Haze(54)

I trace my fingers over the weathered wood of the violin. It was a gift from my grandmother. It had been her instrument for years before she purchased another. It's my most treasured possession.

"I was late for class a lot. I got caught. I made out with a boy on school grounds. I got caught for that too."

"Those aren't serious infractions. You lost your scholarship because of those things?" His eyes are warm, his expression understanding.

My brows rise. "I lost my scholarship when I was caught cheating. That's one of the hard and fast rules you can't break."

"You were caught cheating?" I hear the disbelief in his tone as much as I hear it in the words. "What was it, Isla? Algebra? History? Did you smuggle the answers to a test in on a piece of paper or maybe you wrote them on your hand?"

"Nothing like that," I mutter. "It was economics. It was a year after my grandmother died and I had been at the cemetery. I rushed to school for the test. I forgot my notes were in my bag. After the test the teacher searched all of our bags and he found them."

"That's extenuating circumstances, Isla."

"No, Gabriel." I set my violin down on the bed next to me. "That is cheating, according to my high school."

"You broke all these rules after she died, didn't you?"

I bite my bottom lip to hold back the tears. "I was only seventeen when she died. I had to go live with my mother for that year. Every single day was a blur. I just wanted to escape my life. I just wanted to escape all that pain."

***

"I know people in the admissions office at Julliard." He stares at my reflection in the bathroom mirror as he adjusts his tie. "I can make a few calls today."

I'm not surprised by the offer. I anticipated it, although I admit, I thought he might do it behind my back.

"No," I say firmly as I smooth my hands over the same black dress I was wearing last night. "I can reapply if I want."

"If you reapplied, you'd be accepted, Isla." He straightens his jacket. "I promise I won't become involved unless that's something you desire."

It would be the easy track to get my life back to where I want it but it would also create a debt I don't want between us. I can take care of myself, and my life. I want, and need, for him to fully understand and support that.

"I might quit my job at the boutique soon."

That statement warrants a full turn on his part until he's facing me directly. "You're going to quit your job?"

"I've been waiting for an opening at a music school on the Upper West Side." I pull my hair up and into a ponytail, using the elastic band I keep in my purse. "I would teach violin to children."

His hands fall together in front of him. "That sounds interesting."

"It's a private school." I look past him to the mirror, realizing that my face is still flushed from when he'd licked me to orgasm after we'd woken this morning.

We'd fallen asleep holding each other after I shared the tortured confessions of my high school days. He hadn't said anything after I spoke of the pain I felt when my grandmother died, but his silence and comfort were exactly what I needed.

"This is what you want?"

I smile softly as I rake him from head-to-toe. He looks stunning, as always, dressed in a suit, freshly shaved, his hair in place. "I want all of that but I can't be late for work. Cicely will fire me and I want to have the satisfaction of seeing her face when I quit."

He chuckles. "I wasn’t referring to my body, Isla. The job; the teaching job, that's what you want?"

"I want to play my violin. I want to share music with others. This is how I can do that right now."

"I'm fully behind this." He turns back towards the mirror. "It's a win-win for us."

"How so?" I dart up behind him, wrapping my arms around his chest.

He pats my hands with his. "You get to do what you enjoy and I get to breathe again knowing that you'll keep your clothes on when you're at work."





CHAPTER FORTY


Gabriel




"Who knew dad was only worth low six figures." Caleb waves me into his office. "How much do you think I'm worth?"

"A buck ninety-nine on a good day."

"Fuck you," he shoots back with a grin. "You're funny now, too? Who the hell is this woman you're sinking your dick into? She needs a goddamn medal."

I've yet to introduce Isla formally to any of my family. She did have that awkward meeting with my mother at my office, but the moment I explain that she's Lady Amherst's granddaughter, Isla will become the apple of my mother's eye. I already know that. I saw it when my mother listened to Isla playing in the atrium that evening weeks ago.

"Have you spoken to Roman about Caterina?" I walk towards the windows. His office isn't nearly as spacious as mine and the view pales in comparison, but he's content here. His life has evolved the past few months since he married. His time here, in the building, is limited to nine-to-five, no more, often less.

"I broke his heart last night." He shifts restlessly. "I sent him the emails we exchanged with her and an image of the cashed check."