw, urged his attention back to her, and lifted onto her tiptoes to press a kiss against his hard mouth, and I really considered doing it. Even took a step toward them.
Gideon’s head jerked back just before she accomplished her goal, his hands catching her by the arms and thrusting her away.
Reining in my temper, I exhaled my irritation and left him to it. I can’t say I didn’t feel jealous, because of course I did—Corinne could be with him publicly and I couldn’t. But I didn’t have the sick fear in my gut I’d felt before, the horrible insecurity that told me I was going to lose the man I loved more than anything.
It was weird not to feel that panic. There was still a little voice in my head cautioning me against being too confident, telling me it’d be better to be afraid, to guard myself from getting hurt. But for once, I was able to ignore it. After all Gideon and I had been through, all that we were still going through, all he’d done for me … it was harder to disbelieve than to believe.
Despite everything, we were stronger than we’d ever been.
I hopped on an elevator and headed up to work, my thoughts drifting to my parents. I was choosing to take it as a good sign that neither my mother nor Stanton had called to bitch about my dad. I crossed my fingers and hoped that when I got home we could all put Nathan behind us for good. I was so ready for that. Beyond ready to move on to the next phase of my life, whatever that might be.
The elevator car slowed to a stop on the tenth floor and the doors opened to the high-pitched whirring sound of power tools and the rhythmic banging of hammers. Directly ahead of the elevator, plastic sheeting hung from the ceiling. I hadn’t realized any part of the Crossfire was under construction, and I peered around the people in front of me, trying to get a look.
“Anyone getting out?” the guy nearest the door asked, looking over his shoulder.
I straightened and shook my head, even though he hadn’t been talking to me personally. No one else moved. We waited for the doors to close and shut out the construction noise.
But they didn’t move, either.
When the guy began hitting the elevator buttons to no avail, I realized what was going on.
Gideon.
Smiling to myself, I said, “Excuse me, please.”
The occupants of the car shifted to let me out and another guy stepped out with me. The doors closed behind us and the car continued on.
“What the hell?” the guy said, scowling as he turned and surveyed the other three elevators. He was a little taller than me, but not much, and wore dress slacks with a short-sleeved shirt and tie.
The ding announcing the arrival of another car was nearly drowned out by the construction noise. When the doors to that elevator opened, Gideon stepped out, looking suave and dashing and irritated.
I wanted to jump him, he looked so hot. Plus, I’ll admit it totally turned me on when he went all alpha male on me.
I’d stop the world from spinning for you. Sometimes, it felt like he did.
Grumbling under his breath, the short-sleeved guy walked into Gideon’s vacated elevator and left us.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Aku bangun sebelum alarm pagi berikutnya, dan merasa lebih baik daripada yang saya miliki dalam waktu yang lama. Aku meninggalkan catatan Sarapan bar mengatakan kepada ayah saya untuk menelepon saya jika dia ingin berkumpul untuk makan siang. Aku tidak yakin apakah ia punya sesuatu yang direncanakan untuk hari. Aku tahu Cary telah menembak di sore hari.Selama naik taksi untuk bekerja, aku menjawab sebuah teks dari Shawna squeeing atas keterlibatan kakaknya kepada Markus. Sangat bahagia untuk kalian semua, saya texted kembali.Aku sedang menyusun u! dia menembak kembali.Aku tersenyum turun pada ponsel saya. Apa itu? Sinyal breaking up... Tidak bisa membaca u...Sebagai taksi berhenti di depan baku tembak, mata Bentley di pinggir jalan yang memberiku sensasi biasa. Ketika aku melompat keluar, saya mengintip ke dalam kursi depan dan melambaikan tangan ketika aku melihat Angus duduk di dalam.Ia melangkah keluar, pengaturan topinya sopir di kepalanya. Seperti Clancy, Anda tidak bisa mengatakan dia membawa sidearm dengan melihat dia; Ia mengenakan begitu nyaman."Selamat pagi, Miss Tramell," dia menyapa saya. Walaupun dia bukan seorang pemuda dan rambutnya merah bebas ulir dengan perak, I 'd never had keraguan tentang Angus's kemampuan untuk melindungi Gideon."Hai, Angus. Ada baiknya untuk melihat Anda.""Anda mencari indah hari."Aku melirik ke baju kuning pucat saya. Saya telah memilih karena itu terang dan ceria, iaitu kesan saya ingin ayah saya untuk memiliki saya. "Terima kasih. Saya berharap Anda hari batu." Saya didukung menuju pintu putar. "Melihat Anda kemudian!"Matanya biru pucat adalah jenis seperti dia tipped topi nya saya.Ketika aku tiba di lantai atas, saya menemukan Megumi tampak lebih seperti dirinya biasa. Senyumnya adalah luas dan nyata, dan matanya memiliki kilau yang saya senang melihat setiap pagi.Aku berhenti oleh mejanya. "Bagaimana Apakah Anda?""Baik. Michael pertemuan saya untuk makan siang dan aku mengakhiri itu. Bagus dan beradab."Itulah yang pakaian pembunuh yang Anda punya pada," kataku kepadanya, mengagumi gaun hijau zamrud yang dipakainya. Itu dipasang dan memiliki kulit pipa yang memberi jumlah yang tepat dari tepi.Dia berdiri dan memamerkan nya sepatu bot setinggi lutut."Sangat Kalinda Sharma," kataku. "Dia akan berjuang untuk mempertahankan Anda.""Seolah-olah," dia mengejek. "Sepatu bot ini dibuat untuk berjalan. Ia tidak menelepon saya kembali sampai tadi malam, yang membuatnya hampir empat hari tanpa kontak. Tidak benar-benar masuk akal, tetapi saya siap untuk menemukan seorang pria yang gila tentang saya. Seorang pria yang berpikir tentang saya sebagai aku berpikir tentang dia dan sebal kalau kita tidak bisa bersama-sama."Aku mengangguk, berpikir tentang Gideon. "It's worth it untuk memegang untuk satu. Apakah Anda ingin saya untuk memberikan bailout telepon selama makan siang Anda?"Dia tersenyum. "tidak. Tapi terima kasih.""Baiklah. Let me know jika Anda berubah pikiran."Saya kembali ke meja saya dan menggali tepat di untuk bekerja, bertekad untuk maju untuk membuat untuk meninggalkan awal pada hari sebelumnya. Mark bersemangat, juga, segueing dari pekerjaan hanya cukup lama untuk memberitahu saya bahwa Steven telah pengikat penuh dengan ide-ide pernikahan yang dia sudah mengumpulkan selama bertahun-tahun."Mengapa aku tidak terkejut?" Saya bilang."Saya seharusnya." Markus mulut melengkung dengan kasih sayang. "Dia telah memeliharanya di kantornya selama ini jadi saya tidak tahu tentang hal itu.""Apakah Anda mendapatkan Lihat itu?""Ia pergi melalui seluruh hal dengan saya. Butuh jam.""Anda akan memiliki pernikahan abad ini," saya menggoda."ya." Kata diadakan gemas lebih sedikit, tetapi ekspresinya tetap sangat senang aku tidak bisa berhenti tersenyum.My dad disebut sebelum sebelas."Hei, sweetheart," katanya, in salam biasanya bekerja saya. "Bagaimana hari Anda pergi?""Besar." Aku bersandar di kursi saya dan melihat gambar. "Bagaimana akan Anda tidur?""Keras. Saya masih mencoba untuk bangun.""Kenapa? Kembali ke tempat tidur dan malas.""Aku ingin membiarkan Anda tahu bahwa aku akan mengambil hujan cek di makan siang. Kita akan mendapatkan bersama-sama besok. Hari ini, perlu berbicara dengan ibumu.""Oh." Aku tahu bahwa nada. Itu sama dengan yang ia gunakan saat ia menarik orang-orang atas, campuran yang sempurna otoritas dan penolakan. "Mendengarkan. Aku tidak akan ke langkah di tengah ini dengan kalian berdua. Kau kedua orang dewasa dan saya tidak memilih sisi. "Tetapi saya harus mengatakan bahwa ibu ingin memberitahu Anda.""Dia harus memiliki.""Dia adalah sendirian," aku menekan, kakiku penyadapan gelisah di karpet, "akan melalui perceraian dan pengadilan Nathan, dan berurusan dengan pemulihan. Saya yakin dia sangat ingin bahu untuk bersandar pada-Anda tahu bagaimana dia adalah. Tapi dia adalah tenggelam dalam rasa bersalah. Aku bisa mendapatkan dia setuju untuk apapun kemudian, dan saya lakukan."Ia adalah tenang di ujung baris."Saya hanya ingin Anda untuk menjaga bahwa dalam pikiran ketika Anda berbicara kepadanya," aku selesai."Baiklah. Ketika Anda akan rumah? ""Setelah sedikit lima. Ingin pergi ke gym? Atau kembali ke Parker's studio?"Coba lihat bagaimana saya merasa ketika Anda masuk," katanya."Oke." Aku memaksakan diri untuk mengabaikan bagaimana cemas aku sudah selesai percakapan mendatang antara orang tua saya. "Hubungi saya jika Anda butuh sesuatu."Kami menutup dan aku kembali untuk bekerja, berterima kasih atas gangguan.Ketika makan siang berguling-guling, saya memutuskan untuk mengambil sesuatu yang cepat dan membawanya kembali ke meja saya untuk bekerja melalui jam. Saya menerjang sauna tengah hari di luar untuk memukul lokal Duane Reade untuk sebuah tas dari sapi dendeng dan minuman botol kesehatan. Saya telah melewatkan latihan saya cukup sering sejak Gideon dan aku sudah kembali bersama-sama, dan saya pikir itu adalah waktu untuk membayar denda untuk itu.Aku sedang berdebat kebijaksanaan mengirim Gideon catatan "Aku berpikir Anda" ketika saya dililit melalui pintu depan bergulir baku tembak. Hanya sedikit sesuatu untuk mengatakan terima kasih untuk bunga, yang telah membuat hari yang berat lebih tertahankan.Maka aku melihat perempuan itu saya lebih suka untuk tidak pernah melihat lagi — Corinne Giroux. Dan dia sedang berbicara kepada saya manusia, dengan telapak beristirahat erat dadanya.Mereka berdiri jauh ke samping, dinaungi oleh kolom di luar arus lalu lintas menuju dan keluar dari pintu putar keamanan. Rambut hitam panjang Corinne's jatuh hampir ke pinggang, mengkilap tirai yang menonjol bahkan terhadap gaun hitam klasik. Dia dan Gideon berada di profil jadi aku tidak bisa melihat matanya, tapi aku tahu mereka hue aquamarine cantik. Dia adalah seorang wanita cantik, dan bersama-sama, mereka membuat beberapa menakjubkan. Terutama kanan kemudian, dengan kedua dari mereka berpakaian hitam, tempat hanya warna yang sedang Gideon dasi biru. Satu favorit saya.Tiba-tiba, Gideon kepala menoleh dan menemukan saya, seolah-olah ia akan merasa saya mengawasinya. Instan memandang ke kami bertemu, aku merasa bahwa pengakuan jiwa-pierce melalui saya, kesadaran primitif yang saya hanya pernah merasakan dengannya. Elementally, sesuatu di dalam saya tahu dia saya. Telah diketahui dari saat pertama kali saya meletakkan mata pada dirinya.Dan beberapa wanita lain punya tangannya padanya.Alis saya naik di WTF diam? Pada saat itu, Corinne diikuti dengan tatapan. Dia tidak terlihat senang melihatku berhenti di lobi besar-besaran, menatap mereka.Dia beruntung saya tidak pergi kepadanya dan menarik darinya oleh rambutnya.Kemudian dia menangkupkan rahang beliau, mendesak perhatiannya kembali kepadanya, dan mengangkat ke nya berjinjit untuk menekan ciuman terhadap mulutnya yang keras, dan aku benar-benar mempertimbangkan melakukan hal itu. Bahkan mengambil langkah ke arah mereka.Gideon tersentak kembali sebelum dia mencapai tujuannya, tangannya menangkap dia oleh lengan dan menyodorkan dia pergi.Mengekang dalam kesabaran, aku dihembuskan iritasi saya dan meninggalkan dia untuk itu. Aku tidak bisa bilang aku tidak merasa cemburu, karena tentu saja aku — Corinne bisa dengan dia secara terbuka dan aku tidak bisa. Tapi aku tidak punya rasa takut sakit di perutku aku akan merasa sebelum, ketidakamanan mengerikan yang mengatakan kepada saya saya akan kehilangan orang aku mencintai lebih dari apa pun.Itu aneh untuk tidak merasa bahwa panik. Masih ada suara kecil di kepala saya cautioning saya melawan karena terlalu percaya diri, mengatakan akan lebih baik untuk takut, untuk menjaga diri dari mendapatkan terluka. Tapi untuk sekali, saya mampu untuk mengabaikannya. Setelah semua Gideon dan saya telah melalui, semua yang kami masih akan, semua yang ia lakukan untuk saya... itu sulit untuk kafir daripada percaya.Meskipun semuanya, kami akan lebih kuat dari kita pernah.Aku melompat ke atas Lift dan menuju ke pekerjaan, pikiran saya melayang ke orangtua saya. Saya memilih untuk mengambil sebagai pertanda baik yang saya ibu maupun Stanton memanggil menggerutu tentang ayahku. Saya menyilangkan jemariku dan berharap bahwa ketika aku sampai di rumah kita bisa semua menempatkan Nathan di belakang kami untuk kebaikan. Aku sudah sangat siap untuk itu. Beyond siap untuk melanjutkan ke tahap berikutnya dalam hidupku, apa pun yang mungkin.The elevator car slowed to a stop on the tenth floor and the doors opened to the high-pitched whirring sound of power tools and the rhythmic banging of hammers. Directly ahead of the elevator, plastic sheeting hung from the ceiling. I hadn’t realized any part of the Crossfire was under construction, and I peered around the people in front of me, trying to get a look.“Anyone getting out?” the guy nearest the door asked, looking over his shoulder.I straightened and shook my head, even though he hadn’t been talking to me personally. No one else moved. We waited for the doors to close and shut out the construction noise.But they didn’t move, either.When the guy began hitting the elevator buttons to no avail, I realized what was going on.Gideon.Smiling to myself, I said, “Excuse me, please.”The occupants of the car shifted to let me out and another guy stepped out with me. The doors closed behind us and the car continued on.“What the hell?” the guy said, scowling as he turned and surveyed the other three elevators. He was a little taller than me, but not much, and wore dress slacks with a short-sleeved shirt and tie.The ding announcing the arrival of another car was nearly drowned out by the construction noise. When the doors to that elevator opened, Gideon stepped out, looking suave and dashing and irritated.I wanted to jump him, he looked so hot. Plus, I’ll admit it totally turned me on when he went all alpha male on me.I’d stop the world from spinning for you. Sometimes, it felt like he did.Grumbling under his breath, the short-sleeved guy walked into Gideon’s vacated elevator and left us.