Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno #2)(81)

Finally her eyes connected with Gabriel’s as he looked down on her. She inhaled slowly as she realized that his dark blue eyes were cold and empty. He lowered his head.

In an instant, the fire in her veins turned to ice.

Chapter 26

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Soraya leaned back against the vanity in the ladies’ washroom while her client sat crying softly in a chair. She pulled her BlackBerry out of her briefcase, scrolling through her emails before returning the cursed device to its former resting place.

“I know John. His plan would have been to say nothing, then file a lawsuit. He would have tried to show that everything was your fault, setting the groundwork for Gabriel’s defense. He never would have agreed to this kind of outcome.”

Soraya fixed her client with a stern eye. “Do you know something? Some secret that Gabriel might worry would come out? Something extremely damaging?”

Julia shook her head vehemently. Gabriel’s drug use was in the past as was his rampant promiscuity, including his encounter with Professor Singer. Of course, there was the small matter of the black market Botticelli prints, but she would never reveal their existence to anyone, least of all to Soraya.

“Are you sure?” The attorney’s eyes narrowed.

“There’s nothing.” Julia sniffled, wiping her nose with a tissue.

Soraya tossed her long, dark hair. “Then he must be keeping secrets from you too. I can’t imagine what would be more damaging to him than confessing to having an inappropriate relationship with you. I thought you told me you didn’t sleep with him until December?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why would he tell them you were together while you were still his student?”

“Do you think they fired him?” Julia changed the subject.

“No.” Soraya exhaled loudly. “Emerson is tenured and from the body language in the room, he has the support of his Chair. But who knows? David is a self-righteous bastard.”

“You don’t think Gabriel was lying to protect me?”

Soraya smothered a patronizing smile, for really, it would have been inappropriate to smile at that moment. “Human beings are selfish. He was protecting himself—hiding some secret that he didn’t want to come out or trading a confession for leniency. Gabriel went rogue and refused to let John fight the charges. Otherwise, we’d still be sitting in the hall, waiting.”

Julia stood at the sink and washed her face and hands, trying to make herself appear presentable.

Soraya shook her head. “I don’t mean to be callous, but I really don’t think you should be wasting your tears on him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you were an intriguing diversion, in comparison to his other women. He probably said pretty things so you’d screw him and keep your mouth shut. But men like him can’t be trusted. And they never change.” She continued hurriedly as she saw the horrified expression on Julia’s face.

“I wasn’t going to mention this, but a friend of mine hooked up with him a couple of times. They met at a club about a year ago and ended up f**king in the washroom.

“One day last fall, he called her out of the blue. One more hook up and she never saw or heard from him again. It was as if he’d vanished.” Soraya measured Julia’s reaction. “Why would you want to be with someone like that? He was probably screwing other women the entire time he was with you.”

“You don’t know him. Don’t judge him.” Julia’s voice was quietly aggressive.

Soraya simply shrugged and dug around in her briefcase for her lipstick.

Julia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to process these new revelations.

Gabriel and I started getting close last fall—was he sleeping with someone else when he was sending me flowers and emails?Was he lying to me about Paulina?

Julia didn’t know what to believe. Her heart told her to believe Gabriel, but she couldn’t deny the fact that Soraya had planted a seed of doubt.

They walked into the hallway and headed for the stairs, hoping to make their escape.

John and Gabriel were doing the same thing. Neither of the men looked happy.

“Gabriel!” Julia called.

John glared in her direction. “Let’s go, Gabriel. You can’t be seen with her.”

Julia looked over into conflicted blue eyes. He didn’t look disgusted anymore; he looked sober and anxious.

“Haven’t you done enough damage for one day?” spat his attorney as Julia took a hesitant step in their direction.

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Gabriel moved to stand in between them, shielding Julia with his body. He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Listen, you two, David and his minions are about to come through that door, and I’d prefer to be gone before that happens. So whatever conversation you need to have, make it quick,” Soraya snapped.

“Over my dead body.” John glowered. “We’re in enough trouble as it is. Come on.”

Gabriel shot his lawyer a look of warning and gritted his teeth, turning around to face Julia.

“What’s going on? Why did you tell them our relationship was inappropriate?” Julia looked up into dark, tormented eyes.

“You were not sensible of your own distress.” Gabriel leaned forward to whisper in an urgent tone.