Page 17 of The Forbidden

Trey starts after us but I hold out my hand. “Stop. You’re not coming.”

“But—”

“No buts.” I glance back and see Gabe’s already walking through the door into the office, shutting it behind him. I can’t assume he’s waiting for me and is most likely walking right out the outer door to his car to leave.

I scramble after him but when I skid into the office, he’s not walking out, rather sitting behind my desk. While I’m relieved I didn’t have to chase after him, I’m pissed he’s making himself at home.

“Do you mind?” I seethe, jerking my thumb. “Get out of my chair.”

“Make me,” he says with the corner of his mouth uplifted, eyes twinkling with challenge. That’s apparently a favorite saying of his.

I roll my eyes and instead plop down on the small plaid couch that’s seen better days. Each Blackburn barn and arena has a small office attached to it but this is the barn I do most of my training in, so this is, for all intents and purposes, my office. The paneled walls are covered with framed photos of various shows I’ve competed in and strung with ribbons. Shelves are full of plaques and trophies, all of them covered in dust because who has time to keep a barn office clean when dirt floats in the air continually.

I kick my boots up on an old worn chest covered in horse magazines, holding back the wince of pain from my hip. I guarantee a bruise the size of a salad plate is forming there. I clasp my hands over my stomach and stare at Gabe, waiting for him to give me the disclosure he was so eager to reveal that he showed up without notice.

“I’ve removed the reversion clause from Sylvie’s trust,” he announces, his tone clipped as he tosses me a manila envelope and I manage to catch it before it smacks me in the face. “It already has my signature on it and only needs Ethan’s.”

“Why now? Decided to play the caring uncle?” I ask, unable to keep the skepticism out of my voice as I pull the papers free to examine them.

He ignores my jab. “Did you review the information I sent over about the winery? I’d like to make some decisions on investments and expansion.”

“It was a lot of information.” Pages upon pages that I had printed out, read once and then my eyes crossed because it was so overwhelming. I’m ashamed I have to admit, “It was difficult to make sense of it all.”

“I’ll be glad to sit down with you and explain it,” he says neutrally, but despite the lack of any inflection, his offer dredges up an array of feelings, all of which are unpleasant.

“The way you helped me back in college?” I ask quietly. “Because wasn’t that just a big setup?”

Gabe’s expression hardens. “That’s in the past, Kat. We’re talking about the winery now.”

It pisses me off he won’t admit that I was nothing but a game to him. A well-thought-out, brilliantly orchestrated plan to lure me into his web so he could move in for the kill. “Hard to separate the past when it’s standing right in front of me,” I retort, anger bubbling up.

Gabe rises from my office chair, frustration clear in his eyes. “I’m trying to do what’s right for Sylvie. No more, no less.”

I can’t let it go though. He wants to focus on the here and now, but it’s hard to do when he caused me so much misery in the past. “I remember too well how your ‘right’ works, Gabe. You humiliated me when I needed you most. Which means you cannot be trusted, so how can I trust that you’re wanting to do right by Sylvie? You’ll have to pardon my skepticism when you’ve shown to be nothing but a fraud in all you do.”

He flinches, as if my words have hit their mark. Moving from around the desk, he doesn’t look at me as he heads to the door. But his response shocks me. “I was a fool back then, Kat. But I’m not that person anymore. And it was never a setup. Never!”

“You say that, but it’s hard to tell which Gabe Mardraggon I’m dealing with—the bully or the businessman,” I say, standing my ground.

Turning to face me, Gabe clenches his jaw, his eyes darkening. “I’m always the businessman but in this instance, I’m just Sylvie’s uncle trying to secure her legacy because that’s what my sister wanted.”

Admittedly, those words sound genuine and I suppose the ease by which he granted my request to change the agreement to Sylvie’s benefit and his detriment speaks even louder. For a moment, there’s a flicker of something else in his eyes—regret, maybe? But it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.

“I’ll email you some dates I have open if you want to sit down and go over the winery stuff together so I can explain it.” Gabe reaches for the door, but his eyes pin me with an unyielding intensity. “Have Ethan sign the trust agreement and get it back to me to file. Then I want to see Sylvie.”

There’s no doubt he deserves it at this point and I know it’s something Sylvie wants. “I’ll arrange it.”

Gabe turns and strides out, leaving me with a whirlwind of papers and mixed emotions. I flip through the trust agreement, seeing his scrawling signature on the last page. Dealing with him is going to be more challenging than I thought, both professionally and personally.

Glancing at my watch, I see I have plenty of time to take this over to Ethan, especially since my ride with Shadow got shortened. I push up from the couch, not holding back the groan of pain from my hip. I brush it aside though, still intent on getting back up on the gelding tonight.

I nab my phone from the desk and send Ethan a text. Where are you?

Main house, he replies.

My fingers tap out a short response. On my way to see you.

It takes me no more than five minutes to traverse the path from the training barn up to the house in my utility vehicle. I see Marcie’s car in the driveway and smile. I’ve been so busy this last week trying to keep up with my regular work plus the additional duties I’ve taken off Ethan, I’ve hardly been to the main house. I think Marcie’s staying over now at night, which is a good thing as that’s just extra support for Sylvie. Say what you will about my brother and Marcie falling in love, but the flame-haired school principal has become a mother to Sylvie in all ways. I expect Ethan and Marcie will marry sooner rather than later and I’m here for it.

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