Page 101 of Absinthe Minded

The third time it rang, Maggie sighed. “At least check voicemail. Something could be wrong with the kids.”

“You’re right.” I scrolled through my call log, and the phone buzzed in my hand. This time my father was on the line. “Hey, Pops. Everything okay?”

“No, everything is not okay. I received a call from Scott at thePicayune. There’s an article about the family coming out in the paper tomorrow.”

I stood and walked away from the table. “You mean about the business?”

“I mean exactly what I said.Someonewrote an expose on thefamily.”

Son of a bitch. Why tonight?I drew a breath but couldn’t stop shaking. My father had ordered the execution of an employee over breakroom gossip. What would he do to a journalist who’d dared to investigate the family? “How bad is it?”

“I haven’t read it, but he said it’s personal. He agreed to squash it and find out who the hell’s been poking around, but it’s going to cost us.”

“I’m in the middle of something. Can this wait until morning?”

He went into a coughing fit that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. When he came back on the line, he could barely speak. “Could the Guthrie girl have done this?”

“No. It wasn’t her.”

“Be here at ten in the morning.” He disconnected.

I glanced back to Maggie.She couldn’t have? Could she?

“Everything okay?” She started to rise.

I motioned for her to sit and returned to my chair. “Problem with work. Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I signaled for the staff to clear our plates.I needed to get this done before anything else blew up tonight.

One refilled their wine, while the other whisked the dishes away. Once they left the courtyard, I reached for her hand.

Maggie furrowed her brow. “You’re trembling.”

“I’m okay.”

“You’re not yourself tonight. What’s wrong?”

I kissed her knuckles. “There are some things I need to say to you.”

32

Maggie

I’d finished the article,pulled a shift at the bar, went dress shopping, had a makeover, and received some amazing news, but I was exhausted. More so, I was worried about Gabe.

He stared at me with the oddest expression. If I didn’t know him so well, I’d have thought he had a case of the nerves. His stiff posture differed from his typical laid-back style. Maybe it was the clothes. After all, I sat straighter in the dress than I would in jeans.

No. It’s not the suit. Something’s wrong.

He kissed the back of my hand. “There are some things I need to say to you.”

I nodded, confused and somewhat frightened. I’d never seen this side of him. Sure, he’d been melancholy and introspective when he’d first showed up on my doorstep, but I blamed that on becoming an instant father. He’d gone back to his normal self within a couple of weeks.

“You probably already figured out that my family is old fashioned. My brothers and I may be wild, but we honor our parents. We tease each other mercilessly, but we don’t betray or disrespect our own.”

My throat tightened.He found out about the article.No matter how I’d spun it, the Marchionnis would see airing family secrets as the ultimate betrayal. “Gabe, I’m—”

---