Page 64 of Gabriel's Angel

“If you refer to my wife in that way again you’ll have more than threats to deal with.” Gabe blew out a long, narrow stream of smoke. “Mrs. Eagleton.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Laura squeezed his hand. She knew he was on the verge of losing control. “You can’t make me cringe anymore, Lorraine, and you won’t make me beg. You know very well that I was faithful to Tony.”

“I know that Tony didn’t believe that.”

“Then how do you know the child is his?”

Absolute silence fell the moment Gabe spoke. Laura started to speak but was held off by the look in Gabe’s eyes. Color flooded into Lorraine’s face again when she found her voice.

“She wouldn’t have dared—”

“Wouldn’t she? That’s odd. You intend to prove that Laura was unfaithful to your son, and now you claim she wasn’t. Either way, you have a problem. If she had had an affair with anyone. Me, for example.” He smiled again as he crushed out his cigarette. “Or haven’t you wondered why we were married so quickly, why, as you’ve already asked, I accept the child as my own?” He let that thought take hold before he continued. “If she had been unfaithful, the child could be anyone’s. If she wasn’t unfaithful, you haven’t got a case.”

Lorraine clenched and unclenched her fingers on the arm of the chair. “My husband and I have every intention of determining the child’s paternity. I would hardly take someone’s bastard into my home.”

“Be careful,” Laura said, so quietly that the words seemed to vibrate in the air. “Be very careful, Lorraine. I know you have no concern for Michael as a person.”

Fighting for control she so rarely lost, Lorraine settled again. “I have nothing but the gravest concern for Tony’s son.”

“You’ve never asked about him, what he looks like, if he’s well. You’ve never demanded to see him, even a picture or a doctor’s report. You’ve never once called him by name. If you had, if I’d seen in you one ounce of love or affection for the baby, I’d feel differently about what I’m about to say.” The courage came without the need to muster it. “You’re free to draw up the papers and initiate a custody suit. Gabe and I have already notified our attorney. We’ll fight you, and we’ll win. And in the meantime, I’ll go to the press with the story of what my life was like with the Eagletons of Boston.”

Lorraine’s nails dug into the material on the arm of the chair. “You wouldn’t have the nerve.”

“I have that and more when it comes to protecting my son.”

She could see it, the calm, unshakable determination in Laura’s eyes. “Even if you did, no one would believe you.”

“But they would,” Laura told her. “People have a way of recognizing the truth.”

Lorraine’s face was set when she turned to Gabe. “Do you have any conception of what this kind of gossip could do to your family name? Do you want to risk your reputation, your parents’ reputation, over this woman and a child who isn’t even of your blood?”

“My reputation can handle it, and, to be frank, my parents are looking forward to a fight.” There was a challenge in his voice now that didn’t have to be feigned. “Michael may not be of my blood, but he’s mine.”

“Lorraine.” Laura waited until they were face-to-face again. “You lost your son, and I’m sorry for you, but you won’t replace him with mine. Whatever the cost to protect Michael’s welfare, I’ll pay. And so will you.”

Putting a hand under her arm, Gabe rose, keeping Laura beside him. “Your attorney can contact us once you’ve made your decision. Remember, Mrs. Eagleton, you’re not pitting yourself against a lone pregnant woman. You’re up against the Bradleys now.”

The moment they were in the hall, Gabe pulled Laura against him. He could feel the tremors coursing through her, so he held her a moment longer. “You were wonderful.” He kissed her hair before he drew her away from him. “In fact, angel, you were amazing. Lorraine still doesn’t know what hit her.”

The flush of pride was as warm and satisfying as anything she’d ever felt. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” she said with a sigh, but she kept her hand in his as they walked to the elevator. “I used to be so terrified of her, afraid to speak two words. Now I can see her for what she really is, a lonely woman trapped by her own strict sense of family honor.”

Gabe gave a quick, humorless laugh as the elevator doors opened. “Honor has nothing to do with it.”

“No, but that’s how she sees it.”

“Tell you what.” He pressed the button for the lobby. “We’re going to forget about Lorraine Eagleton for the rest of the day. In fact, we’re going to forget about her completely before long, but for now there’s a little restaurant a few blocks away. Not too quiet, and very expensive.”

“It’s too early for dinner.”

“Who said anything about dinner?” He slipped an arm around her waist as they walked out into the lobby. “We’re going to sit at a table over the water, and I’m going to watch everyone stare at my gorgeous wife while we drink a bottle of champagne.”

She loved him for that. Then her heart skipped a beat when he brought her fingers to his lips. “Don’t you think we should wait to celebrate until Lorraine gives us her decision?”

“We’ll celebrate then, too. Right now I want to celebrate being witness to an angel breathing fire.”

She laughed and walked outside with him. “I could do it again. In fact...”

“What?”

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