Page 35 of Touched By Destiny

Their soulbinding had been discovered through sex, but it couldn’t be everything. Gabriel wanted their friendship back on solid ground and to take it further than they had before. His past wasn’t something he was proud of, but eventually he wanted Eric to know everything about him and vice versa. How would Eric handle learning the truth?

Confidences and confessions would be essential to the solid relationship Gabriel had imagined throughout Sunday. He wanted no barriers between him and Eric. After daydreaming, he’d forced himself to focus on the present and the barriers that still existed.

Gabriel was scared. Someday, Eric’s parents would learn the truth about his relationship with their son. Would they approve, or would a cloud of disappointment loom heavily over them? He’d been friends with Clark and Rosalind for over three decades, but that didn’t mean the pair would be pleased to learn their gifted son was stuck with an inspirit who’d made unforgivable mistakes in the first fifteen years of his life.

On Monday, Gabriel refused to allow melancholy to settle in or to disparage himself yet again for his youthful idiocy and the crimes he’d committed. Gabriel slipped into his suit jacket and left his house.

He’d already eaten breakfast while Eric had played another beautiful piece on the piano. Enraptured by the song, Eric had been heedless of his surroundings, and Gabriel could’ve listened to him all day. Instead, he’d forced himself to leave the opulent black-and-white great room and go through his normal weekday routine.

Now, the car he’d arranged to pick up him and Eric was waiting at the curb, so Gabriel took the small path that snaked between the Marwood mansion and their multi-car garage to meet it. Unless it was for a meal or Gabriel was specifically invited, he didn’t venture into the house without warning.

It was one of the many ways Gabriel reminded himself he was nothing more than an employee. He was the inspirit hired to oversee security—as Gabriel had learned months after he accepted the job—to replace another resurrected man who’d died naturally after many decades of service.

In thirty-three years, the only things Gabriel had learned about the man were that he’d chosen the name Ezra, had been resurrected by Clark, and had shared a long-term relationship with David. Gabriel assumed the Marwoods’ grief was too intense to bring Ezra up and that was why no pictures of him were found among the many displayed throughout their homes. Since his death, Clark had refused to resurrect anyone else. His mission had changed to helping lost inspirits like Gabriel.

Would he be thrilled or saddened that one of the misplaced resurrected was his son’s soulmate? Irritated that his brain was apparently only capable of a single track today, Gabriel blew out a breath. And was thankfully distracted by the beautiful man rushing out of the house in a pair of snug blue-and-ivory shorts.

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?” Eric asked as he raced toward the car where Gabriel was standing.

“Just got here,” Gabriel replied as he opened the door to allow Eric to slide in.

“At least it’s getting cooler overnight now. Won’t be long until it’s lovely all day long,” Eric remarked once Gabriel was in the car, and they pulled away from the curb.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Eric smiled at him, and the dreamy quality was back in his eyes. Caution tempered it, but Gabriel was pleased to find Eric nearly back to normal.

“Same, I love having my windows open. I think it’d be wonderful to keep them open all night.”

“Keep dreaming,” Gabriel said. “I can’t engage the security system with any of the windows open.”

“Sure you can. Take the sensor off one of my windows.”

“Was there some kind of hallucinogen in your breakfast? Because clearly your perception of the world is out of sync with reality.”

Eric laughed. “I’m on the second floor.”

“And?”

“I’m never going to convince you to remove a sensor, am I?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“I guess I’ll just focus on my newest ghost then.”

“We’re still headed for Tropicana?”

“Yeah, I found him after that poor spirit finally crossed on Friday. He’s not moving,” Eric explained.

“Okay, let’s go find him and have a chat.”

“He was very surprised I could sense him on Friday. I asked him a few questions, but he didn’t respond.”

Gabriel was so consumed with his unhappiness he barely remembered the last time they’d ghost-hunted. “Is there enough of him to understand you?”

“He’s very strong. I can see his face and almost his whole body. His limbs are a bit vapory, but he’s one of the most intact spirits I’ve found in years. I think he died recently.”

The phone in Gabriel’s pocket rang, and he offered Eric an apologetic smile as he took the call. It was from the supervisor on duty in the control room of the second-largest Marwood casino, where they monitored the security cameras strategicallyplaced throughout the massive building. One of the large wall-mounted screens had gone blank and refused to function.

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