Page 85 of Absinthe Minded

“Because I’m worried about you and Ella. Did you know she was married?”

Blindsided and more than a little pissed, I stepped out of the shower. “She’s widowed.”

Maggie started to follow me out of the shower but stopped when I turned to face her. “Gabe, she—”

“You had no business poking into this.”

“I’m sorry, but I disagree. If you and that sweet little girl in there are going to be part of my life, I need to know what’s going on.” She dipped her chin.

I needed a few minutes to calm the fuck down before I said something stupid. “Let’s finish this in your room. I don’t want to wake Ella.”

“All right.”

I checked on my daughter, pulled on a pair of PJ pants, and second-guessed myself from every angle. I needed to tell her about Chantal, but first I wanted to know what she’d found, where she’d dug it up, and why.Had Leo’s guy misread her signals, or was there something else going on with her and Wayne?

I crawled into her bed and stared at the ceiling. If we had to argue, I preferred to do it horizontally.

Maggie came into the room and stretched out beside me—in nothing except her robe. This woman knew how to surprise the shit out of me, piss me off, and turn me on all at the same time.

She snuggled against my side. “Promise me you’ll file paperwork to establish legal paternity as soon as possible.”

“It’s already in the works.” I kissed her forehead. “I put security on you because the situation with Chantal is getting out of hand.”

“How so?” She propped herself up on her elbow.

“She wants money before she signs the custody papers.”

“There’s something you need to know.” She sucked in a breath. “Chantal was married to Martin Sinclair.”

Tonight was a night of surprises, and I fucking hate surprises. “I know.”

“Oh.” Maggie rolled to her back. “Of course, you knew.”

“She’s not responsible for the accident.”

“How do you know?” Her voice trembled.

“Because I was with her that night.” I held my breath and waited for her to explode.

“Your relationship with her… It’s in the past, right?”

Boom. Another surprise. She didn’t lose her shit. “Yeah, of course.”

“Then it isn’t any of my business. As long as you know the score, which you obviously do, and she isn’t a psychopath out to hurt my family… She isn’t, is she?”

“Physically, no she’s not the type.”

“Then why do I need security?” Maggie turned my head and forced me to look her in the eye.

“She threatened to tell you about the situation with Martin and my family.” I’d chosen my words carefully. Chantal had implied more, and yes, I needed to tell Maggie about the family business, but she’d had enough to process for one night. We both had.

“If she’s not a physical threat, I want you to call off the security guards. I don’t like the idea of people following me around.”

“Done.”

“Any word from the attorney about Justin Trudeau?”

“After a conversation with Santiago, he’s decided it’s a bad idea to sue.”

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