Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno #3)(72)

“Where’s my shirt?” He looked in vain for the light blue polo that perfectly matched the color of his eyes.

“It’s on the chair.” His girlfriend, Natalie, sat up, not bothering to clutch the sheet to her chest.

As usual, his eyes dropped to her br**sts, which had been surgically enhanced the year previous. He placed a knee on the bed.

“God, I’m glad I bought these.” He dropped his head and drew one of her ni**les into his mouth, sucking it strongly before biting with his teeth.

“Come on.” She reached out to palm him through his jeans, but he pulled back.

“I have to go. I’ll call you.” He located his shirt and pulled it over his head before hastily retrieving his shoes and socks.

“When will I see you?” She knelt behind him and pressed her lips to his neck. With a single finger, she traced his jaw, gliding over the scars that were the result of his one and only violent encounter with Gabriel Emerson.

He shook her off. “Stop that.”

“I’m sorry.” She sat back on her heels repentantly. “No one notices them. I think they make you look rugged.”

He turned, his eyes glacial pools.

She tilted her head to one side. “When will I see you?”

“Not for a while.”

“Why not?”

“We need to cool off.”

“But things have been going well. I work for your father now, for God’s sake.”

“And I told him we were casual. That was his condition for hiring you. I can’t be seen going in and out of your apartment anymore. People are watching.”

“Then we can meet at a hotel.” She reached for him but caught only air.

Simon walked toward the bedroom door. “He wants me to take Senator Hudson’s daughter to dinner.”

“What?” She leapt from the bed. She stood in front of him, naked, her green eyes sparking with anger and her long, red hair a riotous mess.

Simon placed one of his hands on the back of her neck.

“Don’t get hysterical.”

She shivered at the coldness of his voice. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”

He stroked his thumb along the curve of her neck.

“Good. Because I don’t like it when you get hysterical.”

He dropped his hand to her ass.

“It’s just dinner. She finished her junior year at Duke and she’s here for the summer. I’m going to take her out and, hopefully, persuade her to put a good word in for my dad with her father. We could use his endorsement.”

“Are you going to f**k her?”

Simon snorted. “Are you kidding? She’s a virgin. I had enough of that shit dealing with Julia.”

Natalie wrinkled her nose at the mention of her former roommate.

“What makes you think the Hudson girl is a virgin?”

“Her family is religious. They’re from the South. It’s a guess.”

“Religion didn’t keep Jules from going down on you.” Natalie crossed her arms in front of her.

“Keep your mouth shut about Julia. I don’t need her ass**le boyfriend f**king things up for me.”

“He’s her ass**le husband now.”

“I don’t care what he is. You know the score.” Simon pulled her closer. “Don’t bring them up again.”

“How do you think I feel? My boyfriend is being set up with another goody two-shoes because his father thinks I’m a whore.”

Simon gripped her ass with both hands.

“We’re finally getting what we want. We just need to wait until after the election.”

“Oh, I can be patient.” She dropped to her knees in front of him, quickly freeing him from the confines of his jeans. “But I think you need a reminder of who you’re walking out on.”

Chapter Thirty-five

Florence, Italy

Gabriel smoked a lonely cigarette out on the terrace, staring at the shards of a broken water glass. He’d upset Julianne.

She’d seen him throw things before. He’d murdered her old cell phone when that motherf*cker Simon called her.

Gabriel inhaled, drawing the air deep into his lungs before exhaling through his nostrils.

He did not think of their relationship as tempestuous. Although they’d had more conflict recently. They’d fought back in Selinsgrove over her paper. They’d fought in Umbria when he’d asked about her mother and she’d told him he was mindf*cking her.

Tonight they’d descended to a new low when she accused him of thinking she was a bitch. Nothing was further from the truth. He couldn’t even place the word and her name in the same sentence.

But he’d lost his temper before he had the chance to say that.

His secrets were hurting her. He knew that. But he couldn’t unburden himself until he’d found a solution. He didn’t want to appear weak and undecided, or worse, to watch her compassion change into pity. He’d rather alienate her temporarily than lose her respect.

And he hadn’t found a way forward. Not yet. He was caught between two extremes, both of which were unacceptable. At the moment he lacked the courage or the wisdom to find a middle path.

He finished his cigarette and lit another one. Perhaps he lacked both courage and wisdom.

Julianne was correct. If they adopted a child, he’d have to quit. He’d quit cigarettes before, after his stint in rehab. He could quit again.