Page 264 of The Bonus

Past or present…

He kisses my fingertips and smiles in at me and I melt into his gaze.

I have to try…

Present.

I climb out of the car and the kids grab both my hands. “Are we actually underground now?” Dominic whispers.

“Uh-huh.” I look around nervously. I feel like a little kid again too, everything in New York is in IMAX, even the underground parking lots.

“The elevator is this way,” Gabriel tells us as he walks ahead and pushes the button.

The kids’ eyes widen, and they balk at the door. “What’s this?” Lucia whispers.

Gabriel frowns. “You’ve never been in an elevator before?”

They both shake their heads and I smile at their innocence. Maybe I should be horrified.

“Hop in.” Gabriel smiles. “This will take us up to our house.”

“There’s a house here?” Dominic whispers.

“Yes.”

“On top of the parking lot?” Lucia scrunches up her face in question. “That’s weird.”

Good grief, these children are country bumpkins.

“Isn’t this fun.” I pull them by the hands into the elevator, and Lucia cowers behind me.

Gabriel bends and picks her up. “It’s okay.” He smiles and pushes the button and the doors close. “It’s like a rocket ship.”

As we ride up, Dom squeezes my hand so tight that he nearly cuts off the circulation.

The numbers over the door rise, and with every floor we go up, I feel a little more of my excitement return.

We’re actually doing this.

The doors open to a foyer, on one side it has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking New York and the other side has big, black double doors.

“Look at New York.” Gabriel walks over to the window with Lucia in his arms, they stare out over the twinkling lights way down below. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Dom pulls me back by the hand, he’s scared.

“It’s okay, baby.” I smile. I edge us closer to the window. “Look at the lights, isn’t it pretty.”

His little eyes roam over the view, and he frowns. “Well…where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Gabriel asks.

“The big apple.”

Gabriel lets out a deep belly laugh, and it brings with it a tingle to my spine. He has the most beautiful laugh; I don’t hear it often enough.

“There isn’t actually an apple here.” He smiles, his eyes twinkle with delight.

“Well…why do you call it the big apple?” Dominic replies.

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