Chapter 142 - The Sinking Ship (1/2)

His brow knitted in confusion, Gabriel turns to Claire, as if looking for clarification.

Claire is a deer in headlights; this reporter is not even thinking. He's so darned stupid. Jesus, hasn't he even learned anything from that pool party incident? To walk up to Gabriel just like that, right when he's in the foulest of moods. ”Uhh, he's the…Uhh, the reporter, remember?”

Gabriel looks at her as though a ċȯċkroach has just crawled out of her mouth. ”What reporter?”

Claire sighs. How could Gabriel remember? Every single day tons of things happened to him, while to her, the world revolved around Gabriel and his little shenanigans.

”He's just a reporter from some magazine,” Claire says dismissively. ”And he's—”

”And as I've said Mr. Tan, I'm here to offer my help. Heard about your brother. So maybe I'm qualified.”

Gabriel gazes at him, seemingly sizing him up. The truth is, this guy looks familiar, he just can't place where or when he did see him. IN any case, he's not getting good vibes from this; he's feeling what he felt about Jake Magno.

”I work for a prestigious, well-known weekly publication, Mr. Tan. The Muck—”

In a flash, Gabriel recognizes him. ”You're that sleaze who gatecrashed a party I had! Who told you to come here?”

”Well, uhh…” he glances at Claire, as if begging for a lifeline. ”Well, a little birdie told me…”

But Gary doesn't finish what he's saying, as Gabriel grabs him by the collar. ”I don't need you and your kind here. Crawl back to the hole you'd come from!”

Gary stumbles and falls on his back. Claire throws her arms around Gabriel to stop him; she almost screams, but her instinct tells her to keep it quiet, so she whispers in Gabriel's ear to take it easy, focus on what matters. Thankfully, Gabriel comes to his senses. He nods, raising his arms.

Gary Smulders stands up, dusting off his jacket. Yet, he has that look of defiance on his face. ”I could sue you, Gabriel. You could have added me to your growing list of ȧssault victims.”

That yanks Gabriel from his untenable place of cool. ”Why you—”

Gary jumps back, but he knows he's safe, as Claire holds Gabriel back. ”Don't mind him,” Claire says, her voice rising in pitch. ”Let's not even…” Then to Gary: ”Leave, please.”

Gary grins. ”Sure, if you don't want me to donate my blood to the brother you almost killed, I'm fine with that.” He brandishes his notepad, like a trophy. ”I have my story. I don't need your approval. And Miss Claire, kiss goodbye to our agreement.”

”What agreement?” Gabriel snaps at her.

”It's…” Claire shakes her head. ”I'll explain later. It's not important to…”

”I know all the details of why your brother lies unconscious in that room,” Gary says, still at it.

Claire rolls her eyes at him. ”Will you leave? Please?”

”Sure,” Gary says, finally. ”Sure. See you around, you lovely couple!”

It takes Gabriel all his remaining strength to not go after the man and beat the sh1te out of him. Maybe Claire's arms around him helped, too. But surely, there's something about what the reporter said that left him feeling a bit strange.