I target the kid. Duke raises his hands at the very moment. Gabriel steps between us to protect the child. I grab her arm and pull her closer, making her stand in the way, in case Duke tries anything.

Just the way it was planned. Except that Gabriel doesn't react as she should.

Her whole body goes rigid when I touch her. She's standing there, resembling one of the fucking marble statues, with her eyes closed, as if she was in pain.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask her instinctively, falling out of character before realizing it.

"No," she answers, still not opening her eyes. "Just let go of my arm."

"I'm kidnapping you," I explain to her. "I can't leave you with Duke. It would be a huge advantage for him."

Great. Just great. Now that I explained my intentions in detail, I might ask for her permission to kidnap her, too. That would sound very mercenary lord-like.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go," I apologize.

What the fuck, now seriously. It's not me. It's someone else speaking. I want my old self back. Rudeness, first and foremost, I remind myself. Tools of the trade, remember?

"Let go of my arm," Gabriel repeats. It's not a plea now. It's an order.

And I do, without thinking. Before I could discuss with myself that she's not Gabriel anymore, she's just a strange, annoying, random woman I have to overpower, which, looking at the size difference between us, shouldn't be very hard.

"I don't like being touched without warning," she informs me, opening her eyes finally.

"Okay." I nod. "So now I warn you."

"Still a no," she insists.

"Why not?" I inquire.

"Just no. What if I walk by your side?"

"Okay," I sigh. "By the way, do you want to come with me?"

There. I reached rock bottom. I just asked for her permission to kidnap her. Someone shoot me, please.

Duke seems to read my mind. Or, he was thinking while I was having a conversation with Gabriel, instead of simply knocking her out.

"You're not taking her anywhere," he declares, sounding determined.

He has a plan. And when Duke has a plan, someone dies in the end, usually. This time, it might be me because I'm too distracted to realize what he's going to do.

He can't target me.

But he can target her.

And the motherfucker knows very well what I'm going to do when he does that. He knows me better than I know myself.

Everything happens in the blink of an eye. I don't have time to think. I don't have time to make decisions.

I shield Gabriel with my body.

Here's the thing. I also know Duke better than he knows himself, and I recognize the look in his eyes. He's going to shoot.

I'm a dead man.

A hundred percent, irreversibly dead. I don't need Gabriel to calculate the odds for this, but still, she does, probably. I feel a not-so-gentle pinch on my ass, coming from behind. I guess it's not the worst thing to spend the last seconds of my life with, to be sexually harassed by the woman of my dreams, even if she's nothing like I imagined her. But I suspect it's not exactly what she was aiming for.

"Incoming," I hear.

It's the usual monotone, calm voice of hers. I always thought it was the distortion, because we weren't supposed to be able to identify her under any circumstances. But it's not. She speaks like that in real life, too.

The effect of her voice is immediate, though. Duke believes her without thinking. He acts on instinct and turns to the entrance.

The next second, I'm leaping.

Not towards Duke. He's too good for that. He'd still probably shoot me, and I have to go, anyway. Reinforcements will arrive in seconds, and even the safe exit Pavlov arranged for me can't save me if I'm too late to use it.

The last thing I hear is Duke shouting at Gabriel.

He's not happy with her.