Page 91 of Eleven of a Kind

“Would anyone be okay after that? Maybe a normal person wouldn’t be, but I can honestly say I’ve never felt so free in my life.”

“How do you mean?” he asked as he pulled away from the curb.

“I don’t know, Gabriel. I just feel like this huge weight has been lifted. I’ve wanted to tell that man off for years, and finally, I did.”

CHAPTER32

Gabriel

I was so proud of her for standing up to her father the way she did. When we returned to the hotel, I opened the door to our suite, walked over to the mini bar, and grabbed the bottle of complimentary champagne.

“Champagne?” I held up the bottle with a smile.

“Definitely.” Piper kicked off her shoes. “I can’t believe what you said to him, Gabriel. Thank you.”

“You know I have your back.” I smirked. “Besides, there’s no need to thank me. I only spoke the truth.”

“Well, I appreciate it more than you know.”

I handed her a glass of champagne, and she held it up.

“To new beginnings.” A beautiful smile crossed her lips.

“To new beginnings.” I grinned as I tipped my glass to hers.

“Now I have another problem to tackle,” she said.

“What problem?”

“My mother, and the fact that she knew he was leaving and where he was all these years. She lied to me for the last nineteen years, Gabriel.”

“She was probably trying to protect you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I still need to tell her that I know she lied.”

“Do you think that’s such a good idea, Piper? I mean, she is in rehab trying to get better. You confronting her might set her back.”

“You know what? That’s not my problem. I don’t mean to sound cruel, but I need to do what’s best for me and stop worrying about everyone else. I’m going to go in the bedroom and call Charlotte. She asked me to Facetime her after I saw him.”

“Okay. I’m going to call Riley and see how she’s doing.” I smiled.

I took my glass of champagne and my phone out to the balcony and sat down.

“Dad!” Riley smiled when she answered.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”

“I’m good. All the pottery equipment was delivered today. Uncle Grayson put it in the living room for you. Stefan’s guys were here all day. Look at it now.” She walked over to the sliding door, stepped outside, and showed me.

“Wow. It’s looking good.” I smiled. “Are you having fun over at Uncle Grayson’s?”

“Yeah. I spent some time with Kate today.”

“You did?” My brows furrowed.

“Yeah. Ava texted me while I was in school and told me that she would pick me up and we would go to the mall. I guess the parking guard was yelling at her because she was in the wrong lane, so Kate fronted and told the lady off. After she peeled out of the parking lot, she took me to the mall, and we went to the food court and had pizza and ice cream. Guess who we ran into there?”

“Who?”

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