Page 138 of Black
CHAPTER 25
But
Gabriel
I hadn’t planned to propose to Cia today. I hadn’t even known I would run into her after ten weeks apart, but standing here in the green forest with all emotions raw and real, the moment just felt right.
She was looking down at me as I kneeled in front of her, tears running down her pretty face.
“Will you marry me, Cia?”
She swallowed air and took a deep breath.
“I mean it, sugar,” I said, hoping this would be enough to convince her that I really loved her unconditionally. “I want to share my life with you.”
Cia didn’t say yes or no. Instead she sank to her knees in front of me, still holding my hand. “You are amazing,” she said and looked down.
The fact that she wasn’t looking me in my eyes was a bad sign and made me sink back on my heels waiting for the “but.”
“I love you too,” she whispered and gave me a small smile.
I blinked… dreading the “but” that was sure to follow.
“But…” she said and I sighed in defeat.Fuck!
“You’re moving too fast. I’m still pissed at you for kidnapping me and rejecting me that night at the gallery. I can’t just go from being angry at you to saying yes to marrying you. It doesn’t work that way.”
“But…”
She leaned in and kissed me softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” I muttered and for a while we sat in the grass without speaking.
“Do you still want to go and see the mining thing?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe another time,” I said with a heavy feeling inside.
We got up from the ground and made our way back to the car in silence. My head was spinning with questions that I wanted to ask, but she had been specific about not going too fast.
I tried to cheer myself up by focusing on the fact that at least we were talking again, but in reality the ride to Violet’s house was very quiet.
“This is it,” Cia said and pointed to a small cottage-style house in shades of red.
“Wow… I didn’t expect her house to be so...” I trailed off when I saw Violet’s old station wagon and a large sign on the front lawn saying Psychic Medium. Yep, this was Violet’s domain all right.
“Nice?” Cia suggested.
“Right… I didn’t expect it to be so nice. I’m just surprised that a fraud like Violet would be able to afford something so well maintained and idyllic-looking.”
“You know she comes from money, right?”
“No… what do you mean?”
Cia spoke in a calm voice. “Well, her family isn’t as rich as yours or anything, but she grew up on the east side with private school and that sort of thing. Of course, now she hardly sees them anymore.”
“Why not?”
Cia sighed. “I think you know why. They don’t like the whole psychic medium thing and want her to get a normal job. She’s got a college degree and everything.”
