Page 113 of Angel Eyes

“Disowned me.”

I felt all the blood drain from my face as I stared at Gabriel in horror. This entire conversation had already thrown me for a loop, but the revelation that his father had disowned him for something he hadn’t even done was enough to break my heart.

“Gabriel, I don’t know what to say.”

His expression softened. “It’s all right. It’s all ancient history now.”

“Is it?” I asked, searching his eyes. “I know she called the night of the gala. What if—”

“It’s taken care of.” He brought my fingertips to his lips, pressing a kiss against each one. “She won’t bother me—bother us—again.”

I nodded hesitantly, a hundred questions still flooding my mind.

Why hadn’t Gabriel’s father believed him when he told him he was innocent? What had Elise actually done with the money? And why was she calling Gabriel after all this time?

“Gabriel, there’s still something I don’t understand. Why would your cousin take the money? What did he have to gain in all this?”

His expression turned grim. “Funny you should ask—I wanted to know the same thing. As it turns out, they were having an affair.”

I swallowed audibly. Could this get any worse? So much about Gabriel made sense to me now—why he was so hesitant about relationships, why he didn’t let people into his life easily.

Everyone he loved had betrayed him.

“She was cheating on you?”

His head dipped in a barely perceptible nod. “When I finally confronted her, she confessed that after I wouldn’t give her what she wanted, she had gone to Lucien. I didn’t believe her at first. I thought she was just lying to lessen her culpability. But then she told me they’d been sleeping together, and suddenly it all made sense. Lucien and I lived in the same house—it would have been easy for him to gain access to my belongings, including my computer and phone.”

“Did you confront him about the affair?”

“And say what? Have you been fucking my girlfriend? He would have just lied. He always was a snake, no matter how much he tried to hide it. And what did it matter? The damage was already done.” He dragged a hand over his face, his shoulders slumping. “So, there you have it—the truth about my past. All my broken pieces laid bare.”

I blinked back a surge of hot tears. “You are not broken. None of what happened was your fault.” His eyes rose to mine, his own rimmed with moisture. Bringing my palms to either side of his face, I brushed my thumbs over the curve of his cheeks. “Tell me what I can do, Gabriel.”

He slipped a hand around the base of my neck, pressing my forehead to his. “I just want to forget,” he whispered, his breath feathering across my lips.

I nodded, pushing my hands into his hair and swallowing his pain in a slow kiss.

It was late afternoon by the time I made it back to my apartment. Gabriel had gone to his gallery to take care of a few things in advance of his opening next week, but when I’d offered to go with him, he declined, promising he wouldn’t be long. I suspected he needed some time to sort through his feelings, feelings I had caused by forcing him to dredge up his past.

I closed the front door and tossed my keys onto the entryway table just as my phone pulsed.

“Hey, Simone,” I said, moving into the kitchen to uncork a bottle of wine. I filled my glass before taking a sip to clear my head. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically sweet. “I was just calling to make sure we were still friends.”

I winced. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been preoccupied lately. I’ll make it up to you.”

She huffed. “Even so, how could you not tell me you’re a finalist in the NRF competition?”

“What?” I said, nearly dropping my wineglass. “How do you know that?”

“They posted the list of finalists on their website this morning.”

I set my glass down, my skin humming with adrenaline. It took a few seconds to navigate to the webpage, but eventually I found the list. And sure enough, there was my name, five rows from the top: Juliet M. Chandler.

“Oh, my God.”

“Wait, you really didn’t know? Seems like something Benoit would have told you.”

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