Looking Back

Chapter 33

Gabriel

Nate and Isabella stepped off the plane as I smiled and waved. Internally I was groaning. Gods, that woman is a shrew! Sure, she was sexy, but that's where her beauty stopped. Inside she was a devious, petty, harpy that drove me insane. Isabella gave me kisses on each cheek, trying her best to be posh as Nate fought to not roll his eyes. I pulled him into a hug and hissed, "I thought she had some runway thing?"

He grunted, "Yeah, me too."

We pulled back as my men grabbed their bags, "I'm glad you two could make it. I couldn't quite get the penthouse, but we did get the presidential suites. Seems the owner has the penthouses reserved. Oh, and you'll never guess who is coming?" I told them. Nate raised his eyebrows in question. "My manager got a message from our long-lost leader. Owen is an attorney here in London now and is coming with some associates. I sent him passes and invites to the afterparty. I thought it might be fun to catch up."

"No way!" Nate gaped. "Damn, now I'm really glad we made it."

"Who is Owen?" the harpy snapped. "Is he someone famous?" Leave it to her to only be interested if he was famous.

"I've told you about him, Iz. He was our friend before I signed up. We all lost touch after I deployed. Hell, it's been what...six, eight years?" Nate said as we loaded into the SUV.

Her interest faded, "Oh, if that's all," and turned to look out the window. I wanted to slap her as I watched Nate seem to deflate at her indifference. He really needed to end things with her.

We pulled into the private parking garage and took the elevator to our floor. I handed Nate his key. "I'll let you two get cleaned up. Why don't you join me for dinner downstairs in a couple of hours?"

"Sounds good, Gabe. Thanks for inviting us," he said, gripping my arm, then heading into their suite. I let out a sigh and walked into my door. This was going to be one long week.

Owen

"I already sent a car to the airport for them," I told Luke who was visibly on edge awaiting Kota and Avery's arrival. "Do you plan on letting her make it in the door before you attack her?" I chuckled.

He grinned, "Do you?"

"Touché," I grinned.

The door opened and she stepped in still talking. "All I'm saying is right now I feel very much like the country mouse, Kota."

I think we all sucked in a collective breath as we took in her appearance. She was wearing a free-flowing silvery gown with her hair up in a delicate bun that exposed her neck and ample bosom. "You may feel like a country mouse, but right now, you look like a goddess," I said as she turned and met all our eyes.

"Woah," she breathed, "I think my ovaries just exploded. Feck you all look good."

North chuckled, "Thanks shortcake, but let's keep those ovaries in place."

Her cheeks flushed as she covered her face, mumbling, "I said that out loud, huh?"

He pulled her hands down, "Yes, but we love the compliment, and Owen's right, you do look like a goddess." He leaned down and kissed her softly. She leaned into the kiss, her small hands wrapping around his wrists as he cupped her face.

When their kiss broke, we all took turns greeting her with soft kisses and embraces. "We should probably make our way to the dining room before you lose that beautiful dress, our goddess," Sean smirked, taking her hand and placing it over his arm.