Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno #2)(33)

He gave her a repentant smile. “I’ve been spoiled with all the times we’ve made love over the past two weeks. But I know that there will be days when you’re tired or you don’t feel like it. I promise not to sulk—too much.”

She smiled wryly and reached up to kiss his pouty lower lip.

He wiped her eyes. “Will you tell me why you were crying this afternoon at the restaurant?”

Julia shook her head.

“Please?”

“I’m too tired.”

He nuzzled her until her body relaxed in his arms. “What can I do?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“A hot bath? A massage?” The look on his face was one of a little boy, eager to please. “Let me touch you. I’ll make you feel better.”

“Gabriel, I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“I wanted to do something for you.”

“Just hug me.”

“I’d gladly do that anyway.” He kissed her once more before spooning behind her.

“Merry Christmas, Gabriel.”

“Merry Christmas.”

* * *

A few hours earlier, a lone woman stepped into a taxi outside the Comfort Inn. She was crying.

The cabbie politely ignored her tears and turned the radio up, hoping to give her some privacy on their long drive to Harrisburg. The song that was playing was catchy, so catchy in fact that they both found themselves humming.

As she hummed she thought of the parcel she’d given to the hotel’s night manager, Will. She’d given him five crisp twenty-dollar bills in exchange for his promise to deliver said package to a particular address in Selinsgrove by nine o’clock the following morning. Christmas morning.

When he’d revealed (in typical small-town fashion) that he was acquainted with that address, having been a high school classmate of Gabriel’s brother, Scott, the woman casually pressed him for information about Gabriel’s new girlfriend.

Will responded enthusiastically, since his family had known Tom Mitchell and his daughter for years. In fact, Will reported, Tom had recently bragged that Julia was excelling in her graduate studies at the University of Toronto.

As soon as the woman learned this surprising fact, she decided to check out of the hotel and leave Selinsgrove. As she watched the snow-tipped trees pass by the cab’s windows, she wondered how she could discover if Julianne was a student of Gabriel’s when they began their affair.

Chapter 10

Very early Christmas morning, Gabriel sat in his boxer shorts and glasses, debating whether or not to wake Julianne. He could have returned to the light of the living room of their suite, where he’d played Santa Claus only an hour before. But he preferred to be near her, even in the dark.

Richard’s conversation with him from the day before plagued his mind. His adoptive father had asked about Paulina, and he’d said about as much on the topic as he dared, emphasizing that Paulina was his past and Julia his future. Richard, who was a compassionate man, encouraged his son to make professional counseling a necessary condition for Paulina’s continued access to her trust fund, pointing out that she clearly needed help.

Once Gabriel agreed, Richard smoothly changed the subject to Julia, asking if he was in love with her. Gabriel replied unequivocally in the affirmative, to which Richard responded by bring up the R-word, responsibility.

“I am taking responsibility for her.”

“She’s still a student. What if she gets pregnant?”

Gabriel’s expression hardened. “That won’t happen.”

Richard smiled. “I thought that once. Then we had Scott.”

“I’ve already demonstrated that I more than take care of my responsibilities.” Gabriel’s voice was glacial.

His adoptive father sat back in his chair, tenting his fingers reflectively.

“Julia is like Grace in several ways—not least of which is her willingness to sacrifice herself for those she loves.”

“I won’t allow her to sacrifice her dreams for me, you can be assured of that.”

Richard’s eyes flickered over to the picture of his wife that he always kept on his desk, a laughing, smiling woman with kind eyes.

“How did Julia react to Paulina’s visit?”

“I haven’t discussed it with her.”

“If you abandon Julia, you will have a serious problem with your siblings, as well as with me.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows knit together like thunderous clouds. “I would never abandon her. And I won’t live without her.”

“Then why don’t you tell her that?”

“Because we’ve only been together for two weeks.”

Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise, but elected not to interrogate his son over the semantic ambiguity of the phrase “being together.”

“You know my views on this. You should marry her. At the moment, you appear to be with her under false pretenses; your actions indicate that she is only a partner in a sexual affair, when your intentions are serious.”

Gabriel bristled at the characterization. “Julianne is not my mistress.”

“You won’t make a commitment to her.”

“I am committed to her. There’s no one else.”

“But Paulina appears, looking for you and making a spectacle in front of Julia and your family.”