Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1)(121)

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Well, the lecture was great. You can see why I came here to work with him.” Paul glanced meaningfully at Gabriel. “But look at them.”

As if on cue, the blond threw her head back and laughed uproariously, while Emerson gave her a tight smile. She was less than five feet tall, with flaxen hair that was pulled back tightly into a severe-looking bun. She wore Armani glasses that were both squarish and red and an expensive-looking black suit highlighted by a tight pencil skirt that barely grazed her knees.

Julia noted also that the woman wore black pumps that were very high and fishnet stockings that would have netted only the tiniest of fish.

The woman was beautiful, but she seemed rather out of place amongst all of the other professional academics. And there was something about her presence that was decidedly aggressive.

“That’s Professor Singer.” Paul grimaced.

“The blonde?”

“Yes. The dark-haired woman to her left is Professor Leaming. She’s great. You need to meet her. But stay away from Singer. She’s a dragon lady.”

Julia’s stomach flipped as she watched Professor Singer grip Gabriel’s forearm in a far too familiar fashion, digging her talons into his suit jacket while she stood on tiptoe to whisper something in his ear. His expression remained utterly impassive.

“Why do you say that?” Julia asked.

“Have you seen her website?”

“No.”

“Consider yourself lucky. You’d be shocked by what she’s in to. They call her Professor Pain.”

Julia reluctantly dragged her eyes away from the sickening display that was The Professors Pain and Emerson show and began wringing her hands.

She wondered if Professor Pain’s first name was Paulina.

Disgusted by the display, she grabbed her coat and stood up. “I guess it’s time for us to leave.”

“I’ll walk you home.” Paul chivalrously helped her with her coat.

They left their seats and were just about to walk toward the exit when Professor Martin, the chair of Italian Studies, caught Paul’s eye, motioning him to come over.

“I’ll just be a minute. Wait for me.”

Julia sat back down, fingering her coat buttons as a distraction.

Gabriel wasn’t looking at her at all, and from his body language she suspected that he was avoiding her. Paul had a brief exchange with the chair before turning around and pointing in her direction. The chair nodded and patted Paul on the back. By the time he returned, Paul was beaming.

“Well, you’ll never guess what that was about.”

Julia lifted her eyebrows.

“We’ve been invited to the faculty dinner in honor of Emerson’s lecture.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. Apparently, there’s money in the budget to buy dinner for a couple of graduate students, and the chair decided to invite me. When I told him I was here with you, he invited you to come as my guest.” He winked at her.

“Poor Christa isn’t on the list. Looks like this is your lucky day.”

At that moment, Gabriel’s eyes met Julia’s from behind Paul’s back.

Gabriel was upset, angry even, and he was shaking his head at her. His eyes flicked over to Paul and back to her, and again he shook his head.

Julia pursed her lips stubbornly. How can Gabriel be jealous of Paul when Professor Pain is all over him? Talk about a double standard.

“We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.” Paul cleared his throat. “I know Emerson has been a jerk to you. You probably don’t want to celebrate his latest success over paella.”

“It would be rude to turn down the invitation when it came from the chair,” Julia said slowly.

“You’re probably right. I promise we’ll have fun. We’re going to Segovia, which is a great restaurant. But dinner isn’t until seven. Would you like to go to Starbucks? Or somewhere else?” Paul extended his hand to help her to her feet.

“Starbucks is fine.”

Within a few minutes of exiting the building, Julia finally found the courage to ask a question that had been troubling her.

“Do you know Professor Singer well?” She tried to sound casual.

“No. I stay away from her.” Paul cursed more than once. “I wish I could unsee the e-mails she sent to Emerson. They’re burned into my brain.”

“What’s her first name?”

“Ann.”

Chapter 20

Julia treated Paul to a coffee that she paid for surreptitiously with a Starbucks gift card — a card that had a picture of a light bulb on it.

When they eventually crossed the threshold of Segovia, they were met by a very pleasant-looking Spaniard who identified himself as the owner. Much to his delight, Paul responded in Spanish.

Segovia’s interior featured sunny yellow walls on which were painted images from Picasso’s drawing of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. A classical guitarist sat in a corner playing arrangements by Maestro Segovia.

And nearby, a series of long tables had been placed in a square in the very center of the room, marking the reserved space for the faculty dinner. Its geometric configuration made it inevitable that all guests would sit facing one another. Julia did not relish the idea of facing Professor Pain, and if she thought she could have escaped without insulting or drawing undue attention from Professor Martin, she would have.