Page 21 of Prodigal

He nodded a greeting. How Jules came to know all of them, he didn’t know and didn’t bother asking. But clearly, she’d made herself at home. When she wasn’t looking, he glanced at Gideon and found his eyes on him. André narrowed his gaze, hoping the other man saw and understood his displeasure.

He must have, but all Gideon did was smirk in that way of his that made André want to punch him.

Or kiss him.

No, not that.

He kept his mouth shut and looked away, focusing on anything else but Gideon, sending up a prayer of gratitude when heaps of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and fruit were piled onto the table. He focused on eating while Jules asked Gideon a whole bunch of questions that he answered quite patiently. Grudgingly, André admitted to himself that he appreciated thefact that Gideon didn’t treat Jules any differently because of the wheelchair.

“Right, Dré?”

He blinked, chewing on crunchy bacon as he looked up to find both sets of eyes on him. “Hmm?”

“Gideon said we could take a ride in his helicopter. That would be fun, right?”

“Oh no.” He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s?—”

“Gideon!” A woman entered the room with tears streaming down her face, two of Gideon’s people following closely on her heels.

“Ree.” Gideon shot to his feet and went to her. She barreled into his arms, almost knocking him back a step. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s died,” she sobbed into Gideon’s chest. “My father is dead.”

Gideon metSamir’s eyes over the top of Ree’s head. Warren Choi was always meant to die, but he hadn’t anticipated Ree coming to him for comfort.

Still, the fact that he’d been the one to kill her father wasn’t the thing that had Gideon’s arms wrapped loosely around Ree’s shaking shoulders as she sobbed into his chest, wetting his shirt.

He felt eyes on him, André’s eyes, and for some unknown and unwelcome reason, Gideon didn’t want his house guest witnessing what was happening.

He brushed a kiss to the top of Ree’s head, murmuring, “I’m so sorry,” before he took a step back. He wasn’t sorry Warren was dead. Again, he deserved that shit. But despite the relationship between Ree and her father, she’d loved him, and Gideon knew all too fucking well the pain of losing a parent.

So, he was sorry for that pain. The pain he’d had no choice but to inflict on Ree.

He cast a glance over to where André and his sister sat at the table, their breakfast forgotten as they watched everything unfold.

He met André's eyes for the briefest moment and did not like what he saw there. “Ree, these are my guests, André and his sister, Juliette. This is Ree.”

Jules waved at Ree, who was frantically wiping her face, while André gave her a small nod before lowering his gaze to his plate.

“Come with me.” Gideon turned his attention back to Ree, taking her hand and leading her out of the room. He brought her to his office, just the two of them, and she collapsed against his chest.

“Ree.”

“How could this happen?” The tears had stopped flowing and anger pushed past the grief in her voice. “I don’t even know what happened. All they’ll tell me is that he died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No.” She shook her head, pushing away from him. Red-rimmed eyes met his as she squared her shoulders. “Just days after I accept my father’s prison call for the first time and deliver a coded message to you, he’s dead.” She held his gaze. “Why is that, Gideon?”

He had to fight to keep his lips from twitching at the fire in her. “Ree, if you have something you need to ask, just spit it out.”

“Did you kill my father?”

“Yes."

Her eyes bulged, color draining from her face. She hadn’t expected that response, even though she’d been suspicious enough to ask the question. Gideon smiled at her gently. “Thereare things happening that are beyond your understanding. I won’t apologize for what needed to be done.”

Her mouth opened and closed rapidly, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Guess she hadn’t truly been prepared for the truth.

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